Leading Edge Information Technologies and Their Adoption: Lessons from U. S. Cities

Abstract

Based on a national study of the adoption of leading edge technologies, this essay surveys the range of information technology innovation in American cities and outlines the management and environmental characteristics associated with successful innovation diffusion and adoption. In part because city governments believe that leading edge information technologies produce largely positive impacts, one obvious future trend will be that more city governments will adopt these technologies. Additionally, more leading edge technologies will be adopted by cities. A third trend is that leading edge information technologies will continue to penetrate cities more deeply, and as deeper penetration occurs, so will greater payoffs from use. A fourth trend is that as new and more sophisticated information technologies are adopted by city governments, integration of and support for them will become even more critical than is currently the case. Finally, although more of a finding than a trend, city population as a measure of city size will remain a key determinant in the number and type of leading edge information technologies adopted. While the overall extent of adoption of leading edge information technologies among city governments can be expected to increase, the greatest extent of adoption will be among larger jurisdictions. <BR>