Abstract
Political, economic and social development requires ‘good governance’ and intelligent decision-making. Development decision centers (DDC) equipped with adequate information technology (IT) can help to improve development decisions, increase effectiveness and efficiency of decision conferences and support democratization and political stability.
DDC provide IT-based facilities for brainstorming, discussion, organization and evaluation of ideas, objectives, strategies, projects, etc. They can be integrated into community information centers which are recognized as a ‘multisectoral concept’ for improving development. They can also be established within government agencies, business corporations, universities and other institutions of higher learning to offer assistance in solving complex development problems that require close collaboration of management and expert teams.
The paper analyzes political, socio-cultural and economic development problems, and explains typical steps of development decision-making, using a group support system in the DDC, the author has established at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It is believed to be the first such center in Africa.
In view of the increasing globalization of trade and international cooperation, DDC can play an important role in the concept of the International Office of the Future. They help to integrate developing countries into the world economy and enhance intercultural understanding while, at the same time, improving transparency, accountability and productivity of development planning.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
References
Aiken, M., Kim, D., Hwang, C., Lu, L.C. (1995) A Korean Group Decision-Support System. INFORMATION undMANAGEMENT, 28, 5, 303–310.
Blunt, P (1995), Cultural Relativism, Good Governance and Sustainable Human-Development. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, 15, 1, 1–9.
Camacho, L.M. and Paulus, P.B. (1995) The Role of Social Anxiousness in Group Brainstorming. JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 68, 6, 1071–1080.
Enterprise Solutions Inc. (1994) MeetingWorks for Windows. The Technology of Consensus. Seattle.
Glasson, B.C. (1994) International Office of the Future: A Teaching and Research Facility, in APPLICATIONS AND IMPACTS’, Information Processing ‘84, Proceedings of the IFIP 13th World Computer Congress, Hamburg, Germany, 28 August–2 September, Amsterdam, North-Holland, 430–435.
Hakken, D. (1991) Culture-Centered Computing–Social-Policy and Development of New Information Technology in England and the United-States. HUMAN ORGANIZATION, 50, 4, 406–423.
Hofstede, G. (1983) The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories, Journal of International Business Studies, 14, 2, 75–89.
Kraemer, K., Gurbaxani, V., King, J. (1992) Economic Development, Government Policy, and the Diffusion of Computing in Asia-Pacific Countries, Public Administration Review, 52, 2.
Lewis, L.F. (1982) Facilitator: A Microcomputer Decision Support System for Small Groups. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Louisville.
Lewis, L.F. (1994) A Brief Introduction to Group Support Systems. MeetingWorks Associates, Bellingham.
McNurlin, B.C. and Sprague, R.H. (1989) Information Systems Management in Practice, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Pava, C. (1982) Microelectronics and the Design of Organization, Working Paper No. HBS 82–67, Harvard Business School, Division of Research, Soldier Field, Boston, Mass.
Petrovic, O. and Krickl, O. (1993) Traditionell-moderiertes vs. computergestütztes Brainstorming. Eine vergleichende Betrachtung. Wirtschaftsinformatik, 2, 120–128.
Pliskin, N., Romm, T., Lee, A.S., Weber, Y., (1993) Presumed Versus Actual Organizational Culture–Managerial Implications for Implementation of Information-Systems, COMPUTER JOURNAL, 36, 2, 143–152.
Roberts, A. (ed) (1968) Tanzania before 1900. East African Publishing House, Nairobi.
Talero, E. and Gaudette, P. (1995) Harnessing Information for Development. The World Bank, Washington.
WorldBank, (1992) World Development Report 1992. Development and the Environment. Oxford University Press, New York.
Yellen, RE., Winniford, M., Sanford, C.C. (1995) Extroversion and Introversion in Electronically-Supported Meetings, INFORMATION und MANAGEMENT, 28, 1, 63–74.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Splettstoesser, D. (1996). Development decision centers — a strategy to improve development decision-making. In: Glasson, B.C., Vogel, D.R., Bots, P.W.G., Nunamaker, J.F. (eds) Information Systems and Technology in the International Office of the Future. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35085-1_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35085-1_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5489-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-35085-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive