write essay
There is ample research demonstrating technology’s positive impact on government operations. Digitalization of services allows for improved transparency, increased efficiency, and lower operating costs. However, the decision-making process that precedes the planning, implementation, and launch of digital government services is long and, more often than not, influenced by the political environment. This week you will read two documents relate to the adoption of technology by governments.
The first document provides a theoretical approach to the subject that will allow you to understand the role of digital champions, the barriers they confront, and the strategies needed to move toward their objective. The document will be based on the experience of the United States:
Christopher Wilson and Ines Mergel (2022). Overcoming barriers to digital government: mapping the strategies of digital champions. Government Information Quarterly, Volume 39, Issue 2, April 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101681
The second document is a business case that will describe the process of how the small Central American country of Costa Rica implemented an e-procurement system for the government:
Barahona, J. C., Elizondo, A. M., & Santos, M., (2015). The dilemma of public e-procurement in Costa Rica: Case on the duality of technological platforms and implementation models. In SAGE Business Cases. SAGE Publications, Ltd., https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jittc.2015.7
Your main objective during the discussion is to find points of confluence between these two documents and provide other examples that relate to these cases. I will be looking at your analysis of how you address the following questions and use other sources to provide an informed contribution to the forum.
Why Costa Rica’s President should make this low-level decision? Is so important the digitization of procurement?
Why even though the countries hold dozens of e-procurement platforms, the international debate has become so important?
What is the background of this decision?
What assessment criteria would you propose?
What are the motivations, incentives and objectives for implementing an e-procurement platform? What are the risks?
What decision should the President of Costa Rica make?
