Seven Trends that will Transform Local Government Through Technology

This book lays out an impressive, well-articulated set of trends that have affected or will soon affect local governments throughout the nation through technology. Amazingly, as Dr. Shark points out, all of this massive change has occurred within the past 12 years. While technology trends continue to play out in the local government realm, public managers, mainly city and county managers and assistant city and county managers, have experienced quite a number of challenges in navigating the brave new world. Dr. Shark chose local governments as the primary focus because their jurisdictions are where most innovation and experimentation takes place. Despite its focus, this book should be especially helpful to state governments, and perhaps federal agencies, trying to better understand the challenges local governments face. The Seven Trends that will Transform Local Government through Technology is a must-read for all public managers who are seeking answers about how all the pieces fit together and, as importantly, why. No other book on this subject lays it out as convincingly as this one.

Dr. Alan R. Shark serves as the executive director/CEO of the Public Technology Institute (PTI), headquartered in the Greater Washington, DC area. As part of a special strategic partnership between PTI and Rutgers University's School of Public Affairs and Administration, Dr. Shark serves as assistant professor for public affairs and administration. Among the many areas of responsibility, he teaches a masters level course: Technology and Public Administration. His career has spanned over 29 years as a highly recognized leader in both the nonprofit management and technology fields, with an emphasis on technology applications for business and government. Prior to coming to PTI Dr. Shark served as president and CEO of the American Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) and was founder and president of the International Mobile Telecommunications Association. Before that, Dr. Shark also served as the associate executive director and publisher for the Water Environment Federation. As an author, speaker and lecturer on technology developments and applications for most of his distinguished career, Dr. Shark's experience both balances and embraces the business, government, education and technology sectors. His most recent books are eHealth-A Global Perspective; CIO Leadership for Cities & Counties: Emerging Trends & Practices; Beyond e-Government & e-Democracy: A Global Perspective, Beyond eGovernment - Measuring Performance, and CIO Leadership for State Governments. More recently, Dr. Shark has co-authored Web 2.0 Civic Engagement, and authored The Seven Trends that will Transform Local Government Through Technology.