Informatuion technologies in public administration

1. Free Speech

1. How do IT change modern life?

2. Why do you think it is necessary to use Information Technologies in Public Administration?

2. Study the following expressions and read text A.

convention floor – зал заседаний,

General Code Publishers – группа издателей генеральной кодекса,

attorney –адвокат, поверенный

filing cabinet – картотека, каталог

minute(s) - заметка, протокол, документ, санкционирующий какое-л. действие,

Laser fiche –лазерная микрофиша (прозрачный носитель-карта с микро записью большого количества информации),

document imaging - графическое представление документов

Optical Character Recognition – оптическое распознавание текста.

Text A

Document management is on everyone's mind lately. From the convention floor to the municipal office, people are talking about how to address the growing need for quick and accurate search and retrieval of municipal records. Along with this need come uncertainties and questions: What exactly are our document management needs? How can the computer help us? What document management system is best for us? What can the computer do that I can't do? Even though document management has only recently become a popular topic of conversation, it is something that many municipal officials already have some experience with.

In 1962, the late A. Ross Kitt II, founded General Code Publishers - one of the first companies created to specifically address the document management needs of the local government. Mr. Kitt was an attorney serving as Supervisor for the Town of Ogden when he became frustrated by the difficulty of locating various pieces of local legislation. He took on the task of compiling an accurate and up-to-date compilation of all the legislation the Town had enacted. Officials in neighboring communities were soon asking him to help them do the same thing for their municipalities, and a business was born! Since that time, the Code has become the legislative storage and retrieval medium for most municipalities. By researching, editing, paginating and printing a comprehensive Code, obsolete legislation can be eliminated, state statutory requirements can be met, and municipal legislation can be easily found, read, and referenced. The Code gives municipalities the ability to maintain legislative documents without misplacing or losing important items. The Code is a great tool for managing living documents like municipal legislation, but municipal officials also have to handle the inactive, historical and archival documents that are not legislation. In the not-so-distant past, finding municipal records often meant searching through boxes in the basement, dealing with water damage, and trying not to let the dust and mildew aggravate your allergies. Finding documents was a time-consuming and frustrating process, but the inconvenience was accepted because no one had come up with a better system. Eventually, however, technology began to change the way things were done. One simple invention that forever changed document management was the filing cabinet. The filing cabinet brought organization to our cluttered lives and cluttered desks. Documents went into folders and folders had labels. Color-coding made everything easy to find. Filing cabinets kept things off the floor, making the occasional burst water pipe less of a threat to vital records. But filing cabinets are far from perfect. Inevitably, there are too many files for the cabinet, and instead of reorganizing, we just stack them on top, hoping that someone else will take the time to buy new cabinets and move the files. Having only the top two drawers open can bring the whole cabinet down on top of you, making the filing cabinet an occasional threat to health and safety! Worst of all, there was always someone who forgot that P came after O. This is why no one will ever see the 1976 Purchase Orders again.

This is the level of technology where most municipalities are today. Filing cabinets are in countless municipal vaults, holding vital records and legislation. Anything that doesn't fit in the filing cabinets can be found in storerooms full of shelving units and packed with boxes. Despite the inconvenience, the shelving unit and the filing cabinet remain the organizational choice of many local governments. However, as new document management programs become easier to use and increasingly more affordable, the old ways are gradually being phased out. Computers have revolutionized many areas of our lives, making things easier, simpler and more efficient than most people ever thought possible. The computer runs the word processing program that is replacing the typewriter. The computer runs the e-mail that is replacing the letter. The computer operates the scanner, Internet and search and retrieval program that is replacing the filing cabinet. The last five years or so have seen great advances in the computer technology available for use in document management. Computer hardware, such as high-volume scanners and network servers, has become affordable for even the smallest municipality. Combined with how easy it is to use most search and retrieval software, computerized document management has become the choice of many clerks, managers, administrators and councils.

3. Give Russian equivalents:

1. (n) search and retrieval, compilation, legislation, attorney, dust and mildew, archival documents, invention, folders, storerooms, inconvenience, typewriter

2. (v) replace, eliminate, misplace, maintain, deal with, handle, aggravate, stack, accept

3. (adj.) various, accurate, up-to-date, obsolete, comprehensive, statutory, not-so-distant, time-consuming, occasional, countless, affordable, efficient, high-volume

4. Insert the correct preposition:

1) Mr. Kitt was an attorney serving as Supervisor for the Town of Ogden when he became frustrated … the difficulty of locating various pieces of local legislation.

2) … researching, editing, paginating and printing a comprehensive Code, obsolete legislation can be eliminated.

3) The Code gives municipalities the ability to maintain legislative documents … misplacing or losing important items.

4) The inconvenience was accepted because no one had come … with a better system.

5) Filing cabinets kept things … the floor.

6) Computer hardware has become affordable … even the smallest municipality.

5. True or false:

1) From the convention floor to the municipal office, people are talking about how to store municipal records.

2) Many municipal officials already have much experience with this system.

3) Since that time, the Code has become the legislative storage and retrieval medium for most municipalities.

4) Anything that doesn't fit in the filing cabinets can be found in storerooms full of shelving units and packed with boxes.

5) The last twenty years or so have seen great advances in the computer technology available for use in document management.

6. Read text B and answer the questions after the text.

Text B

The same General Code Publishers Code that was invented more than 40 years ago is now available in a computerized version. A computerized version of your Code can be installed onto a network or onto individual computers. Running a computerized version of the Code ensures that everyone is referencing the same up-to-date and accurate legislation. Some computerized versions of your Code can also be uploaded to the Internet, giving anyone in the world 24 hour a day access to your Code. Many municipalities have found that by having their Code available on the Internet, they are better equipped to attract new business development to their community. Contractors and potential homeowners from both within and outside the community can access the building, zoning and subdivision Codes whenever they need information. Municipalities who use the Internet to share information about their area are positioning themselves as progressive and innovative leaders for economic and population growth.

CD will hold as many documents as a four-drawer file cabinet. Imagine carrying fully searchable copies of every municipal document ever created by your municipality in your briefcase! Laser fiche is cost effective because the needs of the municipality determine how the system is structured. From the stand-alone system to the co Legislative documents aren't the only municipal records that are benefiting from the growing use of computers. Computers are also being used today for indexing of Minutes, document imaging, and accessing vital records. A few years ago, General Code developed a customized software program that gives municipal officials almost instantaneous access to the complete text of Minutes and resolutions.Whatever form original Minutes are in, they can be easily incorporated into the program. The program can also be updated to include new Minutes as they are recorded. Having the Minutes available electronically in an easily searchable format eliminates the hours of wasted time that were spent looking through the old books page by page. If you want to have all of your documents, not just your Minutes, available in a searchable electronic format, then document imaging may be the best answer for you. Programs like Laser fiche take scanned images of all your documents and make them searchable. Laser fiche uses a process called OCR, which stands for Optical Character Recognition, to turn the scanned picture of your document into a searchable text format. Users can print copies of the original document or cut-and-paste the text into a word processing program. Laser fiche can also upload your documents to the Internet, translate them to e-mail, or burn them to CDs for easy distribution. Amazingly, Laser fiche is designed to work with you.

a) Who founded General Code Publishers? What for?

b) What has the Code become since that time?

c) The Code gives municipalities the ability to maintain legislative documents without misplacing or losing important items, doesn’t it?

d) Is the Code a great tool for managing living documents?

e) Why did the process of finding documents use to be a time-consuming and frustrating process?

f) Is the same General Code Publishers Code that was invented more than 40 years ago now available in a computerized version?

g) What kind of Programs take scanned images of all your documents and make them searchable?

7. Explain the meaning of the following words:

archival documents; data medium /carrier; information products; information security; information resources with restricted access; state secret; commercial (trade) secret; database; international data exchange; compulsory copy of documents.

8. Translate the text using the words given in the brackets.

Эффективный электронный документооборот (circulation of documents) является обязательной составляющей эффективного управления, а также фундаментом создания электронной администрации (муниципалитета) — системы регионального и муниципального управления на основе электронных средств обработки, передачи и распространения информации, а также оперативности (efficiency) и удобства предоставления гражданам и организациям государственных и муниципальных услуг.

Функциональные свойства системы “Кодекс: документооборот” позволяют регионам и муниципалитетам реализовать следующие преимущества: автоматизация делопроизводства с переходом на полный электронный документооборот; массовый перевод бумажных документов в электронный вид и создание электронного архива (electronic archive); создание фундамента электронного муниципалитета (electronic municipality) и региона; обеспечение доступа граждан к муниципальным информационным ресурсам и автоматизация (computerization) основных задач многофункционального центра; создание базы организационно-распорядительных документов и обеспечение доступа к ней, в том числе удаленного; создание единого информационного пространства и гетерогенных (heterogeneous) систем.

Система “Кодекс: Документооборот” ориентирована на стандарты и практику российского делопроизводства и основана на опыте внедрения в подразделениях делопроизводства в органах государственной власти и других организациях.

Одной из особенностей отечественного делопроизводства является разделение должностных функций по работе с документами между руководителями и делопроизводителями. Более того, в подразделениях делопроизводства также существует разделение труда, обычно построенное на работе определенных сотрудников с определенными документопотоками.

Важнейшим объектом новой системы является электронный документ (электронная копия документа). Для хранения этого документа и организации работы с ним создано хранилище текстово-графической (text and graphic information) информации, являющееся ядром системы нового поколения, вокруг которого наращиваются функциональные возможности и различные сервисы, обеспечивающие автоматизацию делопроизводства (clerical work) и документооборота в организации.

9. Read the text.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinks administration will switch over to the system of electronic document management applying electronic digital signature in 2011-2013. The project will cost more than 172, 8 million rubles from the municipal budget, the city press-service reports. The municipal programme of informatization of Yuzhno-Sakhalinks city administration, its structural branches and departments within its jurisdiction for 2011-2013 was approved on Thursday at the board session under the regional center mayor. In the programme frameworks the concept of e-government is to be realized.
The programme provides creation of united multiservice telecommunication network (UMTN) - structured cable system installation, laying of fiber-optic cables that will link all city administration branches into the single network. Necessary equipment is to be purchased. All branches of the city administration will implement the system of electronic document management applying electronic digital signature. Electronic archive will be created, electronic booths will be purchased. So, the first booth in the city administration hall will appear the next week. It will be connected with the websites of the city administration, regional government, the portal of public and municipal services and the portals of the federal power authorities. Next booths are planned to be installed in the halls of the City Assembly and the department of architecture and town-planning. They will not only provide an access to the websites of the federal, regional and municipal power bodies but also a possibility to send a letter to the power authorities. Electronic booths services will be available for everyone.

10. Find English equivalents for the following word combinations.

переключаться; переходить на что-либо,

цифровая подпись,

муниципальный бюджет,

отчеты пресс-службы,

структурные отделения,

быть одобренным,

объектные структуры,

оптоволоконные провода,

осуществлять, вводить в действие,

электронные кабины,

доступ к вэб-сайтам

11. Retell the text

1. Read the following text and give the best title

The developments in areas of informatics and communication have brought about significant transformations in almost every sphere of social life, creating an information society. Societies which use the information in an efficient and active way are able to increase their welfare standards by making rational decisions in economic and social areas. Information societies with the opportunities provided by the new information and communication technologies have a state structure and a governance model which enable them to establish and develop active and efficient public administration, and also a participatory democracy. This model is called e-government.

E-government should contribute to the development of e-democracy by creating openness and also by making it possible for government institutions to be controlled and checked. For the realization of e-democracy, the information and communication technologies should be used and accessed equally by all sections of society. Digital divide, which is the uneven distribution and use of information and communication technologies prevent the realization of e-democracy and the effective operation of e-government. Digital divide is observed not only between different sections of a society but also between different countries. When we look at the worldwide distribution of the Internet we see that Internet is being used by a minority who live mainly in the developed countries whereas the majority of the world population has a limited, or in some cases no access to the new communication technologies.

The socio-economic development and democratization levels of countries have a determining effect on the implementation of e-government models. This study will examine and question the e-government practices of two socio-economically different countries, Britain and Turkey.

The age we live in is designated as the information age due to the rattling developments in today's information and communication technologies. This age, with information as its genuine element of value, has been going through a revolution in producing, processing and transferring information. These developments in information and communication technologies have paved the way to the transformation of societies into information societies.

New information technologies give rise to economical, cultural and political changes in every area of social life. All these advancements have also re-shaped the relationship between governments and citizens. Governments are now faced with a new citizen profile demanding more and better service. Therefore, it has become impossible for the governments to ignore any longer the requirements of the age and the demands of citizens.

Information and communication technologies are agreed to have the potential of deeply influencing the intra-organization mechanisms of public administrations via control, supervision, communication, and information management. Reconstruction of public administration through information and communication technologies requires certain conditions. In the first place, public servants should adopt the notion of considering citizens as customers. The arrangements should be grounded on the principle of doing more work with lesser cost. Besides, the services should be provided on the basis of openness and transparency. Finally, necessary attempts, such as initiating education programs for the public personnel to adapt the new system, should be given a continuous and permanent pace so as to increase the computer literacy of users and to increase their consciousness and trust for the system.

Together with the usage of information and communication technologies in public administration, revolutionary changes have been experienced in the delivery of public services. While the stagnant and centralist bureaucratic government model, which adopts one-way communication and has high costs of process, fails to meet the expectations and demands of citizens; we have witnessed the emergence of a new interactive administration model that is based on citizen satisfaction and enables 7 days/24 hours access to public services, and eliminates the limitations of time and space. This new formation is called e-government.

2. Place the following words into the appropriate column.

NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB

… … …

significant, citizen, bureaucratic, adopt, stagnant, literacy, reconstruction, provide, re-shape, e-democracy, revolutionary, delivery, digital,, create, contribute, openness, personnel, fail, increase, necessary, interactive, population, principle, user, participatory, observe.

3.True or false.

1. The developments in areas of informatics and communication have brought about significant transformations in almost every sphere of social life, creating scientific society.

2. Societies which use the information in an efficient and active way are able to increase their welfare standards without making rational decisions in economic and social areas.

3. E-government should contribute to the development of e-democracy by creating openness and also by making it possible for government institutions to be controlled and checked.

4. When we look at the worldwide distribution of the Internet we see that Internet is being used by people all over the world.

5. New information technologies can’t give rise to economical, cultural and political changes in every area of social life.

6. Reconstruction of public administration through information and communication technologies doesn’t require any conditions.

7. The arrangements should be grounded on the principle of doing more work with lesser cost.

8. We have witnessed the emergence of a new interactive administration model that is based on citizen satisfaction and enables 7 days/24 hours access to public services, and eliminates the limitations of time and space