Reflecting the relevance of communication in e-government-projects: two case studies in the field of knowledge management in the Swiss public administration

ABSTRACT

The present paper focuses on the managerial and social perspective of ICT-based change in E-government projects. Taking the political and legal setting into account, it takes a closer look at how a main goal of the Swiss E-government-strategy, the modernisation of public authorities' business processes and their electronic interaction, is realised in the public administration. Illustrated by two examples in the field of knowledge management, the paper reflects the relevance of planned communication in the context of ICT-based change projects.

Based on a review of empirical, theoretical and practical literature relevant to the fields of change and project communication and on a comparison of two case studies, the authors aim at clarifying the relation between the impact of communication and its contextual factors when implementing E-Government-projects. Communication clearly is not the only key for success, however, a conscious approach towards communication is likely to increase acceptance of the intended change, decrease some of the typical risks in IT-project management and support controlling. The authors suggest that an integrative approach, drawing on insights from the field of change communication and existing project management methods and tools for managing communication, should be applied when developing a communicational strategy for E-Government projects. Since the adequacy of communicative measures is context-dependent, further research on the characteristics of different forms of ICT-implementation in public administration is needed. This might lead to the identification of prototypical context factors relevant to communication management in E-Government projects.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.1 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA PROCESSING
      Subjects: Government

Additional Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Sociology; Economics

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.3 Organizational Impacts
          Subjects: Computer-supported collaborative work

General Terms:
Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
change management, communication, e-government, public management