Abstract Digitalization is often associated with optimistic grand narratives about a future society in academic discourse. While the word is frequently linked with hopes and expectations of societal rebirth and beneficial changes for societies and organizations, there has been little attention given to systematically investigating the risks associated with digitalization. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between digitalization and risk, thereby characterizing "the digital risk society." By conducting a narrative summary and thematic analysis of 34 academic papers three aggregated themes were outlined: First, in the digital risk society, intangible technologies serve as solutions while simultaneously introducing new risks. Second, as an increasing number of tasks are delegated to machines with opaque inner functions, society is suffering from dehumanization. Third, scholars are calling for new approaches to govern these technologies, spurred by concerns over their potentially harmful use.
Intensified use of digital technology enables new ways for governments to interact with their citizens. One such way they interact is through the use of electronic services (e-services). The diffusion of such services is not yet fully understood. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to study demographic differences in e-service diffusion. The research is conducted by using data from a Swedish region. The novelty of this paper is that it builds on actual usage data. Quantitative data from an e-service platform is presented through descriptive statistics. The results reveal interesting findings related to citizen demographics such as gender, age, and living in a city or rural area, and also findings related to category of e-service. A general observation is that women use e-services more than men, up to the age of 50. Many of these services are aimed towards parents with children in school. One exception from the pattern is services related to building permits and related areas, where men are the most frequent users. The results also reveal that the differences between men and women are smaller in an urban area studied compared to the other municipalities. Overall e-service usage peaks at the age of 40-49, but two rural municipalities deviate from this pattern with an earlier peak. This paper adds to current knowledge on e-service diffusion with data on actual usage, based on age, gender, rural/urban areas, and service categories.
Governments across the world spend vast resources on implementing digital technology. Electronic, or digital, government is the use and study of Internet-based information and communication technology in the public sector. A point of departure in this study is that investments in technology are not value-free; they require allocation of limited resources and trade-offs between values. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government. This research was conducted by using quantitative data from a survey administered to Swedish municipalities and national agencies. In addition, qualitative data from a database was used to exemplify value operationalization. The research utilized a theoretical framework based on four value positions: professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement. The findings reveal that service and quality, and productivity and legality have a high priority, while engagement values are less prioritized. Differences based on organization type and size are also discussed. Moreover, the study suggests that professionalism and efficiency are distinct value positions, while service and engagement are closely related through citizen centricity. The qualitative material suggests that citizen centricity can manifest itself as a form of service logic, but also in the form of educational digital inclusion activities for vulnerable groups. The paper concludes by suggesting that future research should further refine the concept of citizen centricity in relation to digital government values, since its current meaning is ambiguous.
A range of policies on different levels of government (including EU, national, regional and local) concerns the use of digital technology. Drawing upon prior research that suggests that many e-Government policies contain myths and visionary images about technology, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the discourse on digitalization through an analysis of a Swedish digitalization policy. The research utilized a theoretical framework which describes four views on technology. The methodology used was interpretative, based on a "What's the problem represented to be?" (WPR) approach. The findings suggest that the discourse on digitalization in the policy shifts between describing a serving, and a dictating technology. Digitalization is presented as a solution to external problems, based on the condition that we adapt to a future, data-driven society. The policy remains silent about groups and individuals that do not want take part in the digital society, since the proposed solution is that everyone should embrace the technology. The paper concludes with suggestions of alternative perspectives on technology. As such, this paper contributes to the current literature with critical reflections of how technology is represented in a digitalization policy.
Governments across the world spend vast resources on implementing digital technology. Electronic, or digital, government is the use and study of Internet-based information and communication technology in the public sector. A point of departure in this study is that investments in technology are not value-free; they require allocation of limited resources and trade-offs between values. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government. This research was conducted by using quantitative data from a survey administered to Swedish municipalities and national agencies. In addition, qualitative data from a database was used to exemplify value operationalization. The research utilized a theoretical framework based on four value positions: professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement. The findings reveal that service and quality, and productivity and legality have a high priority, while engagement values are less prioritized. Differences based on organization type and size are also discussed. Moreover, the study suggests that professionalism and efficiency are distinct value positions, while service and engagement are closely related through citizen centricity. The qualitative material suggests that citizen centricity can manifest itself as a form of service logic, but also in the form of educational digital inclusion activities for vulnerable groups. The paper concludes by suggesting that future research should further refine the concept of citizen centricity in relation to digital government values, since its current meaning is ambiguous.
Governments across the world are intensifying their use of digital technology. One way to generate an understanding of the effects of technology in the public sector is to study values. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how values in the Swedish national e-Government have developed over time. This research studies Swedish government documents between 1961 and 2018 during three periods of computerization: Automatic Data Processing, Information Technology, and Digitalization. A theoretical framework that consists of four value positions (i.e. professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement) is utilized. The findings suggest that technological paradigms tend to generate value congruence in policy documents, followed by value divergence in evaluations. Currently, digitalization is perceived as the enabler of several values. While both IT and digitalization are referred to as tools or means, the development towards an information, knowledge, or data-driven society is also described as inevitable. The service ideal became dominant through the use of internet-based technology, while efficiency is often prioritized in large-scale projects. Engagement values are associated with a futuristic form of democracy in government documents, but rarely converted into practice. The role of professionalism is two-fold: it acts both as an enabler and as a constraint to the other values. The paper concludes with suggesting that the current development of adapting laws and regulations to enable digitalization might lead to an eroded bureaucracy, with uncertain value.
This thesis addresses two topics: technology and values. More specifically, the studied technology is an ensemble of digital technologies that is often referred to as "digitalization," and the values are gathered from empirical material from the Swedish (digital) government. The purpose of the thesis is to generate an enhanced understanding of the relation between digital technology and values. The study is motivated by, a) a need to theorize digital government research, b) a need to establish a link between narratives of technology and research on values, and c) a need to disclose how investments in digital technology are legitimized. The research question of this thesis is, "how can we understand the relation between digital technology and values?" To answer this question, theoretical concepts that are rooted in philosophy of technology are used: polytechnics and monotechnics, externalism, and internalism. Moreover, a theory of four value positions, namely professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement is used. The thesis revolves around five papers, and its methodological approach is characterized by pragmatism. Data were gathered from relevant literature and document studies, an analysis of expert groups, and survey results from national and local government entities. The findings from the papers were subject to a narrative analysis. This analysis generated three conclusions, which constitute the theoretical contribution of the thesis. The relation between digital technology and values can be understood from these three key conclusions: The first regards convergence, and incorporates two narratives of digital technology: as a polytechnic tool, and as a monotechnic force: a machine. Digital technology is pluralistic in the sense that it may enable several values through multiple technological frames. In parallel, it relies on uniformity and standardization. The technology is therefore subject to several tensions. The story of the machine tends to become dominant through calls for action: it emphasizes the need for rapid adaptation of both individuals and society. In digital government, such adjustment would include an uncertain transformation of professionalism values. The legitimacy of this transformation is highly dependent on which story of technology it is based on. The second conclusion concerns technology as a paradigm. The digital paradigm, as studied in this thesis, is characterized by a story about a technological society for everyone. However, this story stems from a narrow range of actors with respect to educational and geographical context. A broadened view of digital technology and values would require a more symmetrical range of norms, since how values manifest themselves is dependent on the properties of the paradigm. The third and final conclusion regards congruence and divergence. The relation between digital technology and values is shifting between value congruence, and value divergence. When digital technology becomes associated with a narrative of progress that suggests that its value lies in the future while the present is "transformative," it can develop in a seemingly self-augmented and autonomous manner. Contrasting stories of value divergence can be found in evaluations from practice. However, this divergent narrative is repositioned as a story of "barriers", which tells us that values can be realized if society adapts. The interplay between these narratives has implications for how we perceive value realization. The thesis concludes with the following summarizing contributions. Theoretically, it produces an enhanced understanding of the relation between digital technology and values, as described above. Through this theoretical understanding, a link between narratives of technology and values is established empirically. By doing so, this thesis has revealed how values are legitimized, manifested and perceived, depending on what technology "is". Finally, a societal need is fulfilled by suggestions for policy making. Democratization of the norms associated with digital technology would improve governance in the sense that policy makers would have to actively choose between incommensurable views. As a result of this, accountability would increase, together with transparency concerning the narratives that inform policy. ; Denna avhandling studerar relationen mellan digital teknik, ofta benämnd "digitalisering", och värden. Materialet tar sin utgångspunkt i historiska och aktuella utredningar och policys framtagna inom svensk offentlig sektor. Syftet att fördjupa förståelsen för hur olika tekniksyner i dessa påverkar värden såsom professionalitet, effektivitet, service och demokrati. Studiens motivation är att teoretisera forskning om digital förvaltning, skapa en länk mellan historier om teknik, och aktuell forskning om värden, och att förstå hur investeringar i digital teknik legitimeras. Avhandlingen hämtar teoretiska utgångspunkter från teknikfilosofi, och forskning om värden inom offentlig sektor. Resultaten från fem artiklar sammanfattades genom narrativ analys, och renderade följande slutsatser: relationen mellan teknik och värden kan förstås.: -Som en konvergens, där digital teknik assimilerat äldre tekniker. Två berättelser framträder i denna kontext: det flexibla verktyget, och den autonoma maskinen. Konvergens möjliggör realisering av flera värden med hjälp av tekniken, samtidigt som det ofta sker genom standardisering och uniformitet. Berättelsen om maskinen blir dominant eftersom den kommer med uppmaningar om att samhället och individen måste anpassas. I offentlig förvaltning innebär denna anpassning en transformation av professionella värden. Denna transformations legitimitet är i hög grad beroende på vilken tekniksyn den baseras på, då en autonom teknik påverkar värden som till exempel ansvarighet. -Som ett paradigm, där manifesteringen av värden påverkas av normerna inom detta paradigm. Det digitala paradigmet i det studerade materialet, är karaktäriserat av en berättelse om ett teknologiskt samhälle för alla. Denna berättelse berättas dock av aktörer från en smal kontext vad gäller utbildningsbakgrund och geografisk hemvist. I och med att direktiv om digital förvaltning ofta har som mål att bredda användningen av digital teknik, borde en förutsättning för denna bredd vara att bredda normerna som beskriver det digitala samhället. -I termer av kongruens och divergens. Relationen mellan digital teknik och värden skiftar mellan värdekongruens, och värdedivergens. Samspelet mellan dessa berättelser påverkar hur realisering av värden uppfattas. Berättelsen om ett epokskifte karaktäriserat av teknologiska och ekonomiska framsteg tenderar att generera en syn på tekniken som något autonomt, vars värde ligger i framtiden. Nutiden är alltid transformativ. Denna berättelse står i kontrast mot utvärderingar från praktiken, där värden divergerar. Divergensen positioneras som en berättelse om "hinder" för fortsatt utveckling. Avhandlingen konkluderas med att föreslå en breddning av de normer som informerar politik och beslutsfattare. Om dessa beslutsfattare aktivt skulle behöva navigera och välja mellan inkommensurabla tekniksyner skulle det ha positiva konsekvenser för legitimitet, ansvarighet och transparens. ; Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbete opublicerat: delarbete 2 (manuskript). At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished: paper 2 (manuscript).
Governments across the world spend vast resources on implementing digital technology. Electronic, or digital, government is the use and study of Internet-based information and communication technology in the public sector. A point of departure in this study is that investments in technology are not value-free; they require allocation of limited resources and trade-offs between values. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government. This research was conducted by using quantitative data from a survey administered to Swedish municipalities and national agencies. In addition, qualitative data from a database was used to exemplify value operationalization. The research utilized a theoretical framework based on four value positions: professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement. The findings reveal that service and quality, and productivity and legality have a high priority, while engagement values are less prioritized. Differences based on organization type and size are also discussed. Moreover, the study suggests that professionalism and efficiency are distinct value positions, while service and engagement are closely related through citizen centricity. The qualitative material suggests that citizen centricity can manifest itself as a form of service logic, but also in the form of educational digital inclusion activities for vulnerable groups. The paper concludes by suggesting that future research should further refine the concept of citizen centricity in relation to digital government values, since its current meaning is ambiguous.
This thesis addresses topics of public values and decision making in relation to the use of technology in the public sector. The research is conducted in the Swedish government context. A range of values that is specific to the public sector has been defined and classified in prior research. These public values can be defined as normative agreements of how a government should act. The Swedish government spends SEK 46.5 billion on information technology every year. Some of these funds are invested in improvements that are intended to increase efficiency and openness, as well as to make it easier for citizens to use government services. Such ambitions are studied in the e-Government research field. The literature suggests that reasons to question the promised values of implementing technology in the public sector exist and that many initiatives ultimately fail. The public sector has some unique features that may increase complexity, such as the variety of stakeholders and multitude of organizations that are both involved in the development process and affected by the outcomes. The purpose of this thesis is to explore public values and decision making in the Swedish e-Government context by posing three research questions. 1: How can public values be utilized in decision making? 2: Under what conditions are decisions made in the studied context? 3: How can value-based decision making be adopted by e-Government practice? The thesis is based on quantitative and qualitative data gathered from case studies and a survey. Its theoretical contribution is a comparison of theoretical concepts from decision theory and public values, which are then applied to e-Government. Several fragmented concepts from e-Government can be tied together under decision theory. The study's results show that many decisions are taken under a great deal of uncertainty due to the absence of formal support mechanisms. The Swedish public administration leans toward a variety of project models in its work with e-Government, and these models constitute the arena in which decisions are made and risk analysis is performed. However, many risks as well as opportunities reside beyond the studied projects' control. Holistic stakeholder inclusion and risk analysis are suggested as practices beneficial for increasing value and reducing uncertainty. The thesis concludes by suggesting that further research should continue to apply concepts from decision theory on e-Government. This includes revealing the motivations and values behind digitalization of the public sector. ; Vid tidpunkten för försvar av avhandlingen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 3 och 4 accepterade. At the time of the defence the following papers were accepted, but unpublished: Paper 3 and Paper 4.
Developing e-services in the public sector is a demanding task that involves a variety of stakeholders and values. Further complexity is added by organizational and institutional challenges, especially when specialized government agencies are expected to collaborate to create seamless, integrated services. This paper focuses on decision making and risk analysis in two Swedish collaborative e-Government cases. Empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews and project documentation, which are analyzed using an objectives-oriented Logical Framework Approach (LFA). The results highlight two factors that influence the outcomes of the projects; governance for collaboration and financial models for distributing resources between government agencies. When these formal support mechanisms are not provided, they become risks for the projects and create uncertainties in decision processes. While the studied government context has matured enough to develop fully functional platforms for e-services, these uncertainties become issues when public values are to be measured and evaluated. The paper concludes by suggesting the use of public values as objectives together with measurable indicators in order to create a common language for decision making and risk management across government agencies.
In the last two decades, governments around the world have been implementing electronic services in order to create a range of public values and meet new demands from a variety of stakeholders. Such activities fall within the scope of the e-Government research field. Developing large-scale information systems has proven to be a challenging task and many initiatives have ended in failure. This paper explores uncertainty in the e-Government context. How is it related to the various actors in the public sector, and how can decision making be adapted here to improve value realization? Using actor-network theory as an analytical lens, the collaboration of five Swedish municipalities in creating common e-services is examined as a case study. The results indicate that factors beyond decision makers' control, such as relations outside of a project, create a high degree of uncertainty. This uncertainty can be reduced by creating durable relations between local and global socio-technical actors. Inscribing values into generic software that has a high grade of interoperability should help to strengthen these networks beyond projects and regional borders.
Citizen-centricity is a common concept in digital government research and policy. However, there is little clarity regarding the concept in previous literature. To address this shortcoming, and build theoretical foundations for addressing both citizen-centricity and associated phenomena, we have examined how citizen-centricity is characterized in digital government research. This study is based on literature review of 66 journal articles. A combination of narrative analysis and ideal-type methodology identified themes concerning four modes of government, designated traditionalist, service-dominant, participatory, and transformative. Further analysis of associated types and research streams provides an overview of the theoretical understandings of citizen-centricity and methodological approaches applied to explore it in the literature. The findings contribute to contemporary theory on citizens in digital government by outlining an integrative framework of citizen-centricity. The paper concludes with proposals for further research, including efforts to enhance conceptual clarity and develop more dynamic theories.
The intensified use of digital technologies in the public sector, which is commonly referred to as "digitalization," is associated with the pursuit of a range of values. Values reflect notions of desirability, and they are expressed in strategic government documents. In this paper, we argue that the study of narratives in policies is important since they constitute starting points for the operationalization of strategic intent. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the narratives of the digitalization strategies that have been articulated by Swedish local government. We applied a theoretical framework that consists of four value ideals (professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement), and we combined it with directed content analysis to analyze the strategies in question. Most of the statements in the strategies anticipate beneficial outcomes of digitalization and articulate few risks. The most common value proposal refers to the congruence between values of improved service and increased efficiency, while engagement values are less common. Moreover, the strategies draw on a repository of general and identical optimistic statements, which we refer to as the "parrot syndrome." In addition, the methods that are used to evaluate values lack specificity. These findings contribute to the literature on the discursive landscape of digitalization by a comprehensive analysis of the value positions that are articulated in local government strategies. The paper concludes with three proposals for further research, namely to perform similar studies in other contexts, to study the enactment of digitalization strategies, and to investigate the aforementioned "parrot syndrome."
This paper studies associations between the use of formal decision-making processes in e-Government projects and the outcomes of these projects. By doing so, this study contributes to the decision sciences as well as to the fields of e-Government, information systems and public administration. Data were collected using a survey conducted among Swedish national government agencies and municipalities. Variables that have been investigated are the defining and weighting of objectives, resource allocation and assessment of whether objectives are met, as well as to what extent risk analysis was conducted. The results reveal that successful projects distinguish themselves by involving more activities related to formal decision-making procedures, especially with respect to stakeholder inclusion and weighting of objectives. These initiatives also manage more types of risks, including organizational issues. Future research should continue to explore the possible benefits of formal decision-making and risk analysis in e-Government.
Part 7: Evaluation ; International audience ; Electronic government, or e-Government, is the use of information and communication technology in the public sector. As a research field, it is characterized as multi-disciplinary with heritage from both the information systems and public administration fields. This diverse background may be beneficial, but it may also result in a fragmented theoretical base and conceptual vagueness. This paper applies decision theory to e-Government to tie a number of theoretical and practical concepts together. In particular, five concepts from decision theory (i.e. objectives, stakeholder inclusion, weighting and resource allocation, risk analysis, and outcomes assessment) are compared with counterparts in e-Government. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. First, they add to and unite e-Government theory. Second, practical methods for operationalizing the theoretical concepts are proposed. This operationalization includes using a holistic approach to e-participation throughout decision processes.
