E-Government Best Practices
A Practical Guide
Final Report
May 18, 2001
Murali Chidurala, Peter Kaminskas, Samir Pathak, Anjali Sridhar, Segev Tsfati
Faculty Advisor: Prof. David Darcy
The Team’s Task
GSA’s Office of Electronic Government
Create an “implementation handbook” – a practical e-government project implementation manual
Stove-pipe View of Government
Agency A Agency B Agency C
Multiple agencies needed for
complete solution
Methodology- Project Life-Cycle
Partial applicability to e-government projects:
* Obstacles * Marketing
* Resources * Politics
* Legislation * Leadership
* Innovation * Environment
SelectPlan
AnalyzeDesign
MaintainImplement
Why would a project fail?
“Politics as usual”
Lack of visionary leadership
Lack of resources
Organizational culture
Wrong technology
Need and customer focus lost
Baseline e-gov Initiative
Clear mandate
Budget and resource allocation
Committed project management
Sound planning; clear goals
External validation
Guaranteed customer base
Emerging Trends in e-Government
Public-Private
PartnershipsAlliances w/
Stakeholders
Small ScaleWorking Groups
End User Focus
Influential Factors
Political Environment
Transparency
Budgeting
Planning
Leadership
Stakeholders
Technology
Innovation
Implementation Map
Budgets
Innovation Zone
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
Obstacles
External Environment
Other Agencies End Users Private Interests Public Interests
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Withinthe
Organization
At thePolitical
Level
OutsideEntities
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation Map Leadership
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Perceived Need
Critical Success Factors – Leadership
Link political environment and Leadership
Idea champion
Understands the Business
Innovative and encourage creativity
Rally stakeholders
Implementation MapPlanning
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Perceived Need
Plan projects with consideration of stakeholders
Identify purpose of project & end-users
Create function-based plan
Examine use of public-private partnerships
Map detailed implementation process
Do not reinvent the wheel
Critical Success FactorsPlanning
Technical Plan:
Develop systems evaluation plan
Explore processes to reduce paperwork
Allow for multiple functionalities
Ensure easy scalability, maintenance & transferability
Critical Success FactorsTechnical Plan
Training & Communications Plan:
Public awareness and marketing plan - create brand awareness
Training plan for employees
Pilot systems with feedback mechanisms
Identify stages for focus group input
Develop evaluation plan
Critical Success FactorsCommunications Plan
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Perceived Need
Implementation MapStakeholders
Stakeholders:
Identify all stakeholders
Develop channels of communication
Demonstrate project’s alignment with customer needs
Encourage creativity
Devolve decision-making authority
Critical Success FactorsStakeholders
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapTransparency & Marketing
Transparency leads to increased visibility & ‘brand awareness’ Make available strategic plan and evaluations
as benchmarks Engage all stakeholders
o Other government agencieso Employeeso Private institutions and service providerso End Users
Critical Success FactorsTransparency & Marketing
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Pilot
Evaluating
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapPilots & Evaluation
Pilot Study and Evaluation provides feedback into full implementation
Demonstrate early success
Have outside evaluators
Incorporate recommendations effectively
Use pilot for marketing purposes
Critical Success FactorsPilots & Evaluation
Budgets
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapBudgets & Technology
Interrelated and integral through the process
Lobby for budgets
Creative budgeting and alliances
Evaluate and choose systems development solution
Easily implementable, scalable technology
End-user focused
Critical Success FactorsBudgets & Technology
Budgets
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
External Environment
Other Agencies End Users Private Interests Public Interests
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapExternal Environment
External Environment
Other agenciesPrivate interestsPublic interestsEnd users
Overcome ‘Institutional Pain’ Match interests to increase buy-in Seek support, offer goodwill Create partnerships and alliances Minimize ‘friction points’
Budgets
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
Obstacles
External Environment
Other Agencies End Users Private Interests Public Interests
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Withinthe
Organization
At thePolitical
Level
OutsideEntities
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapPotential Obstacles
Potential ObstaclesWithin the bureaucracy
Hostility/ skepticism Turf wars/ power struggle Coordination Institutional pain/ fear
Political Level Legislative/ regulatory constraints Inadequate funding
Outside Entities Public skepticism and lack of awareness Digital divide Interest group politics
Overcoming ObstaclesWithin the bureaucracy
Understand interests Build coalitions, motivate players Demonstrate projects Communicate and train
Political Level Lobby legislature Explore funding options
Outside Entities Increase awareness and involvement Enter partnerships Address fears
Budgets
Innovation Zone
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
Obstacles
External Environment
Other Agencies End Users Private Interests Public Interests
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Withinthe
Organization
At thePolitical
Level
OutsideEntities
Marketing
Perceived Need
Implementation MapInnovation Zone
Innovation
Support innovative culture at all levels
Reward innovative practices
Provide resources
Diversify workforce
Look outside government
Experiment & evaluate
Learn from mistakes
Budgets
Innovation Zone
Leadership HorizonLeadership
Planning Stakeholders
“Transparency”
Demo/Deliverables
Obstacles
External Environment
Other Agencies End Users Private Interests Public Interests
Evaluating
Technology
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Executive Legislative Directive Mandate
Withinthe
Organization
At thePolitical
Level
OutsideEntities
Marketing
Perceived Need
Recap & Questions
Questions??
“The best plan is only a plan, that is good intentions, unless it degenerates into work. The distinction that makes a plan capable of producing results is the commitment of key
people to work on a specific task.
Peter Drucker
Illinois Federal Clearinghouse
Information on Federal grants that can be accessed by state and local govts
Developed website to consolidate grants information
Low-budget; no private partners
Political will
Leader from grants side of govt
Strong customer base
Access America for Students
Inter-agency Task Force
Developed portal for education financing
Partnership Forum
No budgetary constraints -demo project
High level political will
Used results from existing studies
High visibility and consequent accountability
Beware ‘institutional pain’
Federal Commons
Grant management portal
Developed by HHS
Political visibility and goodwill
Technology big driver
Huge budgetary constraints
High level political will
Lack of staff
Doubtful customer base - lack of vested ownership
Channel Convergence
Online process migration - Integration of call centers and web
Top-down, strategic planning
In-house customization; COTS products
Outside third-party evaluation