Accelerating e‐Government Implementation With a new Framework for Decentralised Change Support
Jeroen Meij 1 and Jeroen Pastoor 2
1 KPMG Advisory N. V., Amstelveen, The Netherlands 2 Stichting ICTU, The Hague, The Netherlands
meij. jeroen @ kpmg. nl Jeroen. pastoor @ ictu. nl
Abstract: This paper describes the evolution and implementation of a framework for decentralised change support applied to the monitoring of the large scale e‐Government plan in the Netherlands. It reflects on theoretical backgrounds in agile, motivational and gaming theories and how these have been translated into the interaction with participating local actors. We will describe the functional and technical outline of the framework with the various building blocks including the unifying ontology backbone. We will report on user acceptance and on results achieved so far, and conclude with ideas on how this could be applied to other e‐Government plans. The Dutch government has formulated ambitious e‐Government goals. The Dutch roadmap for e‐Government implementation reaches until 2020 and is aimed at a nationwide improvement of services and processes through use of information technology. The Netherlands is characterised by a decentralised structure, where local governments( municipalities, provinces and regional water authorities) perform many public services. The role of the municipalities is essential to the interactions between citizens and government. Furthermore, software vendors play an important role in reaching the e‐Government goals, supplying solutions aligned to central directives, infrastructure and standards. How local actors reach the e‐Government goals is largely up to them. However the government has started a wide range of projects to develop and use the central parts of the e‐gov infrastructure and support local actors in the change process. To provide insight into the speed and the extent at which the goals are being realised, a monitoring and governance infrastructure had to be implemented. To achieve this, the Framework for Decentralised Change Support( FDCS) has been developed. The FDCS is a framework built on Web3.0 technology which exploits public and commercial sector collective data and knowledge resources. The framework collects data of project progress, calculates data quality metrics for e‐gov processes and calculates potential and realised benefits. It is based on the principle that contributors of information are rewarded for their efforts with information valuable to them. The system provides private accounts for local actors, in which feedback is received. This feedback is given through a dashboard and several progress indicators. At the same time, an overall view of the performance on an aggregated level is given, providing benchmarking and governance data. The backbone of the framework is built upon an ontology, which unifies concepts and data from all sources in a single, expandable model. The model can be queried from a universal interface and delivers data to any connected web app. Security is enforced to separate private data from open data. In many large scale efforts, differences in definitions may arise. The unifying ontology helps to identify the misalignments and thus contributes to harmonisation. First experiences indicate that municipalities greatly appreciate the support and feedback that is offered to them through the framework and are motivated to intensify their efforts. Moreover, because data and e‐Government concepts from disparate sources are linked and presented in one place, new governance insights are obtained.
Keywords: monitoring, progress, change management, decentralised, benefits management, motivational theory, e‐ government
1. E‐Government in the Netherlands
Citizens and businesses demand better service provision from the government with fewer rules and reduced administrative burdens. In other words, a fast, efficient, client‐orientated government. That is why Dutch government bodies collectively aim to improve their services by using smart and reliable IT solutions. This requires proper( electronic) instruments.
The Netherlands is characterised by a decentralised structure, where local governments( over 400 municipalities, 12 provinces and 25 regional water authorities) perform many public services. The role of the municipalities is essential to the interactions between citizens and government. Municipalities are considered the first and most important point of contact.
For 2020 improving service provision to business and citizens is the primary objective of the Dutch National Implementation Program known as the i‐NUP. The i‐NUP is a joint priorities program of municipalities, provinces, regional water authorities and central government. It presents a list of prioritised components(‘ building blocks’), in three functional groups: Services for citizens, Services for businesses and the National registrations.
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