Issues-concerning-adoption-of-bm-it-invests-norwegian municipalities

Issues Concerning Adoption of Benefits Management of IT Investments in Norwegian Municipalities.
Tero Päivärinta, Willy Dertz, Leif S. Flak
Agder University College, Dept. of Information Systems, Kristiansand, Norway [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]
Abstract. Public spending on IT (information technology) and related organizational change forms a major market domain in the IT field. However, the public sector organizations often fail to realize the potential value of such investments. This paper suggests a research agenda to provide government, especially municipalities, with the arguments for how active benefits management can result in improved value of eGovernment projects. Also, the paper outlines a research in progress for selecting and developing methodologies and practices for benefits management related to eGovernment. A Delphi study on adoption issues for benefits management of IT in municipalities is outlined and the first phase with initial results is presented. Altogether the list of 46 issues was identified by the expert panel which volunteered to participate in the study. The study has potential to contribute to the discussion of IT benefits management in general and for method elaboration in particular.

Introduction
The public sector meets great challenges, as well as lucrative opportunities, of modernizing governmental services and operations for the digital era. New digital services require significant investments in information technology and, moreover, organizational development to realize benefits from the IT investments. In Norway, the government and municipalities will continue to use in the years to come billions of Norwegian crowns of taxpayers’ money to realize new digital

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Tero Päivärinta, Willy Dertz, Leif S. Flak

services and infrastructure (eKommune 2009, 2005). However, the issue of benefits realization represents a challenge to overcome by organs such as the “Kommunenes Sentralforbund” and