Value Positions and Relationships in the Swedish Digital Government

Leif Sundberg

doi:10.3390/admsci9010024

Abstract

Governments across the world spend vast resources on implementing digital technology. Electronic, or digital, government is the use and study of Internet-based information and communication technology in the public sector. A point of departure in this study is that investments in technology are not value-free; they require allocation of limited resources and trade-offs between values. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government. This research was conducted by using quantitative data from a survey administered to Swedish municipalities and national agencies. In addition, qualitative data from a database was used to exemplify value operationalization. The research utilized a theoretical framework based on four value positions: professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement. The findings reveal that service and quality, and productivity and legality have a high priority, while engagement values are less prioritized. Differences based on organization type and size are also discussed. Moreover, the study suggests that professionalism and efficiency are distinct value positions, while service and engagement are closely related through citizen centricity. The qualitative material suggests that citizen centricity can manifest itself as a form of service logic, but also in the form of educational digital inclusion activities for vulnerable groups. The paper concludes by suggesting that future research should further refine the concept of citizen centricity in relation to digital government values, since its current meaning is ambiguous.

Highlights

Electronic, or digital, government, hereinafter e-Government, is the use of Internet-based information and communication technology (ICT) in the public sector. Bannister and Connolly (2014)point out that the implementation of ICT is not value-free; it requires decisions about—and sometimes trade-offs between—values
Independent t-tests showed that the municipalities graded all values except for professionalism and technocratic values significantly higher (p > 0.01)
The purpose of this paper was to investigate which values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government

Summary

Introduction

Electronic, or digital, government, hereinafter e-Government, is the use of Internet-based information and communication technology (ICT) in the public sector. Bannister and Connolly (2014)point out that the implementation of ICT is not value-free; it requires decisions about—and sometimes trade-offs between—values. Electronic, or digital, government, hereinafter e-Government, is the use of Internet-based information and communication technology (ICT) in the public sector. The public manager needs to prioritize the allocation of limited resources that have value in their alternative uses. Based on the high failure rate of e-Government initiatives, Skiftenes Flak et al (2009) propose that researchers should utilize a structured approach to benefit realization, combined with a focus on values. Rose et al (2015b) argue that public sector information technology (IT) initiatives with multiple stakeholder groups may benefit from working with values during design and evaluation. These authors claim that studying values might help expose empty rhetoric in the formulation of e-Government objectives

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