Whats in a field Charting the eGov territory

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Whats in a field? Charting the eGov territory

• Åke Grönlund
• Örebro University, Sweden
• ltake.gronlund_at_esi.oru.segt

2
The eGov domain

• Governance a system consisting of three
  interrelated societal spheres the political
  sphere, the administrative sphere, and civil
  society (including individuals, organizations,
  media and the public sphere)
• These spheres are fundamentally different in
  terms of motivation, interests, focus unit, and
  mode of operation
• The successful eGov information systems will be
  those who best and most constructively integrate
  interests and modes of operation of all three
  spheres (Grönlund eGov proposal)

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Inspiration from structuration theory

• Institutions are stable only because
  institutional properties are daily confirmed by
  agents acts. In eGov, there are at least 3
  fundamentally different modes of structuration
  processes going on, and these interact through
  eGov systems. Hence eGov systems are a catalyst
  for institutional change.

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Conflicting modes of operation
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(Classes of) eGov definitions

• 1 Internet (online) service delivery and other
  Internet-based activity such as e-consultation
• 2 E-government is equated to the use of ICTs in
  government. While the focus is generally on the
  delivery of services and processing, the broadest
  definition encompasses all aspects of government
  activity
• 3 E-government is defined as a capacity to
  transform public administration through the use
  of ICTs or indeed is used to describe a new form
  of government built around ICTs. This aspect is
  usually linked to Internet use
• 4 (OECD) The use of ICTs, and particularly the
  Internet, as a tool to achieve better government
• (http//www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/E-Gov
  ernmentImperative.pdf, p 23)

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Definitions plotted on eGov domain

• Internet (online) service delivery
• use of ICTs in governmentall aspects of
  government activity
• a capacity to transform public administration
  through the use of ICTs
• the use of ICTs to achieve better government
  (external measure)

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IT everywhere

• but different applications come with different
  rationalities and implications

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Competing developments renegotiate influence
domains

• Adm IT experts in control
• Consultations, e-lobbying, voluntary org
• Official e-democracy projects often information
  focus
• 247 adm in control
• E-service do-it-yourself, community networking
• Political eGov vision formalization to implement
  policy

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eGov research is multidisciplinary

• Informatics 45
• Computer science 20
• Public adm, social studies 19
• Business adm 17
• Law 12
• Gov professional 4
• Library science 2
• Not stated 50
• (Grönlund, 2004, charting DEXA, HICSS, and ECEG
  2003 proceedings)

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Different eGov definitions entail different
performance measures

• Examples only.
• Online presence, cost cuts, access
• Productivity as measured by specified tasks, e g
  service delivery
• More political control over P A
• User satisfaction citizens, companies.

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Different eGov definitions engage different
disciplines

• (Examples)
• Informatics, psychology, economics
• Economics, management sciences
• Political science, management sciences
• Political science, sociology, informatics

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eGov research, about management or governance?

• Government
• Superstructure
• Decisions
• Rules
• Implementation
• Outputs
• Electronic workflow
• Electronic voting
• Electronic productivity
• (Riley, 2004)

• Governance
• Functionality
• Processes
• Goals
• Coordination
• Outcomes
• Electr. controllership
• Electronic engagement
• Networked societal guidance