From Technology to Social Development: Applying a Public Value Perspective to Digital Government in Local Governments in Mexico

Abstract

The main goal of any digital government initiative is to create public value [34]. Although this sentence represents a powerful idea, there is no clear evidence about the causality route from technology to the creation of public value for citizens and businesses in a region. Local governments are more tangible examples of how digital government initiatives may transit from new ICT projects to benefits for citizens, governments and society. In theory, citizens may benefit by receiving more efficient and quality public services in a context of participation and transparency. Governments benefit by improving their strategic, regulatory and financial position to accomplish their mission. Society in general benefits from digital government initiatives by improving the quality of life in the region. However, understanding the causality routes from implementing digital government to improving public service delivery, and from these to the final creation of public value is complex and multifaceted. This article examines empirically these complex causality routes of digital government by adapting an integrative version of the public value framework and tests it by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques on a dataset of municipalities in Mexico. The results indicate that the framework was useful to capture the transition from digital government advance to the improvements of public services in terms of efficiency and quality in the context of participation and transparency. It was also suitable to represent the transition from the improvements of public services and the enhancement of participation and transparency to the creation of public value in government, but more investigation is required for uncover the causality route of the creation of public value in society. Several conclusions are drawn for local digital government implementation.