Open Innovation in the E-Government Strategy Planning

This chapter seeks to identify the current trends of the government transformation to e-Goverment, and combine them with the changes in the new information and communication technologies. Furthermore, the purpose of the study is to understand the evolution towards openness strategy and e-governance as well as assessing its challenges and implications. It seeks to identify the path towards the openness strategy at the ministry of the interior in Finland. It also discusses what kind of capabilities were created or needed in the development process.

Improving E-Government Project Management

E-government is becoming an enabler for better government through cost-effective and efficient service delivery, and can become a useful tool for effective governance, public administration, and public sector transformation. However, e-government projects are noted for many failures due to several reasons. These include inadequate planning, poor project management, lack of top management support, lack of stakeholder involvement, scope creep, etc. Dwelling on the project management literature as well as reviews of award winning e-government project and portfolio management best practices in a state government and a local utility district, this chapter concludes that e-government initiatives should adopt a more concrete project management methodology, align e-government goals with organizational strategic goals, develop project management competences, as well as understand and apply critical success factors to ensure the successful planning and implementation of e-government projects.

Advancing Local E-Government

E-government developments suggest positive changes are unfolding for local government, but hopes for a technology-driven future have outpaced knowledge of how e-government opportunities can be translated into action. This chapter argues that the existing gap between the e-government rhetoric and reality is due in-part to ineffective leadership and that the CFO is an underutilized resource. Remedies are sought by examining the dynamics of local government implementation and considering ways the CFO role could be reengineered while respecting local government needs and realities. The result is a look at a largely undiscovered e-government landscape offering new opportunities for improved leadership and more desirable e-government outcomes. Recommendations are offered for improving both practice and the academic research knowledge base.

SCRAN

This chapter draws attention to the triple-helix model of knowledge production and the Web-services assembled to support the development of the SmartCities (inter) Regional Academic Network as a community of practice for standardising the transformation of eGovernment services. It draws particular attention to the University-Industry-Government collaborations (triple-helix) underlying the Web 2.0 service-orientated architecture of this knowledge infrastructure and the deployment of such technologies as an enterprise allowing communities to learn about how to standardise eGovernment services as transformative business-to-citizen applications. The chapter serves to highlight the critical role business-to-citizen applications play in making it possible for cities to be smart in reaching beyond the transactional logic of service provision and grasping the potential regional innovation systems offer to democratise the customisation of eGovernment through multi-channel access and via user profiling.

Identifying and Managing Risks Inherent in e-Government Project Implementation

e-Government implementation in developing countries is usually very different than it is in developed countries, with different strategy, different challenges, and different risks. One thing developed and developing countries have in common with regard to e-Government is that it involves very large, complex systems with numerous internal and external entities and interfaces resulting in very dynamic non-linear behavior. There are many tools and techniques for use in examining and understanding systems, even large, complex ones. More and more research on e-Government systems is completed every year. Even so, the majority of e-Government projects partially or totally fail. For developing countries, these failures are extremely costly. More is needed. This chapter explores the use of system dynamics modeling to drill down into an e-Government system’s behavior and illustrate its depth and non-linear nature, i.e. how foreign direct investment flows through finance, technology, and strategy to impact risk.

E-Government and Transparency

Governmental transparency is a highly regarded value, often studied by academics and emphasized by practitioners. In literature, transparency is discussed as a tool for enhancing the accountability of governments, as a principle to be implemented in order to reduce corruption in public administration, and as a means for making information on government performance more readily available. This chapter drafts a framework aimed at measuring the degree of governmental transparency and interactivity based on the multiple dimensions of information published on the institutional websites of municipalities. The framework has been tested on a purposive sample composed of the 21 municipalities in Italy’s regional capital cities. The results show that they primarily display information about what they do, how they use resources, whereas acknowledgement of government performance with regard to service delivery is still scarce.

Organizational Change Contributions to E-Government Project Transitions

Leaders recognize that successful transitions to e-government projects are important factors in organizational effectiveness. And yet for many public organizations, such initiatives have produced cost overruns and schedule delays, and some have ended in failure. Practitioners and researchers alike have recognized that technology transitions are not just about the technology and have placed increased emphasis on planning and organizational factors as keys to success. Utilizing contributions from the disciplines of business administration, public administration, psychology, and communication studies, this chapter explores the planning, process, and people aspects of technology transitions in an integrated way. Organizational change theories are directly related to traditional concepts of project management; process views of organizational change are related to planning views of project management. A framework focused on the people aspect of technology transitions provides insights for researchers and practitioners on addressing resistance to change through the use of specific communication protocols. In addition, the framework addresses the development of successful follower profiles within technology transitions. Additional research is sought to validate this framework.

Managing in the Era of Digital Governance

E-government, or digital government, is broadly described as the creation and delivery of information and services inside governments and between governments and the public using electronic information and communication technologies (ICTs). Governments can incorporate ICTs to change administrative processes in ways that are client-oriented and needs based. These changes in administrative processes are part of digital-era governance (DEG) strategies. This chapter examines the administrative and managerial challenges of new electronic modes of transacting social services in the US, highlighting the challenges and outcomes of implementing electronic benefit transfer (EBT) technologies in the child support program.

Implementing and Managing Public Library Networks, Connectivity, and Partnerships to Promote E-Government Access and Education

This chapter explores the implementation and management issues faced by public libraries in the provision of e-government access and education to their patrons and communities. Due to a complex set of factors – policy decisions, widespread trust of libraries, and a lack of social institutions that play similar roles – public libraries now stand as the social guarantor of public access to and education about e-government in the United States. Drawing from data collected through a 2009 national survey of public libraries, a 2009 series of site visits of public libraries, and previous research by the authors, this chapter examines the challenges of implementing public library networks and connectivity to support e-government access and education, as well as the numerous management issues raised by providing these services. The primary focus of this chapter is examining the dual role of public libraries as providers of public Internet access and education and as partners with government agencies to collaborate effectively in the provision of e-government.

Implementing Public Fiber-to-the-Home Network Projects

In this chapter the authors explore the risks, challenges, and remediation efforts encountered in community-based residential broadband implementation efforts. The authors first summarize current research about efforts across the US, to show hot spots of activity and identify projects that have achieved a certain critical mass. The chapter reviews the literature in this area and examines communities that are implementing FTTH projects to understand the patterns of risks and challenges encountered. The authors identify a set of communities whose experiences have been the subject of case studies, to capture how they’ve addressed risks and challenges. In addition to frequently cited communities in the literature (e.g., Lafayette, LA; Bristol, VA; and Glasgow, KY), the authors highlight others that also display innovation and persistence in deploying FTTH to their citizens and encouraging subsequent adoption of broadband use, particularly as it pertains to e-government activities. Finally, the chapter suggests performance metrics for evaluating the risk and success of residential broadband projects, and recommends topics for further research.