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Municipal ICT Policy Goals and Technology Choices: A Decision Framework
Abstract
This study reviews the literature of the available research to develop a policy framework for understanding the key decisions facing municipal information and communication technology policymakers. This chapter provides a clear understanding of the interdependent choices regarding municipal ICT goals, initiatives, and technology choices. With each decision, a municipality risks choosing a sub-optimal goal or technology for its particular environment, resulting in a reduction or plateau in ICT adoption. For example, by creating a public sector operator in a highly competitive retail market, a municipal government may in fact dampen private sector investment and result in a net negative for the area's ICT penetration rate. In addition, these poor choices cannot be easily rectified. With the large sunk costs of ICT deployments, future options are constrained by past choices. Therefore, it is vital that policymakers understand their range of options for ICT goals, initiatives, and technologies before beginning the process of implementing their policies.
... The application of KISs framework depends highly on powerful supporting governance and strategic vision, as well as long-term development plans for KISs, integration and balance among all domains of KISs at sectorial, horizontal and vertical levels, facilitation of difficulties for required technology and communication infrastructures, incentivising the development and knowledge-based activities (Farhangi, 2013;Maynard, 2008). ...
Several countries are planning urban districts as knowledge and innovation spaces (KISs) to achieve economic and cultural goals. The literature shows that urban planning qualities such as place quality play a paramount role for the knowledge-based economy to flourish. This study develops a theoretical framework based on local experts’ opinions to assess KISs developments. Following the development of this framework, this study identifies major criteria for KISs in urban planning, and consequently the most effective field-based indicators for KISs development at the precinct scale. This research has been developed in two steps using qualitative and quantitative techniques. In the first step, a desk study is used to identify KIS related indicators from literature. Next, by using a three-round Delphi survey, the local experts have modified, validated and prioritised these indicators to form the theoretical framework. Results show the significant interrelation of place qualities and the innovation concept in the context of good governance. Good governance has been proved to be one of the major foundations for this framework, facilitating effective urban management and planning by taking advantage of innovation spaces. The suggested methodology and presented framework assist policymakers and planners to deliver the localised KIS developments in precinct scale.
... ted through high levels of technology, assures that citizens have equitable access to education, training and services which strengthens human capital. In a knowledge economy, particularly concerning knowledge-intensive businesses, technology and communication are integral to the ongoing development of this facet of the economy (Wong et al., 2006). Maynard (2008) underlines the key strategy for KBUD as facilitating the diffusion of technology and communication by increasing competition in the telecommunications sector and making e-government a priority. Larsen (1999) confirms the importance of technology and communication in the development of a KC and also identifies the importance of the devel ...
... ted through high levels of technology, assures that citizens have equitable access to education, training and services which strengthens human capital. In a knowledge economy, particularly concerning knowledge-intensive businesses, technology and communication are integral to the ongoing development of this facet of the economy (Wong et al., 2006). Maynard (2008) underlines the key strategy for KBUD as facilitating the diffusion of technology and communication by increasing competition in the telecommunications sector and making e-government a priority. Larsen (1999) confirms the importance of technology and communication in the development of a KC and also identifies the importance of the devel ...
Benchmarking is a powerful technique to determine the standing of a city or cluster against its competitors. The chapter places a knowledge precinct from Brisbane in a benchmarking exercise and evaluates its performance against the reputable knowledge precinct best practices from Cambridge, Barcelona, Helsinki, Eindhoven, Dublin, Sydney and Melbourne. The chapter employs a place making framework for the benchmarking exercise that is developed to be used in knowledge and innovation spaces. The findings not only provide insights for the further development of the Dutton Park Knowledge Precinct of Brisbane, but also generate overall lessons for other cities aiming to develop prosperous and sustainable knowledge precincts.
This paper explores knowledge city and knowledge-based urban development concepts, discusses the principles of a knowledge city, and portrays its distinguishing characteristics and processes. It analyses Melbourne’s knowledge-based urban development experience by scrutinising its initiatives on culture, science, technology and innovation, and policies in urban, economic and social development. The paper also illustrates how the city administration played a key role in developing Melbourne as a globally recognised, entrepreneurial and competitive city. It concludes with arguing Melbourne as an emerging knowledge city, identifying its key success factors, and providing some insights for policy makers of other cities in designing their knowledge-based urban development.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are fast becoming the basis of economic development and those areas which fail to participate in such developments risk increasing marginalization. In order to address this problem local authorities have increasingly incorporated ICT policies and initiatives into their local economic development strategies. Much of the evidence for this in Great Britain is partial and anecdotal. This paper provides an overview of the development of these local ICT initiatives from survey evidence. The evidence suggests that ICTs are an important component of policy, but their impact will be limited in the absence of a co-ordinated national response.
Las opiniones contenidas en los Documentos de la Serie EEE, reflejan exclusivamente las de los autores y no necesariamente las de FEDEA. The opinions in the EEE Series are the responsibility of the authors an therefore, do not necessarily coincide with those of the FEDEA.
Urban community Wi-Fi in Canada is at a nascent stage; active non-profit groups through dedicated volunteers, support the development or deployment of Wi-Fi services in community spaces throughout their regions. This article discusses recent initiatives.
Broadband technology has made the world ‘flat’ so that anyone with a laptop computer can compete in the global economy. Many countries have implemented policies to quickly expand broadband penetration and adoption rates as well as encourage the development of higher-speed services. But the United States is falling behind, primarily due to the U.S. government's failure to implement policies that promote competition in the areas of affordable access and quality of service. The situation in New York City is a microcosm of this problem: most residents have only one or two service providers from which to choose, and many are unable to afford the service. It is recommended that the municipal government of New York City implement policies that facilitate competition in the broadband market so all residents, nonprofit organizations, and businesses have access to affordable broadband and other advanced communications technologies.
How will advances in telecommunications technology affect urban development? In this paper, we develop a general model where individuals involved in relationships use two modes of interaction, face-to-face and electronic communication. Each individual chooses the amount of interaction of each type to maximise her net pay-off from the relationships. Improvements in telecommunications technology may increase or decrease the demand for face-to-face interactions, depending on whether the cross-price elasticity of demand between face-to-face interactions and telecommunications is positive or negative. Embedding the model within a simple spatial framework shows that city size increases with electronic communications if the cross-elasticity is negative. The model presented here is closely related to that of Gaspar and Glaeser, and its conclusions are virtually identical, but they are derived from a simpler and arguably more descriptively accurate representation of the interdependence between face-to-face interactions and electronic communications.
The European utilities sectors exemplify the transformation of regulatory capitalism, with far reaching changes occurring at both European Union and domestic levels. Liberalization is the dominant trend, accompanied by the emergence of regulatory regimes designed to promote competition in the imperfect markets characteristic of the utilities sectors. These general trends, however, conceal cross-sectoral and cross-national variations in the pace and extent of liberalization and in the composition of the emergent regulatory regimes. This article uses a stepwise comparative method to analyze regulatory change in the electricity and telecoms sectors in Germany and France. It explains the pattern of similarity and variation in terms of the interplay between globalization pressures, the policy transfer effects of EU institutions, and the domestic institutional environment.
While state governments have enjoyed greater control over regulating local telephone service providers since 1984, movement toward efficiency-based policy reform (e.g., adoption of competitive markets) has proceeded slowly. We investigate this pattern by addressing how the degree of policy discretion held by state public utility commissions (PUCs) affects reform of local telephone exchange regulation. Using precise measures of both PUC discretion and state policy changes over time, we find that states with “stronger” PUCs (more policymaking authority) are significantly more likely to move toward efficiency-based policy regimes and away from traditional rate-of-return regimes. Greater PUC discretion systematically related to state adoption of efficiency-based reforms over time suggests that regulators are using updated information about policy impacts to inform their policymaking activities. Our findings contradict a common presumption that regulatory bureaucracies are simply motivated by a desire to increase their control over policymaking. Instead, state PUCs are a key source of telecommunications policy reform in the states.
For a broad range of policy sectors, liberalization was the predominant goal during the 1990s, and the policy change involved gave rise to a wide range of academic debates. In this article we analyze the consequences of these far-reaching policies for the policy process itself. We ask whether the policy changes significantly altered the characteristics of policy processes by considering the timing and extent of the changes in policy networks during those years. More concretely, we discuss the extent to which policy networks changed as a result of market opening, considering the case of the telecommunications policy network in Spain. Using data from two successive surveys, we compare the network structure before and after market opening. Our findings show that only slight changes occurred during this period, making the network denser but not more open. Thus, we suggest that a more successful liberalization probably would have required a network that was more open to new entrants and in which power was less centralized and so able to guarantee a competitive environment.
In this paper, we explore whether broadband investment by municipalities has an effect on economic growth. To do so, we employ an econometric model to compare economic growth between counties in the State of Florida. Our econometric model shows that Lake County – a small county in central Florida – has experienced significantly greater growth in economic activity relative to comparable Florida counties since making its municipal fiber-optic network generally available to businesses and municipal institutions in the county. Our findings are consistent with other analyses that postulate that broadband infrastructure can be a significant contributor to economic growth.
While Canada boasts one of the most advanced information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures, its rural and remote areas are lagging behind. Rural and remote ICTs development is presented as an uncharted domain. A model for rural and remote ICTs is proposed describing the interrelationships among policy, organizational, community, and technological dimensions. The model served as a guide to prepare three case studies that are briefly described. Several principles are described as strategic policy and organizational insights into how rural and remote communities can harness ICTs. The article concludes with a hypothesis highlighting the role of mediating organizations to secure affordable and relevant ICT services and applications for rural and remote communities.
This paper examines how municipalities in California and other areas of the United States are going about incorporating advanced information technology into their civic operations. Whereas earlier cities prospered because of their location as transportation crossroads or as centers of industrial production, today cities are reassessing their role and capacities in relation to the emerging new knowledge-based economy and the needs of their citizens in this new social and economic environment. In this effort, cities are using a variety of new technologies to better prepare citizens to compete in the new economy to help in the delivery of public services, and to enhance the quality of life in their communities. The paper explores the development of the “smart communities” initiative in California and the California municipal experience in the adoption of municipal web sites.
Providing computers and Internet access to members of the community has taken several forms in many countries over the past several years. Called community networks, telecenters, community technology centers, or Free-Nets, such endeavors represent a range of institutional bases, of ideological premises, of State commitments, and of local empowerment.The research presented here focuses on one set of such efforts, a program whereby 36 communities of varying sizes in the state of Texas received up to $500,000 to establish community networks over a 2-year period. In evaluating the efforts of those towns and cities in terms of how they organized themselves—essentially the process features (management, access to expertise, organizing volunteers, organizing training, etc.) associated with their community networks—and in terms of outcomes attributable to local networking activities, formidable challenges facing these groups are found. This work compares the 36 sites and highlights the unique roles and difficulties of collaboration, institutional involvement and support, and the economic development and civic engagement processes associated with technology training and access. Assumptions about public access and the economic development outcomes associated with more broadly available computers and Internet connections vary widely across these communities, as did the actual achievements within the telecommunications projects.The policy community can benefit by examining these communities as it endeavors to extend broadband connectivity more thoroughly throughout the states. These community experiences underscore the limited utility of financial resources alone in trying to launch effective programs.
Municipal electric utilities (MEUs) are increasingly expanding into telecommunications services. Such entry is interesting in several respects. First, MEUs marry two potential pathways for the growth of telecommunications access infrastructure and services: public ownership of last-mile facilities and electric power company expansion into telecommunications. Second, municipalities are key early adopters of next generation access technology in the form of both fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and broadband wireless (e.g., WiMax) systems. Third, MEUs are at the nexus of the debate over the proper role for local government in promoting broadband Internet access. Most homes in the United States are served by investor-owned local telephone and cable television providers, using company-owned wireline infrastructure. These providers have generally opposed municipal entry, arguing that it will crowd out private investment and represents an unfair and less efficient form of competition. A number of states have acted to limit—or in some cases—to promote such entry. Before engaging in this debate, it is necessary to have a clearer picture of the current state of municipal entry and the local demographic, cost, industry, and policy factors that influence its evolution. To address this need, this paper reports the results of an empirical analysis of MEUs that provide communications services to the public. This analysis shows that MEUs are more likely to offer such services if they also provide internal communication services to support their electric utility operations (scope economies); are relatively close to metropolitan areas (lower backhaul costs); are in markets with fewer competitive alternatives (cable modem and DSL service availability limited); and which are less encumbered by regulatory barriers to entry (in communities in states which do not restrict municipal entry into telecommunication services). Of these results, the competitive impacts are the least straight-forward to interpret, suggesting richer dynamics and avenues for further research.
In the information society, information and communication technology (ICT) is potentially an important policy tool. Especially at local levels, scholars stress the essentiality of active intervention and use of ICT tools. However, since these technologies are still new, little experience exists relative to urban ICT initiatives. This paper therefore aims to examine the way urban front-liners (both elected politicians and administrative professionals) perceive the opportunities of urban ICT policy. Using a European survey, the authors researched views and beliefs about different aspects of urban ICT policies. Following that, they tested whether there is a relationship between the activity field of the respondents and their views on ICT policies. Significant differences among urban planners and economists were established. Copyright 2003 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.
This article provides an empirical evaluation of a recent and important exercise in regulatory price setting in the United States. The 1996 Telecommunications Act required incumbent local phone companies to sell components of their network to rival firms at regulated prices, and the prices for these 'unbundled network elements' were based primarily on independent estimates of forward-looking economic costs. Our econometric analysis reveals that, while cost is a primary determinant of element prices, the prices also reflect foregone retail profits for incumbent firms. Statistical tests suggest that 'splitting the baby' is an accurate positivist description of public agency behavior. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..
There are two classical and opposite perspectives on the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on spatial economic development: dispersal or concentration. In this paper we analyse the dynamics in the spatial pattern of the ICT using industries in the period 1991-2002. We conclude that particularly the urban centres and the areas just outside of these centres had a loss of their share in the ICT-related employment and that the more rural areas are catching up. There is not a general dispersal of ICT-related employment over non-central areas though, but rather an emergence of new agglomeration areas at both the urban fringe and non-central locations within the urban system. ICT use as such does lead to spatial developments different from general spatial changes: not in general trends but particularly in a much larger magnitude of the dynamics. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.