Information policy and strategic development: a framework for the analysis of policy objectives

Information will play an important role in the economic, social and political development of the People's Republic of China. The information industries will be of growing importance within the Chinese economy and they will play an important part in the interaction with the international economy. Within Chinese organizations information can be used to improve productivity. Access to information is also an important element in the working of social and political systems. It is necessary to develop a range of policies to ensure that information services and systems are developed in the most effective way. When analysing the policy arena it is possible to identify three different policy levels: industrial; organizational and social. At each of these levels, there are five elements which need to be taken into account: information technology; information markets; information engineering; human resources, and legislation and regulation. By combining the levels and elements it is possible to construct an information policy matrix which can be used to analyse the policy requirements.