Devolution in e-governance in perspective of different

architectures, frameworks and models

Paper in Progress

Devolution (in general)

• “Devolution to lower levels has to involve a meaningful transfer of authority to be acceptable and to work effectively. It also has to maintain horizontal equity by ensuring a fair distribution of fiscal and other resources across the units” (Ferguson and Chandrasekharan 2004)

Types of Devolution

• Political• Fiscal• Administrative• e-Governance

Transfer of powers from centralized e-gov to sub-national. These powers may be planning, business process re-engineering, change management, enterprise architecture, networks, portals, back-offices, e-services, etc.

Importance

2008 2005 2004 2003 EAeGov Legislation Governing Structure

Sweden 1 3 4 2 Future issue No Multi-level

Denmark 2 2 2 4 Yes No Multi-level

Norway 3 10 10 7 Future issue Barriers Multi-level

United States 4 1 1 1 Yes Gaps Multi-level

Netherlands 5 12 11 11 Yes No Multi-level

Jaeger criticized the US constitutional gaps related to doctrines of Federalism and the separation of powers must be reflected in the planning and implementation of an E-government (Jaeger 2002)

In most countries, superior e-government components and services are at the federal or national level, and local governments are generally infancy stage of e-government establishment (Lee, 2005)

Research Question• How can define and frame the devolution in centralized e-

governance with respect to political, fiscal and administrative devolution of traditional governance?

Sub-Questions

• What is devolution in e-governance and its relation with other devolutions?

• How to address it in National Enterprise Architecture?

• Define boundaries and overlapping of e-gov. devolution with other approaches like shared services, collaborative approach, New Public Management (NPM) and Application Service Provider (ASP)?

• Identify the common devolved powers and their relations with political, fiscal and administrative devolved powers?

Supporting Theories

• "Souffle" Theory of decentralization(related to traditional governing system)

• Centralized vs. Decentralized Management of Public Information Systems: A Core-Periphery Solution

• Enterprise Architectures (EAs)Zachman, RM-ODP, TOGAF, FEA etc.

"Souffle" Theory of decentralization

• Parker (1995) presented the role of political, fiscal, and institutional decentralization as they relate to rural development outcomes.

• Like a Souffle that needs just the right combination of milk, eggs, and heat to rise, a successful program of decentralization must include just the right combination of political, fiscal, and institutional elements to improve rural development outcomes (Parker 1995)

A Core-Periphery Solution• Richard Heeks suggested a solution for the decentralization of

information systems of public sector.

• He categorized the eight main areas for centralization or decentralization that are

– planning,

– organizational structures and staffing,

– data management, computing and

– data management architecture,

– information systems development,

– information technology acquisition,

– training, and

– technical support.

• With centralized approach on these areas, many benefits can be achieved, but requires some severe constraints to be overcome.

Enterprise Architectures (EAs)• 67 % of governments are working on government EA programs but

most of them are at infancy stage (Christiansen and Gotze 2007)

• US Intergovernmental Advisory Board (IAB 2003) has categorized five benefits of e-government as

– 1) Financial: Reduced costs of government operations/enhanced revenue collection,

– 2) Economic development,

– 3) Reduced redundancy: Consolidating and integrating government systems,

– 4) Fostering democratic principles and

– 5) Improved service to citizens and other constituencies

• Lau describes three types of benefits

– 1) direct financial costs and benefits,

– 2) direct nonfinancial costs and benefits and

– 3) indirect costs and benefits (Lau 2007).

Research Methodology

Searching of any existing framework, model approach or EA related to Information system or e-government

Is it explaining the decentralization in e-

governance with respect to political, fiscal and

administrative?

Details of the decentralization in e-governance with respect to political, fiscal and administrative

Modification or extension in the EA, model or framework for e-Gov. Devolution

ResearchPaper

Yes

No

Proposed EA Assessment

EA Evaluation

• Devolution plan• Central gov powers• Local gov powers• Legal cover of these powers• Any conflict with Political devolution• Any conflict with fiscal devolution• Any conflict with administrative devolution• Is any BPR needed for these powers?• Is any change management needed for these powers?

Enterprise ArchitectureAssessment Guide V 2.2

• By Institute For Enterprise Architecture Developments

• Score Card method

• Score Card has four evaluation areas– Business– Information– Information System– Technology Infrastructure

Score Card