Digitalization of Swedish Government Agencies - A Perspective Through the Lens of a Software Development Census

So‰ware engineering is at the core of the digitalization of society. Ill-informed decisions can have major consequences, as made evident in the 2017 government crisis in Sweden, originating in a data breach caused by an outsourcing deal made by the Swedish Transport Agency. Many Government Agencies (GovAgs) in Sweden are rapidly undergoing a digital transition, thus it is important to overview how widespread, and mature, so‰ware development is in this part of the public sector. We present a so‰ware development census of Swedish GovAgs, complemented by document analysis and a survey. We show that 39.2% of the GovAgs develop so‰ware internally, some matching the number of developers in large companies. Our €ndings suggest that the development largely resembles private sector counterparts, and that established best practices are implemented. Still, we identify improvement potential in the areas of strategic sourcing, openness, collaboration across GovAgs, and quality requirements. Œe Swedish Government has announced the establishment of a new digitalization agency next year, and our hope is that the so‰ware engineering community will contribute its expertise with a clear voice.