Information systems have been implemented in public administration (PA) all over the world, and information and communication technology (ICT) is now considered the key factor to make governance more productive, effective and efficient. In Viet Nam, where is the context of this study, ICT has been viewed as the key of public administration reform (PAR) process. However, the computerisation in public organisation often been seen merely as providing automated tools for storing, processing and dissemination information in order to replace the paperwork system. The ICT systems have never been designed with the aim of enhancing the interaction with information. The aim of this research is to explore the information interaction, defined as the user’s behaviour in relation to the information and reflect of the information on the user’s experience, and the contribution of understanding information interaction to the development of an information-driven ICT strategy in government organisations.

This research investigates the implementation of e-government systems in Dubai, as seen through and shaped by the lived experiences of ICT professionals who work in the public sector. The research employs a conceptual lens based on Fountain’s technology enactment framework for e-government. This is used to capture the discursive relationship between institutional arrangements within the UAE’s public sector and enacted technology. Concepts of sensemaking and enactment are used to explore the local perceptions and actions of ICT professionals drawing on both new and existing institutional resources. The research draws on the case study of one of the largest public sector organizations in Dubai that was engaged with the implementation of e-government projects in the period of 1999-2007. The research explores the lived experiences of ICT professionals working on the planning, development and management of e-government systems and their responses to events over the course of the project. The research focuses on key events during three definitive time periods: The beginning of the e-government project; progress in the implementation of the project and finally the closure of the project and starting the new. The implementation of the e-government project is informed by these lived experiences that occur within and relate to wider institutional dynamics. Namely, the dynamics as new public management and e-government encounter local traditions of bureaucracy and socio-cultural norms of the UAE’s public sector. The research shows how micro level interactions are part of an on-going process of appropriating the newly arrived formats for e-government. The main argument in this thesis is that the ICT staff’s actions respond to dynamics between new and existing institutions and this substantially contributes to the emergence and shaping of locally meaningful ICT innovations in Dubai’s public sector. The research adds to the limited body of exploratory studies of e-government implementation that are based on a social constructivist view. The research further extends the discourse on globalization and ICTs by discussing how the influences of disembedded global institutions take form within local contexts and shape e-government projects.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are becoming increasing relevant in policy making and governance activities. However, the broad effects of digital governance have not been adequately conceptualised; conflicting assumptions vary from rather optimistic accounts of empowered citizens to even completely dismissing the potential of engagement through technical means. This research attempts to reposition the impact of ICTs on policy making and political communities. Drawing from institutional studies, an integrated perspective is synthesised to guide case investigations in three main directions: (1) the way influences from the institutional environment are understood and balanced locally, (2) the co-evolution of institutional and technological configurations and (3) the dynamic response of institutional actors to the challenge of online engagement. The empirical part focuses on two different contexts (local government authorities and a trade union federation) that cover the holistic objective of this study. The findings inform on the extent to which ICTs are actually merging with existing governance structures. Both studies show that policy making is fundamentally different from other activities at the general intersection of Internet and politics. Citizens form online communities to organise ad hoc around single issue movements. However, this does not necessarily translate into sustainable and meaningful participation in formal politics. Hence, adapting institutional structures emerges as a complicated challenge beyond fitting technical means into existing engagement activities. On this basis, the thesis questions the extent to which policy making mechanisms are able to enact engagement from the grassroots, as for example encouraged by the social media collaboration philosophy. Implications for practice show how the alignment between new tools and the existing norms has the potential to identify paths of least resistance, and then exploit them to accomplish positives changes whose beneficial effects should not be taken for granted.