Jane E. Fountain is an American political scientist and technology theorist. She is Distinguished University Professor of political science and public policy, the founder and director of the National Center for Digital Government at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, and formerly faculty at the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

at Harvard University. She is known for her work on institutional change and on the use of technology in governance.

Career

Fountain earned a bachelor's degree in music from the

Boston Conservatory of Music Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

in 1977, serving as concertmaster from 1975–77."Biography"
, Jane E. Fountain personal website. She then earned a master's degree in education (administration, planning and social policy) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1982, and several degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, culminating in a Ph.D. in political science and organizational behavior in 1990. She began teaching at the

at Harvard in 1989. In 1998 she established the Women in the Information Age Project and in 2001, with support from the National Science Foundation, established the National Center for Digital Government with David Lazer. In 2005 Fountain moved to the

and NCDG was re-established there. Fountain also directs the Science, Technology and Society Initiative at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fountain has worked with numerous governmental and NGO organizations. She has been involved with the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

for a number of years, serving on the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government and as Council Chair and Vice Chair. In 2012 she was appointed to the Massachusetts-based Governor's Council on Innovation. She has also worked with the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

, and numerous national governments. In 2001, Fountain published ''Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change'', which has been published in multiple languages, and is regarded as a key text in

digital government E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new ...

scholarship.See, e.g., Kenneth Kernaghan, "Moving Towards the Virtual State: Integrating Services and Service Channels for Citizen-Centred Delivery", ''International Review of Administrative Sciences'', v.71, n.1, pp.119-131 (March 2005); Donald F. Norris, "Building the Virtual State... or Not? A Critical Appraisal", ''Social Science Computer Review'', v.21, n.4, pp.417-424 (Nov. 2003); Glenn Hoetker, Book Review, ''Academy of Management Review'', v.27, n.4, pp.619-622 (Oct. 2002).

Selected works

* ''Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change'' (2001) (awarded "Outstanding Academic Title" by ''

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a giv ...

'') * "Social Capital: A Key Enabler of Innovation" Investing in Innovation: Toward A Consensus Strategy for Federal Technology Policy. Ed. Lewis Branscomb and James Keller. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. * "Paradoxes of Public Sector Customer Service", ''Governance'', v.14, n.1, pp. 55–73 (Jan. 2001) * "Constructing the Information Society: Women, Information Technology and Design." ''Technology in Society'' 22: 45-62. 2000.

Awards and honors

* 2014 - Federal 100 Award, Federal Computer Week * 2013 - Distinguished University Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst * 2012 - Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration * 2012 - Chancellor's Medal for Academic Excellence and Extraordinary Service to the Campus, University of Massachusetts Amherst. * 2011 - Inaugural ITP Section Senior Fellow, Information Technology and Politics Section, American Political Science Association. * 2010 - Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, University of Massachusetts Amherst. * 2000 - Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Notes

External links

"Jane Fountain" (faculty profile)
University of Massachusetts Dept. of Political Science.
Jane Fountain personal website

Jane Fountain Selected Works
(institutional repository page).
Digital-Government.net

National Center for Digital Government

Science, Technology, and Society Initiative
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain, Jane University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Harvard Kennedy School faculty Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people 1955 births American women political scientists American political scientists E-government in the United States Politics and technology Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni American women academics 21st-century American women