Disconnected communities? ICT, policy learning and the lessons for central--local relations

Contemporary information and communication technologies (ICT) enable large amounts of information to be captured and communicated, and for service delivery processes to be re-engineered. However, claims for a new digital era governance and for the transformative role of ICT in public services are questionable. A policy learning approach is used in this article to demonstrate that the relationship between information, policy knowledge, formulation and action is complex and uncertain. ICT applications have limited capacity to transform radically the public policy process and the delivery of complex public services. Similarly, such applications are unlikely to transform central--local relations given the multiplicity of political, professional and territorial interests and perspectives.