Information Technology and Its Social Dimensions

• Published date: 01 March 2003
• Date: 01 March 2003
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00283

Book Reviews 243

Information Technology and Its Social Dimensions

Dr. Genie Stowers is a professor and director of public administration at San Francisco State University as well as an associate dean

of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. She has researched Internet applications for government and teaching online since

1995, publishing in both academic and professional association outlets. She has also completed two reports for the

PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation for the Business of Government on e-commerce applications in the public sector and on federal

government Web sites. Email: gstowers@sfsu.edu.

Genie N.L. Stowers, San Francisco State University

Barrett, Katherine, and Richard Greene, Powering Up: How Public Manag-

ers Can Take Control of Information Technology (Washington, DC: CQ Press,

2001). 200 pp., $24.95, paper. ISBN 1-56802-575-0.

Garson, G. David, ed., Social Dimensions of Information Technology: Is-

sues for the New Millennium (Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 2001). 360

pp., $79.95, paper. ISBN 1-878289-86-1.

Norris, Pippa, Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and

the Internet Worldwide (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001).

320 pp., $20.00 paper. ISBN 0-521-00223-0.

The three books discussed here all

focus on the social impact of informa-

tion technology. One (Barrett and

Greene) is a more general text, but they

all emphasize the World Wide Web and

the Internet rather than traditional in-

formation technologies. Though dif-

fering in approach, the books come to

a similar set of “cyber-optimistic” con-

clusions: information technology can

improve government, communities,

education, and the quality of the po-

litical process.

Powering Up

Powering Up is a general-interest

book written by two editors of Gov-

erning magazine. The authors’ ac-

knowledged journalistic style results

in very short chapters and a very easy-

to-read book. The text takes a best/

failed practices approach to a wide

variety of information-technology top-

ics in state and local government in the

United States. The book and the case

studies within it are derived from the

information-technology research con-

ducted by the Government Perfor-

mance Project (GPP), a joint endeavor

between Governing and the Maxwell

School of Citizenship and Public Af-

fairs at Syracuse University. This

project funded (through the Pew

Charitable Trusts) research on best

practices throughout state and local

governments.

To conduct the research, detailed

criteria on information-technology

management practices were used to

identify best (and failed) practices. The

details of each of these criteria alone

make this book worth reading thor-

oughly, for the criteria provide an out-

standing framework for evaluating in-

formation technology in any setting.

These criteria include the following

categories, although the book also con-

tains many subitems within each of

these overall categories:

•Utility of information technology for

each government

•Use of the Internet to communicate

with employees and stakeholders

•Coherence of the information-

technology architecture

•Meaningful multiyear planning

•Balancing central controls and

agency flexibility

•Adequacy of training

•Capacity to evaluate benefits versus

costs of the investment

•Timely procurement

The first part of the book is orga-

nized around functional information-

technology areas: leadership, procure-

ment, training, outsourcing, strategic

planning, and the Internet. Then, three

case studies of best practices are dis-

cussed: Washington State’s Electronic

Filing System, Philadelphia’s Geo-

graphic Information Systems project,

and Phoenix’s financial management

system. These cases are interesting, but

provide only highlights and not the in-

depth details that professionals in the

field might find interesting. The appen-

dices include reprints of two Govern-

ing articles, complete with descrip-

tions of information-technology

efforts in 35 cities and all 50 states; a

grade for the efforts of each locality;

and a glossary. The appendices also

provide an interesting overview of dif-

ferent efforts across the country.

The book would be an excellent

addition to a general undergraduate

course in public administration that

Book Reviews | M. Jae Moon, Editor