A public value perspective for ICT enabled public sector reforms: A theoretical reflection

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical discussion of information system adoption in the public sector (often referred to as e-government) and to contribute to the debate by offering a public value perspective. The paper points to the public value paradigm as an alternative approach to studying ICT-enabled public sector reforms. This paradigm, we argue, proposes an alternative way of framing the nature of the problems faced when ICT enabled public sector reforms are initiated and studied. The public value perspective proposes a new and richer context in which to study and research these phenomena. It also calls for the redefinition of the ways we assess e-government in the context of public sector reforms. It is therefore seen as vital to evaluate the socio-political impact of ICT adoption in the public sector.

Highlights

► Information systems have impacts which go far beyond those which have been discussed in the NPM. ► NPM does not account for the social and political impacts of ICT enabled public sector reform. ► Public value provides an alternative approach which directly challenges the NPM paradigm. ► Public value proposes a new and richer approach for studying and researching ICT in the public sector. ► New e-government indicators are needed to account for public value creation.