What Message in the Medium of Information Systems?

This is a study of 192 information systems maintained by the family of United Nations agencies. The study seeks to determine the impact of the availability of this information capacity on international society, and provides suggestions on how the impact can be conceptualized and studied. The quality...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International studies quarterly 1982-06, Vol.26 (2), p.190-219
Main Authors: Haas, Ernst B., Ruggie, John Gerard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Developing countries
Environmental sciences
Environmental technology
Focal points
Information search
Information storage and retrieval systems
Information systems
Information technology
International cooperation
International studies
United Nations
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Summary:This is a study of 192 information systems maintained by the family of United Nations agencies. The study seeks to determine the impact of the availability of this information capacity on international society, and provides suggestions on how the impact can be conceptualized and studied. The quality of policy might be improved by availability of information, thus perhaps improving development planning. Dependency might be reduced by providing developing countries with knowledge to compensate for economic weakness, thus having a redistributive effect. Cognitive frameworks for defining problem sets could change as a result of information structuring and retrieval routines, thus potentially resulting in greater international complementarity of approaches to problem-solving. The findings suggest that while some trends in the direction of such outcomes can be discerned, the impact of information systems on the whole remains fragmentary and uneven.
ISSN:0020-8833
1468-2478
DOI:10.2307/2600649