Evaluating the effects of collaborative governance: Case of a digital education project

Abstract

The introduction of digital curricula has become topical due to the increasingly pervasive role of ICTs in the society implying the necessity to develop digital skills from a young age. Because of the lack of in-house know-how, governments often need to rely on external actors providing digital education expertise. Organisational structures of such programs thus resemble collaborative governance regimes with distinct roles attributed to specific stakeholders. In this study, we explore cross-sector collaboration structures of the DigEd project aiming to introduce digital education in different cycles of compulsory and post-compulsory schooling on the local level in Switzerland. Findings indicate that the lack of leadership and of clarification of each partner’s role during the pilot phase of the project did not allow for the creation of a shared understanding among the involved partners and led to the domination of a limited number of influential actors. This tendency is confirmed through a graphic SNA analysis clearly illustrating the centrality of non-state actors. This contribution shows that it is not only the effects of projects that should be of interest to evaluators, but also their internal collaboration structures.