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The E-Leaders
Handbook on
the
Governance
of Digital
Government
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OECD Digital • 21
Government Studies December 2021

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Table of contents

1. Introduction

Abstract
Chapter 1 depicts the need for
better public governance in the
digital transformation of the public
sector to support healthy digital
government ecosystems,
economies and societies. It also
demonstrates the rationale leading
up to the production of the
Handbook and the accompanying
OECD Framework on the
Governance of Digital Government.

The path towards digital

government maturity calls
for better governance
Over the last few decades, the
digitisation of government processes
and public services (i.e. transition from
analogue to e-government) has
progressed significantly. Governments
have been working to modernise their
working methods and procedures to
adapt to new technologies and the
needs of people through large-scale
public sector reforms. While
digitisation has undoubtedly led to
higher vertical integration within
single public sector organisations,
policy makers are still confronted with
the public governance challenge of
fostering the horizontal integration
that is enabled by digitalisation but
also required to advance a coherent
digital transformation of
governments.1

Countries that were more advanced in

their digital governance showed to
have gained substantial advantages in
managing the crisis. For instance, the
governments of Korea and the United
Kingdom (i.e. the top performing
countries on the 2019 DGI)
demonstrated that they were able to
efficiently and easily leverage existing
enablers (e.g. common and open
source digital tools, digital/data
infrastructure, public-private
partnerships) to build and scale up
their responses (G20/OECD, 2021[1]).

The digital transformation of the

public sector is a complex and huge
process that revamps both the
functioning and structure of public
sector organisations, and the
conditions of access to and use of
public data and services. On one side,
it requires equipping civil servants
with the means to improve and
transform public sector operations
and services using digital technologies
and data while guaranteeing the
sustainability of solutions, their
regular monitoring and evaluation,
and the dissemination of new
practices. On another front, it involves
accompanying users with various
needs in a trustworthy, transparent
and collaborative relationship to
better understand, meet their needs
and fully empower them (OECD,
2014[2]).

A digitally mature government

requires clear and legitimised
leadership, with a mandate and
strategic vision for system-wide
transformation, and government-wide
coherence and integration of
decisions and activities within and
between public sector organisations,
while ensuring that the relations with
citizens and businesses are fostered
on collaborations around public
policies and services for increased
economic productivity and improved
societal well-being. For this reason,
the establishment of governance
arrangements and mechanisms that
secure sound leadership and co-
ordination, and foster system-based
rather than silo-driven decisions are
necessary for governments to
properly drive the digital
transformation of the public sector,
and to ensure the continuity required
to deliver long-term sustainable
results.

The most prevalent challenges faced

by governments are linked to existing
administrative environments that are
characterised primarily by vertical
hierarchical models and silos that
hamper an evolution towards more
coherent investment and operational
cycles. Governments should prioritise
actions that are geared towards
horizontal integration rather than on
vertical efficiency. This is needed to
foster the use of digital technologies
and data that favours linkages among
strategic policy efforts across different
sectors and levels of government, and
to ensure the level of policy coherence
and synergies required for long-term
sustainability of investments,
initiatives and results. Institutional
models need to be considered and
adjusted to support a whole-of-
government transformation that
delivers better results and responds to
citizen’s increasing and changing
expectations with agility and fairness.

Although efficiency and productivity

have been the primary targets in
digital government policies, more
mature governments are also
emphasising a values-based and
human-centred approach built on
trust to meet the needs of citizens and
businesses. Hence, service users and
other stakeholders from the private
sector and civil society are increasingly
placed at the heart of user-driven
approaches to public service design
and delivery. Ultimately, public
governance that draws on political
support and clear administrative
mandates can enable a more
coherent and strategic path to digital
maturity. This means that sound co-
ordination in the ecosystem of
stakeholders on the design,
development, implementation and
monitoring of public policies
supporting digital transformation is
needed to deliver the expected policy
results (OECD, 2014[2]).

Building on the work of

the E-Leaders Task Force
on the Governance of
Digital Government
On October 30-31, 2018, delegates
from 32 OECD member countries
attended the annual meeting of the
OECD Working Party of Senior Digital
Government Officials (E-Leaders)2 and
agreed to develop further
understanding on the governance of
digital government in light of the
higher integration demanded by the
digital transformation of the public
sector. The OECD Secretariat was
tasked with researching, analysing
and producing policy guidance on this
matter, which culminated into the E-
Leaders Handbook on the
Governance of Digital Government
(hereinafter the E-Leaders
Governance Handbook).

This mandate came from the

realisation that public governance is a
crucial element at the core of studies
and debates on digital government
and public sector reforms, but the
concept is still abstractly defined and
applied. The understanding of the
governance of digital government had
not yet been crystallised and
translated into a tool to guide and
inform concrete decisions.

To improve the conceptual and

empirical knowledge on the topic of
governance in the context of digital
government, and building on the
work developed in the OECD Digital
Government and Open Government
Data Reviews, Studies and Reports
(see Box 1.1), the OECD Secretariat
invited delegates to participate in an
E-Leaders Task Force on the
Governance of Digital Government.
The intent was to take a deeper dive
into the issues surrounding public
governance in line with the principles
in Pillars 1, 2 and 3 of the OECD
Recommendation of the Council on
Digital Government Strategies (2014)
(see Figure 1.1).

Box 1.1. Relevance of

governance in OECD
digital government
and open data
publications
Digital Government
Publications
Since the approval of the OECD
Recommendation of the Council on
Digital Government Strategies
(2014), the topic of governance has
been substantially addressed in the
vast majority of the OECD Digital
Government Reviews and Studies:

Estonia and Finland: Fostering

Strategic Capacity across
Governments and Digital
Services across Borders (2015)
Digital Government in Chile:
Strengthening the Institutional
and Governance Framework
(2016)
Benchmarking Digital
Government Strategies in MENA
Countries (2017)
Digital Government Review of
Norway: Boosting the Digital
Transformation of the Public
Sector (2017)
Assessing the Impact of Digital
Government in Colombia:
Towards a New Methodology
(2017)
Digital Government Review of
Norway: Boosting the Digital
Transformation of the Public
Sector (2017)
Digital Government Review of
Morocco: Laying the Foundations
for the Digital Transformation of
the Public Sector in Morocco
(2018)
Digital Government Review of
Colombia: Towards a Citizen-
Driven Public Sector (2018)
Digital Government Review of
Brazil: Towards the Digital
Transformation of the Public
Sector (2018)
Promoting the Digital
Transformation of African
Portuguese-Speaking Countries
and Timor-Leste (2018)
Digital Government Review of
Sweden: Towards a Data-Driven
Public Sector (2019)
Digital Government Review of
Argentina: Accelerating the
Digitalisation of the Public Sector
(2019)
Digital Government in Peru:
Working Closely with Citizens
(2019)
Digital Government in Chile – A
Strategy to Enable Digital
Transformation (2019)
Digital Government in Chile –
Digital Identity (2019)
Digital Government Review of
Panama: Enhancing the Digital
Transformation of the Public
Sector (2019)
Digital Government in Lebanon:
Governance for Coherent and
Sustainable Policy
Implementation (2020)
Digital Government in Chile –
Improving Public Service Design
and Delivery (2020)
“OECD Digital Government Index
(DGI): 2019 results” Policy Paper
(2020)
Digital Government Review of
Slovenia: Leading the Digital
Transformation of the Public
Sector (2021)
Open and Connected
Government Review of Thailand
(forthcoming)

Open Government Data

Publications
Governance has also been a central
topic on the following OECD Open
Government Data Reviews and
Reports:

Open Government Data Review

of Poland: Unlocking the Value of
Government Data (2015)
Open Government Data Review
of Mexico: Data Reuse for Public
Sector Impact and Innovation
(2016)
Open Government Data in
Mexico: The Way Forward (2018)
Open Government Data Report:
Enhancing Policy Maturity for
Sustainable Impact (2018)
The Path to Becoming a Data-
Driven Public Sector (2019)
“OECD Open, Useful and Re-
usable data (OURdata) Index:
2019 results” Policy Paper (2020)

Source: Author.

Figure 1.1. Three

pillars of the OECD
Recommendation
on Digital
Government
Strategies (2014)

Opennessand Governanceand CapacitiestoSupport

Engagement Co-ordination Implementation

1)Openness,transparency 5)Leadershipandpolitical
commitment 9)Developmentofclear
andinclusiveness businesscases
6)Coherentuseofdigital
2)Engagementand technologyacrosspolicy 10)Reinforcedinstitutional
participationinamulti-actor areas capacities
contextinpolicymakingand
servicedelivery 7)Effectiveorganisationaland 11)Procurementofdigital
governanceframeworkstoco- technologies
3)Creationofadata-driven
culture ordinate 12)Legalandregulatory
framework
8)Strengtheninternationalco-
4)Protectingprivacyand operationwithother
ensuringsecurity governments
8non-OECD
DigitalTransformation countries
adopted
Non-membercountries:Argentina,Brazil,Egypt,Kazakhstan,Morocco,Panamá,Peru,Russia

Source: (OECD, 2014[2]), “OECD

Recommendation of the Council
on Digital Government
Strategies”,
https://legalinstruments.oecd.or
g/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-
0406.

In line with the outputs of the

discussions during the virtual
meetings of the E-Leaders Task Force
on the Governance of Digital
Government, the OECD Secretariat
produced the E-Leaders Governance
Handbook to establish a robust
framework of analysis in this area
based on (but not limited to) OECD
country approaches and practices,
and to support OECD member and
non-member countries to seize the
benefits and tackle the difficulties of
digitalisation through robust
governance approaches. It sets out
the OECD Framework on the
Governance of Digital Government
that can be used by the OECD and
governments to (self-)assess the
current situation and identify areas for
improvement.

The first draft of the E-Leaders

Governance Handbook was presented
to delegates during the annual
meeting of the E-Leaders in Brussels
on September 19-20, 2019. Following
the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the
OECD Secretariat further developed
the E-Leaders Governance Handbook
to reflect the new opportunities,
challenges and priorities that
governments faced as a result of the
economic, social and sanitary crisis in
addition to the heightened urgency to
mitigate climate change and
undertake the green transition.
Similarly, the United Kingdom
Government Digital Service provided
support on content design to upgrade
the first version of the Handbook
through online and in-person
exchanges at their premises. As a
result of these steps, a second version
of the E-Leaders Governance
Handbook was presented during the
virtual annual meeting of the E-
Leaders on October 15-16, 2020.

Presenting the OECD

Framework on the
Governance of Digital
Government
The OECD Framework on the
Governance of Digital Government
contains three critical facets (see
Figure 1.2):

Facet 1: Contextual Factors that

elaborates on country-specific
characteristics that should be
identified and considered according
to the political, administrative,
socio-economic, technological,
policy and geographical context.
Although each country has its
contextual specificities that warrant
a unique governance framework,
the application of the OECD
Recommendation of the Council on
Digital Government Strategies
(2014) can help to identify common
elements of governance that are
relevant for all countries.
Facet 2: Institutional Models that
presents the different forms of
institutional set-ups, approaches,
arrangements and mechanisms for
working within the public sector
and the digital government
ecosystem, and how their
parameters can and should
influence and direct digital
government strategies and their
implementation sustainably.
Facet 3: Policy Levers that addresses
the different policy instruments that
governments can use to ensure a
sound and coherent digital
transformation of the public sector,
covering the strategy, project
management tools, financial
management mechanisms, and
regulations and standards.

Figure 1.2. The

OECD Framework
on the Governance
of Digital
Government
The three governance
facets and each of their
four dimensions

Note: Facets refer to the

fundamental features of
governance. Dimensions are the
main elements that make up
each facet. Sub-dimensions
(shown later in Chapters 3, 4 and
5) are the sub-elements that
form each dimension.

Source: Author, based on the

discussions of the E-Leaders
Task Force on the Governance of
Digital Government and
iterations thereafter.

Enclosed within the three governance

facets of the OECD Framework on
the Governance of Digital
Government are key dimensions and
sub-dimensions to be considered
when identifying an adequate mix of
elements defining the governance of
digital government in each country.
The Handbook provides practical
guidance (i.e. through descriptions,
policy questions, recommendations)
to take strategic, tactical and
operational decisions towards the
adoption of robust public governance
approaches to digital government
based on the OECD Recommendation
of the Council on Digital Government
Strategies (2014). It also presents a
range of approaches and practices in
a number of countries (both OECD
member and non-OECD member) that
can illustrate how governments have
addressed and approached their
governance of digital government
concretely.

In regards to aligning the OECD

Recommendation of the Council on
Digital Government Strategies (2014)
with the OECD Framework on the
Governance of Digital Government:

Principles in Pillar 1 “Openness and

Engagement” are taken to be the
norms that governments should
embed throughout their
governance process (i.e. to be
transparent, open, inclusive, data-
driven, and to encourage the
engagement and participation of
stakeholders wherever possible).
Therefore, they feature in both
Facet 2: Institutional Models and
Facet 3: Policy Levers as facets that
elaborate on the operationalisation
of the governance of digital
government.
Principles in Pillar 2 “Governance
and Co-ordination” align closely
with the dimensions of Facet 2:
Institutional Models as they deal with
organisational structure, personal
leadership, co-ordination, co-
operation and collaboration across
levels of government and policy
areas, and the interplay with the
broader digital government
ecosystem.
Principles in Pillar 3 “Capacities to
Support Implementation” align
closely with the dimensions of Facet
3: Policy Levers as they deal with
policy instruments for the
strategising, implementation and
management of digital government
programmes, enablers, initiatives
and public services.

The E-Leaders Governance Handbook

is structured such that Chapter 2
briefly introduces the concept of
public governance and its application
to the governance of digital
governments by drawing on the work
of the OECD, while Chapters 3, 4 and 5
correspond to an elaboration of each
of the three governance facets.

Notes
1. The OECD has produced various
publications that reflect on and demarcate
the digitisation and digitalisation of the
public sector. Digitisation refers to the
introduction of digital technologies in
public administration, namely by
transforming analogue information and
processes into digital ones. Building on
digitisation, digitalisation is a
transformative process that integrates
digital technologies and data into public
sector transformation efforts (OECD,
2016[98]). The OECD Recommendation of
the Council on Digital Government
Strategies (2014) promotes and supports
governments in their digitalisation efforts,
namely in developing and implementing
digital government strategies that
establish more effective co-ordination
mechanisms, stronger capacities and
frameworks to improve the effectiveness
of digital technologies in delivering public
value and strengthening citizen trust
(OECD, 2014[2]).

2. The OECD Working Party of Senior

Digital Government Officials (E-Leaders)
was established to foster knowledge
sharing and peer-to-peer learning to
support policy makers around the world in
advancing digital government policies’
design and implementation for the benefit
of economies and societies. It serves as a
safe space for international co-operation,
in collaboration with OECD member
countries and invited non-member
countries, based on their experiences of
“what works and what does not work” to
overcome policy challenges, seize policy
opportunities and improve policy impact.
As such, the aim of the E-Leaders is to
facilitate intergovernmental and
interorganisational partnerships in the
spirit of mutual learning and targeted co-
operation, matching the needs and skills of
different digital government stakeholders
and building on countries’ different
competitive advantages. The E-Leaders
relies on the sustained interest of
governments to leverage the OECD’s
expertise and existing normative, policy
and analytical tools and mechanisms to
exchange and transfer knowledge through
global peer learning. It envisages an
effective mobilisation of digital
technologies and data to improve
countries’ public sector, economic and
societal conditions through an equitable,
inclusive and sustainable transformation
to digitally mature states.

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