Reinventing Government in the Information Age: International Practice in IT-enabled Public Sector Reform

Will information technology help reinvent government? It might, but only if it is correctly managed. This book provides a new model for management of information age reform, based on a review of international experience. It offers practical guidance, analytical insights and detailed case studies. It will therefore be of value to practitioners, students, educators and researchers in both public administration and information systems. The book begins with a review of government reinvention and the contribution of information and of information technology to that reinvention. The rapid spread of information age reform is charted. The ineffective approaches to reform used by many public managers are described, and contrasted with the effective, integrated approach used by a small minority. A model is developed to explain why information age reform initiatives succeed or fail. From this, a set of practical techniques for successful information age reform is identified, based on international best practice. These management insights are supplemented by more than a dozen in-depth case studies, drawn from the US, UK, mainland Europe, and developing countries. The studies cover all aspects of reform: efficiency decentralization, resource and performance management, marketisation, accountability and democratisation. An educators' guide is provided for those wishing to use the cases as the basis for individual or group training. Kim Viborg Andersen, Copenhagen Business School, Joan Ballantine, University of Warwick, Peter Benjamin, University of the Witwatersrand, Subhash Bhatnagar, Indian Institut.