This article is written by Jonathan Craft, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and Founding Director of Policy Ready, and Zachary Spicer, Director of Research and Outreach for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Digital government has become a hot commodity. Everyone wants it even if there is no consensus on what exactly it is or how to do it well.

An emerging feature of contemporary governance, digital government units are springing up across Canada and around the world. They are being tasked with fixing underperforming programmes and services or designing and delivering new ones. At present we do not know much about if and how digital is delivering for government, or what can be done to help ensure it is being put to work in the service of the public interest.

Digital government involves more than just introducing technology into government operations. Rather, it is a global reform movement. Digital government seeks to embed new ways of thinking, organising and working into the public sector in order to modernise and improve its ability to solve public problems. The approach favours agile methodologies, platform and collaborative principles, and puts users at the centre of design with a focus on improving services delivered to real people.

The promise of digital government is significant and the potential benefits are widely championed in many public service circles in Canada and abroad. Benefits are argued to be economic efficiencies, improved services and citizen satisfaction with government, and a more nimble and modern government.

There is however no universal digital government formula. Various administrations adopt bespoke approaches that are often underpinned by a set of general principles and methods such as digital “playbooks” and service standards. These provide essential guidance on the general set of ingredients but often leave more than ample discretion for teams and digital units to interpret and apply them as they see fit.

Additionally, there is no consensus on how to evaluate digital government efforts and a need for more evidence. We simply do not know enough about its impact and effects.

Where to start in digital

We are thus at a critical juncture. The time is right to begin to probe how digital government initiatives work in practice, where they fail or succeed, and how they can improve.

Policy Ready and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada are partnering to tackle these important questions. We are pleased to launch our new Digital Government Case Study series. It will profile digital government initiatives at all three orders of government in Canada and select international cases. These will feature in-depth examinations on a range of digital government issues such as major transformation initiatives; redesigns of government programmes and services; the establishment and operation of digital government units; and examine the practices, cultures and impacts of digital government.

Moving to digital can be a frustrating process for many public servants.

Later this month we will release our first open access case study. It takes a deep dive into the 2016 redesign of Ontario’s Student Assistance Program (OSAP). This was a flagship initiative of the Ontario government at the time and involved early attempts to apply digital government techniques and thinking. The case surfaces some of the major challenges that are common among governments starting out in the digital government space. It also showcases the power of interdisciplinary teams, the importance of sustained public service and political leadership and new techniques to inform how policy problems are being defined and addressed.

Other cases will follow that explore a range of topics including: performance management of digital government, pilots and experimentation experiences, programmes and service redesign, federalism and citizen engagement in the digital era, inclusive policy and programme design, and bureaucratic culture and digital ways of working.

Share your digital project

But this is also a call to action. We are inviting others in government, academic and private and non-governmental circles to join us. We want to partner and collaborate with those of you working on the front lines of digital government.

What are the cases that need examining? How can this series be best utilised to help understand and advance the work of digital government? We aim to stimulate dialogue on what is happening in the field but also to help generate and share best practices. Please get in touch with us if you have suggestions or ideas.

Moving to digital can be a frustrating process for many public servants. Not only are you confronted with an ever-changing technological landscape, but you also have to be willing to embrace transformations to your policy and programme delivery practices and, perhaps, even your organisational culture. You need to think and see problems differently and accept that many aspects of your role will be changing. Most importantly, public servants need to recognise the value of evaluating digital government work.

Given the significant investments and work being put into digital government, we need adequate stock takes of how it is performing and how it can be harnessed for positive change.

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