The evolution of a generic regulation model for e-government development

This paper presents a new theoretical model (the Generic Regulation Model GRM) which is aimed for e-government development. This model has evolved through an action research project in e-government. The project has worked in the area of personal assistance to disabled persons. In this project there was a need to conceptualize the relations between different governmental agencies and the clients. As a response to this need a generic model and a situational model were developed. The new generic model (GRM) is theoretically based on another theoretic model (the Generic Exchange Model GEM). GRM does not replace the GEM model. It is partially a specialisation of the GEM model and it is intended to be used in regulation contexts. A claim is that the GRM model is adequate in many e-government situations, since there is often some regulation issue at stake. The paper also gives an epistemological account of the evolution of the new GRM model. GRM is considered to be a practical theory and it has evolved through a practical inquiry (the action research project on personal assistance). The practical inquiry has included application of the GRM model (as a kind of empirical grounding) and also some initial theoretical grounding.