e-Government
Internal Perspectives
Internal Perspectives

motivation
– why do governments adopt an e-orientation
– why do departments/senior managers adopt an e-
orientation?

requirements
– what drives the standards governments must meet
– what must be done differently?

challenges
– what problems must be overcome?

perils
– what hazards might be posed by this type of
reorientation
Internal Perspectives –
Motivation of Departments

client demands
 efficiency and effectiveness
 political support for e-government strategy
 interdepartmental leadership
Internal Perspectives – Potential
Uses

external
– G2C
– G2B
– G2G

internal
– communications

Intranets
– integrated human resource management
– e-procurement
Internal Perspectives –
e-procurement

process costs for purchasing orders
– currently $130 per order

anticipated return on e-procurement
– 300% (Deloitte Consulting)
Internal Perspectives -Requirements

external demands driving approach to egovernment
– e.g. private sector makes personalization the
norm
– ease of access – e.g. portals
The Crossing Boundaries Project

what boundaries do you think they are
referring to??
– interdepartmental
– intergovernmental
Internal Perspectives -Requirements

improved access
 adequate infrastructure
– cooperation
Internal Perspectives –
Organizational Requirements


“Portals are not just a better way for customers to access
their government; they are governments’ blueprint to a new
paradigm of operation.” Deloitte, 2001
silo organizational structure transformed
– networks – “collaborative clusters supported by centralised shared
processes”

two caveats
– single window delivery is not new concept
– change in operation or organization?

is this just creating new silos?
Internal Perspectives -Requirements

improved access
 adequate infrastructure
– cooperation

appropriate program design
Internal Perspectives – Technical
Challenges

technical
– integrated infrastructure
 “federated architecture”
– IT workforce
– however...challenges are not primarily technical
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

internal resistance?
– all organization changes (no matter how small)
are political


generate winners and losers
potential losers will resist changes!
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

interdepartmental cooperation
– “...in the private sector significant changes in
organizational structure have followed technological
investment. In governments, by contrast, technology
investment has only led to increased transaction intensity
and, in some cases, the slicing off of government activities
to new forms. We have not seen the structure within
government change – flattening the vertical nature of
government, decentralizing dealings with the public and
centralizing policy, to mirror private-sector adaptations.”
Schachter 1999
– “Crossing jurisdictional boundaries – as the public would
like – will be more difficult, positive rhetoric
notwithstanding.”
PWC 2001
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

barriers to interdepartmental cooperation
– interdepartmental politics
 different functions/mandates
 turf protection
– accountability concerns
 why do we have “silos” in government?
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

barriers to interdepartmental cooperation
 barriers to intergovernmental cooperation
– “By their very nature, ICTs are hostile to the
partitioning of the political world which is so
important for federal states.”
Gibbins, 2001
– cooperation on portal delivery raises all the age-old
difficulties of federal-provincial cooperation
– will generate some resistance


differ by program area
differ by province (e.g. Quebec)
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

barriers to interdepartmental cooperation
 barriers to intergovernmental cooperation
 channel-switching places organizational structure
in question
– competition within a department
– e-business disconnects location of citizens and service
providers
– some delivery partners (e.g. private license issuers) may
be “disintermediated” because citizens prefer electronic
service
Internal Perspectives -Challenges

barriers to interdepartmental cooperation
 barriers to intergovernmental cooperation
 channel-switching places organizational
structure in question
 cost-savings through workforce reductions
– “Public sector managers are reluctant to commit
to such large cost reductions.”
PWC 2001
Internal Perspectives – Political
Challenges

there will be obstacles to adoption of egovernment technologies/approach
 adoption will be uneven
– across time
– across policy areas
– across departments
– across jurisdictions
Internal Perspectives -- Perils

security/privacy


increasing cross-departmental cooperation (esp. sharing
of data) will generate concerns for security and privacy
choice and coercion


reducing overlap through cooperation may generate
concerns regarding coercion/reducing choice
“Realizing potential savings will require active
encouragement of channel switching, whether through
advertising, differential fees, or downgrading of service
in existing channels.”
PWC 2001
– NETFILE
Internal Perspectives -- Perils

security/privacy
 choice and coercion
 program effectiveness and quality


new program design criteria – outside in, seamless
access, etc.
not the same as program effectiveness
Internal Perspectives -- Perils

security/privacy
 choice and coercion
 program effectiveness and quality
 accountability
– results-based accountability
– “citizen as customer”