Yet Another Service Profession to be Revolutionized by IT

As in healthcare, here is yet another claim -- of the 'bellicose grandiosity' variety -- that IT will "revolutionize" a service profession.

From TheHill.com:

White House budget director blames old computers for ineffective government
By Ian Swanson - 1/14/2010

A big reason why the government is inefficient and ineffective is because Washington has outdated technology, with federal workers having better computers at home than in the office.

This startling admission came Thursday from Peter Orszag, who manages the federal bureaucracy for President Barack Obama.

The public is getting a bad return on its tax dollars because government workers are operating with outdated technologies, Orszag said in a statement that kicked off a summit between Obama and dozens of corporate CEOs.

... �It�s time to bring government into the 21^st century,� Orszag said. �Information technology has the power to transform how government works and revolutionize the ease, convenience and effectiveness by which it serves the American people."

I really wish that claims of IT and revolutions would cease. Perhaps the word "increase" (as in "increase the ease, convenience and effectiveness by which government serves the people") would be more accurate and indeed less hysterical.

When you do hear the "R" word in association with computers, though, think very big bucks for the industry and for the management consultants, and a massive amount of uncompensated clerical work and aggravation for the profession to be "revolutionized."

-- SS