An Exploratory Approach for Benefits Management in e-Government: Insights from 48 Norwegian Government Funded Projects

Abstract

Efforts to improve governance and government functions through the use of information technology continue to draw considerable parts of the budgets of government agencies. To meet public and political demands for increased visibility of effects of e- Government investments, there is a trend to extend existing practices of evaluation towards more holistic management practices, commonly referred to as benefits management. However, benefits management practices and effects of such practices are poorly documented. This paper presents a particular approach to benefits management that has been developed by the Norwegian government. The technique has been applied in 48 e-Government projects and this paper presents insights from the application of the technique and discusses its' strengths and weaknesses.