Dangerous Enthusiasms E-government, Computer Failure and Information System Development

by Gauld, Robin; Goldfinch, Shaun

• ISBN13: 9781877372346
• ISBN10: 187737234X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-01
• Publisher: Otago University Press

Summary

Information and the technology that supports its collection, communication and analysis is a core concern of modern government, making e-government (meaning electronically enabled government) fundamental to the ongoing 'reinvention' of public administration. But the quest for e-government opens up a range of issues -- whether to take a 'big bang' or an incremental approach to computerisation, how to deal with security and privacy concerns, how to reconfigure the machinery of government to fit ICT practices -- and decisions -- hardware and software procurement, software architecture, access by whom to what. The spending of public money is always intriguing and perhaps money spent on ICT has been the most intriguing of all, with some spectacular failures costing millions. This book is written for a general audience and takes a critical look at policies, problems and prospects for e-government in a series of case studies. Why have ICT failures in the public sector occurred and what lessons do they provide for the

Author Biography

Tony Dale is a senior programmer in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury.

Table of Contents

E-government and information system development

What is 'e-government'?

ICT in New Zealand's health sector: A story of lost opportunity

A major health care information system project failure

The INCIS fiasco in the New Zealand police force

Landonline: Qualified success or partial failure?

Lessons from computer development in the New Zealand public sector

Notes

References

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.