Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a mapping of the evolution of the United Nation's (UN's) e-Readiness assessments. The mapping highlights underlying assumptions and frames a set of recommendations for new secondary indicators to strengthen e-Readiness indices.

Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory case study applies triangulated document review for the analysis.

Findings – The UN's e-Readiness assessments have evolved from a focus on Member State governments as “controllers of information and services” to “facilitators of information”. The mapping highlights the dynamic nature of understanding of e-Government and the role of information and communication technologies in transformation efforts. It also allows for new understanding of the influence of context-dependent imperatives, rankings, views and suggestions on Member State efforts to leverage technology toward the realization of transformation agendas. Framing assumptions for issue-based UN surveys pose a series of limitations in terms of interpreting the results. The case study highlights the evolutionary character of the e-Readiness assessment efforts and provides new insight for governments that rely on the assessments for decision making and planning.

Practical implications – The UN e-Readiness assessments serve as a widely used point of reference for government officials, public administrators and researchers around the world. This study provides them with new understanding of the evolution of perspectives which frame and the tools used to assess e-Readiness.

Originality/value – The paper provides an original examination of the evolution of perspectives and tools used in UN's e-Readiness assessment efforts. This examination supports the identification of a set of secondary indicators in the form of a risk-to-reward indicator, an adoption indicator and a satisfaction indicator, to better inform and strengthen the UN e-Readiness indices.