How societies embrace information technology : lessons for management and the rest of us

This book discusses how computers are shaping contemporary society, with a tight focus on the role of corporations and governments. It is aimed at government policymakers interested in economic development and at private-sector managers who routinely make decisions to acquire and use information technology, now a worldwide expenditure of over $2 trillion annually. The book will also interest a wide range of academics concerned with the sociology, history, economics, and the effects of IT on contemporary society, ands to the general trade market.

• Preface p. ix
• 1 Introducing the Big Picture p. 1
• The presence of information technology p. 2
• Megatrends at work p. 7
• How societies use technology to shape their world p. 19
• Notes and references p. 24
• 2 How Computers Spread Around the World So Fast p. 27
• Definitions and issues p. 29
• Government-supported/private-sector-driven model p. 33
• National champion model p. 37
• Asian private-sector-driven model p. 39
• Planned economy: public policy model p. 42
• Industry-driven model p. 48
• Corporate diffusion model p. 51
• Application diffusion model p. 57
• Technology-standards diffusion model p. 59
• Patterns, Practices, and implications p. 61
• Notes and references p. 65
• 3 How Governments Leverage Information Technologies to Improve Their National Economies p. 71
• A brief historical reminder p. 72
• Economic development in a connected world: the big picture p. 75
• How governments use it to encourage economic development p. 77
• What motivates governments to encourage their citizens and economics to use it? p. 91
• Emerging strategies for the most advanced nations compared to repidly advancing nations p. 96
• The special role of labor p. 100
• Global recession, twenty-first century style p. 102
• Implications for public officials p. 106
• Implications for business leaders p. 112
• The way forward with policies and practices p. 116
• Notes and references p. 122
• 4 How Managers and Officials Decide What Technology to Use p. 129
• The kinds of decisions made by managers p. 131
• Types of justifications p. 135
• Managerial practices p. 138
• Some possible less effective practices p. 143
• Special role of industries p. 149
• Path forward p. 151
• Notes and references p. 157
• 5 Adding Up the Results So Far: Do We Now Live in the Information Age? p. 163
• Why naming an age is a useful exercise and so hard to do p. 165
• What historians can teach us about the process p. 167
• The case against the information age p. 173
• Can we coexist on the frontiers of a new age? p. 175
• Lessons for management and a strategy for change p. 179
• Concluding thoughts p. 185
• Notes and references p. 186
• 6 An Expanding Role for Scientists and Engineers p. 191
• The rise of the computer scientist p. 192
• Their future world p. 212
• An old role made new p. 218
• Notes and references p. 220
• 7 Looking Down the Road into the Twenty-First Century p. 223
• How to see the future of an industry p. 225
• Knowing how information technology is evoluving p. 233
• A strategy for managers and public officials p. 240
• Special role of the computer science community p. 247
• The ultimate trend p. 252
• Notes and references p. 254
• 8 Keeping Up: Bibliography Essay p. 257
• The big picture p. 257
• How computers spread around the world p. 259
• Governments leveraging it for economic development p. 260
• Deciding what technology to use p. 261
• Living in the information age p. 263
• Role of technologists p. 264
• Into the twenty-first century p. 265
• Index p. 267