Introduction to the Transformational Government Minitrack

Initially, e-Government was considered a solely technical phenomenon. However, in the last few years, research on this topic clearly showed its multidimensional nature and identified the importance of acknowledging strategic, political, managerial, organizational, and external relationship factors to understand and explain the transformation of government enabled by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This mini-track examines the complexity of effectively managing e-Government and its transformational potential. Increasingly, this involves inter-organizational collaboration and the management of relationships with citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders. Transformational government is a rapidly evolving concept focused on ICT-enabled fundamental changes in the structure, functions, processes, and external relationships of government. Although the meaning of transformed government is still unclear, practical examples of transformational government involve innovative forms of public service provision through a variety of digital channels, new forms of back-office integration and joint-up government, digital engagement using social media, and new forms of open government and open public data. The aims for governments around the world to achieve transformational government are multiple and varied: they include increased efficiency, enhanced effectiveness, better coordination across government, good governance through increased transparency and accountability, increased citizen trust or even empowerment, improved public decision-making, and modernizing government. This mini-track is one of the key international platforms at which the transformational aspects of e-Government, as well as their implications for government, citizens and society, are being discussed from a multidisciplinary perspective. It welcomes papers with an empirical, theoretical, or conceptual contribution that show the importance of strategic, political, institutional, managerial, organizational, and democratic factors in managing transformational e-Government. This year's mini-track attracted seven paper submissions from which three were selected for presentation at the conference.