NEW TECHNOLOGY AND THE ADMINISTRATOR

Abstract: It is important to distinguish between the possible and the probable when speculating about developments in technology. It is difficult to foresee the uses which will be made of an invention, and often they are not the uses first proposed. With new technological developments almost anything is technically possible, although practical development of a possibility can be slower and more difficult than expected. Moreover, successful technical development does not guarantee acceptance by the public. Technology impinges on public administration in three ways. It is a tool, it creates new tasks, and new technology can change the expectations within society of the role and function of government and hence the role of public administration. Examples of the use of technology as a tool in public administration are evident in the areas of travel, telecommunications and data processing. Changes in technology create new administrative tasks related to increased public awareness of the dangers of many forms of technology, leading, for example, to consideration of problems of pollution, personal privacy and computer-related crime. New expectations created by the increased information available through technological advances in communication will prompt increasing calls for open planning and public participation in decision making which will in turn lead to increased visibility of administrators and a greater measure of real accountability.