Digital transformation, governance and coordination models: A comparative study of Australia, Denmark and the Republic of Korea

Australia, Denmark and the Republic of Korea are among the most connected countries in the world, with high-speed infrastructure widely available and with high rates of internet use by businesses and individuals alike. The three countries are also among the front-runners when it comes to the utilisation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the public sector and have all showed significant achievements related to the digital transformation of public services production and delivery. Although many factors may account for their successes, what is the role played by their strategic approach to governance and inter-governmental cooperation models? How have governance and multi-stakeholder coordination and cooperation approach influences the success of the digital transformation and boost innovations in each of the three cases? The initial findings of this paper support academic that the digital transformation of the public sector largely depends on the focus, governance and intergovernmental coordination and cooperation. Specifically in guiding the use of ICT in building an efficient and user-oriented whole-of-government ecosystem for public service production and delivery. The analysis finds that a strong governance model with clear roles and responsibilities of all institutions complement with formal cross-sectoral bodies for decision-making and ensuring inter-governmental coordination and cooperation are essential for successful digital transformation. High levels of inclusiveness on across all levels of government, society and end-user groups is seen as a positive factor in all three countries. As a result, the success rate of the implementation of their respective ICT/Digital/eGovernment strategies is high, resulting with successful development of the ICT infrastructure, roll-out of key enablers, interoperability systems, technical and legal standards that allowed them as global leaders to move towards real user-centric, integrated service production and delivery. However, to verify the findings, this paper also identifies a set of “leap-frogging” countries for further research.