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The approach of senior public officials to information technology‐related reform: lessons from India
Author(s) -
Heeks Richard
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/1099-162x(200008)20:3<197::aid-pad109>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - public sector , key (lock) , sustainability , public administration , component (thermodynamics) , political science , public relations , business , computer science , computer security , law , ecology , biology , physics , thermodynamics
A review of global experience suggests that information technology (IT) has great potential to contribute to public sector reform. However, the Indian reality — like that for many countries — has been more problematic, with many failures of IT‐related reform; failures that can be described as total, partial or failures of sustainability and replication. Many factors help explain such failure, but a key component is the approach to IT and reform adopted by senior public officials. A ‘four Is’ model of approaches is described: the non‐IT approach of ‘ignore’ and the IT‐related approaches of ‘isolate’, ‘idolize’ and ‘integrate’. Analysis of Indian cases suggests that it is the last approach that is most likely to deliver reform objectives; yet it remains the least commonly adopted. Changes are therefore required in current strategies for public administration training and in the planning and management of change. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.