Information Systems Have Revolutionised the Way We Work - Essay Example

Information Systems Has Revolutionized the Way We Work Information systems has revolutionized the way we work Introduction The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century has been characterized with significant advancements in new ways of production, management and service provision. One of the current advancements that have made the delivery of work easier and much faster is the discovery in information systems and computer-assisted methods of service delivery. Information systems are approaches used in the collection, dissemination, storage and analysis of data meant for various purposes in organization. The discovery of new approaches and methods of information systems has significantly changed service delivery within different departments including government facilities. A number of departments and private businesses rely on information systems to provide a wide range of services, avail products to consumers, interact with the clients and receive feedback and response from customers (Dutto & Helsper, 2007). In this essay, the developments in information systems and how the technology has affected service delivery in businesses and government sectors will be evaluated. The paper will discuss the development and new discoveries that have shaped the current information system and its application in various sectors of the economy will be discussed. Government agencies and departments have adopted e-government facilities that have enabled it to deliver services to the public with efficiency. The paper will discuss how the adoption of e-governments has enhanced service delivery and how the citizens have conceptualized and accepted the current approaches. The introduction of the internet has also made significant impacts in different sectors of the economy including the government departments and private businesses. Citizenship in e-government The need for increased citizen participation in different government activities and programs has led to the advancement in a channel that makes it possible for government officials and citizens to interact. The development of e-government has created a number of opportunities for the citizens who can now apply for the services from the comforts of their offices or homes. The government employees and other officials that actively participate within the e-government program have also witnessed significant change in their work and delivery of services (Chadwick, 2006). The development of e-government framework and platforms has been necessitated by the need to improve citizen participation in government service delivery charter. The need for more citizen participation has been enhanced by the current democratization that has witnessed more and more citizens getting involved in the activities of their governments. The participation of citizens in the government activities occurs at different fronts and this has been necessitated by the current advancements in information systems (Axelsson & Melin, 2008). Most countries have implemented the e-participation program and this has improved the overall service delivery to the public. The first country to implement an e-government program was the United States, which worked towards developing a platform that its citizens could interact by government officials at different levels. Other countries such as the United Kingdom and countries in Europe have also followed suit and integrated the applications of information systems into the programs (Farrell, 2011). The development of portal systems in the United Kingdom has been necessitated by the discovery of the internet and more advanced computer applications. Through the portal U in the country, government employees have been empowered on how to monitor environmental degradation from their workstations. This portal enables the workers to identify sectors of the economy with the highest greenhouse gas emission in the country and respond diligently. It also provides a platform for the public to register their concerns over the environmental conservancy efforts of the government and other international bodies (Albrecht, Marker & Wiedwald, 2008). Before the introduction of advanced applications of information systems, complaints, applications and any form of petition by citizens to the government was involving and more likely to fail to produce any significant results (Olphert & Damodaran, 2007). Government employees who knew they were at the centre of the controversy will work towards ensuring the complaint or petition does not reach the respective parties. This made complaints and citizen participation in monitoring and controlling different government impossible, giving room for the rogue government officials to fail in delivering their mandate to the citizens. However, the development of information systems has led to the development of an online platform from where citizens can make real time petitions on their leaders and government employees at the convenience of their offices or homes (Lau, 2005). The development of information systems as one of the methods for ensuring public participation in e-governance has also enabled social groups to transparently monitor the activities of their government. Social society groups and other citizens based associations have more advanced platform to monitor the range of government service delivery and advice on areas that may need change. Information systems have also provided a platform for the citizens to exercise the democratic rights of putting in place a government from the comfort of their computers (DiGenarro, & Dutton, 2006). This has been so due to the introduction of electronic voting supplications that have made it much possible for citizens to exercise their democratic rights and vote in place a government of their choice. With information systems therefore, citizen participation has been enhanced and the citizens have been provided with a cheaper and less involving platform to engage in various government activities (Gibson, Lusoli & Ward, 2005). In 2005, Ecuador experienced on the more tense political turmoil in the country’s history that oversaw the removal of the president Lucio Gutierrez. The Ecuador citizens took the applications and the benefits of information systems when this platform provided them with an avenue for sending their president home. Different civil bodies to mobilize the public to send the president home used mails and mobile phone applications. This ultimately worked with ease due to the ability of the computer and ICT applications to reach a large group of audience at one particular time without much costs (Bollier, 2003). Apart from direct citizen participation that borders on monitoring government service delivery and transparency, the development of information systems and e-government platform has enabled citizens to self apply for various government services. With the help of the portal services and interactive websites built by various government departments, citizens have been enabled to make self-application for various government services (Bennett, 2003). It is currently possible for a foreigner to apply for a passport from the internet without having to visit the consulate for visa applications. Tax returns, payment and the submission of tax details to the respective government departments have also been improved through the development of different information systems in the country. The development of information systems has therefore provided a platform for citizens to monitor the activities of the government and participate in different activities of the government at their personal convenience. The level of government service delivery and the provision of corruption free services have also been enhanced by the introduction of information systems in government facilities (Marshall et al, 2001). The internet Employees have witnessed a significant change in the nature of the services they are expected to deliver to the public and the efficiency with which the internet has facilitated this has been quite amazing. The advances in internet application have led to significant revolution in the world of jobs and have created a number of jobs for people in the United Kingdom (Gastil & Levine, 2005). With the development of new internet features under the web 2.0 interface, the internet has made it much easier for different employees to deliver their work from the comfort of their homes. A large number of the world’s total population depend on the internet as their sole employment and operate a number of virtual offices (Hunt & Davnes, 2004). One of current application of the internet that has significantly revolutionized services delivery and the conduction of business is the introduction of virtual organizations. These are organizations that are operating from a virtual platform from different geographical location in the world (Bonner et al, 2005). The organizations depend on the applications of emails and the development of groupware to communicate and implement their mandate with much ease. The advancement in the development of virtual organizations has been necessitated by a number of factors including the need to develop more innovative approaches of doing business and communicating with the customers. The development and growth in global business has also increased the current growth and development of virtual organizations with interest in different parts of the world. Most organizations like the Amazon have an exclusive virtual organizations base without any physical location. Such organizations conduct their businesses virtually including payments and the negotiation for the prices of the goods by consumers geographical distributed around the world (Lethbridge, 2001). The development of the internet and internet applications has also resulted into increased networking of various departments in organizations, both private and public. As a result, most organizations can today monitor the activities of their various departments through internal communication platforms built on networking. Each staff in an organization is provided with a network IP address that allows them to communicate with others through the mail and deliver their jobs online. As opposed to the traditional communication approaches, the internet has introduced new communication platforms that are cheap, faster and convenient. Large amount of data and confidential communication can be done through the internet at a much cheaper and convenient pace as opposed to the tradition approaches that were available (Matthew, 2005). As highlighted in the previous section of the paper, advances in information systems has created better communication platforms and services delivery in governments and the public sector. With the development of the internet, different government departments have been developed and empowered to use the internet as a sole service delivery platform. As a result, most government departments have internet dependent portals that are used for communication between the staff and the citizens. Through these portals, the citizens can make applications for various government services with ease and receive their results from the comfort of their offices. The development of the interactive web 2.0 systems has also enabled the government to interact with the citizens and monitor their attitude and perception on the nature and quality of services offered (Andrew, 2006). Non-revolutionary impacts of information systems Despite the much hype and significance that information systems has had on various aspects of life and work, other areas have remained relatively the same. Despite being employed in major sectors of the economy, information systems depend on the nature of the instruction given and cannot therefore operates independently. Information systems despite the advances that have been made cannot be able to mimic the current mental abilities of the brain and must therefore depend on the processing by human beings to make significant progress. The use of emails and electronic communication systems may have been embraced in different sectors of the economy but it has failed to completely replace traditional communication channels such as postage mails and land line communication systems. This demonstrates the lack of evolutionary ability of the current wave of information systems across different sectors of the economy including the government and the private sector (Andrew, 2006). The development of information systems has significantly changed different avenues including how we deliver our jobs, live our lives and interact with our friends. However, this technology has produced insignificant revolutionary experience to how work is done generally. Despite overdependence on computers and the internet by most organizations, information systems have not fully replaced the use of filing systems and fax messaging approaches in the United States. This makes information systems a great discovery in the 20th century but reduces its revolutionary experience as was seen in major innovations that characterized the reconnaissance period. Conclusion Information system has completely revolutionized the way we conduct business, interact with the government, do politics and search for jobs. Today the world is a one stop shop where at a dial of a button, an individual is connected to different people across the globe. Through the advancements in information systems, government has been opened for increased citizen participation in different aspects of government functionality. Information systems has also led to the advancement in the use of the internet which has provided room for the improvement in different business activities and communication between organizations and their consumers, business partners and suppliers. Despite the lack of revolutionary impact on the way we work and conduct businesses, information systems has significantly changed our lives and made work relatively easier. The speed of communication and the nature of conducting business transactions have been improved as compared to the years before its introduction. This paper has discussed how the advances in information systems have affected our lives and how it has advanced service delivery and citizen participation in e-governments. References Albrecht, S., Marker, O. & Wiedwald, C 2008, e-participation of citizens and the business community in ebusiness: a study on behalf of the federal ministry of the interior division, Bremen, Germany. 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