'This book distills the learning from practical experience and academic research…and represents a significant contribution to the challenges we face in transforming government and public services in an environment of ever-tighter finances' — John Suffolk, UK Government Chief Information Officer Major public sector IT-enabled business change programmes are designed to realize benefits in terms of more efficient services, services tailored to the need of citizens, and improved outcomes, but in practice such benefits often fail to materialize or we are unable to demonstrate their delivery - Transforming Government and Public Services provides proven tools, techniques and processes to reverse this trend. Stephen Jenner explores a number of key themes that are fundamental to an approach to project portfolio management built on value. He explains how to: develop a business case to achieve a desired intent rather than justify a particular solution; create project documentation that is both technically rigorous and gives users a clear understanding of where you are going; treat projects as investments rather than costs; include stage gates with teeth that are closely linked to real performance; plan for success rather than holding people to account for failure; use a single version of the truth principle so there are no arguments about different data. In a complex, confusing and often highly politicized environment, Stephen Jenner's Transforming Government and Public Services provides a clear, definitive and highly applied guide for all involved in selecting the right projects and doing them right so that they achieve the intended investment objectives.

'This book distills the learning from practical experience and academic research...and represents a significant contribution to the challenges we face in transforming government and public services in an environment of ever-tighter finances' ” John Suffolk, UK Government Chief Information Officer Major public sector IT-enabled business change programmes are designed to realize benefits in terms of more efficient services, services tailored to the need of citizens, and improved outcomes, but in practice such benefits often fail to materialize or we are unable to demonstrate their delivery - Transforming Government and Public Services provides proven tools, techniques and processes to reverse this trend. Stephen Jenner explores a number of key themes that are fundamental to an approach to project portfolio management built on value. He explains how to: develop a business case to achieve a desired intent rather than justify a particular solution; create project documentation that is both technically rigorous and gives users a clear understanding of where you are going; treat projects as investments rather than costs; include stage gates with teeth that are closely linked to real performance; plan for success rather than holding people to account for failure; use a single version of the truth principle so there are no arguments about different data. In a complex, confusing and often highly politicized environment, Stephen Jenner's Transforming Government and Public Services provides a clear, definitive and highly applied guide for all involved in selecting the right projects and doing them right so that they achieve the intended investment objectives.

Through a series of studies, the overarching aim of this book is to investigate if and how the digitalization/digital transformation process affects various welfare services provided by the public sector, and the ensuing implications thereof. Ultimately, this book seeks to understand if it is conceivable for digital advancement to result in the creation of private/non-governmental alternatives to welfare services, possibly in a manner that transcends national boundaries. This study also investigates the possible ramifications of technological development for the public sector and the Western welfare society at large. This book takes its point of departure from the 2016 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report that targets specific public service areas in which government needs to adopt new strategies not to fall behind. Specifically, this report emphasizes the focus on digitalization of health care/social care, education, and protection services, including the use of assistive technologies referred to as "digital welfare." Hence, this book explores the factors potentially leading to whether state actors could be overrun by other non-governmental actors, disrupting the current status quo of welfare services. The book seeks to provide an innovative, enriching, and controversial take on society at large and how various aspects of the public sector can be, and are, affected by the ongoing digitalization process in a way that is not covered by extant literature on the market. This book takes its point of departure in Sweden given the fact that Sweden is one of the most digitalized countries in Europe, according to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), making it a pertinent research case. However, as digitalization transcends national borders, large parts of the subject matter take on an international angle. This includes cases from several other countries around Europe as well as the United States.

This book is a comprehensive guide to an exciting new approach that managers at any level can use to transform their corners of government. Whether people want more government or less, everyone wants an efficient government. Traditional thinking is that this requires a government to be run more like a business. But a government is not a business, and this approach merely replaces old problems with new ones. In their six-year, five-country study of seventy-seven government organizations-ranging from small departments to entire states-Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder found that the predominant private-sector approaches to improvement don't work well in the public sector, while practices that are rare in the private sector prove highly effective. The highest performers they studied had attained levels of efficiency that rivaled the best private-sector companies. Rather than management making the improvements, as is the norm in the private sector, these high-performers focused on front-line-driven improvement, where most of the change activity was led by supervisors and low-level managers who unleashed the creativity and ideas of their employees to improve their operations bit by bit every day. You'll discover how Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses reduced wait times from an hour and forty minutes to just seven minutes; how the Washington State Patrol garage tripled its productivity and became a national benchmark; how a K8 school in New Brunswick, Canada, boosted the percentage of students reading at the appropriate age level from 22 percent to 78 percent; and much more.

In every part of the world information and technology are changing society and challenging the structures, roles, and management of traditional government institutions. At the same time, universal needs for human and social development, environmental protection, commercial and financial stability, and scientific and technological advancement demand governmental attention. In this complex and changing environment, governments are still expected to provide for the public good through legal and political processes, and public programs and services. Digital transformation, electronic government, government 2.0, and electronic governance are just some of the labels used to characterize the ideas and actions that underlie adaptation, transformation, and reform efforts. This book contributes to the ongoing dialog within the digital government research and practice community by addressing leadership and management challenges through the interplay of five interconnected themes: management, policy, technology, data, and context. These themes are evident in a wide range of topics including policy informatics, smart cities, cross-boundary information sharing, service delivery, and open government, among others. Accordingly, it includes chapters that explore these themes conceptually and empirically and that emphasize the importance of context, the need for cross‐boundary thinking and action, a public value approach to performance, and the multi‐dimensional capabilities necessary to succeed in a dynamic, multi‐stakeholder environment. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Public Management Review.

'This book distills the learning from practical experience and academic research...and represents a significant contribution to the challenges we face in transforming government and public services in an environment of ever-tighter finances' ” John Suffolk, UK Government Chief Information Officer Major public sector IT-enabled business change programmes are designed to realize benefits in terms of more efficient services, services tailored to the need of citizens, and improved outcomes, but in practice such benefits often fail to materialize or we are unable to demonstrate their delivery - Transforming Government and Public Services provides proven tools, techniques and processes to reverse this trend. Stephen Jenner explores a number of key themes that are fundamental to an approach to project portfolio management built on value. He explains how to: develop a business case to achieve a desired intent rather than justify a particular solution; create project documentation that is both technically rigorous and gives users a clear understanding of where you are going; treat projects as investments rather than costs; include stage gates with teeth that are closely linked to real performance; plan for success rather than holding people to account for failure; use a single version of the truth principle so there are no arguments about different data. In a complex, confusing and often highly politicized environment, Stephen Jenner's Transforming Government and Public Services provides a clear, definitive and highly applied guide for all involved in selecting the right projects and doing them right so that they achieve the intended investment objectives.

Over the last decade governments in Europe and North America have attempted to improve efficiency of public services through Information and Communication Technology, commonly branded as electronic government (e-government). Public Sector Transformation through E-Government explores the influence that e-government has on public sector organizations, the organizational complexities that result, and its impact on citizens and democratic society. This book examines e-government's potential to transform public services from a theoretical perspective, and provides practical examples from leading public sector institutions that have utilized e-government as a basis to bring about change. It further investigates the relationship between citizens and government and how they are affected by e-government policies and programs. Aimed at students and researchers of public administration/management and information systems, this book serves as a welcome tool for examining and understanding e-government and transformational change.