Civil Servants' Perceptions Regarding ICT Use in Norwegian Central Government

Abstract

This article describes data on how central government officials think about the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in central government. It focuses primarily on e‐government, but features of e-democracy are also covered. The perceived effects of ICT on the economy, service quality, transparency, coordination, political and administrative control, and user participation are described. It also aims to explain variations in such perceived effects. The major findings are, first, that government-to-government tools are the most widespread, while e-democracy tools have received little attention. Second, the perceived effects are strongest regarding better public services, increased transparency, and internal coordination and administrative control, and weakest when it comes to coordination with local government and political control. Third, the most important set of independent variables explaining the variations in perceived effects of ICT are the actual use of ICT tools among civil servants, as well as structural features such as administrative level and tasks, demographic features (e.g., age), and cultural features, such as having an efficiency oriented culture.