Centralised vs. Decentralised Management of Public Information Systems: A Core-Periphery Solution

................................................................................................................................... 1 A. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 2 A1. Public Sector Information Systems Responsibilities ........................................................... 2 A2. Approaches to IS Responsibilities ...................................................................................... 3 B. CENTRALISED AND DECENTRALISED APPROACHES: REVIEW OF EXPERIENCE .............. 4 B1. The Centralised Approach to Public Sector IS Responsibilities.......................................... 4 Constraints to centralised approaches...................................................................................................5 Disadvantages of centralised approaches..............................................................................................9 B2. The Decentralised Approach to Public Sector IS Responsibilities .................................... 11 Constraints to decentralised approaches .............................................................................................12 Disadvantages of decentralised approaches ........................................................................................12 C. CONCLUSIONS: RESOLVING THE CONTRADICTIONS VIA A CORE-PERIPHERY APPROACH ............ 15 C1. Core-Periphery Approach Content .................................................................................. 15 IS planning ........................................................................................................................................15 Organisational structures and staffing ................................................................................................16 Data management ..............................................................................................................................16 Computing and data management architecture ...................................................................................17 Information systems development ......................................................................................................18 IT acquisition ....................................................................................................................................19 Other components..............................................................................................................................21 References .............................................................................................................................. 22