Kim Viborg Andersen – författare

Contributors from eight countries report on modes of governmental intervention to stimulate the use of EDI, and the challenges facing governments as they try to increase the smooth-running of their own units via organizational management. With cases (a total of 14 chapters) from Singapore, Denmark, USA, Sweden, England, Australia and the Netherlands, the book reveals that governments at supranational, central and local levels in some countries are ahead of the private sector in the utilization of EDI. Local levels of government and quasi-governmental organizations provide an important supplement to the efforts by central government to increase its use. The book also indicates that the pay-off from investments in EDI is slow to evolve, and that returns from investments are closely linked to the organizations' ability to change their work processes along with the investments in EDI. The authors argue that many public-sector organizations lack the steam and vision necessarily to transform the government to a more technologically-based organization, where public procurement, taxation, medicine ordering, etc, take advantage of the potentials of EDI and data networking.The book is intended for researchers and practitioners in MIS, computer science and international trade who are working on the adoption of new technology.

This collection of research papers addresses the emerging field of e-commerce and e-business, and presents a number of key contributions as the research fields are maturing. Many of the texts represent cutting-edge research, illustrating the diverse nature of these fields, from conceptual frameworks to state-of-the-art implementations. The book includes contributions in areas such as: strategies for implementing e-business; business-2-consumer, business-2-business; internet marketing; evaluation tools for e-business; implications for SMEs; mobile commerce; trust; distributed knowledge management; and dot.com-driven business transformations. The volume comprises the edited proceedings of the Second Working Conference on E-Business: Multidisciplinary Research and Practice, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), Working Group 8.4, as well as by the Danish Center for E-Business Development and the Copenhagen Business School. The conference was held in June 2002 in Copenhagen.

E-government and Public Sector Process Rebuilding: Dilettantes, Wheelbarrows, and Diamonds provides an input to rebuild and improve the processes in which the public sector perform activities and interact with the citizens, companies, and the formal elected decision-makers. Through eleven chapters, the book emphasizes information systems (IS) as the vehicle for redirecting the public sector towards its key customers. The book stresses serious capability challenges inhibiting the digital transformation using activity and customer centric applications. The dilettantes in the public sector are in need of upgrading, rethinking, and refocusing their use of IS. There is a need to revisit the extensive use of digital wheelbarrows to transmit data, and complement the transactional focus with IT-enabled analysis of the activities. There is also a need to recognize that IS are not just flashy and shining diamonds to be shown off on special occasions. IS are, as most diamonds, manufactured products, part of the activities and intended for replacement whenever the diamonds are no longer suitable for serving their purpose - diamonds do not last forever.

E-government and Public Sector Process Rebuilding: Dilettantes, Wheelbarrows, and Diamonds provides an input to rebuild and improve the processes in which the public sector perform activities and interact with the citizens, companies, and the formal elected decision-makers. Through eleven chapters, the book emphasizes information systems (IS) as the vehicle for redirecting the public sector towards its key customers. The book stresses serious capability challenges inhibiting the digital transformation using activity and customer centric applications. The dilettantes in the public sector are in need of upgrading, rethinking, and refocusing their use of IS. There is a need to revisit the extensive use of digital wheelbarrows to transmit data, and complement the transactional focus with IT-enabled analysis of the activities. There is also a need to recognize that IS are not just flashy and shining diamonds to be shown off on special occasions. IS are, as most diamonds, manufactured products, part of the activities and intended for replacement whenever the diamonds are no longer suitable for serving their purpose - diamonds do not last forever.

When researching, teaching or working with information systems in the public sector, one is left with few or often no textbooks that provide useful case studies or surveys on the implementation and effects of integrating information technologies in the organizations' operations. This is surprising since in most first world countries the public sector consumes a substantial part of the gross national product. Even more astonishing is the vast amount of financial and organizational resources that are spent developing and implementing various information systems. We decided to write this book to provide information for those studying information systems at business schools, information and computer departments at collegesl universities, and for those working hands-on with EDI and data networking in public administration. Thus, our primary target groups for this book are professionals, training (MA-courses), computer science, MBA, MP A, and political science. EDI has been seen as a means to wire the various policy areas in the public sector. Those included are not limited strictly to the public organizations, but extend to their trade partners. Also, government has sought ways to stimulate the usage of ED I in the private sector beyond those transactions involving direct communication with the public sector. In this book, we have contributors from eight countries and a total of 14 chapters reporting on issues of importance when developing and implementing EDI, when government wants to stimulate the diffusion of EDI in society, and when organizations want to address the impact of their investments in ED!.

In the foreword to this volume of conference proceedings for IFIP Working Group 8.4, it is appropriate to review the wider organization to which the Working Group belongs.