First‐class technology – third‐rate bureaucracy: the case of Israel

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Peled, Alon

Affiliations: Department of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract: Using Israel as a case study, the article argues that politics rather than technology accounts for the inefficient and wasteful state of technology in the public sector in countries where one finds ample endogenous first‐class high tech manpower. In such countries, the article further argues, Information Technology (IT) systems are built and used in power struggles within ministries, among ministries, between the public sector and the public, or among the various branches of government. In Israel, for example, various ministries manipulate their access to first‐class endogenous technology to fortify their bureaucratic power by building technological systems that are, sometimes, deliberately incompatible with the solutions of other ministries. Within the context of a third‐rate bureaucracy, the article proposes, access to local high tech skills and technology merely makes governmental gridlock more expensive but does not necessarily result in improved services to citizens.

Journal: Information Technology for Development, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 45-58, 2000