Public Management in an Information Age: Towards Strategic Public Information Management(The Public Management and Leadership Series)

New information and communication technologies have drastically changed public management. Public managers are increasingly dependent on information gathered form complex systems and they need to be able to put in place sound IT and communication structures. This accessible text, aimed specifically at those studying and working in public management, offers readers a comprehensive understanding of ICTs and their implications for public management. It provides aspiring and current public managers a framework for the development of strategic public information management across the full range of public organizations. Written by leading experts in this area, Public Management in an Information Age offers: - A thorough grounding in the latest research - Examples of issues and practices from different contexts and types of organizations around the world - A range of tools and techniques to help readers analyse concrete situations and develop appropriate solutions - Summary boxes on key ICTs in non-technical language This is the ideal text for students on Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Management and Master of Public Policy programmes.

Table of Contents:
1. Public management in an information age: a daunting task 2. Managing information for organizational performance 3. Managing information for public policy 4. Managing information for public services 5. Managing information for regulation 6. Managing the risks of information and technology 7. Managing information in a political environment 8. Strategic public information management as innovation challenge

About the Author :
Albert Meijer is a professor of public management at Utrecht University. He is also co-editor-in-chief of the journal Information Polity. Alex Ingrams is an assistant professor at Leiden University. His research concentrates on technology, governance reforms, and comparative public administration. Stavros Zouridis is a professor of public administration and law at Tilburg University and a member of the Dutch Safety Board.

Review :
Meijer, Ingrams and Zouridis have put together the definitive study of information management in a public service context. It should be required reading for all engaged practitioners, serious students, and researchers in the field of public service management. There are few things more important to public management today than information. The authors have created a timely and important book that makes clear the impact of technology on public managers and their organizations. They consider both social and organizational processes and technological developments, and provide a comprehensive overview of different frames that can support strategic action by public managers. It is an excellent resource, full of practical examples, and is highly recommended. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the role of ICTs in public service, in which the authors go beyond a singular optimistic and isolated perspective. They show how issues of ICT management are interwoven with the primary processes in public administration, like policy and service delivery, and demonstrate how this interconnection raises all kinds of interesting value-driven challenges. This text substantially helps us understand and unravel the complexity of information management in public administration, with the utmost transparency. By systematically unpacking strategic public information management, this book not only makes clear why we need different sets of information for different purposes, but also how these different demands should be addressed. It presents a clear guide to managerial solutions. Meijer, Ingrams and Zouridis have written an important book that will support both public managers and public affairs teachers to better understand how to manage in the information age. It takes a deep dive into all relevant topics along several implementation dimensions and comes at a time in which the majority of public processes will have a digital component.