The Impact of Technology on Public Administration and policy

The impact of technology on public administration and the governmental sector was explored by analyzing the practical research accounted for in at least 1,000 themes of the most recently investigated journals (in print between 1987 and 2000). These influences were divided into four classification domains and 22 specific influences. Approximately half of the 230 initial studies acknowledge a transformation in the ability of public area sections to execute purpose, and more than one-fourth of the studies entail a transformation in ways of communication among political players. Technologies have a big impact on how technology operates and performs; yet, the aforesaid good impact is manual, not automatic, and is tied to organizational change once again. Reasonably less technology related change distress the dispersal of principles or the point of reference of political actors. The largest portion of positive influence from technology connected with the effectiveness and the balance of actions by a component of public administration.

Keywords: technology, public administration

Impact of Technology on Public Administration and policy

For the last past years, a lot of research in technology has openly cast technology as the fastest and the best way for an organization to perform by exceeding expectation. Digital revolution era introduced in the 21st century. This was done at the first World Summit on Information Society (Pivec, 2003). Honorable Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations declared (“Address by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of United Nations,” 1998) humanity is evolving to a notable change in the way society live, learn, work, communicate and conduct business. Technology has begotten the information age. Expressions like information age and knowledge society are frequently used to illustrate the effects of the Technology on the public lives. Professionals argue in the present days that humanity is living a contemporary industrial revolution more essential than the previous. Spotlighted the businesses which will not be informed of this novel age and will not know how to run a business during the phase of evolution will be vulnerable and fashion less (Hurtubise, 1993).

Challenges

The reason to reflect on technology: Mainly technology in public management as a way with regards to performance. This heave up many questions when thinking about directly the virtual environment shaped by technology, Which is mostly complex because of the human-factor theory and the character of information in the technology structure that is the center of any information systems, Also if we think of any nation that has its socio cultural reality and the causes of transformation, the performance structure, and technology seen differently. How do third world countries see performance connecting to technology? Can public sector of third world countries reach performance by the use of technology? In reality, is it logical to compare performance to technology? In what point can we determine the performance accomplished by an organization? What sorts of influence achieved indeed by the use of technology in public administration? How to elevate the positive effects such as performance and competence in government?

Scope of Research

Nonetheless, the primary hypothesis which guided our research is as follows: The use of technology in public administration has both positive and also negative impacts on public sector performance. But those influences, The Impacts of Technology on Public Administration must not be seen as a primary outcome of technology when thinking about the complex technology based political and social environment in which advance both public managers and the technology in general.

21st Century Public Administration

Many great observers make a case that dominance of one trend over another trend is obliged to further to rhetorical plans and particular importance from this quantity of differing ideas. At the same time with an innate cyclical go ahead in professional fields, this examination may give explanation why each new movement tends to be unsuccessful to practitioners of every field in thriving deterministic thought, which constantly leads to a vague view of an occurrence.

Due to worries about corruption, misuse and lack of skills, several movements have emerged in public management fields in that are used to solve these shortages thoroughly. We may recognize two significant successful, outstanding trends which are Bureaucracy and the Post-Bureaucracy which comprises of Progressive public administration, latest public administration and modern or Today networked management or on the other hand e-government. Subsequently, what is a government? What is our understanding of those progressive movements? What is the influence of technology on every single public sector actions? Can we think off e-government as the completed form of the old minds in a new technological environment?

The different trends in Public Management

Anglo-Saxon‘s management research came out with two main movements: bureaucratic control in conjunction with post-bureaucratic management. They include the progressive public administration, the latest and modern public management and the collaborative networked-government or this day’s electronic government. These trends have emerged to meet certain political and social concerns, and they assemble themselves upon each other and always keep an original thought. Below is how technology employed in public management:

Bureaucracy Management

Bureaucracy can be defined as a strategy for regulatory modernization, a technique to make sure the effectiveness and rationality of administrative achievement in western society all through the second half of the nineteenth century. This latest organization structure supports a leadership including authority initiated with a logical framework conquered by rules, laws and also regulations but does not involve traditional powers. Max Weber declared that bureaucracy was steered by the Aim of competence, calculability and above all predictability. The main aim of bureaucracy means taking advantage of efficiency. Eventually, he realized the tendency of bureaucracy to inflict too many controls on employees and red flagged that it could create negative implication when becoming stronger than society. A lot of studies blame administration of corruption, waste of power, deliberation of power, political disturbance, lack of creativity and managerial hindrances, low creativity, and administrative frustrations. Bureaucracy is entirely wrong and should never exist in a perfect world

Max Weber realized the trend of bureaucracy to imply a lot of controls and measures on employees, therefore, forewarned that it could transform into the end to the system when bit becomes much more superior to society. This day, the phrase bureaucracy has a wrong meaning to the community of which it is described as dominating and controlling and on the other hand seen as a burden. Has the Weberian transformation failed or is it a failure in its application? Did it meet a particular need of the bureaucratic? A large number of researchers held bureaucracy system accountable for corruption, power misuse and interference in politics, lack of creativity and frustrations in management

The post-bureaucratic Management

Barzelay and Armajani journal breaking through Bureaucracy (1992) emphasizes on a bureaucratic transformation vision as seen in the U.S. in the 90s. They stated that this bureaucratic structure though provides significant development over waste, confusion, and support has become of no use and inefficient. The authors argue that this new structure foresees the beginning of the post-bureaucratic period. This new concept stresses a lot on the distribution of value to customers, conflicting to the management of costs and the struggle for efficiency,

The nature of public management reform

Administrative improvement involves fundamental and extraordinary change if not flat or higher phase of change. The various trends researched above are explaining the different transformation carried on by governments for the past 20 years. Can we recognize the forces, which want change? How can we understand the process of change in a third world country?

Addressing the administrative transformation in the of the environment post-bureaucratic phase with his book Public Management change (Bouckaert & Geest, 2004). He suggested the key ideas that have driven transformation in countries and how these alliances can predict the success of change, the social economic (which involves the worldwide economic partnerships, the social demographic shift, and the social, economic strategy). And the political structure (including the new management thoughts. The citizens pressurized and the views of political parties) are both two core alliances that bring forth a decision making process promoting transformation in the administrative system.

Characteristics of public Administration Technology

Every technology is structured by the following fundamental within a business structure (Leitzelman & Dou, 1998):

The foundation of information, in which is the initial information,

Stakeholder questions and queries,

Issues of the stakeholders noted down and stored

A communication system that links the whole network together

Technology may be:

Active arranged around a set of assets such as (technical, organizational and human).

A flexible system, which interacts with all the system of the organization, the system of technology appeared as a branch of different sub-system and recognized as a whole system,

Functioning and easy to use: As different sub-system of the business system, the technology is organized, but must also be used according to the aim of the company, the technology is opened to the environment of which it interacts with interacts.

Controlled and assessed when being implemented to systematize it‘s functioning, assure its growth and the critical corrections. The use of technology is necessary at this step.

A lot of the up and coming technologies that impact public administration go down below the wide-ranging of the so-called Technology in General. The phrase technique involves software or hardware for transferring, storing, and controlling information in the appearance of data. Having sufficient technology infrastructure operated with latest technologies causes public administration structure to work faster and more steadily, even when employees efficient.

Impact of Promising Technologies on Public Management

Mobile based Technology

Mobile types of equipment such as mobile phones and tablets can be linked to the Internet worldwide and allows sharing of data. These courses administration members to transfer e-mail, files and electronic data to each other, it doesn’t matter where they exist. Smartphone and gadgets keep staff connected to a high Technology structure with this they can socialize with other people. It is indeed helpful when they are working from outside the office

Cloud-Based Storage

Data stored on remote servers can be helpful to administrators; therefore they can quickly access data from a long distance, either inside the office network. Information can also be arranged orderly in one place and shared easily from anywhere between two parties, the administrator and other people relying on the data. Cloud file storing is much cheaper because administrator will pay less only space needed.

Security/Data Encryption

Only the latest technologies can store data efficiently, the methods used for data storage are up to date, techniques used to hide private and governmental information that are private. Hackers cannot steal data from such technology

Social Media

Social network is not just for students; this communication tool assist public administrator to convey their messages to the public quickly, tools like Face book can be used to display public information much easier

Environmentally Friendly

Saving Money through technology is a priority or this kind of environment benefits both staff members and administrations. Big administrations can put their hopes on renewable energy resources such as solar power for electricity. Thus assist in cutting cost both long and short. The money from power saved can be used for other things. Can also increase their productivity in general

Advancement in technology will help public administration either in investing in new technology or using the existing one. They can opt to purchase a profitable one and reliable or buy a little expensive but long lasting

Analysis of Technology on Public Administration

Technology impacts need organization transformation, investing in technology in need fundamental re-engineer processes, and they do not just use computers or telecommunications equipment by plugging them and expect to achieve service quality or efficiency gains. On the other hand, they have to go through a phase of organizational restructuring and make necessary changes to their service. Technology seems to present the greater gain when technology investment is intertwined with other organizational resources. When a business invests in the latest technology based manufacture machinery and installs the tools on the industry floor, it will be altering the essential character of what it does and how done (Bartel, Ichniowski, & Shaw, 2007).

Nevertheless, we are forced to understand that technologies have significant influences on outcome and performance, those influences are not gained automatic but linked with changes in organizations. More learning and Experiences have shown an explanation that to get the exact impact of performance by revealing an organization to technology, and it is without a doubt necessary to handle to make evolved the characteristics of the of performers using the technology. In fact, during the design process, the actors of organization usually consider technology as a legend. With the ease of use of the technology communications and tools pertaining their need, their inquisitive will be elevated to find out more, and if the technology that remained during the phase required for the organization and if the behavior changes will be visible. Also, there will be a social misuse which the outcomes will be in real (performance) influences while important actions should be taken to provoke organizational changes

Jane A. Fountain (2001) book known as building virtual state suggested an analytical framework called enacting technology with this it can assist society to find out more about technology processes and its impacts on institutions that are public in nature and why automatic nature is not prominent in productivity and performance. She also suggested that capability and potential of technology are mostly acting out by the users of the system. She added that individuals and organizations act out the technology by their understanding, structure, and implementing it in their businesses and networks. This analysis involves recognition, culture, and eventually, social networks, a formal standard system that will mold the characteristics of individuals and organization. As a result, the product should be uncertain, unexpected and multiple. Civil servants see technology as lack of confidence and doubt, because of fright to lose power or not familiar with technology. The observation of a lack of positive influence of technology tools and this uncertainty causes by the use of technology in public organization will results to a dangerous pretext for a strong resistance to change, the changes in the organization they are not only uncertain and unexpected but also conjectural.

This analysis also mostly includes social networks and use of as the stake that will be utilized in the evaluation of the characteristics of individuals, society, and technology. As a result, the outcome of the assessment needs to be unexpected, by unexpected means, it should not make a stakeholder loose will power, if it is lost, then it will result in pure denial and resistance to any transformation at hand.

Owing to that the biggest problem resulting to doubts and pessimism of technology usage, in earlier research conducted the assessment techniques, it is important to understand the evaluation concept means to estimate the importance or worth of an object

Fountain technology performance

(Fountain, 2002: 91)

It is without dispute that technology has a serious influence on public management, for example, the usage of network systems to connect different organizations leads to reducing cost, usage of fewer resources which also includes physical outcomes which also causes rise to sufficient gains. Nonetheless, those influences are conducted in organizational level, but not institutional level, as technology affects the primary structure of the Weberian bureaucracy. Below table columns like production, coordination, management and finally direction processes (Fountain, 2002). But the organizational alteration will not turn into institutional transformations automatically, change in institutions occurs whenever transformation of relative prices is seen by one of the parties involved as a win-win kind of coincidence for that party.

Organization Transformation in Weberian Administration

ELEMENT OF WEBERIAN BUREAUCRACY

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES

Functional differentiation

Precise division of labour/ Clear jurisdiction boundaries

Information structured using information technology rather than people; organizational structure based on information systems rather

Hierachy of offices and individual

Electronic and informal communication; teams carry out the work and make decisions

Files written document, staff to maintain and transmit files

computerized files in a flexible format supported and transferred electronically via digital types of equipment likes, bar codes, transponders, smartphones, mini-computers, flash drives, which are used to store, analyze, and transfer data; systems staff members maintain all hardware and software including telecommunication equipment

Employees are natural, impersonal, attached to a particular office

Employees are cross-functional, empowered jobs limited not only by expertise but also by the extent and sophistication of computer mediation

Office system of general rules, standard operating procedures, performance program

Rules embedded in application and information systems an invisible virtual structure

Slow processing time due to batch processing delays, lags multiple hand off

Rapid and real time processing

Long cycle of feedback and adjustment

Constant monitoring and updating of feedback, more rapid

Source: contrasting of Weberian along with virtual bureaucracies in designing the Virtual Situation with Jane A. Fountain, 2002: 61.

Conclusion

Technologies have a significant influence on how the technology works and performance; nonetheless the mentioned positive impact is manual, not automatic and again is linked with organizational transformation. The organizational change expected to rely on the understanding of the civil servants who are making usage of the technology; this theory makes the influences not only inevitable and unanticipated but also conjectural. In spite of this, the organizational transformation should not be anticipated to turn quickly and automatic into institutional change. In this contemporary research, we have the privilege to study on some organizational transformation the use of technology and networks communication in public administration opportunity and how great it is the resistance to change in public organizations

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