Information management in public organizations

¶ … Management in Public Organizations

Technology never ceases to amaze us. As technology advances, so does society. Vannevar Bush talks about how he sees technology emerging. Bush wrote the article as We May Think more than sixty years ago, yet the concepts mentioned in the article are very forward thinking for those times. Vannevar knew that in order for this world to progress, technology must also progress. Even back then he felt that we were behind the times as far as progression was concerned. He discusses the modern technology that has taken place in those days and makes note of the fact that he is hopeful that certain technologies will not cease, but continue to grow.

Vannevar had the remarkable ability to predict how certain technologies should advance. He predicted that the camera would be with faster lenses and much smaller than they were then. He even predicted that in the future we would be able to take a picture and view it immediately. We know he was a visionary because these things have come to pass. First there were Polaroid pictures and now we have digital cameras which allow us to take and view pictures the same day as well as send them to friends and family all over the world. In fact, there aren't many cell phones today that aren't equipped with cameras allowing us to point, click and send with a couple of pushes on the key pad.

Eamon Kelly is a modern day visionary. In his video, Claiming the Future: Taking Advantage of TumultuousTimes, he discusses four aspects that we need to do in order to make this happen. Eamon discusses post western globalization. The west was a leader in this field, but now we see that other countries have caught up and surpassed the western countries. He discusses how globalization has led to enterprises such as government and civic sectors (which have been seen as separate enterprises in the past) come together and work in unity as the world becomes more global. Sustainability is something that has become an important topic in the past few years. Climate change is an important factor in sustainability and it affects all of us, not just some countries. The Kyoto Protocol is important because its goal is to reduce greenhouse gases in industrialized countries. And finally, Kelly talks about technology and how it connects us all. Technology makes so many things possible that seemed impossible even as few as ten years ago. This is because it has the ability to bring us all closer together as it advances.

Both Bush and Kelly are forward in their thinking. Bush's perspective comes from a time where we didn't have all the modern conveniences that we have today, yet he could envision technology advancing. Kelly lives in a time where technology is nothing short of amazing. We continue to improve upon what we already have to make it better and of better use. The two men lived in different times, so their vision of the future is quite different. However, they were alike in that they encouraged forward thinking. They each want technology to advance, but they want man's thinking to advance along with technology. They are both socially conscious and aware of what the advances in technology can bring. Bush's idea of advances in technology may seem primitive today, but back then the things he envisioned were probably thought by many impossible. Kelly's message gives us a bit of a warning that technological advances are necessary, but we cannot neglect the consequences that this can sometimes bring. For instance, we are now building more hybrid cars to cut down on pollution.

A CIO's perspective on how the government's counterterrorism efforts have impacted citizen's rights might be that after the events of 9-1-1, we have relied on technology more and more to aid us in our effort to counteract terrorist activity. After these events, the public received most of its information via the Internet or by watching the news on television. With electronic rulemaking, the public is no longer spoon fed information doled out by the federal government, but citizens can now take an active part in the rule making process since it affects us all. The E-Government Act in 2002 allowed for incorporation of information technology into the federal bureaucracy (ageconsearch.umn.edu). Now that the rulemaking process is electronic and the majority of citizens have a home computer or access to one, the process has become easier for the public to participate in. This is important because through technology, citizens can be involved in rulemaking as it pertains to terrorism and other issues as it is happening. Citizens have a right to know what rules and efforts are being put into place so that they can know how to protect themselves as well as their families. Technology plays an important part in this. No longer are citizens told what they can and cannot do at airports or other institutions where the threat of terrorism is extremely high. They can also be involved in the decision-making if the feel rules are too stringent or not stringent enough.