How smart can government be? Exploring barriers to the adoption of smart government

Bibliographic Data

ID6149540
AuthorsKuno Schedler (0000-0003-0580-692X, University of St.Gallen), Ali Asker Guenduez (0000-0001-7208-9305, University of St.Gallen, corresponding author), Ruth Frischknecht (0000-0002-8739-2611, University of St.Gallen)
Year2019
Volume24
Issue1
Pages3-20
Publication date2019-02-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Polity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1875-8754 • E-ISSN: 1570-1255
PublisherIOS Press (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.3233/ip-180095
OpenAlexW2917463383
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited24

Smart information and communication technologies (ICTs) are finding their ways into public administration, and numerous smart government efforts are marking the start of a new digitalization wave in the public sector. Despite being in the early stages of development, these initiatives promise a new model for the provision of public services: smart government. Because past technical innovations in the public sector did not reach their full potential, it is crucial to know the difficulties if one is to successfully address them. We explore the perceived barriers to the adoption of smart government in an early phase of implementation. We analyzed barriers, utilizing 32 interviews with actors involved in smart government initiatives. Cluster analysis helped us to identify six barrier groups: a lack of legitimacy, a lack of legal foundations, a lack of policy coherence, a lack of technical infrastructure, cost-benefit considerations, and a lack of innovation capacity. We distinguish between organizational and institutional barriers, and discuss restrictions and implications for praxis and future research

Business · Economics · Government (linguistics · Information and Communications Technology · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Praxis · Public relations · Public sector · E-Government and Public Services · Public Policy and Administration Research · Smart Cities and Technologies

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access