US Government decision makers' expectations and patterns of use of emerging and existing information technologies

This paper discusses the results of marketing research related to the expectations of United States government legislators, House and Senate staff, and Executive Branch administrators regarding emerging information technologies, and their patterns of use of existing technologies. Our research suggests that markedly different expectations and uses exist between categories of Federal decision makers. Members of the House and their support staff are fundamentally unconcerned about the technologies and their implications. Senators, their office staff, and staff of Senate committees have a better appreciation for information technologies, and express the need for technologies that would depend on significant system integration activity. Finally, Executive Branch administrators are already incorporating analogous technologies in the operation of their agencies and in their plans for future development. The incongruities in expectations and patterns of use of information technologies should be of interest to researchers and practitioners involved in technology transfer and diffusion within the Federal government. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.