Information Technology Strategy and Management Curricula in Public Administration Education in Latin America

Abstract

Around the world, failures and scandals in government have evidenced the need to improve the information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum of public administration programs. In the United States, since 1986, the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration has promoted standards of computer literacy that include ICT skills. Studies of ICT curricula in public administration education focus on the supply side (the opinions of schools and students), neglecting the demand side (the opinions of employers). Programs in Latin America have been poorly studied and there are no clear ICT standards. The present study involved interviewing chief information officers and executives (employers) in the public sector in Mexico in order to identify competencies for ICT curricula. As a result, this study identifies soft and hard competencies and subsequently examines them using an extension of the NASPAA’s Annual Data Report survey and reviewing Latin American public administration program websites. In general, this study finds that ICT-related courses in Latin America are more associated with soft competencies than hard competencies.