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A longitudinal study of the implementation of e-Government at the County Administration of Sweden was analysed and discussed from a social perspective. Social consequences could change during the implementation process and therefore a longitudinal study is relevant. Two interview studies made at different stages of the e-Government implementation at the legal and traffic departments were compared. The first interview study was made just before implementation. The second interview study was made a year later, when a few e-services already were implemented and some were ready for implementation. A new electronic system for dealing with official matters, Platina, was implemented in the legal authority, and implementation of new e-services for driving license permissions was in progress at the traffic authority. In the legal authority they had also implemented e-services for security guards and foundations.
Interviews were made with decision makers, handling officers and administrative assistants focussing on the social consequences of e-Government. The MOA-model was used as a frame of reference for the study, focussing especially on work situations, work process and service to the clients. According to the analysis, coping and sense-making strategies by the respondents increased. e-Government made demands for new competencies for employees and clients. Internal and external digital divides are the consequences of the implementation of e-services. Management increased its focus on efficiency aspects related to e-Government. There is a need to integrate competence of social aspects into the social development and implementation process of e-Government. The users were aware of the importance of social aspects of IT implementation. There is a need for competence development of social consequences related to IT implementation also for development personnel and different interest groups.
Keywords:
implementation, e-Government, digital divide, social consequences, coping and sense making strategies
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