e-Governance in the Public Sector

PPA 6850

Welcome to our short course! We start September 30th and end before Thanksgiving (on November 22nd)!

Course Description: This course addresses information technology in the public sector from a managerial perspective. Students will examine basic hardware, software, data, and information management issues from a managerial perspective. These topics may include web portal design, geographic information systems, database management, e-government, strategic design, and the use of information technology to address public policy questions.

Detailed Introduction:

Information technology (IT) tools, resources and functions in the public sector and in the nonprofit sector have changed significantly over the past several decades. While this change is perhaps not as rapid as in the private sector, nevertheless IT has transformed the workplace and citizen interactions in numerous ways. The focus of this class is on the public and nonprofit sectors, which share common factors that distinguish them from the private sector. The purpose of this class is to encourage you to think about issues and technologies that you will encounter as a professional in public administration. The possible range of topics in an IT course is vast, and cannot be covered in a one credit class. So, we will begin our time together with a brief survey of hardware, software and networking basics. Then we will explore, through lecture/discussion and classroom exercises, a few specific technologies: databases, geographic information systems, modeling systems, social media and mobile technology.

Goals of the Course:

The primary objectives of this class are:

1) To understand how and why government agencies and nonprofits use technology;

2) To effectively evaluate which IT tools and systems make sense for which uses;

3) To learn how to respond to growing citizen service demands on social media;

4) To understand how the changing role of technology in daily life, impacts how we provide services to clients, to constituents, and to employees;

5) To explore the extent to which private-sector solutions are successfully adapted & applied to government IT;

6) To consider policies and procedures that allow for effective use of IT while also managing the costs and risks associated with IT adoption and implementation; and

7) To explore how a few key applications and tools work, and how these tools can be used in the government and nonprofit sectors to make our work better.

Click on Modules to begin.

Faculty Information	Textbook or Materials
Joe Frank, PhD	No textbook to purchase.
Political Science & Public Policy Administration	All reading materials for this course are posted on Canvas.
(314) 562-4033 (mobile)
frankjo@umsl.edu	Not officially an OER course but all course materials are no cost.
Virtual Office Hours (Mondays 5 PM to 6 PM, Via Zoom)