information technology

Opening the Mail: A Postal System for the New Economy

Substantial and fundamental reform is needed to bring the United States Postal System into the Information Age and bring them out of debt, according to the report from the Progressive Policy Institute. The author offers suggestions to reform the system, which includes creating a Postal Regulatory Commission to foster and protect the competitive environment.

Failure of Cyber-Libertarianism: The Case for a National E-Commerce Strategy

The Progressive Policy Institute report argues that enabling the information technology revolution to reach its full promise will require the pervasive use of digital technologies in all aspects of the economy and society, which will require concerted and strategic government policies for digitizing the U.S. economy.

When Can You Start?

The information technology (IT) employment survey from the Information Technology Association of America gives some indication of the perceived condition of local IT worker situations. Demand for new IT workers is down from last year, the report indicates. The study is based on telephone surveys of a random sample of 685 IT managers from IT-based and non-IT businesses.

Economic Geography of the Internet Age

The authors of the report argue that the economy is increasingly dependent on relationships requiring understanding and trust, qualities developed through face-to-face contact rather than long distance conversations enabled by the Internet. The authors recommend local and state economic development policies focus on maintaining an educated workforce, creating a supportive business climate, and helping their business community to “stay in the loop” of the global economy.

Digital Government: The Next Step to Reengineering the Federal Government

According to the report from the Progressive Policy Institute, digital technologies are fundamentally transforming our economy and society, and have the potential to transform government. The report lays out the overall direction the federal government should take to foster digital government and describes how the government can use information technology to transform its operations.