Information Technology Policy: An International History

Information Technology has become symbolic of modernity and progress almost since its inception. The nature and boundaries of IT have also meant that it has shaped, or become embedded within a wide range of other scientific, technological and economic developments. Governments, from the outset, saw the computer as a strategic technology, a keystone of economic development and an area where technology policy should be targeted. This was true for those economies interested in maintaining their technological and economic leadership, but also figured strongly in the developmental programmes of those seeking to modernise or catch up. So strong was the notion that IT policy should be the centre of economic strategy that predominant political economic ideologies have frequently been subverted or distorted to allow for special efforts to promote either the production or use of IT. This book brings together a series of country-based studies to examine, in depth, the nature and extent of IT policies as they have evolved from a complex historical interaction of politics, technology, institutions, and social and cultural factors. In doing so many key questions are critically examined. Where can we find successful examples of IT policy? Who has shaped policy? Who did governments turn to for advice in framing policy? Several chapters outline the impact of military influence on IT. What is the precise nature of this influence on IT development? How closely were industry leaders linked to government programs and to what extent were these programs, particularly those aimed at the generation of 'national champions', misconceived through undue special pleading? How effective were government personnel and politicians in assessing the merits of programs predicated on technological trajectories extrapolated from increasingly complex and specialised information? This book will be of interest to academics and graduate students of Management Studies, History, Economics, and Technology Studies, and Government and Corporate policy makers engaged with IT and Technology policy. Contributors to this volume - William Aspray, Professor, School of Informatics, Indiana University Dimitris Assimakopoulos, Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Doctoral Programme, Grenoble Ecole de Management Martin Campbell-Kelly, Reader, Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick Richard Coopey, Lecturer in History, University of Wales Mihaiela Grundey, Founder, Romanian Youth Support Trust Ross Hamilton, Freelance Software Developer Richard Heeks, Senior Lecturer in Development Informatics, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester Eda Kranakis, Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department, University of Ottawa Stuart Macdonald, Professor of Information and Organization, Management School, University of Sheffield Boris Malinovsky, Academician of the International Academy of Sciences on Informatics Lev Malinovsky, Chief of the Scientific Research Laboratory, Institute of Cybernetics, Kiev Rebecca Marschan-Piekkari, Research Fellow, Swedish School of Economics, Helsinki Albert Meijer, Assistant Professor, Utrecht School of Governance Arthur Norberg, ERA Land-Grant Chair in the History of Technology, and Professor in the Program in the History of Science and Technology, University of Minnesota Knut Sogner, Professor of Economic and Business History, Norwegian School of Management Steven W. Usselman, Associate Professor of History, School of History, Technology, and Science, Georgia Institute of Technology Jan Van Den Ende, Associate Professor, Department of the Management of Information and Technology, Rotterdam School of Management Nachoem Wijnberg, Professor of Industrial Economics and Organization, Department of Organization and Management, University of Groningen Seiichiro Yonekura, Professor of Business History, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo