The Best Information Technology Books 2024

1. Smart Mobs : The Next Social Revolution (Paperback)

Smart Mobs takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift. The coming wave, says Rheingold, is the result of super-efficient mobile communications-cellular phones, wireless-paging, and Internet-access devices-that will allow us to connect with anyone, anytime, anywhere.Rheingold offers a penetrating perspective on the new convergence of pop culture, cutting-edge technology, and social activism. He also reminds us that the real impact of mobile communications will come not from the technology itself but from how people use it, resist it, and adapt to it.

From Tokyo to Helsinki, Manhattan to Manila, Howard Rheingold takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift-a shift he predicts will be as dramatic as the widespread adoption of the PC in the 1980s and the Internet in the 1990s. The coming wave, says Rheingold, is the result of super-efficient mobile communications-cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and wireless-paging and Internet-access devices that will allow us to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. From the amusing ("Lovegetty" devices in Japan that light up when a person with the right date-potential characteristics appears in the vicinity) to the extraordinary (the overthrow of a repressive regime in the Philippines by political activists who mobilized by forwarding text messages via cell phones), Rheingold gives examples of the fundamentally new ways in which people are already engaging in group or collective action. He also considers the dark side of this phenomenon, such as the coordination of terrorist cells, threats to privacy, and the ability to incite violent behavior. Applying insights from sociology, artificial intelligence, engineering, and anthropology, Rheingold offers a penetrating perspective on the brave new convergence of pop culture, cutting-edge technology, and social activism. At the same time, he reminds us that, as with other technological revolutions, the real impact of mobile communications will come not from the technology itself but from how people use it, resist it, adapt to it, and ultimately use it to transform themselves, their communities, and their institutions.

2. Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Paperback)

In the updated edition of this critically acclaimed and bestselling book, Microsoft project veteran Scott Berkun offers a collection of essays on field-tested philosophies and strategies for defining, leading, and managing projects. Each essay distills complex concepts and challenges into practical nuggets of useful advice, and the new edition now adds more value for leaders and managers of projects everywhere. Based on his nine years of experience as a program manager for Internet Explorer, and lead program manager for Windows and MSN, Berkun explains to technical and non-technical readers alike what it takes to get through a large software or web development project. Making Things Happen doesn't cite specific methods, but focuses on philosophy and strategy. Unlike other project management books, Berkun offers personal essays in a comfortable style and easy tone that emulate the relationship of a wise project manager who gives good, entertaining and passionate advice to those who ask. Topics in this new edition include: How to make things happen Making good decisions Specifications and requirements Ideas and what to do with them How not to annoy people Leadership and trust The truth about making dates What to do when things go wrong Complete with a new forward from the author and a discussion guide for forming reading groups/teams, Making Things Happen offers in-depth exercises to help you apply lessons from the book to your job. It is inspiring, funny, honest, and compelling, and definitely the one book that you and your team need to have within arm's reach throughout the life of your project. Coming from the rare perspective of someone who fought difficult battles on Microsoft's biggest projects and taught project design and management for MSTE, Microsoft's internal best practices group, this is valuable advice indeed. It will serve you well with your current work, and on future projects to come.

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Paperback)

3. Enterprise Computing Series: CIO Wisdom : Best Practices from Silicon Valley (Hardcover)

Bringing together answers from 20 of the world's most successful senior IT executives, this work is based on their extraordinary private discussions over five years. It covers all facets of IT leadership like planning, budgeting, sourcing, architecture, strategy, and much more. It answers questions like what it takes to be a truly great CIO.

Enterprise Computing Series: CIO Wisdom: Best Practices from Silicon Valley (Hardcover)

4. Technological Empowerment : The Internet, State, and Society in China (Hardcover)

Will new technologies, especially the Internet, bring freedom and democracy to authoritarian China? This book argues that the internet has brought new dynamics of sociopolitical change in China, not always supportive of democracy.

Will new information technologies, especially the Internet, bring freedom and democracy to authoritarian China? This study argues that the Internet has brought about new dynamics of socio-political changes in China, and that state power and social forces are transforming in Internet-mediated public space. Its findings are fourfold. First, the Internet empowers both the state and society. The Internet has played an important role in facilitating political liberalization, and made government more open, transparent, and accountable. Second, the Internet produces enormous effects which are highly decentralized and beyond the reach of state power. Third, the Internet has created a new infrastructure for the state and society in their engagement with (and disengagement from) each other. Fourth, the Internet produces a recursive relationship between state and society. The interactions between the state and society over the Internet end up reshaping both the state and society.

5. Information Security: Design, Implementation, Measurement, and Compliance (Hardcover)

Organizations rely on digital information today more than ever before. Unfortunately, that information is equally sought after by criminals. New security standards and regulations are being implemented to deal with these threats, but they are very broad and organizations require focused guidance to adapt the guidelines to their specific needs. Fortunately, Information Security: Design, Implementation, Measurement, and Compliance outlines a complete roadmap to successful adaptation and implementation of a security program based on the ISO/IEC 17799:2005 (27002) Code of Practice for Information Security Management. The book first describes a risk assessment model, a detailed risk assessment methodology, and an information security evaluation process. Upon this foundation, the author presents a proposed security baseline for all organizations, an executive summary of the ISO/IEC 17799 standard, and a gap analysis exposing the differences between the recently rescinded version and the newly released version of the standard. Finally, he devotes individual chapters to each of the 11 control areas defined in the standard, covering systematically the 133 controls within the 39 control objectives. Tim Layton's Information Security is a practical tool to help you understand the ISO/IEC 17799 standard and apply its principles within your organization's unique context.

Information Security: Design, Implementation, Measurement, and Compliance (Hardcover)