End user computing in development administration: The vital role of administrators
| Published date | 01 April 1990 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230100209 |
| Author | Mukul Sanwal |
| Date | 01 April 1990 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 10,221-232
(1990)
End user computing in development administration:
the vital role
of
administrators
MUKUL SANWAL
Indian Administrative Service
SUMMARY
To make microcomputers serve development requires clear vision and leadership
on
the
part
of
administrators. The assimilation
of
this
technology
for
government tasks is no longer
depen-
dent on cost reductions or computer programmers. Rather,
it
requires administrators to make
an
explicit
choice
of
software to integrate hardware, information and decisions. At
the
opera-
tional
level
this process
is
not
a
mere technology adoption exercise and
is
based on three
factors-adapting standard packages
that
are
within
the
reach of even the least
developed
countries; information specialists and end-users
jointly
determining
data
structures;
and
inte-
gration
of
microcomputers
into
existing
administrative functions.
A
decision support system
for district administrators developed
in
India is discussed. The paper concludes
with
lessons
for first time
users
so
that development administrators, aid agencies and governments avoid
costly
mistakes.
Though microcomputers were introduced quite early in developing countries, appli-
cations have remained peripheral to the development process. The focal point from
which public organizations in developing countries can make progress in using the
new technology, mainly on their own initiative, is the district, as this is the decision
level in implementing rural development programmes.
Efforts at administrative reform in a number of developing countries are presently
focusing on decentralization of planning and development (Muhammad, 1988). In
India, district planning by elected representatives is being introduced in the States,
with the National Informatics Centre placing microcomputers in each of the 439
districts (GOI, 1988). In Africa, the Resource Management for Rural Development
Project of Kenya is currently engaged in the introduction of microcomputers in
the districts (MPND, 1987). In South-east Asia, Malaysia is extending its Integrated
Development Project Information System (SETIA) to the districts (APDC, 1988).
Microcomputers and standard software packages have made it possible as well as
mandatory, for the success of computerization, for district administrators to play
a critical role in the development of local level applications. This paper discusses
a decision support system developed by administrators in India as case material
to demonstrate the link between standard software programmes, actual government
tasks, and a knowledgeable end user.
There is considerable scepticism regarding the success
of
such efforts because wide-
Mukul Sanwal is Secretary to Government, Department of Agriculture, India; and
a
member of the
Task Force set up
by
the Government of India on
a
District Level Data Base for Decentralized Planning.
This paper
is
a revised version
of
one presented at the Workshop
on
Information Technology for Develop-
ment Management, at the Asia and Pacific Development Centre, Kuala Lumpur, in June
1988.
027
1-2075/90/02022
1-12$06.00
0
1990
by
John
Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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