Aligning E-solutions Projects with E-transformation Strategies - Essay Example

Secondary data #2: E-Government strategy Denmark General: (Technology, Technology Strategy & Business Strategy) Denmark is one of the leading countries as far as e-Government development is concerned. For several years digitalization has been used to improve the administration services offered. Today most of the communication between the public sector, businesses and citizens are carried out electronically. In fact, there are no printed forms or letters, most people use the Danish Tax and Custom website, skat.dk, to file their tax returns. Moreover, parents can now check the paternal and maternal leave rules on Borger.dk (The Citizen portal). Also, tax returns are now being checked on the Danish Tax and Customs Administrations website, skat.dk. On the other hand, students sort out their grants online. These examples show the Danish government commitment to transforming the traditional government into e-Government. To transform smoothly from the traditional government into e-government, the Danish government had put in place a ten-year strategic plan that was divided into four phases. Phase 1 was digital collaboration and was carried out between 2001 and 2004, phase 2 was internal digitalization and efficient payments which was done between 2004 and 2007. Phase 3, on the other hand, was on shared infrastructure and one point of access, which was handled 2007 and 2011. Finally, the last stage of the strategy was done between 2011 and 2015, and the main focus was on the digital faith to future welfare. In phase 1 digital collaboration was carried out in which government authorities adopted digital communication, and the citizens were therefore allowed to send emails to the public sector. Phase 2 is where the government secured all authority emails and formed business portals such as virk.dk and health portal sunhed.dk so as to facilitate the government transactions with the public sector and the citizens. After the government had secured all the emails, it embarked on formation of mandatory shared and one access point in phase 3 in which the citizen portal (borger.dk ) which is used for a number of purposes, for example, the citizens can view their salary for the last three months, see their taxes data and healthcare information. It also in the phase in which NemID, NemLogin, digital letterbox and other portals were formed. NemID is a one-time login for all public websites, for online banking and several other services that is used in Denmark. On the other hand, a digital letter box is used to receive emails from the public authorities. Nemlog-in on its part is a co-operation between regions, state and municipalities. It gives access to self-services offered by public authorities. Finally, in phase 4 was the digital path to the future welfare in which the public sector officially started sending posts to companies and citizens. It was also in the same phase when all enterprises and citizens began to use self-service on the internet, and the government begun to invest heavily on IT and digital teaching aids in schools. Technology and its effect on strategy In adopting new technologies, the government first does a pre-feasibility study to find out how much benefit the government will gain from the new platform. For example, in adopting the e-Government it was seen by the Government it could save around DKK 3 billion every year up to 2020 which in the process would help the country have a sustainable economy. Also, this digitalization was expected to help private companies grow. It is with this benefits in mind that digital platforms such as NemID (easy ID) and NemKonto (easy account) were formed. Just as discussed earlier NemID is a one-time login for all public websites, for online banking and several other services that is used in Denmark. On the other hand, NemKonto is an account used to receive payments from County, Municipality and the State. These payments include housing subsidies, pensions, wages, loan schemes and many another form of payments. In connection to this, it is, therefore, evident that the Country has aligned its technology with its business strategy so as to facilitate how the government delivers its service. In adopting new technologies, the Danish government does not take disruptive technology into consideration, for example the e-governement strategy was build from experience of the previous e-government strategies. Digitalization concept began in 2001 to 2004, it was at this period that a joint digitilization between the central government and municipal government began. The second phase of e-government took place between 2004 –2006. Therefore, the current phase of digitilization is mainly meant to improve on the earlier e-governments concepts. Therefore, they focus on agile project management. In addition, these projects are not moving targets. For example, in 2012 the area of focus was Danish Tax and Custom Administration, and this indeed was fonished within one year. Also, in 2013 the main focus was on citizen focused services that are delivered by the local authorities and in the year 2015 the government focused on employment, integration and social services and all this projects were finished within the allocated time. In adopting the unknown technology, the government first identifies the problems that the country is facing and then it investigates to see how the technology will be beneficial to the country. For example, before moving from the traditional government to e-government it was noted that global financial crisis has made several states including Denmark have budget deficits. Also, at the same time the Danish people expects better services from the government and as if that is not enough because of the budget deficit it was essential that the wage bill of the country be cut down and that would also mean doing away with some employees. It is with this problem in mind that the various portals named above were created. Aligning the project with Strategic objectives & Moving Targets Indeed, all the Danish government projects are aligned with their strategic objectives. All the projects that the government engages in are first identified by the government and how they will benefit the Danish people and how it fits into the government strategic objectives. The government then maps out a step by the step transition plan to complete that project. For example, one of the strategic goals of the Danish government was “Digital Universities” which was under focus area 7. In implementing this project, the Government noted that University students make valuable contributions to the society and apart from that most employers are seeking people who are innovative and can derive the organizations business. Therefore, if digitalization has to be realized, then the best place to begin from will be at the University. Therefore, this is the first phase of attaining the e-transformation. The second stage of transformation was done in 2013 when all the technological infrastructure were upgraded, and the students started communicated by the university administrators and teachers online. Moreover, all the students’ admission were carried only in the same year. Therefore, these projects are aligned with the strategic objectives, and they are not just done at randomly; they are all planned for carefully. It was also noted that the projects do not have to achieve the moving targets even though most of these projects are not moving ones. However, for bigger projects it may not be easy to complete the projects on time. This is due to several reasons such as logistics challenges in which some of the required resources may not be available at that required time because some of them have to be imported. To achieve these moving targets, these projects are implemented in four phases for a given period. At this particular moment, it is evident that the country uses rolling wave planning in implementing these big projects. For example, the implementation of the e-government was done in four phases as described in technology and its effect section. In conclusion, therefore the Danish government projects are aligned with strategic objects and moving targets. Read More