Conference proceeding
Choices and challenges in e-government field force automation projects: insights from case studies
Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Theory and practice of electronic governance, v 232, pp 408-416
10 Dec 2007
Abstract
Field Force Automation (FFA) has been introduced as the summary term for the redesign of workflows and business processes in the field by means of fully mobile wirelessly connected technologies and applications. In practice, governments around the world have increasingly begun to explore the potential of FFA by equipping field crews with mobile technologies and applications. FFA in government promises substantial gains in crew productivity and information quality in on-site decision making. However, as in the case of other far-reaching technology-enabled changes in the past, FFA requires numerous technical, organizational, and social adjustments to reach the targeted potential. We have studied the case of a US city government that introduced FFA in its public utilities service units a while ago. While FFA lives up to promise in some areas, it does not so in others. Based on the analyses of the work context and the FFA uses, we have developed a set of recommendations for improving both the technical and organizational sides of the FFA approach. While some recommendations might be case-specific, others appear to apply to e-Government FFA in general. In this paper, we detail and discuss the choices that governments may face in FFA projects. The contribution of this paper is that it helps guide other FFA projects. The paper also adds to the academic understanding of the challenges and choices in e-Government FFA.
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10 citations in Scopus
Details
- Title
- Choices and challenges in e-government field force automation projects
- Creators
- Hans J (Jochen) Scholl - University of WashingtonShuhua Liu - University of WashingtonRaya Fidel - University of WashingtonKristene Unsworth - University of Washington
- Contributors
- Tomasz Janowski (Editor) - United Nations UniversityTheresa A. Pardo (Editor) - Center for Technology in Government
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Theory and practice of electronic governance, v 232, pp 408-416
- Conference
- ICEGOV '07: International conference on theory and practice in electronic governance (2007)
- Series
- ACM Other Conferences
- Publisher
- ACM
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Criminology and Justice Studies; Center for Public Policy
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-77953734561
- Other Identifier
- 991021864985604721