1. ICEGOV 2011 Conference
Tallinn, Estonia
26-28 September 2011
Management and coordination
Making it smart
26 September 2011
Jeremy Millard
1
Evolving roles of (e)government
Governance
• Search for good governance
• User as citizen and voter
• Dilemma: how to balance openness and transparency,
and the interests of different stakeholders
Alan Mather (UK eEnvoy, 2002):
Effectiveness
“eGovernment isn’t any different
• Search for quality services
from government. It just might
• User as consumer
make it better, sooner, cheaper.”
• Dilemma: governments cannot choose
their ’customers’
Efficiency
• Search for savings
• User as tax-payer
• Dilemma: how to provide
’more for less’
1

2. Agenda
1. The vision, strategy and the plan
2. Management, leadership, human
resources
3. Public sector change,
coordination and capacity
redeployment
4. Integration, standards, sharing & analytics
5. Performance management
6. UK as an example of current management and
coordination issues
Understanding, vision and strategy
It is not a matter of technology, but about strong
management, leadership and human capital --
ICT is a tool (an enabler) not a problem solver or
panacea.
But do need people who understand the
technology and how it is changing (fast!).
Formulate and agree a clear and long term vision, which is ambitious but
achievable and practical, and market it!
Need commonly-defined objectives and willingness to achieve them.
Take a phased approach, design in an evaluation and monitoring system,
review, learn, revise
Set and use targets, but realise their limitations – be flexible and adaptive.
2

3. Commitment
Top and medium level political commitment and
top civil servant champions are necessary.
Regulation and the legal basis may need
changing.
It is useful to see the eGovernment initiative
within the big picture, to see where its outcomes
will fit in the wider strategy and wider society –
be strategic but know also your limitations.
Assess and manage risks (and take some sensible risks!)
Understand your strengths and weaknesses.
Identify and anticipate opportunities as well as threats and barriers,
all of which can be legal, technological, managerial, cultural …
Quick wins and enablers
• Introduce ‘quick wins’ where feasible and not
counter-productive in the longer term, as this
creates (political and other) understanding and
commitment both internally and externally -- at
present at European level the ‘quick win’ is
eProcurement, but it could be as simple as
downloadable forms on a web-site
• Identify ‘key enablers’, i.e. those policies, services
or other initiatives which in themselves may not be
of high interest but which unlock / trigger larger
impacts -- at present at European level the ‘key
enablers’ are eID (electronic identity management)
user skills and awareness, interoperability
3

4. Management, organisation, staff & business plan
Strong, but flexible and sensitive, project management
is important, with collective decisions where necessary.
Never loose sight of your internal organisation and
inform your internal staff in time
Commitment of the staff and support for the staff is
essential. Ensure that responsibilities and allocation of
tasks are known by all inside and outside the
organisation.
A sound, feasible and political supported financial plan is necessary,
based on an agreed business plan which provides for technical,
financial, organisational, human resource and take-up sustainability,
and balances between economic ROI (Return of Investments) and
public value (both effectiveness and good governance).
Leadership, human resources, organisational learning
Leadership – the vital energy driving change
Human resources (your greatest asset)
• flexible working and new types of work:
o routinised work (explicit knowledge): can be automated, and easily
moved around (decentralised)
o specialist work (implicit knowledge): cannot be automated (though ICT
can support), difficult to move
• flexible skills and competencies (not just ICT, also people skills,
self management skills, etc.)
• mindsets and public service ethic
Organisational learning
• grow and nurture
• knowledge management, talent crunch
• there’s more relevant talent outside
any organisation (including government)
than inside
4

5. Public sector innovation and transformation
a) Process b) Product/ c)
innovation service Organisational
innovation innovation
Doing existing
1) Early stage things faster,
COST-driven cheaper, better
Doing new
2) Middle stage things, but in
--- ditto ---
same organisa-
USER-driven
tional settings
Doing new
3) Late stage things, and in
--- ditto --- --- ditto ---
VALUE-driven new organisa-
tional settings
Centralisation / de-centralisation in
governance and public services
balance
‘Goods’ ‘Bads’
Centralised / large • Ensure • Bureaucratic
scale minimum • Remote
standards • One size
command analogy / fits all
top-down / order • Simplicity
• Efficiency
balance
De-centralised / • Responsiveness • Local fiefdoms
distributed / • Subsidiarity • Post code lottery
small scale • Diversity • Externalities
market analogy / • Accountability • Complex
bottom-up / chaos
5

6. Change management & capacity redeployment
(R)e-balancing government
Supply – ‘back’ office Demand -- ’front’ office
administration citizen interface and services
’content’ (the outcome) –
‘coordination’ (enabler) --
should be decentralised
should be centralised
• within and across governments -- • eServices -- on-line services
resource / data sharing & process based on citizen & business life
re-engineering events (do-it-yourself) or via
human amplifiers
• between governments and other
actors -- resource / data sharing & • traditional services supported by
process re-engineering ICT – human (‘warm’),
organisational & and physical
• ‘re-engineering’ of legacy
technology, organisations, • eEngagement– greater
processes, skills, mindsets, etc. accountability, openness,
transparency, accessibility,
• management, HR, etc.
participation, etc.
Must get smaller & smarter Must get bigger & better
• Adaptive capacity & re-deploying resources
• Agile & flexible government BUT remember need for continuity &
stability
Interoperability and integration
Interoperability
– technical, semantic, organisational and
governance (political, legal, managerial and
economic)
– design platform- and vendor-independent
functionality
– it may not always be necessary to start from
scratch if you have legacy technology systems
-- it may be better to link to converters,
clearing houses, etc.
Integration: strive for both horizontal and vertical integration, and as
much joined-up government as possible -- avoid islands of automation
and fragmentation of effort
In order to face the unavoidable resistance to change from civil
servants and internal executives when seriously redefining business
processes, the common ownership and adoption of a sound change
management approach is necessary.
6

7. Standards, building blocks & new services
Use open standards and open software where
possible.
Use standardised building blocks (software,
applications, processes) to build bespoke solutions --
look for transferability, scalability and contribution to
standards
Share things which all parts of public sector need to do in the same
way: infrastructures, resources, data, content, services, widgets, apps,
etc., etc.
For example, PAs make their data available to each other enabling
them to compare and identify e.g. similar locations, user groups
and/or services through analysing socio-demographics, service use,
etc.
Consider new types of products and services, e.g. exploiting the vast
and potentially highly valuable public sector information resources
Open data – but make sure serves public interest – may be need for
trusted third parties
Analytics as a management tool
Information explosion
information overload ?
Real problem is filter failure
Analytics as core management
activity
Analytics should move data use from 1 to 3:
1. Descriptive techniques
2. Predictive techniques
3. Prescriptive techniques
7

8. Performance management
Key Performance Indicators,
ROI, etc.
In Europe eGovernment roll out
(supply side) measured since
2001
After piloting in 2008, demand side and user focused
indicators launched in 2009:
• qualitative supply indicators focusing on user-centricity
• take-up (use) indicators
• impact indicators in terms of efficiency, effectiveness
and governance
• 2011: piloting of open & transparent government
What is the purpose of eGovernment
measurement ?
Prospective direction and
priorities setting (e.g. ex-ante
evaluation)
Monitoring and policy correction
as you go along
Retrospective achievement (e.g.
ex-post impact assessment)
Accountability (e.g. to citizens,
businesses, tax payers, society)
8

9. Linking eGovernment measurement to
the policy life-cycle
Policy awareness stage: help in
understanding what eGovernment is
Policy agenda setting stage: encouraging
adoption of eGovernment
Policy preparation stage: understand
alternatives and priorities in eGovernment
Policy implementation stage: monitoring and keeping policy on
course for eGovernment, and/or evidence that a change is
needed, or how to change if policy changes
Policy evaluation stage: comparative performance data, reasons
behind these, learning and change in eGovernment
Today and future: two main
political measurement trends
1. Up the policy value chain
– inputs and outputs
outcomes and impacts
2. Down the hierarchy
– (centralised) back-office
(de-centralised) front-office
9

10. UK 2010-2013 – integrated strategy
UK: March 2011: Government ICT has a really bad name. Much
of this is unjustified. BUT there are problems:
• Projects too big and costly
– Presumption against lifetime costs > £100m; spending controls; create
competitive market place also for SMEs
• Too little attention at top on big projects
– Senior Responsible Owners stay in post until appropriate break; boards to
hold ministers and owners to regular account; performance measurement
• Procurement takes far too long
– Greatly streamline procurement specifying outcomes rather than inputs
• Systems rarely re-used or adapted for re-use
– Prioritise sharing; level playing field for open-source; cross agency apps
store; comprehensive asset register
• Systems rarely interoperable & infrastructure insufficiently
integrated
– Common ICT infrastructure; G-cloud; open standards starting with
interoperability and security
10

11. UK latest developments and plans (1)
1. Go digital only – shift to digital-only (self) service wherever possible
2. Democratic power shift – use social media and mobile to engage with
citizens and businesses, inputting into policy- and decision-making
3. Expand the brand – realign all Government digital delivery under a
single web domain name (except NHS)
4. Build the service around peoples’ needs – learn from what has been
proven to work well elsewhere on the web, become relentlessly user-
driven and transparent, with a ‘kill or cure’ policy to reduce poorly
performing content and remove the long tail of content no-one uses.
5. Create a distribution network beyond government — using Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow third parties to present content
and transactions on behalf of the government; shift from ‘public
services all in one place’ (closed & unfocused) to ‘government services
wherever you are’ (open & distributed)
6. Be agile – radically reduce the size of the central organisation;
establish digital SWAT team; establish a government ‘Skunkworks’ to
develop low-cost, fast and agile ICT solutions, and provide a new
channel to involve SMEs and entrepreneurs
UK latest developments and plans (2)
Open Public Services White Paper (July 2011, for consultation)
• High-quality public services are the right of everyone. The Open Public
Services White Paper sets out how the Government will improve public
services.
• E-government is seen in this context – not separately
• Five key principles:
– Choice – wherever possible we will increase choice
– Decentralisation – Power should be decentralised to the lowest
appropriate level
– Diversity – Public services should be open to a range of providers
– Fairness – We will ensure fair access to public services
– Accountability – Public services should be accountable to users and
taxpayers.
11

12. Future mandate of public sector
Open government is porous:
– turning government inside-out:
• exposure of inside of government (transparency,
openness, accountability)
• civil servants and politicians out on the streets but
still connected
– turning government outside-in:
• letting in private & civil sectors (PPPs, PCPs)
• letting in users (e.g. to design policy, make decisions,
as ‘co-creators’ of services)
Future mandate of public sector – loss of competence?
– loss of knowledge, competence and control through commoditisation
and outsourcing
– increasing amount of content, services, apps, etc., in the cloud – users
pick and choose their own needs
– government shrinks to a rump -- just one player amongst many?
– BUT shouldn’t government be the promoter of the public interest based
on democratic accountability
12