E-Government as an Innovative Product: Theories and Case Study - Information and Communication Technologies in Public Administration - page 128

6.2.3 E-Government and Innovation
The combination of the keywords innovation and e-government returns limited
results from the scientific community. SCOPUS search returns 443 related arti-
cles, whereas Google Scholar returns 121 related works. Most of these articles (e.g.,
Arduini et al., 2010; Kamarck, 2003; Lee, Tan, & Trimi, 2005; Moon, 2002) focus
on ICT innovations that have been utilized for e-government. Furthermore, an
analysis of various government innovations (Lee et al., 2005) results in the conclu-
sion that “all innovations in government deal with 'quality' government.” Quality
is understood as public service improvements, which are not expected to return
economic benefits but to enhance citizens' trust in their government.
Moreover, some researchers realize the positive role that innovation in public
administration plays in e-government development. For instance, Ho (2002) rec-
ognizes that public seniors shift from emphasizing producer concerns, such as cost-
efficiency, to focusing on user satisfaction and control flexibility in service delivery.
This approach stresses innovation, organizational change, and entrepreneurship
within public administration, which leads to government re-invention.
The role of innovation in e-government was also seen by Moon (2002), who
considers aspects from technological innovation to understand how e-government
can succeed in social diffusion and adoption. In Moon's study, this author discov-
ered a relationship between organization size and probability of adopting inno-
vation. His findings were later investigated for local governments by Moon and
Norris (2005). In their analysis of numerous American cities, they conclude on
determinants that affect e-government adoption and they justify that innovation
management's orientation concerns a respective key enabler. More specifically, this
study recognizes the organization's ICT capacity as critical for e-government adop-
tion, while it concludes that large municipal governments with high innovation
orientations tend to be more receptive to new approaches and more likely to be early
adopters of e-government.
Finally, Kim et al. (2007) recognize innovation as a part of the overall
e-government development process and, more specifically, during the initiation
process (technology push), as well as a requirement for continuous public service
improvement.
6.2.4 E-Government Development
Information and communications technology has contributed much to the pub-
lic sector's modernization. An analysis of government e-strategies from eight
national, one regional, and two supranational cases from the early 1990s to today
(Anthopoulos & Fitsilis, 2014) shows that governments around the world share
common e-government visions, which have evolved from a citizen-centered public
administration to an accountable, inclusive, and accessible government and to a
connected government (Table 6.1). This study returned findings that interrelate