Managing the development of e-ID in a public e-service context: Challenges and path dependencies from a life-cycle perspective
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 21 March 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and understand the contemporary management of electronic identification (e-ID) development to: identify and formulate challenges and reflect upon the use of a combination of perspectives. To generate knowledge on this issue, we investigate e-ID development in Sweden from: an e-government systems development lifecycle perspective and a project challenge and critical success factor (CSF) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative case study covering an analysis of the three years in a larger project focusing e-ID in a public e-service setting. Empirical sources have been face-to-face interviews; official documents and different kind of forums for presentations and discussions in, for example, hearings arranged by authorities; meetings with the coordinating agency, and practitioners’ networks events.
Findings
This study concludes that there are significant challenges involved in managing e-ID development because of its contextual and integrated character. Challenges involve the organization and management of the program and can be traced back to e-government, general project management literature and theory on path dependency. Based on this study, we can question, e.g. governance models, centralization and a narrow focus on the technical artefact. Our study is also an illustration of a possible way to analyse e-ID within an e-government initiative.
Research limitations/implications
The present study shows that an e-ID can be considered as a back office-enabler for launching e-services, but also highlights the need for management of the artefact as an integral part of e-service development because it is intertwined with the use of e-services from a user perspective. This aspect together with the insights related to challenges and success factors including path dependency provides implications for future practice of e-ID management and development in particular and information systems artefact development in general.
Originality/value
This paper addresses challenges related to the development of e-ID in a public e-service setting. Few studies have theoretically combined a lifecycle perspective on challenges and success factors related to e-ID development while also focusing different dimensions of path dependency as an example of a challenging area within a program frame. Studying e-ID as a contemporary phenomenon from a contextual perspective in line with sociomaterial thinking – with a focus on the interplay between technology and people –can also help us to understand and discuss artefact development in general.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The study is part of a larger project (Future safe electronic identification) focusing e-ID in a public e-service setting (2011-2014), financed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies in Sweden Agency.
Citation
Melin, U., Axelsson, K. and Söderström, F. (2016), "Managing the development of e-ID in a public e-service context: Challenges and path dependencies from a life-cycle perspective", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 72-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-11-2013-0046
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited