Improving E-Government Project Management: Best Practices and Critical Success Factors

Improving E-Government Project Management: Best Practices and Critical Success Factors

Stephen K. Aikins (University of South Florida, USA)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0086-7.ch003

Abstract

E-government is becoming an enabler for better government through cost-effective and efficient service delivery, and can become a useful tool for effective governance, public administration, and public sector transformation. However, e-government projects are noted for many failures due to several reasons. These include inadequate planning, poor project management, lack of top management support, lack of stakeholder involvement, scope creep, etc. Dwelling on the project management literature as well as reviews of award winning e-government project and portfolio management best practices in a state government and a local utility district, this chapter concludes that e-government initiatives should adopt a more concrete project management methodology, align e-government goals with organizational strategic goals, develop project management competences, as well as understand and apply critical success factors to ensure the successful planning and implementation of e-government projects.
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Developing Methodology And Project Management Competency

E-government project planning and implementation are fraught with various obstacles, including resistance to change, leadership and political commitment, lack of funding, as well as legal and regulatory frameworks (OECD, 2003; World Wide Web Consortium, 1999). Some of the major causes of e-government project failures are the lack of methodologies and concrete models to translate high level prescriptions into actions, as well as the lack of cohesion between related projects (Janowski, Estevez & Ojo, 2007). Consequently, while some individual projects may be deemed successful based on the delivery of the promised products, the overall objectives of the program initiating the different projects may not be met. In order to minimize e-government project failure, understanding of the system development life cycle and adherence to methodology is of paramount importance.

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