Policy: An Information Systems Frontier

The information systems community can contribute more, not just to “public policy” but to the broader notion of policy that guides decisions toward desired outcomes. Policy entails politics. It requires knowing about policy promulgation, implementation, and effect. It requires some understanding of policy analysis. The policy analyst takes a scientific and systematic view of policy issues. Much policy is focused on the unglamorous issues of efficiency and effectiveness. The goal is to speak truth to power. This is the first in a series of papers to address policy. has the social and economic impacts of information systems in federal governments, information technology productivity, national policy the information industry, the globalization of the information industry, and who captures the value in global supply chains in industry.