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“More about form than substance; research into evaluations of Government IT projects”

Government IT projects are generally not evaluated properly. University of Twente PhD candidate Wouter Bronsgeest says that’s a shame, as people are depriving themselves of the chance to improve and learn.

Mr Bronsgeest explains: “I’m pushing for more evaluations and more frequent reflection in projects, the application of more varied creative project formats and a clearer formulation of the research question. The suggestions offered by Mr Bronsgeest pose a greater challenge to clients and interested parties but they should also make it more interesting for them and worth the extra effort.”

Wouter Bronsgeest reviewed 88 evaluation reports of Government IT projects and offers insights into the theory of evaluation. “People are interested in reviewing these projects using various evaluation tools. Unfortunately, the approach and the evaluation format, and as a result the quality of the content of the evaluation, are all sub-par’, explains Mr Bronsgeest. Evaluation could and should be used far more frequently as a tool for reflection and learning, and could also be used by the government to follow up on the report drawn up by the Temporary Committee for IT projects (also known as the Elias Committee) on Government IT projects. The Committee concludes that learning from experience does not appear to have any priority in Government projects at the moment, but makes little effort to formulate clear recommendations on this matter in its report for the House of Representatives.

Evaluation is in fact a project-based continuous process that plays a part in each phase of a project. Often, heavier artillery is not even necessary. Based on a clear evaluation question and a strong set of key substantive issues, a group of dedicated professionals can go a long way. What is currently lacking in many evaluation reports is the clear and concise research question or formulation of a problem, or even well-structured and researched conclusions or recommendations. “These are mistakes that are easy to resolve but that even occur in formal and big budget reports”, explains Mr Bronsgeest. The Government and tax payers would end up saving a significant amount of money.

People should in fact probably avoid using the term IT projects to describe these projects. Mr Bronsgeest does not believe they even exist. Instead, he believes the projects are organizational in nature and have an IT component. The problem is in the organizational aspects, not the IT component. During the seminar prior to the PhD ceremony, this statement will be debated. Various speakers will discuss project evaluations and monitoring from the point of view of their disciplines.

Information

Wouter Bronsgeest will be awarded his PhD on 11 November 2016 at 14:30 in the University of Twente’s Agorazaal at the Vrijhof building. This research is conducted under the auspices of the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT) and the Center for eGovernment Studies (CFES). Please contact the university for a copy of his PhD thesis entitled “More about form than substance; research into evaluations of Government IT projects”.

For more information and backgrounds, go to:

https://www.utwente.nl/evenementen/!/2016/11/367814/promotie-wouter-bronsgeest

https://www.ngi-ngn.nl/Evenementen/Afdeling/ITOverheid.html

https://cfes.bms.utwente.nl/wouter-bronsgeest/

drs. M.M.J. van Hillegersberg - Hofmans (Martine)
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