Identifying and Managing Risks Inherent in e-Government Project Implementation

Abstract

e-Government implementation in developing countries is usually very different than it is in developed countries, with different strategy, different challenges, and different risks. One thing developed and developing countries have in common with regard to e-Government is that it involves very large, complex systems with numerous internal and external entities and interfaces resulting in very dynamic non-linear behavior. There are many tools and techniques for use in examining and understanding systems, even large, complex ones. More and more research on e-Government systems is completed every year. Even so, the majority of e-Government projects partially or totally fail. For developing countries, these failures are extremely costly. More is needed. This chapter explores the use of system dynamics modeling to drill down into an e-Government system’s behavior and illustrate its depth and non-linear nature, i.e. how foreign direct investment flows through finance, technology, and strategy to impact risk.