18%20October

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18 October

• Computers in Government

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Sign up for Impacts Meeting

• Work with your partner to find a time to meet
  with me (45 minutes)
• Send me email with 3 or 4 times that work for you
• Before the meeting
• Outline of report
• Resources

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First Use of Computers in Government

• 1890 Census
• 1880 census took 7 years
• Predicted 10 years for 1890
• Use of punched cards already existed
• Jacquard loom for controlling weaving patterns
  (Joseph-Marie Jacquard, 1820)
• Used for storing instructions (Charles Babbage)
• Used for storing data (Herman Hollerith, 1889)
• Single hole for numbers
• Multiple holes for letters

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Jacquard Loom
The Loom
How It Worked
The Cards
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Holleriths Tabulating Machine
Each hole electrically connected to a counter If
hole exists, pin pressed through the hole and
made electrical contact with a metal plate
(completed circuit) and advanced counter
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Results

• 1890 Census completed in 6 weeks
• Punched cards were the primary input device to
  computers for 80 years
• Hollerith went on to found Tabulating Machine
  Company (1896), which became IBM in 1924

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Punch Card Machine
Punch cards stacked here
Punched here
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How do We Interact with Government?

• Same as everything else
• In person
• Phone
• Mail
• Web

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What is e-government?

• Online access to government services
• Information
• Transactions
• Opportunity to increase citizen participation
• How government works
• Question Does e-government disenfranchise people?

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Is there a digital divide?

• Facts
• Nearly 70 of Americans have access to the
  Internet
• 70 of those people access it daily
• Less than 10 access is less than once a week
• Question
• Is this good news or bad?

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Demographic Differences

• 87 College degree vs. 48 high school degree
• 86 professionals vs. 58 blue collar
• 78 18 34 years old vs. 43 over 65
• 70 Caucasian vs. 59 black
• No gender difference

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Information sought

• What would you like?
• What people get
• Recreation (50)
• Road closings (25)
• Health information (25)
• Voting records (25)
• Self reported
• Believable?
• Could we do better?
• Why should we care?

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Information vs. Transactions

• Requirements differences
• Information needs to be correct
• Processing, not just displaying
• Transactions
• Need to complete processing properly
• Exactly once processing
• Require checking correctness of information
  entered
• Require security
• Require that user provide information
• In between availability of forms

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Transactions Wanted

• Address Change ONCE
• Respond to jury summons
• Renew drivers license
• Copies of life event certificates (birth, death,
  marriage, divorce)
• Confirm program eligibility and apply
• Student financial aid, unemployment, Medicare,
  Medicaid,
• Passport or visa marriage license
• Employment opportunities and application
• File taxes
• Whats not on this list?

VOTING!
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How To Execute a Transaction

• Save the state so you can return to it
• Update each part conditionally
• E.g., debit and credit
• If all parts succeed, commit
• Otherwise roll back

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ATM Example

• Verify your account
• Subtract amount from your account
• Give you cash
• Give you receipt
• What happens when machine stops and possibly
  restarts?
• Analyze each possible case

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Transaction vs. Printing Forms

• Fundamental principle A system is only as good
  as its weakest link
• Printing forms
• Posting form
• Printing form
• Filling in form
• Delivering form
• Entering information
• Processing information
• What is the weakest link?
• Examples electronic transfers

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Taxes

• Which is better for the government electronic or
  paper filing? Why?
• Which is better for citizens? Why?
• Are they doing what it takes to encourage people?
  Why or why not?

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Next Elections and Voting

• Assignments
• Read posted article
• Find a story about a voting problem in 2004 or
  2005 and write a precis
• What was the problem?
• How many votes and/or races did it affect?
• Was it an electronic problem or not?
• Was it recoverable?