E-Government System Lifecycle

and Project Assessment

Introduction

E-Government projects typically involve a cycle of

fve stages:

Project Assessment

Analysis of Current Reality

Design of the Proposed e! "ystem

"ystem Construction

#mplementation and $eyond

Project Assessment

#dentifying possi%le e-government projects&

outlining %asic project parameters& accessing
!hether or not to proceed !ith the project'
Analysis of Current Reality

Description and analysis of the seven #(P)"*)

dimensions as they e+ist !ithin the current
situation of the organi,ation'
Design of the Proosed !e"
System

"etting the o%jectives for the proposed ne! e-

government system& and then descri%ing in
general terms ho! the seven #(P)"*)
dimensions should %e di-erent for the ne!
system to meet these o%jectives'

Di-erent options for the ne! system may %e

evaluated at this point'
System Construction

Ac.uiring any ne! technology / underta0ing

detailed design of the ne! system/ then %uilding
it& testing it and documenting it'
Imlementation and #eyond

(raining users to use the ne! system / converting

data to ne! formats/ introducing the ne! system/
monitoring and evaluating its performance and
conte+t/ then underta0ing any necessary system
maintenance'
Design-Reality Gap Techniques
Introduction

(o fnd !hy does eGov Projects "ucceed or 1ail2

Central to e-government success and failure is the

amount of change %et!een 3!here !e are no!3 and
3!here the e-government project !ants to get us3'

4here !e are no!3 means the current realities of

the situation' 34here the e-government project
!ants to get us3 means the model or conceptions
and assumptions %uilt into the project3s design'

eGovernment success and failure therefore

depends on the si,e of gap that e+ists %et!een
$current realities3 and $design of the e-
government roject$'
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(he larger this design-reality gap& the greater the

ris0 of e-government failure' E.ually& the smaller
the gap& the greater the chance of success'

Analysis of e-government projects indicates that

seven dimensions - summari,ed %y the I&P'S('
acronym - are necessary and su6cient to provide
an understanding of design-reality gaps'
I&P'S('

I nformation

& echnology

P rocesses

' %jectives and values

S ta6ng and s0ills

( anagement systems and structures

' ther resources: time and money

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Information dimension

7nderta0e a professional re.uirements analysis in

order to dra! out true information needs of
sta0eholders'

7se prototyping - getting users to use a test

version of the e-government application - in
order to help them e+plain !hat information they
really need'
Technology dimension

#nvestigate !ays in !hich government reforms

could %e delivered !ithout #C(s'

#nvestigate !ays in !hich government reforms

could %e delivered using the e+isting #C(
infrastructure'

Avoid leading-edge technologies in your design'

#nvestigate opportunities for use of donated or

recycled e.uipment'
Process dimension

8eep doing things the same !ay& only !ith the

addition of some ne! technology 9see generic
point a%ove a%out automation:'

Avoid %usiness process reengineering/ instead& at

most& loo0 at optimi,ation or minor modifcation
of e+isting processes !ithin the e-gov application
design'

Consider a t!o-stage approach: in the frst stage&

processes are optimi,ed !ithout any change to
#C(s/ in the second and later stage& ne! #C(s are
%rought in'
Objectives and alues
dimension

7se re!ards to alter sta0eholder o%jectives and values

9e'g' messages of management support& %etter pay&
%etter !or0ing conditions& career advancement& etc':'
7se punishments to alter sta0eholder o%jectives and
values 9e'g' threats& reprimands& transfers& !orsened pay
and conditions& etc':'
Communicate !ith sta0eholders a%out the system: sell
the true %enefts and address the true negative aspects'
Get 0ey sta0eholders 9those regarded as 0ey opinion
formers or those vociferous in their resistance to the e-
government application: to participate in the analysis
and;or design of the e-government application'
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$ased on e-government application design on a

consensus vie! of all main sta0eholders'

7se prototyping: this helps incorporate

sta0eholder o%jectives in the design& and also
helps to ma0e actual sta0eholder o%jectives more
realistic'

#f feasi%le in s0ill& time and motivational terms&

get users to help develop and %uild the e-
government application'
!ta"ng and !#ills dimension

)utsource contracts in order to improve the

current reality of availa%le competencies 9though
may increase other gaps:'

(rain sta- to improve current reality of

competencies'

#mprove recruitment and retention techni.ues to

reduce competency 9sta-: turnover'

*a0e use of e+ternal consultants 9though may

increase other gaps:'

<ire ne! sta- to e+pand the volume of current

competencies'
$anagement !ystems and !tructures dimension '

*a0e an e+plicit commitment to retain the

e+isting management systems and structures
!ithin e-government application design
Other Resources dimension

Prioriti,e e-government applications that ma+imise

revenue generation for government 9e'g' those
dealing !ith ta+& fees& fnes& etc:'

"ee0 additional fnancing from donor or central

government agencies'

(a0e out loans from private sector institutions'

Get private frms to develop& o!n and operate the

e-government application'

Charge %usiness or !ealthier users of the e-

government system'

"cale-do!n am%itions of the e-government project'

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E+tend timescales of the e-government project'

egotiate central;shared agency #( agreements

to reduce hard!are and soft!are costs'

7se 3one for all3 contracts that are reusa%le'

7se project management techni.ues to reduce

!aste and delays'

)utsource contracts in order to reduce time 9and

possi%ly costs: gaps'

*a0e use of open source soft!are 9though cost

savings are often less than anticipated:'
!cope limitation% &I!! '&eep it
!mall and !imple( and automation '

E-Government projects sometimes fail %ecause

they try to change too many things at once'

)ne !ay to address such over-large design-

reality gaps is to cut do!n the scope and
am%ition of the project design/ stic0ing !ith the
valua%le design motto 38#""3: Keep it Small and
Simple '

)ne !ay to incorporate 8#"" is %y trying to free,e

all e+cept the technology dimension' <o!2

$y simple automation of e+isting activities'

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(he intention is to retain the same information&

same processes& same management systems and
structures& etc'& %ut merely change them from
manual to computeri,ed operations'

#n other !ords& you attempt to create no design-

reality gap 9no change: on most #(P)"*)
dimensions'

Although critici,ed in hindsight as %eing

insu6ciently %old& simple automation can %e a
very good - and successful - !ay to institutionali,e
ne! technology in a particular aspect of pu%lic
sector operations'
Reality-supporting not
rationality-imposing
applications

(here is a continuum of e-government '

At one e+treme& there are 3rationality-imposing

applications3& such as decision support systems'

(hese include in their design a !hole series of

assumptions a%out the presence of rational
information& processes& o%jectives and values&
management structures& etc'
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(hese rationalities must either %e present in the

organi,ation as a pre-condition for successful
implementation of this application& or they must
%e imposed'

#n many government organi,ations& the

introduction of such applications !ill not succeed
%ecause of the large gap %et!een the
application3s re.uired rationalities and current
organi,ational realities'
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At the other e+treme& there are 3reality-supporting

applications3 such as !ord processing or email'
$y comparison !ith rationality-imposing
applications& reality-supporting applications
re.uire fe!er rational pre-conditions or
impositions'

(hey can therefore !or0 successfully in a !ider

variety of government organi,ational situations'
E-Government projects !ill therefore %e more
li0ely to succeed if they focus on 3reality-
supporting3 rather than 3rationality-imposing3
applications'
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)ybrids* and *tribrids* '
Design-reality gaps often arise in e-government %ecause
of a 3t!o tri%es3 mentality that a=icts most governments'

#( designers understand technology %ut not the realities

of government'

Pu%lic o6cials and politicians understand the realities of

government %ut not the technology'
(o close these gaps& projects need to develop and use
3hy%rid3 professionals& !ho understand %oth perspectives'
4e might even call them 3tri%rids3 &%ecause they com%ine
three aspects: understanding the technology and the
%usiness of government and the role of information in
government'
&ri)ids
Any *uestion+++