ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how data information and knowledge are related from three related perspectives: hardware development, application development, and network development. Information systems include information technologies but are broader and represent “the people, procedures, inputs, outputs, and processing all working together to produce accurate and timely information”. Networking technology facilitated increased processing capabilities and also the sharing of information and communication. The goal of management information systems (MIS) is to get correct information to the appropriate manager at the right time, in a useful form. However, in a practical sense, the MIS movement fell short in the public sector because it failed to recognize the need to integrate systems. The historical evolution of software application development coincides with several interesting management reforms in the public sector and begins the evolution of management reporting. Descriptive research examining government use of Web sites revealed that public Web sites followed a predictable evolution along a continuum.
