In The third volume of The Digital Hand, James W. Cortada completes his sweeping survey of the effect of computers on American industry, turning finally to the public sector, and examining how computers have fundamentally changed the nature of work in government and education. This book goes far beyond generalizations about the Information Age to the specifics of how industries have functioned, now function, and will function in the years to come. Cortadacombines detailed analysis with narrative history to provide a broad overview of computings and telecommunications role in the entire public sector, including federal, state, and local governments, and in K-12 and higher education. Beginning in 1950, when commercial applications of digital technology began to
appear, Cortada examines the unique ways different public sector industries adopted new technologies, showcasing the manner in which their innovative applications influenced other industries, as well as the U.S. economy as a whole.

He builds on the surveys presented in the first volume of the series, which examined sixteen manufacturing, process, transportation, wholesale and retail industries, and the second volume, which examined over a dozen financial, telecommunications, media, and entertainment industries. With this third volume, The Digital Hand trilogy is complete, and forms the most comprehensive and rigorously researched history of computing in business since 1950, providing a detailed picture of what
the infrastructure of the Information Age really looks like and how we got there. Managers, historians, economists, and those working in the public sector will appreciate Cortada's analysis of digital technology's many roles and future possibilities.

1. PRESENCE OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY; 2. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN TAX AND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS; 3. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN DEFENSE OF THE NATION; 4. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT; 5. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, AND THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE; 6. ROLE, PRESENCE, AND TRENDS IN THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT; 7. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN STATE, COUNTY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS; 8. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN SCHOOLS; 9. DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION; 10. CONCLUSIONS: LESSONS LEARNED, IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC LEADERS; BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY