The Federal Push to Bring Computer Applications to Local Governments

Federal officials concerned with science and technology policy have advocated the diffusion of technological innovations as means for improving the payoffs from R&D investments.' Both federal and local officials view the local government sector as an area for major payoffs from technological innovations aimed at improving productivity.2 Since local government is highly labor-intensive, they hope that significant productivity improvements can be achieved by replacing labor with capital investments in technology. This hope is illustrated by federal policy for the development of electronic data processing (EDP) among local governments. 3 This paper evaluates federal policy for support of local EDP in light of our recent research findings regarding what leads to the diffusion of computer applications among local governments. First, we provide a description of federal activities toward the development of EDP in local governments as a model of the policy context of application diffusion. Second, we identify some of the features which contribute to diffusion of computer applications among local governments. These are the processes federal policy is designed to influence. Third, we assess the match between policy and process in seeking to determine the effectiveness of federal policy.