“E-lectrifying Government”: Challenges and Opportunities for

E-Government Research

ICEG08 Key note, 24 October 2008Professor Miriam Lips

Victoria University of Wellington

15 years ‘E-government’

How do we understand ‘E-Government’ today?– E-Government conferences, journals,

teaching programmes– Origins of the E-Government concept– Influence of E-Government consultancy

firms

15 years ‘E-Government’ - Another international crisis?...

• Failing E-Govt projects• Huge costs involved: “Dangerous Enthusiasms”

(Gauld & Goldfinch)• News on data breaches in ‘information age govt’• Flaws in E-Govt surveys (Gartner)

15 years ‘E-Government’:..or wrong ambitions?

• From ‘E-Government’ to ‘T-Government’…

• …to ‘I-Government’?

15 years ‘E-government’

Pathway to ‘E-Government Maturity’

Four Stage E-Govt Development Model:

• The Information Stage• The Communication Stage• The Transaction Stage• The Transformation Stage

Next stage ‘E-Government’?

…or ‘e-Government’…

The State of E-Government Research

Analysis of scholars in the field:

• Andersen & Hendriksen

• Grönlund

• Heeks & Bailur

Added Value of E-Government Research

• Acknowledging the interdisciplinary nature of E-Government

• ICTs as disruptive technologies: they act on information

• Informational Government is all around us• The need for empirical research• Moving beyond the surface of

benchmarking findings, demonstrating actual change and implications

Added Value of E-Government Research

Empirical example 1

Government is changing fundamentally:

the case of a smart card in UK local govt

Added Value of E-Government Research

Empirical example 2

Government is doing things differently:

the case of E-mail management in

NZ central govt

How did respondents store business e-mails?

63%

17%

26%19%

28%

57%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Emailaccount

Personalpaper file

Sharedpaper file

Personalelectroniclocation

Corporateserver

EDRMS

How did respondents manage

business e-mails?

42%

75%

11%

77%

29%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Retitle email Store basicdetails

Automaticallydelete email

Store emailswith edocs

Keep emailsaccessible tothemselves

Changecontent

Added Value of E-Government Research

Empirical example 3

Government is doing innovative AND

traditional things simultaneously:

the case of e-participation in NZ

Enabling Transformation - E-government Strategy (2006)

Vision• Transforming the way government works for youMilestones• By 2007, information and communication technologies will

be integral to the delivery of government information, services, and processes.

• By 2010, the operation of government will be transformed, as government agencies and their partners use technology to provide user-centred information and services and achieve joint outcomes.

• By 2020, people’s engagement with the government will have been transformed, as increasing and innovative use is made of the opportunities offered by network technologies.

NZ Bioethics Council:online participation

• Institutional deficit rather than democratic deficit

• Public dialogue rather than debate• Institutional and technological enablement• Off-line and on-line participation:

– Public framing and deliberation events– Online participation recruitment through ‘trademe’

website– Interactive website:

• 406 choice books started, 69% completed• 64 stories & ideas• 3 moderated deliberation groups (58 participants)

Deliberative dialogue

• Builds on dialogue but purpose is recommendations• Structured, rigorous exploration of alternative perspectives

and approaches to an issue participants might not have previously considered

• Work through different choices, and learn from other participants with views that may be different from their own

• Clarify their thinking on the issue and on what is most important to them

• Develop more thoughtful and considered opinions• Allows a group to identify areas of common ground where it

does emerge

Outcomes of deliberation

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Δ views onPBT

Δ thinkingabout views

disagree with

Δ thinkingabout people

with diff views

On-line deliberation (Active)

On-line deliberation (Overall)

In-person deliberation

Participant satisfaction

Framing In-person deliberation

On-line deliberation

Expectations met

74% 71% 81%

• Large majority of participants said they would like to participate in future deliberative processes

• 50% of online participants joined Council mailing list

‘E-lectrifying Government’:Opportunities for Academia

• The added value of empirical research, qualitative and quantitative

• The added value of an interdisciplinary perspective

• Providing a critical analysis of the introduction, application and use of ICTs in government and its relationships with society

• Providing independent insights re actual changes in the informational fabrics of govt

• Providing save places for govt to reflect and experiment re fundamental questions and issues

‘E-lectrifying Government’:Challenges for Academia

• Close collaboration and engagement with government: e.g. “interaction research”

• Awareness of the unique context of government (e.g. political sensitivities, press coverage)

• Organising access to potential research participants

• Doing applied research with ‘RAE’-valued outcomes

• Raising a new generation of E-Government researchers