The eGovQual Methodology: Information Systems Planning as Research Intervention

In this paper we discuss eGovQual a methodology for planning eGovernment initiatives in public administrations with specific attention to the strategic planning and preliminary operational planning phases. The key elements of the methodology are the multidisciplinary approach, which considers social, economical, organizational, juridical and technological issues in the identification and ranking of eGovernment projects, and the quality-driven strategy which considers the assessment of actual and future target quality values for services, processes, organizational systems, and technologies. eGovQual aims to satisfy a real need of constituencies and stakeholders involved in eGovernment projects, confirmed in the context where the methodology has been developed and tested such as the eGovernment for Mediterranean Countries (eG4M) project and former preliminary experiences in the Italian Public Administrations by the interactions with local authorities during the on the field experimentations. A structured process is needed, that provides a clear perspective on the different facets that eGovernment initiatives usually have to challenge, and disciplines the complex set of decisions to be taken. The available approaches to eGovernment provide usually only one perspective to public managers and local authorities on the domain of intervention, either technological, or organizational, or juridical, or social. Our aim is to provide a methodology supporting in a structural fashion the choice of the optimal eGovernment plan, considering all the above mentioned perspectives. The quality driven construction of the eGovernment plan is initially influenced by the social, juridical and organizational perspective, while achieves subsequently its final shape when considering the economic and technological perspectives. The results of the interventions carried out are described at a glance.