Electronic Government and Public Service Modernisation: Experience from the Frontline (Track 1, Session 8)
Author(s) :
Tony Kieran (Donegal County Council, Ireland)
Joe McDonagh (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
Abstract : The paper is based on research carried out over a three-year period into public service modernisation initiatives undertaken in County Donegal, Ireland, reviewing these initiatives and setting out the progress achieved to date. Progress is evaluated and reviewed in the context of international and national public service modernisation developments over the period. The interdependence between local and national initiatives is examined with the interdependence and the impact on outcomes evaluated. A key objective of the project has been to make it easier for the customer (private individual and business) to transact business with Government leading to an ultimate vision of delivering integrated public services. The developing role of eGovernment in this regard is analysed. Key lessons emerging from the experience of using technology (eGovernment) to modernise service delivery are synthesised with a view to distilling the imperatives to be considered in maximising the benefits from eGovernment initiatives. Research, based on the experience to date confirms that eGovernment has a critical role to play in service modernisation with best results likely to be achieved through incorporating technology into an integrated service modernisation strategy. Based on the practical experience of initiatives undertaken to date in County Donegal, aligned with current thinking and understanding of service delivery in a public service context, the imperatives to be addressed in delivering fully integrated services are distilled. Imperatives to be addressed are set out, along with a road map for use in undertaking a complex change and modernisation programme in the public service. The paper concludes that the initiatives undertaken to date have made an important contribution to the knowledge of what is involved in successfully implementing a multi-channel service delivery strategy and have enabled the setting out a roadmap that can, over time, lead to integrated service delivery.

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