E-Government and the Digital Divide
ITRN 701/ PUBP 736 (3 credits)
School of Public Policy
Spring 2002
Tuesday 4:30--7:15 PM, Arlington Campus Room 253
Dr. Stephen Ruth
Note from the instructor: This is a new ICP course and it has domestic
and international dimensions. Electronic Government and the Digital Divide
are gaining increasing attention as the nations of the world try to harness
the powerful gains of the Internet and Electronic Commerce to the people's
business. At the societal level in a developed nation, it seems reasonable
for people to have the same kinds of customer service from their government
as from their book store or clothing outlet. There is an obvious disconnect
between the ability of a person to buy, sell and auction goods in free World
Wide Web space and the severe limitations of citizens in getting the services
of their government in a similarly efficient way using IT intervention. Two
examples: In most states in the US, obtaining a driver's license renewal can
require as much as a half day away from other activities…..Global Positioning
technology has hundreds of commercial uses , but relatively few in the area
of citizen services.
When the focus is shifted from the 20 or so developed nations to the nearly
200 developing nations, there is an entirely different picture of E Government.
With over 90 percent of Internet host sites in countries that represent about
20 percent of the world's population (the developed countries) it seems problematic
to discuss Electronic Government in poor countries. Yet there are many interesting
issues, in spite of the disparity. Two examples: Rajistan state in India has
an e-government portal that offers as many services as those in many states
in the US and Europe…. China's government-sponsored universities are
achieving greater e-learning success than the most advanced nations.
Examining these E Government issues inevitably leads to the observation that
there is uneven distribution of technology not only between nations -but also
within nations. We will be examining this Digital Divide phenomenon through
many reports and a new book by Dr. Pippa Norris, of the Kennedy School at
Harvard. There are so many dimensions of this divide-- education, gender,
economic status, age, region, foe example---that we will need to examine the
subject systematically, and Norris' book is ideal.
Course Approach We will approach this broad subject from three perspectives
in order to permit maximum coverage and ample customization of course material
to students' needs. First, there will be a mini-tutorial on the intellectual
territory surrounding both Electronic Government and the Digital Divide, with
particular emphasis on measurement tools, demographics and trends. Some of
the lectures and study materials will be provided off line, enabling us to
concentrate more on the policy issues during the class lectures-but we will
cover many of the most important concepts, terms, cases and challenges in
this segment.
The second, and most significant, perspective is that of public policy. To
what degree will the increasing potential of Electronic Government be leveraged
to deliver government services and change standards of living in the US and
overseas? Is the Digital Divide, domestically and globally, a serious problem,
and if so, what can be done by national governments to alleviate its effects?
What economic effects will broadband proliferation have on the body politic
and on the Digital Divide? How can foreign aid policies balance investments
between IT and food in countries where hundreds of citizens die of hunger-related
causes each day?
The third perspective is the student's own. A term paper or other type of
research activity will allow each person in the course to select a subject
for more detailed review. This research perspective has only one goal-to permit
the student to learn more about a topic within the course's coverage by delving
more deeply into the literature surrounding it.