Electronic Government: a Multi-Criterion Approach to Prioritizing Projects by Integrating Balanced Scorecard Methodology Indicators

Abstract

Electronic Government is a term that refers to governmental policies and strategies, as well as to concrete initiatives that represent a government&rsquo;s commitment to Management by<br />means of the intensive use of Information Technology (IT). Since public managers are being increasingly pressed to find ways of reducing costs and improving results, it is important<br />to observe that the potential benefits of Electronic Government are linked to costs and risks that must be balanced and carefully monitored. This study proposes a multi-criterion model so as to prioritize Electronic Government projects, the scope of which is to provide electronic services from Government to Citizen - G2C (initiatives on behalf of citizens and companies). Particularly in the phase of structuring a problem, the model proposed<br />makes use of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the context of Multiple Criteria Decision-aid (MCDA). To illustrate how to apply the model, simulations using the PROMETHEE method<br />were conducted. The study demonstrated that, in the context of the governance model proposed, some conditions should be taken into account in order to integrate the use of<br />BSC and MCDA. The model can be applied to public and private organizations, irrespective of the area of activity, with minimal adaptation.