Policymaking for Critical Infrastructure: A Case Study on Strategic Interventions in Public Safety Telecommunications - Hardcover

Gow, Gordon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 075464345X ISBN 13: 9780754643456

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2005

Synopsis

By weaving together three distinct fields - public policy, technology studies and management of critical infrastructure - this volume shows how public policy can help to improve the management of large technical systems.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the Introduction:

This book represents an effort to weave together developments in the field of disaster management with an approach known as ‘Constructive Technology Assessment’ to provide a new perspective on policymaking for critical infrastructure. The essential argument that I put forward is that well-founded public policy must be based on an understanding of the social roots of risk and vulnerability in large technical systems and that this understanding must come from studying how these systems grow and change as socio-technical entities. It is precisely this knowledge that is prerequisite for the design and adoption of appropriate public policy interventions to achieve sustainable societies nationally and internationally.

The public information infrastructure plays a vital role and is at the heart of all critical systems in advanced industrial societies, and as such, it provides the central point of focus in the book. On the one hand, regulatory reform has resulted in a tremendous wave of technological innovation and ground-breaking opportunities for enhanced value-added services that could reduce risk and vulnerability by providing continuity services to a wide range of businesses and government institutions. On the other hand, such developments harbour hidden risks, particularly in light of rapid technological change and competitive pressures among service providers seeking to retain control over strategic network elements.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Limited
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 075464345X
• ISBN 13: 9780754643456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 212