In the Techniques section:
Techniques
Design-Reality Gap Assessment: Detailed eGovernment Risk Assessment Checklist
The design-reality approach provides an overall framework and questions for risk assessment of e-government projects. However, some projects require a more detailed and comprehensive checklist of questions for risk assessment. This page provides such a checklist, giving more detail on the main ITPOSMO dimensions of the design-reality framework (and also adding an eighth dimension as well).
A. Method
Ask the set of questions found in section B about your e-government project.
As noted in the main design-reality guide, for each one of the questions, give a numerical rating to indicate the size of the design-reality gap on that dimension. The rating for each question's gap can be anywhere on a scale from zero to ten. As a guide, illustrations are just given here for gaps corresponding to ratings of zero, five and ten, but all numbers in the range are possible. Illustrative ratings:
- 0 rating would indicate "no change or difference between the design assumptions/requirements and current reality";
- 5 rating would indicate "some degree of change or difference between the design assumptions/requirements and current reality";
- 10 rating would indicate "complete and radical change/difference between the design assumptions/requirements and current reality"
Thus, for example, taking the first question - about information quantity - 0 would indicate that the quantity of information presupposed in the e-government application design was exactly the same as the quantity of information currently really being used in the public agency. 5 would indicate that the quantity of information presupposed in the e-government application design was somewhat different from the quantity of information currently really being used. 10 would indicate that the quantity of information presupposed in the e-government application design was completely and radically different from the quantity of information currently really being used.
The simplest and crudest thing you can do is add up the rating numbers for all 39 questions. You will get a number between 0 and 390. The closer the number is to zero, the more likely it is that the e-government project will succeed. The closer the number is to 390, the more likely it is that the e-government project will fail. The questions with the answers closest to 10 are those that require most management attention to change the design or to change current reality. Follow this link for further details about actions to take, plus links to real-world examples based on the design-reality gap model.
A more complex approach involves assigning "weights" to questions depending on how important that question's factor is seen to be. An "ordinary" question might be given a weight of 1; a question that was considered "important" in the particular e-government project could be given a weight of 2; and a question that was considered "very important" in the particular project could be given a weight of 3. The weighting score would be multiplied by the rating to give an overall set of weighted ratings. For example, if senior officials' objectives were felt to be very important for this specific project, that question (4b) could be given a weight of 3. If the design-reality gap on that question was felt to be only moderate, it could be given a rating of 5. The overall weighted rating for that question would therefore be 3 x 5 = 15.
B. Assessment Checklist of Questions
Dimension 1. Information |
Rating |
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Question 1a/Information Quantity : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about information quantity (how much information will be needed), and the quantity of information currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 1b/Information Quality : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about information quality (how complete, accurate, relevant, timely and appropriately presented the information is), and the quality of information currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 1c/Information Flows : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about information flows (how information moves from one person/office/organisation to another), and the flows of information currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 1d/Informal Information : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about informal information (that used by individuals for personal purposes, rumours, gossip, etc.), and the informal information currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 1e/Other Stakeholders : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about information in use by other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators), and the information currently in use in reality by these other stakeholders? |
Dimension 2. Technology |
Rating |
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Question 2a/Computer Hardware : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about computer hardware (amount and type), and the computer hardware currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 2b/Computer Software : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about computer software (amount and type), and the computer software currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 2c/Telecommunications : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about telecommunications (amount and type), and the telecommunications currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 2d/Other Technology : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about other technology (such as manufacturing or transportation technology), and the other technology currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 2e/Other Stakeholders : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about ICTs in use by other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators), and the ICTs currently in use in reality by these other stakeholders? |
Dimension 3. Processes |
Rating |
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Question 3a/Information Handling : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about core information-handling processes (used to capture, input, store, process and output data), and the core information-handling processes currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 3b/Decisions : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about decision processes (the how?, who? and when? of decisions), and the decision processes currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 3c/Actions/Transactions : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about action/transaction processes (e.g. putting decisions into action), and the action/transaction processes currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 3d/Other Processes : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about other work processes, and the other work processes currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 3e/Informal Processes : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about informal processes (those used by individuals for personal or hidden purposes), and the informal processes currently in use in reality in the public agency? |
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Question 3f/Other Stakeholders : What is the gap between the assumptions/requirements of the new e-government system design about processes in use by other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators), and the processes currently in use in reality by these other stakeholders? |
Dimension 4. Objectives and Values |
Rating |
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Question 4a/Operational Staff Objectives : What is the gap between the objectives (i.e. goals or strategies) that key members of the operational staff require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real objectives? |
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Question 4b/Senior Officials Objectives : What is the gap between the objectives (i.e. goals or strategies) that key senior officials require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real objectives? |
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Question 4c/Other Stakeholder Objectives : What is the gap between the objectives (i.e. goals or strategies) that other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators) require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real objectives? |
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Question 4d/Operational Staff Values : What is the gap between the values (i.e. organisational culture) that key members of the operational staff require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real values? |
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Question 4e/Senior Officials Values : What is the gap between the values (i.e. organisational culture) that key senior officials require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real values? |
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Question 4f/Other Stakeholder Values : What is the gap between the values (i.e. organisational culture) that other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators) require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and their current, real values? |
Dimension 5. Staffing and Skills |
Rating |
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Question 5a/Staff Numbers : What is the gap between the staffing numbers required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real staffing numbers in the public agency? |
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Question 5b/Technical Skills : What is the gap between the technical skills required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of technical skills in the public agency? |
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Question 5c/Management Skills : What is the gap between the management skills required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of management skills in the public agency? |
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Question 5d/Operational Skills : What is the gap between the operational skills required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of operational skills in the public agency? |
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Question 5e/Other Skills : What is the gap between the other skills (e.g. interpersonal) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of other skills in the public agency? |
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Question 5f/Knowledge : What is the gap between the awareness and knowledge required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of awareness and knowledge in the public agency? |
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Question 5g/Other Stakeholders : What is the gap between the staffing, skills and knowledge that other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators) require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real levels of staffing, skills and knowledge in these other stakeholders? |
Dimension 6. Management Systems and Structures |
Rating |
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Question 6a/Management Systems : What is the gap between the management systems required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real management systems in the public agency? |
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Question 6b/Management Structures : What is the gap between the management structures required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real management structures in the public agency? |
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Question 6c/Informal Systems & Structures : What is the gap between the informal systems and structures (e.g. those run by individuals for their own interests) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real informal systems and structures in the public agency? |
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Question 6d/Other Stakeholders : What is the gap between the management systems and structures that other key stakeholders (public sector clients, suppliers, or other collaborators) require for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real management systems and structures of these other stakeholders? |
Dimension 7. Other Resources |
Rating |
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Question 7a/Initial Investment : What is the gap between the initial investment money (capital) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of money for investment? |
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Question 7b/Ongoing Expenditure : What is the gap between the year-on-year expenditure (recurrent funds) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of money for future years? |
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Question 7c/Time : What is the gap between the time required (person-months and/or elapsed time) for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of time? |
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Question 7d/Other Resources : What is the gap between the other resources required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of those other resources? |
Dimension 8. Outside World |
Rating |
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Question 8a/Legal Measures : What is the gap between the legal measures (laws, regulations, judgements) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of those legal measures? |
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Question 8b/Other Contextual Factors : What is the gap between the other contextual factors (political, economic, socio-cultural, technological) required for successful implementation of the new e-government system design, and current, real availability of those other contextual factors? |