Suchergebnisse

The mechanisms by which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) support public sector reforms have been widely studied in e-government literature. This paper contributes to this literature analyzing how the entanglement of law and technological systems shapes the trajectory of policy-making. The paper discusses the case of the policy-making which led to the approval of changes in key articles of the Italian Digital Administration Code (DAC). The paper contributes to the e-government literature highlighting that the policy-making choices and options are constrained by how previous law and technology have been entangled to support the digitalization of the public administration. The paper provides valuable insights to better understand the impacts associated with the digitalization of the public administration, specifically of legal norms and procedures, on policy-making processes.

Purpose
– This paper aims to introduce a new approach to the framing of e-government projects. It discusses e-government as a continuing process of interaction and change. The paper uses general concepts borrowed from actor–network theory (ANT) to highlight the on-going negotiation that is an endogenous characteristic of every e-government projects.


Design/methodology/approach
– The research builds on the findings of a case study. The case of the Akshaya e-government project in Kerala, India, is presented to offer an instance of the negotiation that occurs among the different actors involved and the consequent changes the project itself experiences.


Findings
– The paper shows that e-government initiatives are unstable and change over time, as they are cast in the dynamic interaction that occurs between the actors involved in the e-government project. It also suggests that the ANT is a valuable framework to study these dynamics.


Research limitations/implications
– Main contribution of the paper is the evidence that e-government projects should be studied in their making and not as a result of planned action and sequential evolutionary phases.


Practical implications
– The paper offers new insights for the planning, design and most importantly management of e-government projects.


Originality/value
– The paper contributes to the literature by shedding light on the importance of the dynamic interactions that shape the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on government policies. The proposed framework is a basis for further theorisation with regards to the complexity underpinning the deployment of ICTs in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical discussion of information system adoption in the public sector (often referred to as e-government) and to contribute to the debate by offering a public value perspective. The paper points to the public value paradigm as an alternative approach to studying ICT-enabled public sector reforms. This paradigm, we argue, proposes an alternative way of framing the nature of the problems faced when ICT enabled public sector reforms are initiated and studied. The public value perspective proposes a new and richer context in which to study and research these phenomena. It also calls for the redefinition of the ways we assess e-government in the context of public sector reforms. It is therefore seen as vital to evaluate the socio-political impact of ICT adoption in the public sector. Highlights ► Information systems have impacts which go far beyond those which have been discussed in the NPM. ► NPM does not account for the social and political impacts of ICT enabled public sector reform. ► Public value provides an alternative approach which directly challenges the NPM paradigm. ► Public value proposes a new and richer approach for studying and researching ICT in the public sector. ► New e-government indicators are needed to account for public value creation.

Iinnovation in public administration is one of the central aspects of public sector reforms. Given the procedural nature of government tasks, the adoption of the Internet and related information and communication technologies (ICT) has become critical for government organisations. The aim of this paper is to discuss the implications of the diffusion Internet led innovations in the public sector on balancing public values. Rather than diminishing their benefits, we aim at highlighting challenges and dilemmas that can emerge from ICT implementation in the public sector. The paper starts by reviewing the main trends of e-government research and show a dominant view towards managerial and private sector values embedded in the literature. To propose an alternative approach, we then draw on an empirical example from Mexico, that of the Federal Transparency and Access to Government Information Law. Using Mexico's available statistics and secondary data, the case explores how a quicker ICT-mediated interaction between citizens and government can result in social and political dilemmas. We propose to bring into play the public value paradigm to highlight these issues. Conclusions follow.