Competences That Foster Digital Transformation of Public Administrations: An Austrian Case Study

Noella Edelmann (), Ines Mergel and Thomas Lampoltshammer
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Noella Edelmann: Department for E-Governance and Administration, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria
Ines Mergel: Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
Thomas Lampoltshammer: Department for E-Governance and Administration, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria

Administrative Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Digitalisation has changed society, and, as a result, public administrations are required to undergo significant changes to satisfy emergent societal needs. These changes impact all areas of the public sector, including the development and provision of digital services, the design of processes, and the development of policy. To implement the digital strategies and transformation requirements, public administrations must rethink the competences that their workforce as well as the external stakeholders may need. To understand how one nation implements its digital strategy and upskills its civil servants, we conducted a qualitative analysis of 41 Austrian expert interviews. The research shows that different stakeholders require a variety of competences to participate in the digital transformation of its processes and services. The results demonstrate the high level of diversity and the need for a holistic approach to tackle the complexity of the digital public sector, where leadership plays the most important role. In addition, the study shows that the use of competence frameworks for measurement and monitoring needs to be adapted to the local context.

Keywords: digital transformation; competences; public administrations; qualitative research; Austria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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