Skill Requirements for eGovernment

Tino Schuppan;
Institute for eGovernment,
University of Potsdam,
(schuppan@ifg.cc)
Paper submitted for:
EGPA Conference 2008, 3-5 September 2008 in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

Abstract:
This article explores and develops the skills that are required for eGovernment.
The main line of argumentation is that eGovernment does not just place new skill
demands upon IT experts, but that it more importantly brings with it new skills
requirements for positions in public administration which have traditionally been
removed from IT. The goal of the article is to find out what skills related to
eGovernment are required in public administration today and for the future. For
this purpose, a skills framework has been developed which is used as a basis for a
structured survey and analysis of eGovernment skills. A broad evaluation of
existing literature and interviews with public administrators and eGovernment
experts, which makes up the core of this article, follows. The results of this study
show that eGovernment brings with it a new and diverse set of skill requirements
which do not only require more specialized competencies, but which also demand
a high degree of social competence and changes in attitudes within public
administration, something which receives little attention in eGovernment
strategies.

Agenda:
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2
2. eGovernment Skills ................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Challenging New Themes ..................................................................................................... 3
2.2 eGovernment Skills Framework.......................................................................................... 5
3. Skill Requirements in the Literature....................................................................... 6
3.1 Management Oriented Literature ....................................................................................... 6
3.2 eGovernment Literature....................................................................................................... 8
4. Interview Results ....................................................................................................... 9
4.1 Existing eGovernment Skill Levels.................................................................................... 10
4.2 Future Skill Requirements ................................................................................................. 12
4.3 Reflection ............................................................................................................................. 15
5. Conclusion................................................................................................................ 15
6. Literature ................................................................................................................. 17
Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

1. Introduction
This article addresses the problem of new skills requirements which are relevant when
realizing e-government. As governments around the world have implemented e-government
solutions and strategies, it has become increasingly apparent that capacity building, especially
skills development within government organizations, is one of the key success factors in these
efforts. In recent years, governments have received more and more assistance from consultant
firms to develop their strategies and implement numerous e-government projects. This meant
that, as part of such e-government initiatives, processes and IT functions were progressively
outsourced. Now it is becoming increasingly apparent that competence development within
government organizations has been neglected; not least because employees, and therefore
knowledge, were also outsourced. Because knowledge can only be bought from outside the
organization to a limited extent, this means that qualifications will be a key area in which
governments will have to invest. This in turn raises the question of which competencies are
relevant for government employees trying to meet the new requirements of e-government.
This article will therefore explore what kind of competencies are necessary for which target
group so that eGovernment can become a reality and the new structures related to it can be
managed.
Until now, these questions as they apply to e-government have hardly been discussed in
the academic debate. Only a few academic articles addressing e-government skills exist, and
their perspective is often reduced to technical issues and to basic multimedia competence,
meaning the ability to use certain software and internet applications. Therefore, the purpose of
this article is not to test hypotheses but to explore, clarify and analyze those e-government
skills that go beyond operational application knowledge. Because of the limited nature of the
academic debate and the sparse amount of existing literature, approximately thirty interviews
with representatives from the state level of German government organizations where carried
out to determine relevant skill requirements. Additional data was collected through
interviews with academic and consultancy experts in eGovernment, who were especially
asked about future skill requirements.
The article will be structured as follows: To begin, the concept of skills and relevant e-
government themes, including related target groups within government organizations, will be
discussed. Then, existing literature covering skill requirements for e-government and public
management will be briefly outlined and evaluated against the background of the target group
needs. This will result in the development of basic skill categories. Third, this analytical
framework will be further clarified and compared with the results of the semi-structured
survey of government employees and experts. Fourth, core skills will be mapped to the
relevant target groups, resulting in a comprehensive e-government skills catalogue. Finally,
these analytical and empirical results will be used to draw some general conclusions about the
future of e-government and public management oriented skill requirements.

2. eGovernment Skills
The term „skill“ is a multifaceted term which is not employed consistently within the
literature. For this analysis, it is sufficient to see skills as the knowledge, competencies and
abilities of a person which are related to the tasks or job assigned to them. In other words,

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

skills are made up of competencies (Cooper, 2000, p. 23). Basic competencies generally
include social competencies, communication competencies and subject-matter competencies.
Beneath these competencies, numerous “partial competencies“ exist, which together make up
a complete competency profile. These make it possible to identify different competence
levels, such as beginner to expert, or learning stages, for example, the difference between
knowing something, understanding it, being able to use it, or being able to evaluate it.
(Balzert, 1999). Knowing something is merely being able to repeat terms and facts, whereas
understanding encompasses knowledge of processes, methods, rules and compliance with
laws. The “application” learning stage is especially relevant for the practical implementation
of knowledge, as it can only be achieved through the practical and informed use of methods
and problem-solving techniques. Once this stage is achieved, knowledge can be applied to
specific, concrete situations. The fourth learning stage is the highest and describes the ability
to make selective decisions, to develop different solutions to problems and to be able to
evaluate those solutions.
This article seeks to identify eGovernment-related skills and competencies, and skill
and competency levels, for use in public administration. Therefore, in the following section, a
general thematic classification of eGovernment skills will be made, separating them from
pure IT competencies and public administration competencies. Thereafter, an investigative
framework will be developed within which the skills can be categorized and analyzed.

2.1 Challenging New Themes

The term „eGovernment“ has been in frequent use since about the year 2000, but in its early
stages was often reduced to the electronic provision of services by public administration.
However, from a modernization and therefore skills perspective, a focus on the design of
work and service processes is particularly relevant. Indeed, this focus on process design is the
main difference between eGovernment and previous IT efforts in public administration. (for
example, see Leitner, 2006). Whereas the focus of traditional IT efforts has been to support
processes, giving these efforts an instrumental character, eGovernment concerns itself with
the penetration of all aspects of public administration work and public service processes by
ICT. This penetration makes changes in existing institutional structures possible, changes
which are already visible and which enable new modernization options. Entirely new
organizational models for the production of public services and for the design of cooperative
structures between public organizations are possible. These models change the understanding
of modernization as it relates to public institutions, and can even go so far that the
macrostructure of the state, for example the number and size of administrative levels, can be
affected (Schuppan, 2008b).
In essence, it can be said that informatization has reached a point at which it possesses
transformational potential for the structure of public administration, because it makes new
ICT-based organizational forms possible, which in many cases also require a new governance
structure. More specifically, new technical networks and electronic workflow systems have
made new forms of interorganizational, sociotechnical service networks possible. These
networks may stretch across several organizations or administrative levels. Examples of such
types of organizational approaches include the separation between the front and back office to

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

redesign and improve access to public services; the building of shared service centers to
improve the usage of resources; or the design of cross-sectoral electronic process chains
between business and administration to reduce costs related to bureaucracy. Questions related
to service depth can also be also be revisited, as new possibilities of steering and reduced
transaction costs give rise to new outsourcing and insourcing opportunities (Schuppan, 2008a;
Culbertson, 2005, p. 103).
The competence requirements which result from these examples of public
administration networks and virtual organizational models (see also Bekkers, 2005, p. 73) are
not entirely new and have already been addressed in public management and public
governance literature under terms such as network competence or modernization competence.
However, this literature is often based upon political networks or the interplay between
politics and management. New “managerial” competence requirements on the part of public
managers are partially addressed in the literature, but more within the context of new
leadership behaviors.
While such competencies are admittedly also decisive for eGovernment, an additional
skills dimension must also be considered which relates to the interplay between technical,
process-related and institutional questions. Not only design questions and new
implementation requirements but also management and leadership demands within these new
types of service structured are relevant for skills. Purely computer science or IT
competencies are therefore insufficient as they do not address issues of institutional change
and the redesign of professional services in public administration. In other words, new
“mixed” competencies are required which relate to the architecture as a whole. New
informatized production networks in particular require a design perspective towards work
processes, a perspective which continues to be rather neglected in the public management and
public governance literature today. Whereas public management and governance literature
tends to exclusively look at new management models and steering questions and their related
competencies, questions related to the design of work processes and especially
interorganizational, i.e. networking, aspects are repeatedly ignored. It is not enough to
transfer previous management approaches to the new processes and organizational models, as
new management and steering issues arise through networked production structures, such as
accountability or accountability questions (see Schuppan, 2007, Meijer and Bovens, 2006).
New skill requirements do not just arise due to organizational-institutional changes, but
also through the execution of specialized tasks. ICT applications have penetrated ever-deeper
into the highly-specialized duties at the working level of public administration, changing the
skill requirements for performing these tasks. For example, in law enforcement new tools and
techniques of analysis such as crime mapping have, to a certain extent, fundamentally
changed the nature of police investigative work (see Bonislawski and Rozkosny, 1998).
Crime data can be correlated with geographic data and mobile phone data automatically,
enabling a significant reduction of the circle of possible suspects. Crime-mapping also gives
rise to new possibilities in crime prevention, also changing the nature of police work. Similar
examples can be found in other areas independent of their branch of public administration,
such as environmental administration, city planning, and so forth. It is clear that tasks cannot
only be completed more quickly, efficiently and qualitatively better, but that their content is

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also changing. Such changes can also be observed in other application-oriented disciplines,
such as bioinformatics.
These new organizational models and these new professional requirements are relevant
for skills, because they partially change the fundamental mechanisms and operations of
government. Furthermore, today hardly any area of government can be modernized without
the use of ICT, as every area of public administration is dependent upon the flow of
information. Because ICT is becoming increasingly relevant for the organizational structures
and specialized work of government, it is penetrating deeper and deeper into traditional areas
which have been less closely tied to ICT, creating new “mixed-skill requirements” which
have a qualitatively new character.

2.2 eGovernment Skills Framework

A purely subject-oriented categorization of eGovernment skills is not sufficient when
attempting to determine and analyze them. This is because not all employee groups within
public administration have the same skill requirements, in respect to subject or to competency
level. Therefore, it is necessary to base competency requirements upon target groups, or
rather upon the roles of certain groups within public administration, including the phases of
project implementation in which they are most involved.
Target groups within public administration for which new skill requirements arise in the
context of eGovernment, can be differentiated into the leadership level, in other words policy
and planning; the project leader or implementation level, and the working level, made of up
staff members who actually carry out eGovernment solutions. All three groups have different
competence requirements. The leadership level is occupied primarily with strategic planning
and development, project leaders must implement eGovernment, and the working level must
work within the new structures. For all three groups, this means that not only different
subject-matter competencies are required, but also different levels of competency. In an
eGovernment skills framework, this means that skill requirements are always related to the
specific target group. In addition, there are also skill requirements which are independent of
the target group, i.e. that are directed at all target groups, which must also be taken into
account, such as multimedia competencies or competencies in using basic applications.
In addition to the emphasis on target groups, a phase-based perspective is also
appropriate, which takes the basic phases of eGovernment implementation into account. This
makes it possible to ensure that the skills defined are closely related to practical
considerations. In respect to phases, it is possible to make simple distinctions between the
strategy and planning phase, the project implementation phase, and the operational phase.
Planning requires the competencies to develop eGovernment visions, strategies and
initiatives. This is followed by the phase of implementing strategies and concepts, which
require skills in developing and carrying out concrete projects. The operation phase begins
when the project has been completed and the new work processes become routine. The
operational phase requires skills which make it possible to work and lead within the new

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eGovernment structures. Finally, there are some skills which cut across all phases and which
must be considered.
Combining target groups with the phases of eGovernment introduction results in an
„eGovernment Competency Matrix“, which is depicted in the following table.

Phase Planning Implementation Operation Phase

Target Group independent
Leadership
Project Leader
Working Level
Group-independent
eGovernment Skill Framework

When determining eGovernment skill requirements and subjects, their relevance to target
groups and project phases, as well as their respective level of competency can be determined
and assessed. Every group requires competencies and knowledge in each phase of
eGovernment, albeit to differing degrees and in different subjects. For example, while
someone at the working level may only need to be informed about an eGovernment strategy,
leaders must possess certain competencies and methods to be able to develop these strategies.
Project leaders, on the other hand, must be able to implement and manage concrete
eGovernment projects, while those at the working level – as it relates to project
implementation – must be able to work as members of a team in a respective eGovernment
project and bring their own expertise to the project.
This skills framework also serves to analyze and organize the results of the literature
analysis and interviews, to as to arrive at structured results.

3. Skill Requirements in the Literature

Before presenting the results of the interviews, this chapter will assess the literature as it
relates to skill requirements. Articles which have appeared since the late 1990’s will be
evaluated in reference to their skills relevance for eGovernment. This will include not only
literature directly related to IT or eGovernment, but also public management literature, as this
literature often addresses other skills, such as leadership skills, which are required for
eGovernment as well. The main goal of this assessment is to determine which skills are
relevant for positions in public administration and management that have relatively little to do
with IT, as well as for other experts.

3.1 Management Oriented Literature

Although some considerations of skill requirements can be found in public-management
oriented literature, the large portion of these deal with requirements for the management level
and less for the working level. At the same time, a majority of authors point out the
increasing role of personnel as the most important resource and address the necessity of
change management for a “learning organization” (for example Hill, 1997).

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

As it relates to concrete subject-matter skill requirements, the management literature

names largely business administration skills, such as knowledge of measurement
performance, knowledge about outsourcing and service levels, task scrutiny, agreements on
objectives, or techniques of financial control (Kaul, 2000, p. 169, Finger and Uebelhard,
1998, p. 26). In addition to these subjects, knowledge of methodologies such as project
management are also regarded as important, although they may often be addressed in only a
very general manner.
A large portion of the references to skill requirements address social and other cognitive
competences, such as attitude changes, leadership competence and the ability to motivate
others, analytical thinking or the ability to cooperate (Reichard, 1998, p. 179f). New
communication competencies are also mentioned in this context. However, other authors,
such as Klages, cite empirical data and emphasize that this reflects merely a relative increase
in the relevance of social competencies and that specialist competencies continue to be highly
relevant, due to increasing specialization in working environments (Klages, 2002).
Other authors make a stronger reference to a public governance or organizational
networks perspective. They highlight the skills necessary within these areas, by addressing
them within the context of the guarantor state and less within the context of a state which
directly produces public goods and services (Löffler, 2003, p. 243, Broussine, 2003, p. 179ff).
In addition to specialist competencies, the literatures name social and leadership competencies
such as changing attitudes, individual responsibility and self-control, and willingness to
accept conflict, which are especially decisive for leadership and transformative processes.
Specifically, characteristics such as partnership-supporting behavior, trust, integrity, and
negotiation techniques are leadership competencies which are especially important for work
in an environment characterized by cooperation within networks (Löffler, 2003, p. 259). In
other words, while public management addresses “good” leadership skills, public governance
expands this view to include leadership competencies which are related to networked
arrangements.
All in all, in reference to competence and qualification requirements, the public
management and public governance oriented literature shows that new demands are being
placed on the leadership level. This can be explained by the fact that management oriented
reforms, especially their expression in the various country-specific forms of New Public
Management, share the important goal of strengthening results-oriented management
mechanisms, in contrast to bureaucratic management structures. This means that the working
level and process management levels, which are so important for eGovernment, have been
neglected. In addition to specialist knowledge, it was clear in every article that this requires a
cultural change and a change in attitudes. Topics such as networked thinking and acting were
seen by public governance literature, within the larger category of leadership, as especially
relevant, a trend which will be perpetuated by the increasing networking possibilities inherent
in eGovernment.
As far as subject-matter competencies are concerned, themes such as change
management, business management instruments, task scrutiny or the ability to think
strategically were mentioned, themes which are also relevant for eGovernment. As will be

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demonstrated, the difference lies in the fact that the mere addition of isolated IT knowledge is
insufficient, and that that some entirely new “mixed” competence requirements of
management will be required. All in all, in the evaluated literature it is clear that demands
upon the leadership level have especially increased, something which will continue as a result
of eGovernment.

3.2 eGovernment Literature

Although the number of scientific publications is relatively low for a subject of this
importance, several articles about competency requirements for the implementation of
eGovernment have appeared since the year 2000. An evaluation of 400 eGovernment articles
which were presented at important public management and information systems conferences
– the International Research Symposium on Public Management (IRSPM), the European
Group of Public Administration (EGPA), the Hawaii International Conference in System
Sciences (HICCS) and the International Conference on Database and Expert Systems
Applications (DEXA) – revealed that only one presentation, by Leiter (Leiter, 2006),
addressed the skills issue.
As in the public management literature, different specialist, methodological and social
competencies are highlighted in eGovernment skills articles. Subject-matter competencies are
typically divided into technical, non-technical and mixed competencies (Parrado, 2005, p. 3).
Technical competencies include electronic workflow systems, electronic procurement systems
or knowledge of IT architectures. In reference to non-technical skill requirements, process
management is especially emphasized, due to the fact that a deeper understanding of
processes is often lacking, even at the leadership level. In addition to the non-technical
specialist competencies, knowledge of business administration is also required, such as cost-
effectiveness of eGovernment, customer and quality management, knowledge of operating
models, or knowledge of contracting. Mixed skills include interdisciplinary knowledge and
competencies, such as competencies related to implementation, combined with an
understanding of the design of IT and organizations, or knowledge about requirements
analysis of IT systems, including the ability to apply technical solutions to organizational
problems (Kaiser, 2004, Elovaara et al., 2004).
The literature considers methodical competencies, which have gained importance in
eGovernment as compared to public management, such as cost effectiveness, project
management and process management, to be especially important.
It is also interesting that, within the literature, social competencies in particular are
granted a high level of importance in connection with the introduction of eGovernment (see
for example Gupta, 2003). This is often attributed to the increasing amount of project work,
with such skills including team leadership skills, and informal communication and networking
competencies across organizational lines. For example, Mundy, Kanjo and Mteme propose
high levels of technical skills for employees in the IT sector, but also point out the increasing
need for non-technical skills, such as analytical and logical thinking or written and oral
communication (Mundy et al., 2001). The ability of employees to work together in
interdisciplinary teams and in projects is also emphasized.

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

In reference to eGovernment skills in a European context, a 2005 comprehensive study

by the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA) is relevant. In a chapter on “Skills
and Competencies”, the study reports that the European Commission sees the acquisition of
new competencies as a central requirement for organizational change in the context of
eGovernment. Competencies are determined based upon case studies and through the
evaluation of available continuing education in the areas of computer science, information
management, information society and management and business, which seen as especially
important for decision-makers. In addition to the already-mentioned subject-matter
competencies, the EIPA study also emphasizes leadership competencies in particular,
especially networking, communication and negotiating competencies, as well as contract
management. In addition, strategic competencies are addressed to a high degree, meaning the
ability to develop, implement and understand strategies, so as to ensure innovative capabilities
within the organization.
Where ICT requirements are concerned, it is particularly important that the leadership
level have the ability to strategically evaluate new ICT developments and trends and to
determine their consequences for organizational strategies, something which can be seen as
mixed-skills.
Similar and very detailed conclusions for the United States are reached by Alexander
Settles, who also gives leadership competencies a high priority (Settles, 2005). American CIO
programs provide knowledge about the information society, information management and
information technology. This includes the offerings of the CIO University, which is
administered by the Government Services Administration (GSA). CIO University offers
training in management, information society, information technology management, and
information technology, based upon the Clinger-Cohen Act (Information Technology
Management Reform Act of 1996).
All in all, the eGovernment skills articles vary in their direction, quality and degree of
detail. However they are all similar in regard to their views of competency requirements.
These include themes such as project management, change management, knowledge of IT
architectures, or knowledge of business administration related to the use of IT, financing
models and strategy and implementation knowledge. A special position is occupied by mixed
skills which are especially important for the leadership level. However, the articles are
lacking a reference to target groups, levels of competence and to the project or
implementation phase, so that their selection of skills sometimes seems arbitrary. The
relevance of certain skills for the future is often not explicitly mentioned or addressed, even
though this is especially important for the strategic development of skills.

4. Interview Results
In this chapter the results of interviews with staff of a German public administration at the
state level and with selected eGovernment experts will be presented. Interviewing public
administration staff at the state level about eGovernment skills is particularly sensible because,
according to the division of labor within the German federal structure, the state level is

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responsible for administering and implementing policies, meaning that they are also the focus
of eGovernment. A total of 28 interviews were conducted in the state administration. Each
interview lasted between 45 and 90 minutes and took place between September 1 and October
15, 2006. Those interviewed included nine department heads whose responsibility included
eGovernment; eleven eGovernment project leaders who are responsible for the
implementation of concrete projects, and eight so-called e-Government ombudsmen, who
were charged with furthering eGovernment within their area of responsibility. This means
that only those people were interviewed who already worked on eGovernment issues; in other
words a “positive selection” was made.
To ensure that the skills requirements were not just derived from an internal
administration perspective and to determine future skill requirements, an additional twelve
experts from the scientific and consulting communities with at least five years of experience
in the field in the German-speaking world were included in the interviews, bringing the total
number of interviews to 40. To ensure comparability of the answers, all participants were
interviewed following a set pattern on the basis of semi-standardized interview guidelines.
Semi-structured interviews are an interviewing technique used in qualitative empirical
research, in which predetermined questions are posed to the subject, who may then answer
these questions in a completely open, unguided way. This means that the conscious decision
is made not to provide any possible answers in advance, so that the subject gives a completely
open answer. This makes it also possible for the interview subject to name completely new
eGovernment subjects.
The task of the interviewer is to direct the interview according to the interview
guidelines, even though it was not absolutely necessary to maintain the order of the questions.
The content of the questions were concerned with the subjects’ assessments of existing
eGovernment skills in public administration, as well as their estimates of future qualification
requirements.
In the following section, the results of the interviews will be presented in the order in
which the questions were asked. Expert opinions are presented first and are then compared
with the results from the practitioner level.

4.1 Existing eGovernment Skill Levels

Expert Opinions
None of the experts questioned were of the opinion that the current state of qualifications in
public administration as a whole can be characterized as good or very good. That said, large
differences existed in the opinions of the experts relative to the qualification levels and the
subject-matter in certain respects. They agreed that it can be said that technical qualifications
generally exist and are well-developed within public administration, whereas organizational
and holistic perspectives and strategic competencies related to eGovernment are lacking.
Subjects also responded that competencies and abilities related to IT applications and the use
of new media (internet, intranet, etc), in other words media competence, are largely available.
On the other hand, they maintain that knowledge of processes and new organizational
models made possible through ICT are lacking. Two interview subjects responded that

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eGovernment skills can overall be assessed as barely adequate, whereas one was of the
opinion that no eGovernment competence exists at all In public administration. All of the
experts agreed in their assessment that awareness of eGovernment has not caught on to the
necessary breadth within the organization. One subject remarked that eGovernment
competence often compares to a Potemkin village, as in his opinion, staff units and often
external experts develop strategies and projects so as to give the impression of broad
eGovernment competencies within public administration.
The subjects maintained that a greater need for qualifications exists at the leadership
level, which is not recognized by these leaders themselves. In particular the experts believe
that there is a lack of knowledge of processes, strategic competencies, thinking in networked
contexts, competency in evaluating the relationships between technical and organizational
trends, and of knowledge of how to integrate eGovernment in personnel development.

Department Heads
Department heads assessed the state of eGovernment skills within their departments much
more positively than the experts. All in all, the department heads questioned were of the
opinion that, in their administrations, no or no significant qualification deficits were apparent.
On the other hand, heads of other departments maintained that eGovernment issues had barely
penetrated the thinking of other departments and that competencies were mainly related to the
use of existing IT. Large deficits were especially seen in the development of strategies for the
use of eGovernment. Causes of skill deficits were seen to be rooted in the lack of bundling of
scare resources and in a shortage of central regulations or guidelines. Individual-based
reasons for knowledge shortages were also given, such as a lack of willingness to deal with
the subject of eGovernment, even reaching as far as an active refusal to confront the topic.
One cited example included the fact that there are still heads of departments who refuse to
read emails or work with a PC. The majority of them, it was maintained, are not comfortable
in using technology. It was also mentioned repeatedly that formal knowledge is not always
the issue, but rather there is a lack of awareness of the issue, meaning that attitudes towards
change in general and technology specifically are a problem. Basic knowledge of overarching
interrelationships, knowledge of IT and thinking in processes were cited as areas in which
competence is lacking.
eGovernment Ombudsmen
The eGovernment ombudsmen rated the available knowledge related to eGovernment more
critically than department heads; all respondents answered that knowledge was either barely
sufficient or not at all present. Specifically, they responded that most staff members can
barely think outside of their own specialized procedures, meaning that a lack of awareness of
overarching interrelationships exists. Furthermore, they complained that, especially at the
management level, too little knowledge of strategies and applications existed. In total,
eGovernment ombudsmen estimated the awareness and sensibility for the issue of
eGovernment as rather low. All staff members possess good levels of subject-matter
competence, but are to a very large extent lacking an overarching understanding of IT.

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A lack of competencies in the area of project management was especially mentioned.

The exceptions were in areas of public administration in which IT has traditionally been
heavily employed and in which the staff have already implemented a diverse number of
projects, enabling them to acquire a high level of knowledge and experience. As in the case
of the department heads, the eGovernment ombudsmen complained that eGovernment
knowledge only existed insofar as it pertained to existing eGovernment projects, but that a
holistic understanding of eGovernment was lacking. In the opinions of the eGovernment
ombudsmen, eGovernment competence is reduced to using the PC or general media
competencies. The subjects also pointed out that, among public administration staff, a
conservative and stubborn attitude can be observed.
In response to the question of whether continuing education strategies or considerations
of such strategies exist in relation to the introduction of eGovernment, the eGovernment
ombudsmen answered in the negative. When introducing new systems and applications,
targeted training is conducted. In isolated instances, the introduction of personnel
development measures was also discussed in this context.

Project Leaders
Seven of the eleven eGovernment project leaders questioned estimated the current level of
qualifications within their respective project, as they relate to eGovernment, as good or very
good. However, four of them also stated that the level of knowledge within the project is
barely adequate, is inadequate or not present at all. Deficits mentioned included a lack of
basic knowledge and that relatively little eGovernment competence was present. Although
project staff as a rule possessed specific subject-matter knowledge, project leaders had
determined that knowledge of IT applications was especially lacking, and that a general
unease in working with new media could be observed. The interviews with project leaders
clearly showed that the technical competence within project teams is very high, whereas the
competencies related to organizational change which is made possible by eGovernment are
much less present.
Specific qualification deficits could therefore be observed in the project management
area. Project leaders also generally remarked that, at the political and upper administrative
levels, knowledge was lacking and that in many cases, the necessary political support for
projects is lacking. Competencies related to the development of feasible visions and
strategies are especially lacking.

4.2 Future Skill Requirements

Experts
Without reservation, all experts questioned see a large to very large relevance of the topic of
eGovernment in the future, and the necessity to develop the required competencies that go
with it. A special challenge exists for the leadership level, because this level must strategically
develop and direct these developments. In the opinion of the experts, there is a special need
for strategic management competencies, which also include a developed sense of networked

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thinking. In the opinions of the experts, this also means that the working level must have a
sufficient level of knowledge to be able to accurately evaluate strategic options.
One subject questioned stated that, in the future, an interdisciplinary approach will be
required which includes a “new triad” made up of organization, technology and specialist
expertise. This means that a basic understanding of technology is also required at the
leadership level, which also includes a basic understanding of IT architectures.
In the opinions of the experts, in the future it will also be important that the leadership
level develop the competencies which make it possible to put the impending changes into
practice. This includes competencies which make it possible to redesign and implement new
processes in cooperation with others. In this area, public administration is in need of much
higher levels of competence if it is to fulfill its role as a process partner in a production and
information network. One expert maintained that orchestration competencies will be
required, so that services, processes and IT functions can be coordinated with each other in a
results-oriented way. This type of managerial competence has not been recognizable to date,
according to the experts, because public administration to often assumes the role of a
purchaser of software, without having the necessary control over the entire project
implementation process.

Department Heads
Seven of the nine department heads questioned believed that eGovernment will have an even
higher relevance in the future than today. Only two department heads were of the opinion
that it will maintain its current level of relevance. It is also remarkable that no department
head was of the opinion, that eGovernment would decline in importance. Those who believe
that eGovernment will be highly relevant in the future are also expecting a fundamental
cultural change which will require special competencies and qualifications. The department
heads themselves believe that the leadership level is the target group which will face new
competence requirements. In their opinion, a special need for qualifications exists in the
management and steering of the “new informatized world” and in the basic functional
mechanisms that make up this world. In this sense, the department heads had a well-
developed sense of impending changes and the skills that they will require.
The department heads mentioned a very broad spectrum of themes in relation to future
competency requirements. These were related not only individual abilities, but increasingly
to higher competencies, such as the ability to recognize new trends and opportunities offered
by technology. Skills which they considered especially important for the future were the
ability to follow technological change, to independently acquire new knowledge about these
changes, to understand the integrative approaches and potentials of IT and organization, and
knowledge of methodologies and organizational theories. It was also mentioned that, in
addition to ongoing practice-related training, a “reserve of training”, covering fundamental
knowledge and concepts is necessary.

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

eGovernment Ombudsmen
Although the eGovernment ombudsmen do not rate the future relevance of the eGovernment
topic as high as the department heads, four of them were of the view that eGovernment will
be increasing relevant and two give assign the topic a great or very great degree of
significance. Thus, the majority of eGovernment ombudsmen questioned also see an
increasing relevance of the eGovernment issue, also in respect to qualifications. Four of those
questioned also believed that the relevance of eGovernment as a topic will not increase over
current levels, which may lie in the fact that they already consider the topic to be extremely
relevant.
Competencies which were considered to be important for the future included process
changes and digitalization as well as the ability to understand different tasks, areas of
responsibility and departments from a holistic point of view. These are complemented by the
topics of project management and strategy development and planning as well as business
process optimization. In the answers provided by the ombudsmen it was also clear, that
awareness of the solutions to IT problems are not sufficient, but rather that profound levels of
know-how about process changes are necessary.

Project Leaders
Six of the total of eleven project leaders questioned see an increasing to very strong relevance
for eGovernment and the role of IT in public administration. In this context, they also
generally believe that the topic of eGovernment will acquire increasing relevance for
continuing education in particular. They also maintain that the training of the leadership level
will become increasingly important, not least because project leaders themselves see a great
need for qualifications in this area which has not yet been recognized or transformed into
concrete demands for training.
Project leaders consider competencies in the areas of project implementation, and more
specifically in the ability to see holistic and integrated connections between systems, to be
especially important. However, these competencies are currently barely available among
their colleagues. This means that understanding of eGovernment must be further developed
in the future. In particular, dialogue and overall cooperation between the ministries need
significant improvement. Project leaders also see technological changes as the catalysts for
impending changes and the increasing relevance of the qualification of project leaders, to a
much greater extent than the other participants questioned. Changes in work processes due to
technological change are also seen as an important reason to strengthen qualification
requirements.
In response to the question of which competencies will be needed in the future, the
project leaders, who are the most involved in the implementation of eGovernment projects,
answered that a spectrum of methodological knowledge is relevant for eGovernment. This
includes competencies such as structured thinking, the setting and definition of goals and
special project-leader competencies. Furthermore, a readiness to assume risk, business
process thinking and general analytical competencies, especially in reference to cost-
effectiveness, were mentioned.

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

4.3 Reflection
The results of the interviews have shown that a considerable skills deficit exists in certain
areas. Whereas the working level’s qualifications in technical subjects and in applications
(such as multimedia competence) are generally rated as good, if not always adequate, general
deficits in the areas of strategy, organizational change and processes are apparent. The
subjects questioned viewed the competencies of the leadership level as decisive if the
impending changes which come with eGovernment are to be mastered. Even though the
department heads see their level of qualification less critically than the experts do, they are
still of the opinion that higher qualifications are required. All of those interviewed agree that
new competencies such as attitude and awareness changes and new networked thinking are
required. All in all, is it also clear that, in addition to technical and subject-matter
competencies, a high degree of social competencies are required, especially communicative
and moderation competencies. Without these, eGovernment projects, which are usually very
challenging and involve complex actor networks, cannot be implemented. At the leadership
level, a minimum of IT competencies are required, as without them, organizational-strategic
decisions cannot be appropriately made – meaning that more practically-oriented “mixed
skills” are necessary. To date, however, there has been a lack of deeper understanding of
technology and eGovernment at the leadership level, according to the interview subjects.
This is well-illustrated by an anecdote in which one department head asked rhetorically
“whether everything has to be eGovernment - we have to maintain a little bit of quality of
life.”
In regard to future qualification requirements, competencies need to be developed not
only in technical areas, but especially in regards to organization. In addition to subject-matter
competencies, this includes methodological competencies which are necessary for the
introduction of eGovernment. Competencies for the development of visions and strategies are
also important. A topic which almost all subjects mentioned was in the area of attitude and
awareness changes, which to a large extent are related to leadership skills.

5. Conclusion
This discussion of new thematic challenges, the literature analysis and the interview results
have made it clear that eGovernment places new competency demands upon all target groups
in public administration. It is also interesting that a high degree of thematic overlap exists in
respect to these new demands. This is true in respect to methodological and subject-matter
demands, but especially to social aspects. At the same time, eGovernment also requires new
ways of thinking. This means that eGovernment does not only necessitate new IT skills, but
more importantly non-technical social, methodological and subject-matter skills. These
especially include knowledge of processes, strategic and leadership competencies, networking
competencies and competencies which were described in the interviews as being related to
thinking in new ways and “expanding horizons.” The leadership competencies which are
already required in public governance, are also especially relevant for eGovernment, but
should be complemented by mixed skills, particularly in regard to IT-based organizational
strategies. This means that ICT approaches and the creation of new production and service
structures are inseparable. In other words, leaders in public administration will need a

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

stronger understanding of processes and ICT, if they are going to be able to make appropriate
strategic decisions.
Overall it is clear that IT skills are not enough, but rather that additional and most
importantly mixed competencies are required by all target groups in public administration.
These competency requirements, as they relate to the various target groups and project
phases, can be summarized as follows.
The leadership level is largely entrusted with management duties, meaning that they are
responsible for the strategic planning and direction of eGovernment activities. In the
(strategic) planning phase, Leaders require deeply rooted, well-founded competencies to be
able to recognize overarching and networked contexts in eGovernment and to be able to
suggest and comprehend new organizational structures using their knowledge of ICT. They
need broad, well-founded eGovernment, process, IT and methodological competencies so that
they can strategically develop new organizational, production and service structures. In the
implementation phase, it is most important that they be able to strategically direct projects,
whereas in the operational phase they must be able to lead within the new informatized
structures.
Project leaders are people whose main responsibility lies in the concrete planning and
implementation of eGovernment projects. A special feature of eGovernment is that
eGovernment project management requires very solid, well-grounded knowledge of the
interplay between technological, organizational and legal aspects. Beyond this, project
leaders must also have competence in project planning to be able to implement strategic
goals. As far as the operational phase is concerned, project leaders must know how the new
informatized production structures function and which problems may arise in the course of
the routinization and translation of project results into working practice, so that they can
incorporate these factors results into future projects. It is also especially important that project
leaders be able to manage and direct project teams.
The working level includes the specialists who must work within the new informatized
structures. They use eGovernment instruments and applications in the course of their
particular work (such as using geographic information systems for planning tasks). They do
not have leadership or project management responsibilities but, owing to their specialized
knowledge, may work on specific eGovernment projects. They must therefore have the
ability to work in teams and to be able to bring their specialized knowledge to bear to
contribute to the team. The ability to plan strategically is less relevant for them, but they still
must be informed about strategies.
In closing, it can be said that the necessary competencies which have been described
can only partially be acquired through formal qualification and training. In particular, a kind
of “emotionalization” and a deeper understanding for eGovernment is required, which also
makes new ways of competence acquisition necessary (Culbertson, 2005, p. 103). Most of
all, it can be said that the topic of eGovernment cannot just be delegated to individual staff
members. Instead, it must be broadly incorporated into all fields of activity within public
administration, something which will change existing skill requirements by including new
mixed skills, a fact which has barely received consideration in eGovernment strategies.

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Schuppan – Skill requirements for eGovernment

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