Value creation, ICT, and co-production in public sector

Abstract

This paper contributes to the e-government literature discussing the role of ICTs as enabler of different modes of production of public services. E-government developments are often associated with organization transformations aimed to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of the internal production of public services or to facilitate the exchange of information and the coordination among different public organizations. However, ICTs can also enable the co-production of public services allowing citizens or non-public organizations, such as NGOs, social enterprises or private companies to co-produce public services with public sector organizations. ICTs can generate new relationships and dynamics that involve actors and resources outside public organizations modifying the ways by which the value embedded in the services is produced. This paper critically describes and compares four ICTs mediated modes of public services production and discusses the two alternative logics of public service production underpinning these four modes of public service production. The paper further discusses the organizational configurations behind each of the ICTs mediated modes of production.