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July 06, 2006
Pitching for Gartner
Gartner has asked me to present my research at their Enterprise Architecture Summit 2006. The conference will be held in London September 27 – 28. Here is a description of my pitch:
Government EA Programs In Action: From Vision to Implementation
Government EA programs come in different shapes and sizes. Countries around the world have approached EA differently and the results vary across public agencies. Based on research in the USA and Denmark, this session focuses on best practice strategies for EA implementation at national and agency levels. What value are governments getting from their enterprise architecture? How can governance be used to promote EA success? What are best practices for effective change management in the public sector?
I hope that a lot of you will be able to attend the conference. The program looks very exiting – and I look forward to meeting a lot of sceptically open-minded practitioners!
Posted by khm at 06:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 04, 2006
Public Reforms and Enterprise Architecture
Public management reforms consists of deliberate changes to the structures and processes of public sector organizations with the objective of getting them (in some sense) to run better. (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2004)
Having studied and practiced enterprise architecture (EA) in government for some time now, I would characterize myself as ‘sceptically open-minded’ when it comes to transforming the information systems planning agenda in public organizations with EA. Public management reforms are not always rational; it is not only about IT-savings, better service, higher efficiency or effectiveness. Some of the intermediate ends are increased political control over the bureaucracy and better accountability. But, EA adoption also has symbolic and legitimacy benefits for politicians and bureaucrats. Adopting EA is ‘doing something’ and it can attract favourable attention to the politicians and bureaucrats who espouse it.
Generic EA management programs tend to be fairly functional/instrumental in orientation. EA programs in government must also include ‘public sector values’ such as democracy, accountability, equality, and probity. Hence, EA adoption is not linear; EA adoption is a political process of Muddling through. Public (and private) management is not a neutral, technical process, and implementing information systems in government is a social process that involves politics, law and the wider civil society. As noted by Pollitt and Bouckaert structures and processes must be changed in public management reforms; EA in government should not simply be about announcing, discussion, and beginning to implement – EAs need to be actionable and not just political show-off!
Posted by khm at 08:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack