Paradigm and Practice: The Innovative Organization to Deal with E-Government

Abstract

The contribution starts from assessing the reciprocal influence between organizational change and the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Public Administrations. ICTs cannot work without a proper organizational change, but at the same time, ICTs are usually one of the main drivers of such change in public administrations, as they provide the political momentum and act as catalyzer or enabler. After reviewing the role that New Public Management experts granted to the ICT in fueling, or rather in following public sector reforms, the work identifies a possible evolution of the model from New Public Management to Innovative Public Management. This model is based on the adoption of technological and organizational innovation at three levels, namely the operational choice, the collective choice and the institutional choice levels. Thereby, the chapter presents some of the current and future impacts of ICTs on institutional configuration, on policy and decision making, and on the organizational/managerial structure. Finally, the ecosystem for an innovative public administration is re-interpreted in the light of recent ICT changes.