The eaGov blog

My paper that i co-wrote/researched for together with my boss Søren Duus Østergaard titled “How can Government benefit from Web2.0?” was presented at 2008 WMSCI conference in Florida in June, was was awarded “Sessions Best Paper“.

In my other assignment about NPM (New Public Management) I try to discuss the enhanced web tools (web2.0) and the way they can challenge old mindsets and put forward an improved, along with a much inexpensive, value proposition to the public sector. In this regard, I think the acknowledge is a step closer to this goal .. but there is a long way to go still.

Today was exam at CBS and I recieved the grade “A”/10 (or maybe a B?) and Im happy about it.

Relax a bit and then back to my Master Thesis.

The new iphone 3G is out and as a Apple Fanboy i allready love it! There are the 3G, the longer batterylife, the software version 2.0 etc. And now 60 countries carry it. Most of Europe is covered and many citizens will carry on of these small computers, that they really are even more than an phone. And with the new “openness”-strategy from Apple, letting developers with app’s in, there will be a huge market for this phone, as with many other smartphones.

To sum up: many smart phones in the hands of citizens, new opportunities and great ways of connecting and socialising etc.

I guess there is some smart services in the pipeline from governments, taking part in the revolution/evolution (depending on how you sees it). Of course every government will give their citizens the possibility to connect with government on a mobile device/platform when these are penetrating the marketplace, and will spread viraly/fast Im sure. Im sure that there will be (government-)developers who will put great services, or at least some private, who will come up with ways to mix gov-services with “what do I know”-services, for this mobile platform. Or ..?

In Denmark, where I am located, the strategy for mobile devices is none-existing. There is no such thing as government services directed at these devices. I really have no idea why this is, do you?

Being the proud owner of an iPhone, enjoying the great free web-based services for this device, I can’t help wonder, where the great Government (mobile-)services are for my iPhone. Where’s the will to take hold on this?

Today I turned my New Public Management assignment in. You can find it here, in a (DANISH) censored version.

Be happy to hear your feedback, if any.

These days im doing an assignment on NPM i Denmark. Im looking at four historic documents describing the strategy for eGovernment i Denmark. In addition Ill be carry out some interviews, with key players/stakeholders in this regard, namely: Lone Dybkjær member of parliament and front woman on the “Dybkjær rapport” from 1994 pressing the go-button for eGov i DK, Lars Frelle, head of office in the ministry of finances, working on the pan-public sector strategy for eGov and chief of the digital taskforce, and finally Rachid El Mousti ex-employee/senior consultant in the ITST, expert on NPM as well as DEG. 

The key area of interest is whether of not NPM is the right governance strategy for the public sector.. or would it be a good thing is somebody found a new paradigme. My thesis, for now, is that NPM is old news or a dead fish in the water (Dunleavy) and our beloved public sector needs a revitalization of some sort. DEG could be a great answer.

Next week Ill be attending the 6th Eastern European eGovernment Days: 23 – 25 April 2008 in Prague with my boss.  We will be presenting our paper “How web2.0 can benefit government”. This is my first conference presenting a scientific paper, and I anticipate to do a bit of networking with some of the people who have been in the business of making government more efficient, effective and user centric. From the list of participants I can see that there will be attending some exciting people from alle over the world – so Ill be taking notes and discussing eGovernment for en interesting week. Also Ill try to do a bit of blogging form there – filling the gaps with some reflective work about the subject.. and doing a bit of sightseeing of Prag.

Also Im still curious to know if you have some experiences or knowledge about New Public Management or (as I see it) the new paradigme / optics of doing eGovernment, namely, Digital Era Governance, as proposed by Patrick Dunleavy et.al.