About the Workshop
During the last two decades, governments around the world have invested in ICT with the aim of increasing the quality and decreasing the cost of public services. But over that time, as even the least developed countries have moved to websites, e-services and e-Government strategies, it has become increasingly clear that e-Government has not delivered all the benefits that were hoped for it.[1]
One study found that 35% of e-government projects in developing countries resulted in total failures; and that 50% were partial failures.[2] In reaction to these poor outcomes, there has been a shift of perspective to 'Transformational Government', aiming beyond purely technical aspects of better enabling e-government processes towards addressing the cultural and organisational barriers which have hindered public service benefits realisation. Researchers have defined the rationale for Transformational Government as “the exploitation of e-government such that benefits can be realized”.[3]
In 2010 OASIS published a report [4] which identified a wide range of common pitfalls which have hampered many governments in achieving significant impacts through their technology investments. However, OASIS also noted that: “… an increasing number [of governments] are now getting to grips with the much broader and complex set of cultural and organizational changes which are needed for ICT to deliver significant benefits to the public sector. This new approach is generally referred to as Transformational Government.” Within the last decade, this new emphasis on a Transformational Government approach can be seen from a number of developed countries in the following extracts: The early pioneering work by some governments is now being picked up and championed by a range of global organizations which offer support to governments in moving to a Transformational Government approach.
The World Bank set up an eTransform Initiative (ETI) with support from global IT partners such as Gemalto, IBM, L-1 Identity Solutions, Microsoft and Pfizer. "The eTransform Initiative is about tapping information technology, expertise and experiences”, said Mohsen Khalil, Director of the World Bank Group’s Global Information and Communication Technologies Department. “Government transformation is about change management facilitated by technology. This initiative will facilitate the exchange of lessons and experiences among various governments and industry players, to maximize impact and lower risks of ICT-enabled government transformation.”
A number of private sector organizations working in this area have published white papers which pull together global best practices on Government Transformation. [5][6][7][8] OASIS launched (September 2010) a new Technical Committee tasked with producing a new global best practice standard for a Transformational Government Framework. Included in this Framework will be:
- a Transformational Government Reference Model,
- definitions of a series of policy products necessary to implement the change,
- a value chain for citizen service transformation,
- a series of guiding principles,
- a business model for change,
- a best practice delivery roadmap,
- and a checklist of critical success factors.
Why attend the Workshop?
The OASIS is offering this complimentary Workshop, in cooperation with the World Bank e-Development Group, to provide a unique opportunity to exchange experiences amongst professionals from the public administration and the private sector regarding the significance of open standards for efficient and transformational government. This complimentary Workshop is an ideal opportunity for you to:
- Learn about the emerging concept of Transformational Government, and how it fits with global initiatives
- Hear views and experiences from practitioners involved in the Transformational Government agenda
- Contribute your views and experiences
- Help shape the work of the new OASIS Transformational Government Framework Technical Committee (TGF TC)
- Find out more about how you can participate fully in the work of this new technical committee - TGF TC
Speakers are expected to include senior government officials from New Zealand,
Australia, Malaysia, Europe, the United States and a range of very experienced
business and information technology specialists.
Register Now!
Participation in this Workshop is at no cost, but registration will be essential, as places will be limited. Register now.
Contact us
For information on the Workshop, contact events@oasis-open.org.
- ^ ‘The failure of e-government in developing countries: a literature review’. The Electronic Journal on Information System in Developing Countries. Dada, D. (2006)
- ^ ‘eGovernment as a Carrier of Context’. IGovernment Working Paper No.15, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K. Higher Education Admission Center (HEAC) Heeks, R. (2004). Available at [1]
- ^ Electronic transformation of government in the UK: A research agenda. European Journal of Information Systems 16, 327-335 Irani, Z., Elliman, T. and Jackson, P. (2007)
- ^ OASIS : eGov Pitfalls Guidance (April 2010)
- ^ Government Transformation: Microsoft’s Citizen Service Platform in the 2.0 world (September 2010)
- ^ Citizen Service Transformation: A manifesto for change in the delivery of public services (February 2010)
- ^ Beyond Interoperability: A new policy framework for e-Government (November 2009)
- ^ Sharing Front Office Services: The Journey to Citizen-Centric Delivery, Accenture 2009
