Competency Requirements for Transformational E-Government

Abstract

One key aspect of e-government is its potential for an ICT enabled transformation of the public sector. Through ICT, new forms of collaboration and inter-organizational public service networks become feasible, making it possible to carry out the public sector's tasks more efficiently and effectively. However, a rather significant gap exists between this transformational potential and the tangible results that have been achieved so far. One reason for this slow and cumbersome implementation seems to be that public managers lack the necessary competencies to bring the promises of e-government to fruition. This article analyzes the changing competency requirements for public managers that accompany e-government and describes the first steps in the development of an e-government competency framework for public managers. The article sums up the results of a literature review on e-government competencies, a survey carried out for the article, and data gathered in focus group workshops. Based on these results, a first set of e-government competencies is then outlined that goes beyond pure ICT skills. The article concludes with a discussion of the framework and its implications for human resource management in the public sector.