NOT ANOTHER NEW WINE IN THE SAME OLD BOTTLES : MOTIVATORS AND INNOVATION IN LOCALGOVERNMENT E-SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

• E-services hold the potential to innovate how the public sector operates, and to increase the transparencyof public services. Numerous research initiatives have illustrated the innovation power of eservices;with new technology and new solutions to existing problems. Research on this topic also emphasizesthat in order for public e-services to reach their full potential, they need to be designed in away that users find useful and beneficiary. Interestingly, in practice, only fragments of this claimedinnovation seem to take place. Today, most public e-services launched are merely electronic versionsof existing services with no, or very low, degree of innovation. In this paper, we analyse empirical datafrom local government e-service providers. The aim is to explore the current practices in local governmente-service development with respect to how aspects related to innovative and high quality serviceprovisioning are handled. In doing so, we analyse what basic motivators there are for local governmentsto offer e-services in the first place, and how such motivators influence innovation in localgovernment e-service development. The analysis concludes that local governments are facing a challengingsituation in terms of a general lack of resources regarding time, competence, and skills, aswell as a dispersed user segment where needs and wills often are hard to grasp. Furthermore, localgovernments are facing conflicting interests and agendas. At the end of the day, the heights of innovationare then hard to achieve. We call for further research on the applicability of previous researchfindings in other research areas in order to promote more innovative e-service provisioning.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Public e-service

service innovation

e-service development

local government

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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