Info Tech In Global Economy

Chapter Eight (8) According to Ligtvoet, van de Kaa, Fens, van Beers, Herder, and van den Hoven, (in press), full and comprehensive overview of all relevant components of a system increasingly continue to become difficult.  The authors assert that, the natural response to complex problems is to delve into details.  The suggestion is that an opposite move towards a more abstract approach will gain fruition. The authors have also used the development of smart meters in the Netherlands to illustrate this concept.  A more explicit focus on the values that play a role for different stakeholders avoids fruitless detours in the development of technologies.  These authors continue to argue that, policy-makers would do better by not only addressing functional requirements, but also taking individual and social values into consideration.

Q1: According to research by Ligtvoet et al. (in press), Chapter 8, there are five (5) most important value systems identified and are associated with, and play a major role in the development of smart meters.  Please name them, and briefly state their functions? what are those five (5) most important value systems identified and their functions? 

Chapter Nine (9) Stakeholder engagement in policy development: Observations and lessons from the international experience: Provides a starting point for a better understanding about how different approaches, tools, and technologies can support effective stakeholder participation in policy development processes.  In addition, we have seen how participatory policy-making involves stakeholders from various stages of the policy process and can focus on both the substance of the policy problem or on improving the tools and processes of policy development.  The chapter examined five (5) international cases of stakeholder engagement in policy development to explore two questions: (a) what types of engagement tools and processes are useful for different stakeholders and contexts? (b) what factors support the effective use of particular tools and technologies for constructive outcomes?  The cases address e-government strategic planning in a developing country, energy policy in a transitional economy, development of new technology and policy innovations in global trade, exploration of tools for policy-relevant evidence in early childhood decision-making, and the development of indicators for evaluating policy options in urban planning (pg 177; para3 abstract extract).

Q2: Chapter Nine (9) fig 9.1; illustrates Stakeholder Engagement in policy development.  From this illustration please identify and name the six (6) critical stages of the policy process, and provide a brief narrative of what happens at each stage? what are the six (6) most critical stages of the policy process?