Critical Success Factors for E-Government Infrastructure Implementation

Effective digital government infrastructures are needed to support the policy and strategy of governments. ICT Infrastructures provide generic functionalities that are shared and used by large numbers of users. Typically, many stakeholders are involved in the implementation of the infrastructure and the infrastructure is shaped by the interactions among stakeholders. The management of the development of such infrastructures is complicated. Multiple competing agendas and needs have to be reconciled. One approach for managing and guiding its development is based on critical success factors (CSFs). CSFs are those areas that need to be given attention and are perceived to be most important to the success of the infrastructure development. The aim of the research described in this chapter is to identify CSFs for guiding shared infrastructure implementation. This research is conducted by identifying CSFs for Surfnet - which is a public organization providing a digital infrastructure for researchers, teachers and students. This infrastructure enables them to collaborate with each other. The framework of Borman and Janssen (2012) was used which classified CSF in outcome, process and operating environment characteristic categories. The CSFs suggest a need to have a well-developed infrastructure implementation strategy. It is argued that taking a CSF-based approach is suitable for guiding complex projects, but they should be revisited regularly as they might change over time.