Organizational Requirements for Building Up National E-Government Infrastructures in Federal Settings

The present paper focuses on the interplay between the organizational dimension of e-government and the development of national e-government infrastructures. The discussion is aimed at clarifying whether and how a decentralized vs. central development of re-usable basic services raises different requirements with regard to establishing inter-organizational arrangements and coordination. Current challenges in the development of decentralized, federal Switzerland are compared to other federal and non-federal countries, based on document analysis and interviews with e-government experts in Switzerland, selected European countries and Canada. Against this background, an organizational framework is developed that is aimed at overcoming common obstacles for developing an integrated e-government approach across national tiers in Switzerland. The cross-country comparison reveals considerable similarity regarding pressing challenges. The framework may therefore be suited as a theoretical model for further analyses on the guidance, design and governance of e-government infrastructures. Practitioners might apply it as an analytical tool.