This mini-track focuses on the need to better understand the nature of how to assess e-Government projects. Central government evaluation practice follows the traditional literature by being mainly volumetric or cost-based, with coverage offering only vague notions of benefits to the citizen. However, the public sector lacks the market dynamics open to the private sector and notions of “value” are inevitably different. The stakeholders are also different. These differences are particularly evident within e-Democracy projects where many might regarded increased participation and reduced costs as indicators of success.

Public sector IS evaluation needs approaches that recognize these differences.

Captured by enthusiasm and the potential for change, politicians and governments around the world followed this by pursuing national e-Government agendas. Somehow 2005 became a common target date to “get government online”. The worldwide expenditure to provide information and services to citizens and businesses by this deadline has been vast. However, most of it has been spent on development and delivery of systems rather than research and evaluation.

The rush to e-enable everything is dying down and agencies are taking stock of what has been achieved. Concern over the performance of public sector information systems deployment, at both a tactical and operational level, is rising. As with all ICT projects, improvements in efficiency are high on the agenda. But, in addition to these benefits, e-government projects seek the greater level of efficiency and effectiveness that can be achieved by reengineering and streamlining procedures.

As yet the literature has few, in-depth evaluations of public sector IS projects.

With many government bodies now taking stock of what has been achieved there are lessons to be learned by the IS community.