A Paradigm Shift Towards Citizen Centricity

Abstract

For many years the use of information and communication technology (ICT) has been seen as the “silver bullet” that could improve the performance of the public sector and its service delivery. However, the adoption and use of e-government services (also known as user take-up of e-government services) remain low and far from satisfactory today. This report will analyse why ICT has not proved to be the silver bullet governments hoped for and will showcase the approaches and good practices that OECD countries have used to address lagging user take-up. The historic focus on technology has overshadowed the organisational, structural, and cultural changes needed in the public sector. In the process of rendering internal government functions and processes efficient and effective, users were often forgotten. This lead to a significant change of focus and approach in the mid-2000s, from government centricity prioritising outcomes for governments, to user centricity prioritising outcomes for users of public services. A paradigm shift government centricity to user centricity raises the question of whether e-government activities contribute to the creation of broader public welfare: does e-government create welfare for all – meaning the public sector itself as well as its users? Shifting towards citizen centricity with the goal of increasing user take-up in order to create public welfare is about balancing outcomes (large user take-up and satisfaction) with improving the cost-effectiveness of the public sector as a whole.