Abstract
PurposeThis paper aims to increase the current understanding of the connection between operational level information and communication technology (ICT) projects and national level digital transformation by researching how project governance structures and practices are applied in an e-government context.Design/methodology/approachAn elaborative qualitative study through public documentary analysis and empirical multi-case research on Finnish central government is used.FindingsThe study constructs a multi-level governance structure with three main functions and applies this in an empirical setting. The results also describe how different governance practices and processes, focusing on project portfolio management, are applied vertically across different organizational levels to connect the ICT projects with the national digitalization strategy.Originality/valueThis study integrates project governance and portfolio management knowledge into public sector digitalization, thus contributing to project management, e-government and ICT research streams by improving the current understanding on the governance of ICT projects as part of a larger-scale digitalization. This study also highlights perceived gaps between current governance practices and provides implications to managers and practitioners working in the field to address these gaps.
Highlights
Digital transformation, or digitalization, is one of the global megatrends that drive private – and public sector – organizations’ reforms through the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to optimize operations and provide better services to customers – or citizens
This research explored the governance of public sector ICT projects in a complex and high-impact phenomenon – government digitalization
The research describes the project governance and project portfolio management (PPM) practices of government ICT projects through five thematic focus areas and proposes a three-leveled project governance model for digitalization and ICT projects
Summary
Digitalization, is one of the global megatrends that drive private – and public sector – organizations’ reforms through the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to optimize operations and provide better services to customers – or citizens. Digitalization challenges institutions’ and individuals’ technological, organizational and cultural mindsets and capabilities, which can be a struggle especially in the public sector, as governments have to cope with legal, political and public accountability-related issues while aiming towards national level digitalization, or “e-government” (Cordella and Tempini, 2015). The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ legalcode
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