Volume 5, No. 3, July 1995
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We carry many articles in this issue on Information Technology and Development. The World Bank had recently organised a very lively electronic discussion on this theme. Some contributions of interest to our readers have been included in this issue. As Edward Parker points out in his article, development is a complex issue requiring several different types of interventions. Often we tend to treat developing countries as one single homogenous group of people. Electronic commerce is seen as having a great potential for benefitting that section of developing countries' population which is engaged in trade and industry in this age of out-sourcing and global competition. On the other hand, for large sections of rural poor, we still need to prove that they can benefit from information technology in any direct way. Many of us believe, that IT has a great potential for improving the quality of governance as well as of improving communications in remote rural areas. The quantum of investment will not come in the way of this improvement because solutions could be found to raise resources. However the ability to introduce attitudinal changes within the bureaucracy in Government and other agencies which deal with the rural poor will be a formidable task. Several authors point to this fact and suggest roles for international agencies which are predominantly oriented towards training and education. This issue has been put together largely from materials drawn from a variety of electronic bulletin boards including the WG 9.4 discussion list. We hope that more members will respond to our call for contributions to the Newsletter in future. The next WG 9.4 Conference is likely to be held in Ahmedabad, India in January 1997. We will announce the full proposal after TC 9 has approved it in its meeting which is due to take place in August. I must once again come back to the issue of WG 9.4 elections. It is very important that we start the process of identifying potential nominees for the post of WG 9.4 Chair. It would be possible for us to conduct this process through E-mail. However, that will leave out many members from developing countries who are currently not on E-mail. Such members are therefore encouraged to write/fax their suggestions to me or Mikko Korpela.
Harnessing Information Technology for Development: The World Bank Role Recently The World Bank had organized a very lively electronic discussion on the above theme. We carry a few contributions that would be of interest to our readers. The discussions began with a posting from staffers at the World Bank on the implication of information related developments for DCs. The role of Government in harnessing information for development was also outlined. These two pieces are reproduced below. Ed. Parker provided an appropriate context to discuss information and development by highlighting that development is a complex process requiring several different types of interventions. Information technology can at best be a double edged sword providing both a threat and an opportunity. Several other authors like Nageri have pointed out that the benefits of IT to developing countries can not be automatic. We carry as separate articles these contributions and some others in which some specific roles have been identified for an agency like the World Bank. Implications of Information Related Developments
They can provide added scope for countries to
To achieve this progress, countries need to:
The World Bank Role could be to:
What is the role of governments in harnessing information for development? Philip Gaudette This is an important question because the answer dramatically affects the World Bank role. For one thing, the World Bank has traditionally worked through loans to client governments. The emphasis might change, but the tradition will not disappear. Whereas a complete answer is not possible and not necessary, a general sense of the proper role of government is stated below: A. Government action is necessary -- as a policy maker, as a major user of information technology, and to compensate for market failure. B. Government action can be effective, particularly in some of the core functions of government and after market distortions have been eliminated. Some particular actions are mentioned below:
Information & Development: A Larger Context Ed Parker of
Parker Telecommunications Development is a particularly complex process not subject to simplistic answers or strategies. There are multiple requirements for development to take place, many of which must be concurrently available. Generally we can categorize what is needed for development into three main categories. 1. Invest in human capital, primarily education and health care. (Information technology can help in this process, as other participants have already indicated, but changing information technology also adds requirements for additional training to cope with new technology and additional complexity.) 2. Invest in physical infrastructure, including clean water & waste disposal, transportation, power and telecommunications. (Telecommunications is particularly important at this time because of the rapidly changing technology and the threats and opportunities those changes create, but we should not lose sight of the fact that it is the use of telecommunications for other activities that brings about development, not the presence of the infrastructure itself. And telecommunications is not the only infrastructure requirement.) 3. Reform the social infrastructure, which is the most difficult task of all. What is needed is a social environment without legal or institutional barriers to entrepreneurial development of all types, as suggested by Hernando De Soto in his advocacy of "peasant capitalism" in his book "The Other Path." For development to take place there should be a social environment that provides incentives, role models, opportunities for both cooperation and competition, availability of training and information support, and wide access to whatever financing and other institutional support mechanisms are available. In this complex context, the continuing information technology revolution is a two-edged sword that provides both a threat and an opportunity for less developed countries. Newer, lower cost technologies provide an opportunity to leapfrog traditional expensive technologies--for example using wireless technology and personal computers in tasks that previously required more expensive technologies. Because the technology is changing so rapidly, it provides opportunities to reform the social infrastructure in ways that might not have been possible earlier in the absence of external changes that institutions must adapt to. Utilization of new technologies, including personal computers and Internet access can be a great help to development. On the flip side, however, it is hard enough for those of us in more developed countries to keep up with the changes and the opportunities being created. Those in developing countries will have more trouble keeping up, let alone leap-frogging. In the short run the information and information technology gaps between rich and poor are likely to widen. But the genie is already out of the bottle; wishing it was not happening will compound the potential hurt. The only viable option is to try to speed the transition as much as we can. In the much longer run, a more widespread availability of information and information technology will make the playing field more level and reduce some of the disadvantages of the less developed countries. In the shorter run, those less developed countries unable or unwilling to try to keep up with the information technology revolution will see the gap between rich and poor widen even further. So let us help all whom we can in this difficult transition. Some Key Issues in IT and Development Henry Norman, VITA 1. Is information technology only for the rich? The poor will not have automatic access to information technology any more than they do to any other technology. However, the means by which they can share in its benefits at low cost can be made available and, if enough demand is generated, the supplier of information technology can become self financing. If the supplier is part of a network, the benefits to the user will expand dramatically and will likely intensify the demand and improve the quality of the product. The bank can encourage this by lending for start-up resources for information centers and encouraging experimentation for becoming self-financing. 2. Are the opportunities described in the background paper real or imagined? I think the opportunities are real, but their realization is by no means inevitable particularly for the poor. There are indeed those who will have the skills and the need to search global data bases, but the poor are not likely to be among them. While VITA has made a major effort to link rural areas with the rest of the world through its low earth-orbiting satellite, it has placed great importance on terrestrial packet radio communications which permit domestic communications. It has also helped create information centers so that internal and external communications and information gathering and management are possible. Finally, it has tried to ensure that the centers are supported with fees so that as demand grows, so will capacity. 3. Is an information infrastructure necessary to be competitive in international markets? The level of sophistication of a country's information culture will define its economic role. The free flow of information within a country to which all its citizens have access will greatly influence its political and social stability. 4. What leadership arrangements are appropriate for establishing national informatics policies and priorities? Leadership must come from both the private and public sectors. Governments must have the wisdom to promote information technology within the public sector to improve the way in which it carries out its responsibilities. However, it must have the greater wisdom to encourage IT in the private sector by permitting the free flow of information and placing minimal constraints on access to equipment, software, and means of communication. 5. Should national informatics strategies deal only with telecommunication sector reform or should they include the development of strategic information systems? Governments should do both, but they should realize that they do not have a good understanding of the information needs of the private sector. Within government, information systems are essential to the smooth functioning of health systems, education, military, administration, etc. The private sector needs information generally collected by government on trade, transportation, taxes, etc. Governments however, generally do a poor job of disseminating information and they would do better to provide free access to it so that those who understand the needs of commerce can process the data so it is useable. A New View of Information Infrastructure M. Nageri &
OKane, ARCT, BP 2435, DAKAR, Senegal I find the arguments about the importance of the information infrastructure as encompassing both the telecommunications infrastructure and the strategic information applications as being very valid and pertinent. Most of us who are in the IT/Information services in the developing countries tend to think that telecommunications infrastructure, once improved, would do the miracles of getting knowledge transferred from the point of production to the point of use. I see, in this respect, telecommunications as serving a means of knowledge transfer but first and foremost, that knowledge must exist in the form that it is transferable. If I may take the case of Africa, the collection, organization and utilization of strategic information is in dismal state. By strategic information, I am talking about information that makes the government systems to operate (fiscal information, police and judicial information, public health information, juridical information, supply or demand-oriented information transport systems (e.g. car registration records, driving licenses, etc). This kind of information must be made accessible for decision-making and economic planning and for evaluating development goals and achievements of any country. It is also needed by the health care people, by farmers, traders, manufacturers and other groups. In all countries this kind of data is collected and ought to be processed, and should be accessed by the state and those authorized to do so. In my view, well managed strategic information systems that can be easily exploited to provide ready answers to management problems are a prerequisite to good governance, transparency and rapid economic development. Improved telecommunications infrastructure will go many steps to facilitate rapid communication within a given environment. The more the telecom facilities are accessible or liberalized,the more effective the strategic or other information systems are bound to be for development. The World Bank and other donors should support programs that would help developing countries to properly manage and use strategic information. In the African context, the lack of well organized strategic information systems has lead to the inability of government systems to function at the expected capacity. Just as the telecommunication infrastructure needs to be upgraded, I believe that the information systems that support the government capacity to perform and to become competitive should also be addressed. There is the need to train people involved in record management at government ministries and departments. Those who provide the information too need to be sensitized and persuaded to give accurate data. Personal records in many African countries are completely inaccurate due to citizens giving false information to the authorities. In many countries, births and deaths are not even recorded and when they are, the records never reach the local or central data processing center, if at all one exists. Some Roles World Bank Can Play R. Narasimhan, CMC
Ltd., Bangalore As there is some agreement on the broad agenda, what needs to be spelt out are action agenda. To this end, I would like to see more focused discussion on practicable roles for WB. There are 2 issues here: (1) What kinds of roles World Bank wants to play; and (2) What kinds of roles World Bank can play given its institutional mandates and constraints. Being an outsider to the organization, I can only list some desirable goals. Inevitably, these are based on Indian conditions and experiences. There seems to be a general consensus that an essential prerequisite is improvement of the telecommunication infrastructure - especially away from the urban centres. A few decades ago, there was much excitement about rural electrification. Can a similar channelling of resources be motivated for rural telecommunication? Can WB play a catalyzing role here? In a recent book of Indian case-studies (Grassroot Entrepreneurship by Ajit Kanitkar; New Age & Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1994/95), it is argued that educated rural entrepreneurs are moving away from traditional family occupations. However, in order to succeed, they have to struggle against a variety of hurdles: absence of market research & sales forecast, management training, and so on. IT is an ideal means of providing all these services. How does one motivate and create such service-providers? Several NGOs working at the village-level function as effective intermediaries to provide rural employment, basic education, primary health, etc. Some of them also provide information services of the kind described earlier. Can these NGOs be networked and provided with the requisite IT infrastructure to enhance the quality, quantity and effectiveness of their operations? A pilot project to explore this is being formulated. How can WB help? Radical changes in educational methodologies are needed to motivate students (and parents) and convince them of the importance of literacy and school education. Students should become partners in teaching and teachers should accept them as colleagues. (Most rural schools are one room-one teacher schools; a situation that prevailed in USA as recently as the first decades of this century!)IT-based DTP technology is an ideal enabler of this mode of operation. Is it possible to try this out in a few selected schools as an exploratory project? These can (and,perhaps, should) be integrated with the framework outlined above. Information Center in Madagascar Henry R. Norman This piece describes an experiment in Madagascar where in cooperation with the national government, VITA is carrying out an integrated conservation and development program in a protected area, Mantadia/ Andasibe. This area is about two hours from the capital of Antananarivo. Our program purpose is to assist villagers whose current work activities threaten the ecosystem change to environmentally benign means of earning a livelihood and/or to promote good conservation practices. As in all VITA projects, we have found information and communication critical. Therefore, we set about enlisting the support of the nearby community of Moramanga to consider an information/ communications strategy. Moramanga is a small rural city but its mayor agreed to provide a building to establish an information center. It is being provided rent free for three years, and is located next door to his office. The information center, the mayor's office and other buildings are located in the city's market area. Several modest buildings are being constructed around an elevated pavilion. The purpose is to create a commercial and entertainment center. The information center, of course, will be anchored by the needs of our program to provide information about ecologically acceptable work. But the center will also serve the needs of the complex of enterprises being attracted to the new pavilion. Of course, it will also be a resource to the entire community, and to assist in meeting the technological and scientific needs of the park. The center will be linked with other parks by a VITA installed terrestrial packet radio communications unit, and when VITA's low earth-orbiting satellite is launched next month, a ground station will be installed to permit international connectivity through the Internet to other information sources. In addition to day-to-day communications that are urgently needed, the center will provide distance education; support training for students in the nearby high school; offer a resource for park visitors; serve to secure hotel and airline reservations, etc. Of course, hard copy publications and other printed material will be available but the backbone of the center will be computerized capabilities to retrieve and to generate information. Community interest in the center is very high. It is viewed as a way to promote the city as a regional commercial center, to increase the number of visitors to the park, to lengthen visitors' stays and thus generate income to make improvements and from the viewpoint of adding value to our project, accomplish program objectives of increasing environmentally sound work. The hotel and restaurant association members in Moramanga have agreed to pay part of the costs and other users will pay dues and fees. These are expected to cover operating expenses within the first twelve months making it self-sufficient and sustainable. The effort we have made in Maramanga could be replicated in protected areas throughout the country if the resources were available. And networking such resources around the country would add value to all of them. Of course, the Moramanga VITA Information Center could be a stronger contributor to development if it could afford back-up computers, printers as well as other equipment. The World Bank should promote Maramanga type of efforts. I appreciate that current Bank rules and procedures make such support difficult. Discovering the route for Bank assistance is critical if information is to be extended to unserved communities who would benefit in their economic growth by creating information and communication resources. In my opinion, it is not terribly difficult. Maramanga demonstrates that. The Bank has to and can act creatively and boldly. IT and Development: Emphasise Education Subhash Bhatnagar, In thinking of ways and means of how information technology could be harnessed to accelerate development it is not appropriate to treat all developing countries on the same footing. Countries vary in their capacity to invest in IT infrastructure, access to computing equipment, manpower to write software to develop applications, capability of maintaining IT hardware and finally the capacity to absorb and integrate technology within organizations. Barring countries like India and China which lack financial resources but have abundant supply of highly qualified human resources in most other DC's development of human resources will have to precede any development of an IT infrastructure. Within large countries there are vast differences amongst the population in their attitude towards IT. There are segments of population mainly from the corporate sector which would like to emulate management practices as well as personal life styles prevalent in western countries. For them mobile telephones, INTERNET access, IT applications leading to competitive advantage, use of multi-media for entertainment and education are all extremely important. They see immense benefits from personal ownership of computers. Then there is a huge white collar and blue collar worker population and lower levels of bureaucracy who have very little interest in improving work practices and inadequate personal resources to benefiting in any way from interactions with computers. An overwhelming proportion of population in large developing countries living in rural areas struggle for day-to-day basic necessities. To them there would be several alternative uses of funds than can be used to build an information highway or provide a computer in a rural school. They would for example like black boards/text books and all weather buildings for their schools prior to any investments in IT. Many of the difficult problems of developing countries like family planning, health, education and rural poverty require interventions in which information technology has only a marginal direct role. The experience of some successful experiments in India where NGOs have been able to transform clusters of villages towards economic prosperity and social emancipation have come through sustained contact with change agents and consequent attitudinal change. Financial or other material inputs have not been the prime instrument of such change. Perhaps IT can play a role of strengthening administration and promoting communication within NGOs, government functionaries at grass root level and policy makers at federal level. Good governance is central to any impact on development. Good governance can make a difference in the quality of policies that are initiated and implemented for promoting economic development. Good governance can certainly make a difference in the provisions of basic services such as education, drinking water, roads and telephones, because much of the infrastructure for providing such services is in the control of Governments in DC's. Good governance can also impact economic development by responding to the needs of industrial infrastructure such as transport, banking, insurance, power and communication. Besides, a large amount of productive capacity is in many case under the control of Government's public enterprises. World Bank should therefore focus on IT enabled improvements in governance. However the 'technology push' approach suggesting that if telecom infrastructure is in place, and government functionaries have access to computers, it will automatically lead to improved decision making, planning and monitoring will have to be discarded. If India's experience is anything to go by, such automatic improvement does not take place. Administrative reforms in terms of de-layering of bureaucracy, simplification of rules/procedures/forms, building customer orientation through time bound single window response will have to precede any investments in IT. Government departments which deal with administrative reform must be turned into independent agencies with professional manpower capable of carrying out such analysis. If there is a single area where the bank can make a difference, it is in promoting education in IT. Education programs in information systems which can produce 'hybrids' who can lead IT teams within organizations are required. Business schools which can provide the interdisciplinary training have to be funded to start such programs. User education also needs to be strengthened. Such education has to be integrated with training on management and public administration. Conducting skill based courses in computers for administrators is not sufficient. Letting administrators see where IT enables them to sharpen analysis of data, reduce paper flow, make communication more effective within the context of there own work can make training more relevant. The World Bank should work to strengthen IT training in all institutions of management and public administration through development of training material, training of faculty and by providing IT infrastructure to such institutions. World bank should also commission reviews of major IT initiatives by governments. One of the problems of administrative innovation in developing countries is that the innovations never get replicated. Part of the reason is that such innovations are not completely documented from the point of view of processes that enable the innovation to succeed. On the other hand glaring failures are never discussed and therefore not much is learnt from them. Another area where World Bank can initiate pilot projects is in creating a culture of open information. Citizen's must have access to much of the information held within government records. Performance of various government departments based on such records must be analyzed and reported in public media. This can bring effective accountability and would require changes in legislation as well as creation of information servers which are accessible. Many Facets of International Software Piracy We abstract below a discussion on the above theme that took place on the WG 9.4 electronic list. The following table which launched an active discussion was posted by Edward Roche: Piracy of Software and Losses to Companies Country Piracy Rate (%) Loss to SW Companies ($Million) Turkey
97
158.7 Note: Loss is
"Loss to Manufacturers selling in Europe" Sam Lanfranco responded: The above table represents a very loose set of numbers estimating the "losses" to software manufactures from the uncompensated use of (usually imported) software by firms in various countries. While not wishing to condone the use of pirated software it is worth taking a few minutes and looking at the issue from several vantage points, including the long run self interest of the software companies themselves. They are not above crying wolf, or crocodile tears, to serve their own ends. I will present the arguments in point form to keep this short. 1. Estimates of losses depend on estimates of price and quantity. The price used for such estimates usually bears no relationship to the actual prices that would obtain if all software was purchased in the market, and at any price above the pirace "zero" price, quantity would be much smaller than the estimated quantity. Hence, both P and Q would be substantially smaller and the "opportunity cost" of the piracy, as opposed to fully marketed software, would be substantially less than the P*Q=LOSS estimated by self-interested firms. 2. Both of the inflated P*Q=Loss from Industry and the lower P*Q=Loss from an economist's understanding of the market and the downward slope of the demand curve would grossly overestimate the cost of production losses to the firms since the marginal cost of producing software packages is near zero. What is lost is the monopoly rent from owning the copyright, granted to reward initiative, to cover up front R&D costs, and to provide the funding for new improvements (assuming that firms low profits into new R&D and don't simply take them as profits or used them for leveraged buyouts. The "costs" in terms of actual costs incurred for the pirated software are near zero. That is not to condone the action but to put its "costs" in perspective. 3. While the industry cries crocodile tears it must be remembered that the pirated use of software represents market penetration and sets the stage for capitalizing on that market WHEN such firms are in a position to pay. A smart corporate strategy here, especially in "poor" markets in developing countries, is for software suppliers with deep pockets (i.e., not in need of the revenues) to allow their software to be pirated - with a mild protest here and there - so as to capture current (non)market share and preclude the growth of local suppliers and to compete with other international suppliers. This cements one's position in the market without much expenditure on advertising. It is a loss leader technique where in effect the software is given away (eg Netscape) to capture market share. The "protesting" is pro forma and serves the switch over point where it makes sense to press for payment. The same technique is used by some drug dealers! So, while one may object to piracy, one should not take the dollar values, the crocodile tears, or the moral outrage at face value. This perspective explains as well why companies would turn a blind eye for a shorter period to countries such as Germany than they would to countries in Africa. The switch over point in the marketing strategy comes quicker in Germany where capacity to pay and the speed of penetration are greater. If I were the producer of a modest soft- ware product today I would hope very much that countries such as China or India engaged in broad based piracy for several years - so I could build up my long term client base at modest marketing costs. Note that this same perspective suggests that things such as point-of-sale software, banking software, main frame software, and the like, sold to "richer" segments in the economy, will reach their switch over point more quickly. Some will start out already beyond the switch over point. Software piracy can be a good business practice for those whose software is being pirated, crocodile tears or no crocodile tears. Grete Pasch supported Sam Lanfranco So, while one may object to piracy, one should not take the dollar values, the crocodile tears, or the moral outrage at face value. This perspective explains as well why companies would turn a blind eye for a shorter period to countries such as Germany than they would to countries in Africa. The switch over point in the marketing strategy comes quicker in Germany where capacity to pay and the speed of penetration are greater AND where they are able to sue and legally punish those who practice software piracy. For example: In Mexico, Microsoft lobbied the legislature to promote the application of laws for software protection. Then, according to a Microsoft lawyer I talked to about a year ago, they chose a company to make an example of. Overnight, a Microsoft team "gathered evidence" about piracy practices inside a large Mexican company. The following morning they sued, the story was out, and immediately they were getting orders for hundreds of copies of various packages. I have always wondered why software companies are not willing to sell their products at a lower price in developing countries. Some book publishers, for example, have lower cost editions for Latin America. Why not software? Edward M. Roche also agreed with Sam but pointed out that there have been cases of some rather large-scale theft to China of more complex programs such as CAD-CAM and in this case the damage is severe. The company not only loses its revenue, it loses income from support, and because of the rather specialized nature of the software, in particular that it has a narrow installed base, it is unlikely the affected company can ever capitalize on a growing market. So I suppose the moral of the story is to distinguish between the piracy effects of different classes of software. Sam Lanfranco concurred and cited an example from Canada: The software piracy laws in Canada have mainly been used to catch companies which illegally install software on systems which they sell (eg. DOS, Wordperfect, Lotus already on the hard drive of a retail machine). A famous case involves the U.S. government's alleged stealing of a Canadian software package (criminal investigation software) and a protracted fight. The problem was not so much that they stole it. They turned around and began to sell it. In another case, (I believe far east company was producing illegal MS-DOS and using the laser lab at a Chinese University to produce the holograms which are supposed to insure authentic copies. Microsoft had to follow suspects and collect evidence from garbage dempsters being print factors (boxes, etc.) and the back seats of cars (samples, etc.) before it closed the operation down and confiscated thousands of illegal copies in warehouses in Canada. There is another "counterfeiting" problem here in that companies will contract a third party to produce their product (Microsoft, Levis, Mercedes Benz, etc. all do this). The problem is that the party may produce the 100,000 copies for the order then run off another 20,000 copies, levi pants, auto parts and sell them into the international trade grey market. By the time the end buyer is buying the software in the store, it has been in legal channels from import through warehousing and retailing. Catching is difficult - but an extremely profitable area for corporate private investigators. K.Gopinath (Asst. Prof. CSA dept., Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore 560012 INDIA ) pointed out provisions in Dunkel Draft which may hurt DC interests. Productivity software, such as spreadsheets, used widely in developed countries, is too expensive for many developing economies. For example, Lotus 1-2-3 costs around $500 per machine. As a comparison, a well paid job in India offers $200-500 per month to a person with a masters degree. Individuals and small businesses even in middle income countries, leave alone developing countries, cannot easily afford the installation of more than a very few such applications. As a result, there is often unauthorized duplication of software in both developed and developing countries. It has been estimated that the extent of unauthorized duplication in the US is as much as 50%, and even higher in developing countries. If such software is to be re-engineered in developing countries for the above cost reasons, it does have to satisfy standard interfaces while respecting intellectual property rights extant at the time. These requirements may make this task much more costly or difficult. The current legal basis for software patents in the US is not sound (among other reasons, being dependent on the distinction between mathematical and non- mathematical algorithms, which is not comprehensible to computer scientists). If software patents cannot be abolished altogether as the League of Programming Freedom has demanded in the US, a more favourable IPR regime should be made available for developing countries and not just for the least developed countries, as provided for in the Dunkel draft. A provision is needed to make important software packages available to third world countries at substantially lower prices than in the OECD countries; just as the copyright law (Berne Convention) allows the developing countries to print and sell textbooks at substantially lower cost, for the exclusive use in those countries. Summary In a global economy increasingly dependent on information and technology, the protection of intellectual property is becoming essential to world commerce and the wealth of many U.S. companies. As a result, U.S. computer companies and software producers are using their intellectual property rights not only to thwart piracy but also as strategic business tools for the 1990's. Certainly, software companies have a legal right to the economic gains that follow from their ideas and inventions, but intellectual property law was never intended to guarantee profits or financial gain for the producers of such works. Deciding what distinguishes a "legal right"' from a `"financial gain" is one issue that will continue to be hotly debated for some time to come. There are other tensions that exist between various countries and interest groups. Those interested in the above issues are referred to a paper by Suzanne P. Weisband and Seymour E. Goodman (in IEEE Computer, November, 1992, Pages 87-90) which highlights these current tensions and proposes some policy options for the public and private sectors to consider. Can Government Policies be blamed for Societies Remaining Information Poor? We produce below the gist of another interesting discussion on the W.G. 9.4 e-mail list. Once again it was Edward Roche who launched the discussion by pointing out that although the world was adding more than 40 million telephones per year, the world's population was growing by more than 100 million per year. He opined that this would mean a reduction in the average telephone density. Others, however, pointed out that on the contrary, this would mean a slow increase in the ratio of phones per capita. Second, newer technologies (cellular, wireless, satellite, etc) are reducing the cost of extending phone access. There was some discussion on the meaning of "information poverty". According to Roche it is easy to define information poverty - most of the statistics are listed in the yearly World Development Report. The general measurements are per capita. There are many such measurements: newspapers/capita magazines, books, etc/per capita telephones/capita computers/ capita. Taking all of these figures together, it is easy to establish a good indicator of information rich and information poor. Roche faulted "closed door" Government policies followed by many developing countries. The problem with many governmental approaches is that the government itself is a social class. It usually tries to bureaucratize everything, including "technology transfer". This inevitably turns into a lot of money wasted on feasibility studies, government bureaucrat salaries and pensions, and so on. At the same time, the same governments treat information technology and telecommunications as a "cash cow" to milk the population through both direct and indirect taxation. It is like taxing food in a country where people are starving. Government tax telecommunications and computer equipment in countries which there is massive information poverty. One of the first steps to "promoting" technology transfer would be to completely eliminate all import restrictions, quotas, non-tariff barriers, taxes, and other government-imposed impediments to computerization. Government funds should be put into the usually neglected educational sector. G. Anandalingam (Department of Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6315, USA) did not agree with Roche's prescription for DC's. One has to agree that governments should encourage the flow of information and technology that aids in the creation, transmittal, flow, and storage of information. The main reason why there are things like import restrictions, quotas etc. is that Third World governments also want to encourage industries from within their own borders to also have some part of the information technology market. These clearly help create employment, making information technology more affordable, and may also curb the growth of population that everyone in the West is so alarmed about. Edward M. Roche responded to Anand's comment: On the argument about protecting national IT industries - it has never been proven. Most policies seem to simply drive up the cost of computers and components, thus putting a severe drag on proliferation, in addition to the taxes, import restrictions etc. by organizations such as the "licensing Raj" etc. It is a good example of failure of government policy rather than success. I did a study on Brazil a few years back. The conclusion was that the restrictive policy there helped to foster the creation of a national industry because the excessive profits the vendors were able to extort from the users served as a substitute for government subsidies and loans which were unavailable because the government had over-spent itself in almost every other category. In addition, the policy helped accelerate the training of engineers, systems integrators, etc. Of course Brazil later abandoned its policy as a failure. No other national policy has ever worked - Germany, France - although some argue Japan was successful. Even Japan has crashed in a sense because it tied its fortune to mainframe technology and has lost completely in the microprocessor market. The essential reason why these types of policies are not successful is that no country has an internal market large enough with enough disposable income to reach economies of scale in manufacturing to produce price competitive equipment. The industry, including all of the supporting subcontractors, are located in many different countries anyway. It is just too large and too complex for a nation to pretend it can go it alone. So government "policy" which attempts to do so is misguided. It should be possible to encourage systems integration (assembly and manufacturing of small systems from imported parts with some local content added), but Anand's policy would drive up the prices for the components beyond any hope of efficient production, and would stifle employment. Of course one could eliminate the taxes and other restrictions on components and then tax completed systems to encourage the industry that way, and it would probably work better than driving up the prices of all components. However, this approach moves one closer to my original position which is to get government interference out of it altogether. On the other hand, the policy of very limited controls on components and systems combined with strong national policies in education and IT projects, seems to offer some promise, at least as evidenced by the city-state of Singapore. Sam Lanfranco commented: One area which is of crucial importance here is the telecom regime of the government. As Ed Roche correctly reminds us, the telecom are frequently either government "cash cows" or strongholds of vested interest. The results can be a disaster. In Canada for example, public schools are treated as just another business customer when it comes to phone tariffs. This means that even though the Canadian government is funding SCHOOLNET, a wonderful activity on the networks, many schools cannot afford to access it since the commercial rate for phone lines is more than double that for private lines. So, a good idea from one agency of the government is obstructed because the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) has failed to create an educational tariff rate. One need not go as far as Ed's list for deregulation to see that there is a problem with existing policies in many countries. Although there seems to be a consensus on faulting Government policies, much greater thought and research needs to go into spelling out these policies for a specific country. This issue carries a proposal for setting up a telecom policy research centre whose prime objective is to support such policy making for India. Even some basic questions such as defining the extent of "information poverty" need much greater attention. Sam Lanfranco mentioned that the use of the pattern of information technology in different countries can be quite different. I have been in developing countries where the level of computerization was low but literally every machine was on the network by modem with some sort of international linkage. On the other hand I have been in large western institutions where there were hundreds (100s) of machines and until recently none of them were connected to email outside their own organization. It is the technology in use which determines its impact on social process. Just counting technology installations alone will seldom give you a good feel for what is happening when the technology is linked to communication activities. Dr. David R. Newman (Queen's University, Information Management Dept., Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland) commented: Sam Lanfranco raises the point of how well computers are used in different countries and organisations. He illustrates well how IT is often diffused as a disembodied technology, bereft of the social institutions that can make it work - things like schools, training courses, computer clubs, dealers, repair technicians, computer-literate librarians, localised software and local strategic (or tactical) thinkers. It all goes back to Jacques Ellul's distinction between embodied and disembodied technology, which is at the core of any analysis of the historical diffusion of technology. It is sometimes over-simplified by (non-development) economists who imagine technology transfer amounts to picking the right goodies off the shelf. Setting up a Telecom Policy Research Centre at IIM, Ahmedabad Subhash Bhatnagar With economic liberalization and the likelihood of large investment flowing into India (currently at the level of USD 1 billion per year) the importance of some key infrastructure facilities for promoting industrialization is being recognized. Telecom infrastructure is an absolute necessity to build an efficient industrial economy. It is vital for providing connectivity between producers and markets, clients and service providers, exporters and importers, government functionaries and individuals, public and private organizations. Today many of the sophisticated applications of information technology ride on the telecom infrastructure. In that sense the growth of IT usage and its impact on the competitiveness of Indian industry and service organizations depends on the quality and access to telecom services. Even in the area of personal communication and for servicing social sectors such as health, education, public distribution system, etc. telecom infrastructure forms the basic backbone for improving the management of these programs. It is believed that the role of telecom infrastructure vis-a-vis development of backward area in the 20th century will be as important as the contribution of the road network in opening up backward areas. An ITU study had suggested that the telephone to the population ratio needs to go up to seven per thousand which implies an increase in the total number of telephone connections from 5 million in 1991 to 50 million in 1997. The resources required were estimated at US dollars 60 billion. The plan has since been revised to 7.5 million new lines at the cost of 13 billion. India with over 5 million new connections in 1990-95 and 10 million to 1995-2000 would be the third largest market in Asia. Realizing the importance of creating a modern telecom infrastructure in India to enable India to play its legitimate role in the globalized economy, Government of India has been contemplating large investments and several basic policy changes in the telecom sector. For the last two years there has been fierce debate within and outside the government about increasing access to telephones, the investments required and various mechanisms of building a modern telecom infrastructure and providing basic and value added services. To complicate matters telecom infrastructure includes hundreds of new types of services that can be provided through the basic network. The debate has been fierce and a new telecom policy has been announced which aims at attracting substantial private investment to supplement department of tele-communication's (DoT's) mandate and ensuring for the subscribers a choice of quality services at fair competition. There is a feeling that this policy is not supported by adequate analysis of the needs of developing country like India. The variety of ways in which these needs can be met and almost innumerable combinations of the ways in which telecom services can be built and maintained. Some policy issues that need answers are: how should India restructure its telecommunications market to make it more efficient, responsive and customer oriented. What are the pre-requisites to privatization? How should the government balance quality versus affordability factors versus commercial interests? The new telecom policy focuses on delivery mechanisms presuming that much of the other analysis has been done. Objectives of the Telecom Policy Research Centre The proposed telecom policy research centre would establish a core group of faculty members at IIM Ahmedabad and create an enabling environment for them to do research to support policy formulation and its implementation in the telecom sector in India. The scope is intended to cover the following aspects of telecom policy: Defining and clarifying of policy objectives, monitoring and review of policy performance and implementation requirements. Restructuring, competition, privatization, industry development, investment and financing are some of the issues that will get covered by the research agenda. The broad scope of research is given below. Need Assessment
This would imply an understanding of the needs of rural and urban India for accessing telecom services for different purposes. It would imply a scheme of categorization of every city, town and village in India using parameters which assess the needs of social communication, trading needs, needs for promoting industry. Such needs could vary in terms of volume of traffic as well as the other nodes to which connectivity is desired. For some purposes such as exports, quality and connectivity to the international network is important. For some other purposes such as improving the functioning of government administration connectivity between taluka and village headquarters and locations wherein key government offices exist is important. For some other purposes connectivity between surrounding villages to a few focal points that provide services is important. Rarely in rural areas inter-connectivity amongst a large number of distributed villages will turn out to be important in the initial stages. The present ministerial objective to have one phone in every village by 1995 needs to be evaluated. Understanding and designing appropriate indicators which can measure access to telecom services which take care of different types of needs listed above requires the collection and analysis of reasonable amounts of data about existing infrastructure of telecom and socio economic data of a large number of cities, towns and villages in India. However, unless this analysis is done in some depth and there is a clarity on the type of telecom infrastructure required and their relative importance it would be very difficult to estimate delivery mechanisms, resources required, etc. Technology Choices Once there is clarity about the objectives to be achieved in the telecom sector in the coming years, a choice has to be made regarding the type of basic technologies that would be used to provide the proposed access. With rapid research and development in information technology, fundamentally new products and ways of providing telecom services are emerging. No more do the telephone networks have to rely on the copper wire. There are several alternatives like radio telephony, cellular technology, satellite based personal connectivity, etc. which may be appropriate under different scenarios. Even within a given technology choice of a hard wired network several options are available. These may relate to different types of switches, different modes of transmissions such as microwave, traditional copper cables, fibre optic, etc. Without developing a reasonable accurate model of the network neither investments, nor operating costs, nor quality and reach of access can be evaluated. The issue of technology choice must also relate with sourcing of such technology, financial arrangements, etc. The other issues that are involved in making technology choices relate to indigenous development vis-a-vis imports, possibility of joint ventures and the role that Indian and foreign partners can play in such ventures. Delivery Mechanisms The third important dimension of telecom policy would relate to the nature of institutional infrastructure which can implement projects to augment telecom services and subsequently deliver these services. A variety of issues concerning the delivery mechanisms need to be resolved. These can range from several providers competing with each other to a single government department providing the entire services. Many other intermediate solutions are possible. The central issue is the extent of competition that a policy should be promoting? An issue which is currently under discussion is whether the companies be given exclusive licenses to operate in a given geographical area, or the area should be open to more than one player, including the department of tele-communications (DoT). The issue of privatization or corporatisation of DoT is an attempt to find a solution to the delivery mechanism. In evaluating different options for institutional arrangements to deliver telecom services, the issue of pricing of telecom services will be crucial. How should the whole sector be regulated? What is the role of legislation in settlement of disputes and complaints? Who would establish standards and enforce compliance of these standards? What could be the legal frameworks for settling disputes between providers and consumers? Should there be an independent regulatory authority for the sector, with quasi-judicial powers? With the changing market structure of international communication services, the issue of how such services can be regulated in India is equally important. Even if answers to the above policy issues emerge with some clarity, detailed planning will be required to implement such policy. Several new policy initiatives taken in the past have floundered because detailed plans for implementation had not been worked out. The following issues which need to be resolved in the wake of the new policy announcement could also be covered by the proposed centre. These are:
To support investments of the order of USD 13 billion in a three year period would need the development of an ancillary sector. A large expansion in the telecom network has implications in terms of training of new personnel to do various tasks and retooling of existing personnel. The whole policy would collapse unless due attention was paid to prepare for such complementary requirements. Since the resources required for creating a modern telecom infrastructure in India are very large, the manner in which resources can be mobilized is a thread which will influence across many of the above strands of the telecom policy. There will clearly be a trade off between the level of access and the investments required. Similarly technology choices will be tied up with different options of mobilizing resources. Organizing Research to Impact Policy Since the overriding objective of this project would be to impact policy making, following mechanism of promoting an on-going dialogue between researchers and policy makers are proposed:
Readers are invited to comment on the scope of the centre, some of the substantive research issues that the centre proposes to undertake or the manner in which the centre is proposed to be organised. The Third European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS'95 Gurpreet Dhillon, The Third European Conference on Information Systems was held in Athens, Greece between June 1-3, 1995. The program of three day activities brought together all those concerned with the analysis, design and management of information systems. This gave an opportunity to discuss and analyze issues surrounding information systems - a topic of major interest. This year's conference was indeed a jamboree of information systems academics where over 60 research papers, 16 research in progress papers and 16 case study papers were presented. Besides there were 9 panel sessions and 3 keynote addresses. The attendance was in excess of 300 people. Indeed the ECIS was in top gear after having its modest beginnings two years ago at Henley. The Conference Chair was held by Prof. Frank Land of the London School of Economics and Political Science while Prof. Georgios Doukidis was the Organizing and Program Committee Chair. The conference had some excellent sessions with good discussion. Of interest to the IFIP WG 9.4 was the key note address given by Prof Subhash Bhatnagar of IIM Ahmedabad, India. Other key note speakers were Prof Niels Bjorn-Andersen of Copenhagen Business School and Dr Jacques Bus from EC. Prof Bhatnagar in his address, critically analyzed the role of information technology in catalyzing economic activity, administrative reforms and in developing human resources. Acknowledging the benefits of information technology in bringing about socio-economic progress, Prof Bhatnagar argued that developing countries have to define a perspective in order to successfully integrate information technology with the developmental process, besides planning IT related investments. He classified areas of concern into two categories. First, those with respect to economic development. Second, those in relation to social development. Consequently he identified the key success determinants for socio-economic development as being the efficiency and effectiveness with which governments carry out their tasks. Finally Prof. Bhatnagar made a few assertions regarding the manner in which developing countries should view their IT investments. These included that:
Among the research paper stream, the highlight of the conference was a paper by Leslie Willcocks of Templeton College, Mary Lacity of University of Missouri and Guy Fitzgerald of Birkbeck College. This paper received the best paper award. The focal concern of the paper was on assessing outsourcing issues in Europe and USA. Evaluation was done with respect to IS/IT outsourcing practice, economies of outsourcing, contracting and performance measurement. The paper identified weaknesses in an organization's understanding of economies embedded in vendor bids, the sources of hidden costs and their relationship with evaluation practices and contracting. Furthermore the economic myths of outsourcing were explored. In a final synthesis, the authors made it clear that even good contracting based on detailed information technology evaluations that are invariably supported by comprehensive service measures and reporting systems, did not avoid many problems that arise during the course of any contract. The best case study paper award was given to Paul Beynon-Davis of University of Glamorgan in Wales. He presented a paper “Information Systems ‘Failure’ and Risk Assessment: The Case of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch System”. The main concern of the paper was to explain information systems failures in terms of the complex intertwining of relationships in the context of computing. As a final synthesis the paper presented a relationship between information systems failure and risk assessment. Two other papers were given awards. The first paper was “War and peace: conflict and co-operation in inter-organizational systems” by Kuldeep Kumar, Han Van Dissel and Richard Welke. The main focus of the paper was to identify possible risks of conflict in the Inter-organizational Systems arena and to suggest strategies for minimizing the likelihood of such conflicts. A conceptual framework for classifying inter-organizational systems along the dimensions of inter-organizational interdependence and the structurability of inter-firm relationships was presented. The second paper was “Towards a conceptual framework for investigating IS failure” by Andrew Holmes and Angeliki Poulymenkou. This paper argued that effective practices to deal with or prevent failures require wider organizational awareness and a deeper understanding of the nature, phenomena and implications of information systems failures. The authors identified concepts from the information systems domain that help in a better understanding of the phenomena surrounding failure. The titles of other sessions included: Information systems methodologies and development tools; Evaluation of information systems; Theory, frameworks and tools for information systems; Inter-organizational information systems; Electronic markets; BPR and transformation; Social, political and cultural issues; Information economies, globalisation and international policies; Decision support systems and Information systems applications. Some very frank opinions were given and at one point a senior academic asserted a ‘so what’ attitude towards a key research paper. Later, news reached us that a rocket had been spotted in full flight, although we were still at some distance in time from Guy Fawkes Night! Needless to say the hospitality was never less than perfect, although one needs to be prepared to stay awake and enjoy the after dinner Greek music and dancing behind the backdrop of ancient buildings and customs. These are indeed aesthetic (ascetic?) but one needs a taste for them Gerry G Grant A training of trainers workshop entitled "Electronic networking for management development in Africa was held on June 5-8, 1995 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop was organized and conducted by SANGONeT, the Southern Africa Non-governmental Organizations Network, and sponsored by the Management and Training Services Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Sixteen participants from ten countries in Eastern and Southern Africa attended the workshop. Thirteen participants came from management development institutions which are members of the Association of Management Training Institutions of Eastern and Southern Africa. One was from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Secretariat and one each came from Solusi University in Zimbabwe and the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton in Kenya. The facilitators at the workshop were Anriette Esterhuysen, Director of SANGONeT, Mike Jensen, an electronic networking consultant, and Gerry Grant, Co-ordinator of COMNET-IT. The workshop is an activity of the GOVERNET project that was initiated by the Commonwealth Secretariat under the auspices of COMNET-IT. The principal aim of the workshop was to train trainers in the use of electronic networking for communication and collaboration among geographically distributed management training professionals. Being trainers and consultants to public sector institutions, it is hoped that the participants in turn will be central figures in diffusing electronic networking capabilities throughout the public sector. The organizers of the workshop had three stated objectives. These were: (a) to provide electronic networking training to a select group of trainers from management training institutions in Eastern and Southern Africa; (b) to expose participants to developments in the area of electronic networking and to build their competence and confidence in using such networks; (c) to familiarize the participants with the objectives of the GOVERNET program and to attempt to instil in them the culture of information sharing. In conducting the workshop these three objectives were kept in mind. The participants were encouraged, during the sessions, to share experiences about their work and institutions. A central feature of this sharing was the requirement that they present their information both orally and electronically. Participants worked in groups to discuss information needs in their organizations and also how to integrate electronic communication within these organizations. All reports and instructions were presented electronically using a mailing list set up specifically for the purposes of the workshop. Each participant had access to his or her own computer that was connected to the SANGONeT network. Participants were encouraged to use the electronic networking facilities as much as possible. During the workshop several made contacts with colleagues in other countries and were delighted and surprised at how effectively their message transfer was executed. To meet the objective of broadening their understanding of electronic communication services, the participants experimented with such Internet services as FTP mail, Gopher mail, Gopher, World Wide Web, FTP and Telnet. One may argue that some of these services may not be available currently in several of the countries represented by those attending the workshop. The organizers felt, however, that it was important they be exposed to current and future possibilities in electronic networking. The workshop outlined an agenda for action focused on integrating electronic communications within the organizations represented and fostering information sharing and collaboration amongst the participants. Action items were categorized under infrastructure development, increasing the penetration of electronic communication within organizations, diffusing technical and information management capacity among institutional personnel, and extending of active participation in the GOVERNET project. For electronic communication to be effective organizations must ensure that they have access to reliable telecommunication facilities. They must also ensure that personnel have good access to electronic communication facilities within the organization. The participants concluded that electronic communication will remain on the periphery of organizational activity unless it becomes integrated into the central work processes of individuals. Institutional members should therefore be encouraged to use the computer communication facilities in carrying out their work. This will not occur if access to these facilities is limited and impeded. Because of the high personnel turnover prevalent in many institutions, special effort should be made to diffuse both technical and information management skills. It is especially important that skills be imparted to local personnel in situations where expatriates are currently being used. The workshop concluded with participants assigning themselves various tasks that will ensure continued communication and collaboration amongst themselves. GOVERNET is an electronic networking initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It is designed to promote the use of electronic networks in facilitating professional collaboration and information sharing between senior public sector officials and others in Commonwealth member countries. The specific area of concern is public sector administrative and management reform. GOVERNET aims to provide access to information, through the use of electronic networks, concerning regional and broader developments in public sector administrative and management reform. Dr. M.D. Goslar and Dr. P.W. Goslar Your Newsletter is very well done, in my opinion. I look forward to receiving it and the information and announcements within provide insights that are seldom available about DC's in other outlets. I particularly appreciate the apparent honesty in individual perceptions and reported activities. Too often in the U.S. these days one must be "politically correct" at the expense of truth, honesty, and progress. The Newsletter was mailed (according to the postage date stamp) on 27 April and arrived in Phoenix, AZ, USA on 12 May; consequently the Newsletter appears to be arriving quickly, at least to recipients in the USA. I have just finished teaching some classes at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management in Glendate, AZ, USA. In general, the topics have been associated with telecommunications technologies and their actual and potential impacts on developing countries. What has been discouraging to me and others in the information technology/systems field is the plentiful talk about DC's and their plight but precious little productive action to make a difference. Certainly the academic side of the discussion is important but, as much of the discussion in this month's issue notes, there is little action and waning interest over time. This condition appears to be quite contrary to actions and initiatives of IT-related multinational corporations that identify profit potential in certain parts of the world and do what it takes to "tap into" that revenue stream. Financial motivation appears to be the driving force for global IT introduction and advancement and will very likely continue to be the principal reason for distribution of these resources in the future. This condition seems to leave the research and academic concerns far behind the rush for revenue and benefits to those who stand to gain from tapping into global and national information highways. It seems to me that worthwhile organizations such as yours could 1) identify from mission statements and goals what the focuses of the Group should be, 2) identify meaningful (to the DC's) action projects that support those goals, 3) prioritize those projects to determine which should be tackled first, second, third, etc., 4) write grant proposals to commercial ventures and government agencies for funding, 5) seek out those qualified and willing to take the time (with funding) to accomplish those projects, 6) provide reports to funding agencies, study participants, and interested others of the significant results (and there MUST BE SOME) of these projects, and 7) use successful action projects for support of future DC projects. There is little doubt in my mind that these activities can be accomplished with dedicated & interested membership. Whether it is "worth" the time from members' perspectives is another question. In any case, if there is anything I can assist with in the future, let me know. I just finished a book titled Silicon Snake Oil by Clifford Stoll that is quite intriguing. It deals with how all IT is not necessarily good for individuals and organizations — a much needed alternative point of view. Aims and Scope The main aim of Information Technology for Development is to encourage a critical debate on the role of information technology (IT) in the development process and to contribute to more informed decision making concerning IT development, adaptation, transfer and utilization. IT is here seen in a broad context, encompassing applications of computer as well as telecommunications technologies. The journal will be used as a vehicle for information exchange and sensitization on the growing gap between the developed and the developing world, the role of IT in this process, and its impact on the excluded and included sectors of society, especially with reference to current globalization trends. One issue which will be addressed, among others, is the question of whether IT can be used to bridge this gap, and if so, what are the conditions which may be required for such technology to help narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots. Information Technology for Development will contain material of a practical, applied nature, more than a theoretical one, and will contribute to an exchange of lessons learned. The journal will provide a forum in which writers from developing nations can publish their material in a globally available medium; an opportunity not always available in other international journals. In doing so, writers will be able to sensitize readers, especially senior management, not only in their own countries, but also of donors, governments, universities, private sectors, and NGO's in the developed world. The contents of the journal will be such that it will be accessible to non-technical people, in both the public and private sector. Dr. S. Ramani will be the Editor-in-Chief, and Dr. Mayuri Odedra-Straub & Dr. Richard Heeks will function as associate editors. Accepted papers for Volume 6:
Subscription information: The journal Information Technology for Development (ISSN:0268-1102) is published in volumes of four issues. Volumes 1-5 were published by Oxford University Press in association with UNESCO and the UK Council for Computing Development. Volume 6 (1995) and onwards will be published by IOS Press. Regular subscription price is f310/US$172 including packaging, postage and handling. Individual subscription rates are available upon request. For a free sample
copy or to place orders contact: IOS Press, Van Diemenstraat 94, 1013 CN
Amsterdam Health, Information Society and Developing Countries Editors: M Sosa-Iudocossa,
J. Levett, S. Mandil & P.F. Beales, Published by IOS Press, And OHM (Ohmsha) The book is volume 23 in the series titled Studies in health technology and informatics, and is the result of the study EPIAIM - health, epidemiology and telematics: European co-operation with Latin America and Africa and other collaborations with WHO. It is a joint product of the European commission DG XIII and the world health organization. A brief overview of the table of contents is as follows: Forward: M.
Carpentier Some Interesting Papers on IT in DCs Contributed by Jorg Meyer-Stamer Saints, Demons, Wizards and Systems: Why Information Technology Reforms Fail or Underperform in Public Bureaucracies in Africa by Peterson, S.B., 35 pages, 1995 Computerizing Personnel Information Systems in African Bureaucracies: Lessons from Kenya by Peterson, S. & Kinyeki, C. & Mutai, J. & Ndungu, C., 25 pages, 1995. Publisher: Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138 U.S.A. Summary of Useful Executive MBA Texts Contributed by Roger Clarke Corporate Information Systems Management: The Issue Facing Senior Executives, third edition by Cash, Jr., McFarlan, McKenney, Irwin, Illinois, 1992. The Cash, McFarlan, etc. book of Harvard cases is an excellent choice for any MBA general I/S course. It concentrates 'solely' on management issues, and does not generally require any technical knowledge (you can fill in some gaps with mini-lectures). Information
Systems: a Management Perspective The new edition is a considerable improvement over the first edition. The most important change is a new model for analyzing an information system from a business professional's viewpoint, rather than a computer science viewpoint. The model starts with a diagram consisting of six elements: 1) the internal or external customer, 2) the product the work system produces, and four elements of the work system: 3) the business process, 4) the participants, 5) the information, and 6) the technology. Business professionals can view this model from five perspectives: architecture (what is the system?), performance (how well does it perform?), infrastructure (what external capabilities does it rely on?), context (how is it affected by the organizational context?) and risks (what can go wrong?). My EMBA students have used drafts of this model over the last several years and have found it quite useful in writing papers about systems in their own business settings. Building the
Information-Age Organization: Structure, Control and Information
Technologies It is a case book with a format that provides integration across the disciplines of organization theory, management control and information technology. It provides a solid basis for addressing both information technology and management issues appropriate to the executive MBA crew. Information
Systems Management in Practice It was fairly well received. Very pragmatic, "issue-oriented" book. Has a bunch of real-life descriptive case studies spread throughout (edited from issues of IS Analyzer). I found a few "holes" in it, but lots of good reading also. It has a chapter on "the human side of IS", but nothing specifically on ethical issues in IS. Productivity in
the Office and the Factory Focus is on how IS is applied in both places. Meets with excellent response from our executive MBA's. The Essence of
Information Systems It is paperback and it covers the ground and it is not expensive. Second edition, which will be much improved and will be available in the next month or two. Prentice Hall has it in their US warehouse so you can get a copy quick. Information Ethics Will be out in August and is from Sage. I think it will be a classic and have both philosophical and practical ideas and discussion. It is not meant as a semester book, but a supplement to others in a course that needs discussion on ethics. Up and Running:
Integrating Information Technology and the Organization Professor Walton teaches in the organizational behaviour and human resource management area of the Harvard Business School. Since his area of expertise is organizational, rather than technical, the book is a good overview of the management and strategic issues that managers need to understand about IT, without wasting time on the technical issues. It may even be out in paperback now. |