Organisational approach to government digital transformation: Comparing the UK and Sweden

Abstract

This article considers the emergence of e-government in the UK and Sweden by conducting a structured document analysis of relevant government reports. The aim of the research was to examine differences in management planning practice – i.e. how change was planned and executed differently in both states. The key finding was that the focus of digital transformation shifted over time from digitalizing services to digitalizing internal departmental work processes. Both governments enacted change by identifying and supporting new roles and agencies deemed able to drive change. In so doing, both actively sought to balance macro-social and micro-social shaping forces. However, the 'macro' rationales and micro-level practices for digitalizing services also showed some differences of focus in each case.