The Evolution of Information and Communication Technology in Public Administration
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| Author | Shuhua Monica Liu,Qianli Yuan |
| Published date | 01 May 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1717 |
THE EVOLUTION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
SHUHUA MONICA LIU*AND QIANLI YUAN
Fudan University, China
SUMMARY
Over the last decades, governments all over the world have tried to take advantage of information and communication technol-
ogy (ICT) to improve government operations and communication with citizens. Adoption of e-government has increased in
most countries, but at the same time, the rate of successful adoption and operation varies from country to country. This article
outlines the evolution of ICT in the public sector over the past 25 years. It presents general trends by examining interactions and
mutual shaping processes between ICT evolution and several inter-related institutional changes including government opera-
tions, public services delivery, citizen participation, policy and decision making, and governance reform. The authors suggest
that within a short time period, e-governance has evolved rapidly from rudimentary uses of ICTs as simple tools to support
highly structured administrative work to the integration of ICT throughout government operations. The growing use of
Web 2.0, social media, and mobile and wireless ICT by citizens can also heavily impact the way public services are delivered
and how citizen engagement processes are carried out. However, new management approaches, governance structures, and
policy frameworks are still missing, posing a challenge for governments to operate effectively in the age of big data. Gener-
ally, developing countries are lagging behind in e-government adoption compared with developed countries. Thus, for devel-
oping countries to successfully adopt ICT and try to leapfrog some of the obstacles encountered by early ICT adopters in
developed countries, systematic analyses need to be conducted to understand the interactions among stakeholders and ICTs
and co-create the institutional environment to lead to a positive impact of ICT on public administration. Only when this rela-
tionship is cl early understoodcan innovative ICTs be seamlesslyintegrated into the governancestructure. Copyright © 2015 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
key words—information and communication technology (ICT); technology integration; government innovation; public service
reform; e-government
INTRODUCTION
Since the 1990s, information and communication technology (ICT) was increasingly adopted by public agencies
worldwide. This originated from some government agencies’efforts to tackle challenges in storing and processing
huge amount of data and in regulating public and private sector while performing critical tasks. Adoption
of e-government has increased in most countries, but at the same time, the rate of successful adoption and operation
varies from country to country. Generally, developing countries are lagging behind in e-government adoption
success compared with developed countries (Ifinedo, 2011).
The key to further advances will hinge on civil servants and citizens’use of ICT (Ifinedo, 2011). However, the
processes of production reproduction and advancement of the public administration system and ICT in the past two
decades was not well accounted for. This article aims to present the general trends in adopting ICT for governance
in major Western countries and developing nations in the past decades. We focus on examining interactions and
*Correspondence to: S. M. Liu, Departmentof Public Administration,Fudan University,No 220, Handan Road, YangpuDistrict, Shanghai, China.
E-mail: shuhua.liu@yahoo.com
public administration and development
Public Admin. Dev. 35, 140–151 (2015)
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pad.1717
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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