eGovernment for Development

Assessing eGov Project Risks:
Real-World Design-Reality Example 1

Electronic Networking for a Ministry of Education in East Asia

• Background
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Mitigation

Case Study Authors

Wei Jing and Richard Heeks

Background

The national Ministry of Education is the apex body in charge of education in the country, employing around 400 staff. It is suffering a loss of staff through retirement and movement to the private sector, yet it needs to improve its operational and strategic effectiveness. Driven by this need, plus the spread of ICTs within government, a networking project has been designed for the Ministry. This will join a series of existing internal and external networks, allowing the ready exchange of documents, messages and ideas. The intended benefits are improved decision-making, and reduced time and financial costs for communication. Key internal stakeholders are the Minister, the other staff of the Ministry, and staff within the Management Data Centre. Key external stakeholders include regional education departments, and all educational institutions in the country.

Risk Assessment Via Design-Reality Gap Analysis

Design-reality gap analysis compares the assumptions/requirements within the application design with the existing reality in the public organisation along seven 'ITPOSMO' dimensions. The larger the gap, the larger the risk for the e-government project. Follow this link for more information on design-reality gap analysis.

• Information : the design does not aim to significantly alter the reality of the content or presentation of information currently in use within the Ministry; what it does assume is that that information will flow more quickly and easily around the organisation than it does in reality at present. Design-reality gap rating: 3.5.
• Technology : the design is based on the concept of inter-networking - linking together four networks that already exist in practice (Ministry intranet; Ministry Web site; the National Education Network (that links educational institutions around the country); and the Government National Network (that links government organisations)). The only changes from reality to design are the addition of some new servers, Internet links, and document-sharing/knowledge management software. Design-reality gap rating: 3.
• Processes : the design builds on the reality of current communication and decision-making processes. It does not aim to radically reengineer these processes, merely to support them in order to improve their effectiveness. The design does assume more sharing of data and, hence, some new forms of decision-making that add to those currently found in reality. Design-reality gap rating: 4.
• Objectives and values : the design assumes a relatively open organisational culture in which information is shared quite readily; it also assumes an objective of improving the quality of decision making within the Ministry. While key stakeholders in reality share the objective to some degree, there is an 'information is power' culture at present that discourages the open sharing of many types of information. Design-reality gap rating: 6.
• Staffing and skills : the design assumes a range of competencies to be present. These include skills of network installation and operation; basic computer literacy among all staff; and skills in the interpretation and use of information up to an understanding of knowledge management. In reality, IT-related skills are present within the Ministry, with almost all staff already computer literate. However, information/knowledge-related competencies are rather weaker at present. Design-reality gap rating: 5.
• Management systems and structures : the design of the network itself enables a flexible range of systems and structures to operate, including those already present in reality. However, there is an assumption that the network will also support a more decentralised mode of operations than found in reality at present, and some cross-unit teams are planned that will require far more lateral communication flows. Design-reality gap rating: 4.5.
• Other resources : the design assumes a whole set of capital and recurrent costs for the network. In reality, the Ministry has available sources of such revenue. Design assumptions about timescales - allowing for 3-5 years to fully operationalise the inter-network - do not appear to clash significantly with current realities, although a few users have other calls on their time. Design-reality gap rating: 2.

Overall Risk Assessment and Recommendation

The overall gap rating total for this design proposal is 28. According to the gap assessment table, this suggests some chance of partial failure of the project unless action is taken. The recommendation was to proceed with the project, but undertaking actions to reduce some of the larger design-reality gaps.

Gap Reduction Actions to Mitigate Project Risks

To mitigate e-government project risks, you first identify those ITPOSMO dimensions with the largest gaps. Then you attempt to reduce those gaps by altering the project design to make it more like current reality and/or by altering current reality to make it more like the project design.

The three largest gaps occur on the objectives and values, staffing and skills, and management systems and structures dimensions. It is these dimensions that should therefore be addressed first.

The proposed risk mitigation actions here were:

1. Objectives and values dimension . Alter current reality by altering the current incentives and appraisal in order to encourage and reward the sharing of information. Key elements of new human resource practice would include explicit inclusion of information-sharing within the annual performance appraisal, which is linked to pay increments; and a specific scheme to identify and reward (both financially and through recognition) examples of good practice in information sharing and/or knowledge-building.
2. Staffing and skills dimension . Alter current reality by developing a set of training activities for staff. These will include:
• Awareness-raising for senior managers about knowledge management, about the value (for them personally as well as for the organisation) of information sharing, and about the challenges in moving to a more open, free-flow culture.
• Information/knowledge management training for key staff, customised to their particular job content, aiming to enable those staff to make more effective use of information and knowledge in their work.
• Where necessary, support for development of staff IT skills. It is suggested this be delivered through e-learning packages which not only develop skills but also have a 'medium is the message' impact.
3. Management systems and structures dimension . Alter the size of individual design-reality gaps by proceeding only incrementally with ideas about cross-organisational teams.