ABSTRACT
The field of management information systems has grown independent from its origins in computer science, management, accounting, and business administration. Stand-alone academic departments, schools, and colleges of information systems (IS) or management information systems (MIS) have emerged to provide generic teaching and research for the field. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NAS-PAA), which accredit master's programs in public administration and public policy, held a rather narrow view of information management. The public administration and policy programs should offer courses in MIS is that managing information in the public sector is significantly different in many respects from managing information in the private sector, technically, politically, bureaucratically, and financially. In general, every state is trying to operate using antiquated hardware and software systems that run slowly and frequently break down. Every state has paperwork information systems that are costly to run and could be automated.
