How, where, why and when information technologies are seen as a regeneration policy

Abstract

Much has been written about the role of information and communications technology (ICTs) as a principled input of the “new economy”. Much has also been written about the demise of older industrial regions and local economies. In a populist narrative about contemporary society it seems that the world of the new entrepreneurial dot.com businesses is in the ascendancy, while the older industries of steel, shipbuilding and general manufacturing reflect some bygone time of mass employment and standardised production. But does the logic of the industrial age necessarily feed into the logic of the new economy? Perhaps, despite the rhetoric of the knowledge driven economy, the informational age and the network society, there is nothing inevitable in such development. However, there is evidence of a concerted effort by local and regional governance agencies to initiate planning and policy for ICTs as a regeneration tool. This is, in fact, an empirical study of how, why and when places pursue strategies for ICTs. The locus of study is the North East region of the UK. This is a region built on the heavy industries of deep coal‐mining, shipbuilding, steel‐making and engineering. In this region manufacturing still makes a greater contribution to regional GDP than the service sector. Yet, here, there are clear examples of attempts to stimulate new types of economic activity based on ICTs. The region, it is argued, must engage with the new knowledge economy if it is to survive the myriad social relations thrown up through the unrelenting processes of globalisation. To do this, so the discussion follows, public and private must come together to enable businesses, large and small, community groups and government to play a full role in the new economy; by becoming more knowledge driven and through raising information processing capabilities. Adopts a critical stance towards the idea of ICTs as a tool for regeneration but shows how efforts to establish the correct enabling mechanisms are in fact grounded in the promise of new technologies held by key local and regional players.

Citation

Southern, A. (2001), "How, where, why and when information technologies are seen as a regeneration policy", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 423-438. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005568