1 s2.0 S0740624X23000151 Main

Government Information Quarterly 40 (2023) 101815
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Government Information Quarterly

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf
Digital government transformation as an organizational response to the

COVID-19 pandemic
Birgit Moser-Plautz a, Lisa Schmidthuber b, *
a
University of Klagenfurt, Universitaetsstrasse 65-67, 9020 Klagenfurt am Woerthersee, Austria
b
WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Vienna, Austria
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Many public organizations struggle to adapt to digital transformation. Whereas previous research has identified
Public innovation internal drivers of change, an unpredictable factor from the external environment such as the COVID-19
Crisis pandemic can trigger public innovation. In this study, we aim to investigate if and how the COVID-19
Digital transformation
pandemic has influenced the digital government transformation. In more detail, we explore how the COVID-
Federal Administration
Digital technology
19 pandemic has affected different organizational aspects that are expected to be affected by a digital trans
formation. Findings from case studies of ten organizations from the Austrian federal administration indicate that
the pandemic has not only led to an increased use of technological means but also influenced various organi
zational aspects such as employees’ attitudes toward technology and organizational culture toward innovation.
In particular, organizations heavily affected by the pandemic have benefited from a greater degree of digital
transformation. Consequently, the pandemic has influenced a spirit of innovation and accelerated the speed of
digital transformation.
1. Introduction civic hackathons to face associated challenges together with citizens

(Gama, 2021; Vermicelli, Cricelli, & Grimaldi, 2021), and social media
The COVID-19 pandemic has enormously influenced the lives of in apps were used to inform and engage citizens (Criado, Guevara-Gómez,
dividuals and organizations at the global level. Lockdowns and related & Villodre, 2020; Sandoval-Almazan & Valle-Cruz, 2021). Apart from
social distancing measures have tremendously changed the working that, public employees were asked to continue their tasks from home,
practices in almost all sectors. Many organizations asked their em which changed their working practices within a few days, resulting in
ployees to work from home or had to reduce employees’ working hours significant consequences for public service delivery (Edelmann,
as production or service delivery was restricted due to social distancing Schossboeck, & Albrecht, 2021; Garcia-Contreras, Munoz-Chavez, Valle-
measures. In crises such as pandemics, public authorities play a signif Cruz, Ruvalcaba-Gomez, & Becerra-Santiago, 2021). Considering that
icant role in coordinating the response, minimizing the extent of dam service delivery in many public organizations is not as technologically
age, and enabling recovery (Boin, Hart, Stern, & Sundelius, 2016). advanced as in other service organizations, the sudden change in
The pandemic can be understood as an unpredictable factor from the working practices has resulted in pressure to innovate and find new
external environment that has put pressure on organizations to change, ways of organizing in a short period.
like a sudden shock or a disaster (Danielsen, 2021; Gabryelczyk, 2020; Previous research identified external drivers as “the main motivation
Reina, Ventura, Cristofaro, & Vesperi, 2022). This factor has affected not for organizational transformation” (Tangi, Janssen, Benedetti, & Noci,
just certain organizational levels or aspects but the organization as a 2020), triggered by the pressure and sense of urgency to change. How
whole. In many cases, the government’s response to the pandemic was a ever, we lack an understanding of how crises drive innovation adoption
digital one (Lee-Geiller, Lee, & David, 2022; Park, Richards, & Reedy, in general (e.g., De Vries, Bekkers, & Tummers, 2016) and how the
2022; Polzer & Goncharenko, 2021; Wanckel, 2022). For example, cit COVID-19 pandemic as an external factor has influenced the organiza
izens were requested to collaborate with the government to trace con tional transformation toward a digital government in particular. A dig
tacts via digital apps (Lin, Carter, & Liu, 2021), governments organized ital government is related to “new styles of leadership, new decision-
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (B. Moser-Plautz), [email protected] (L. Schmidthuber).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2023.101815
Received 18 August 2022; Received in revised form 11 March 2023; Accepted 12 March 2023
Available online 15 March 2023
0740-624X/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
B. Moser-Plautz and L. Schmidthuber Government Information Quarterly 40 (2023) 101815
making processes, different ways of organizing and delivering services, Steccolini, 2020). At the same time, the legalistic Rechtsstaat (« rule of
and new concepts of citizenship” (Gil-Garcia, Dawes, & Pardo, 2018, p. law ») tradition with bureaucratic governance is of ongoing relevance
634). Accordingly, the use of modern information and communication (Leixnering, Schikowitz, & Meyer, 2016). While the implementation of
technologies should not only improve the quality of service delivery but management practices in the public sector is in accordance with the
also stimulate citizen participation and increase government account ideas of New Public Management (NPM), Austria is categorized as a
ability through transparent information. “latecomer” in terms of NPM-type reforms (Polzer & Seiwald, 2021).
Taking an organizational perspective, we aim to explore how the Whereas the willingness to change can be considered contained within
COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the digital government trans the context of Austrian public administration, it is particularly inter
formation and, therefore, investigate how organizations have responded esting to study innovative behavior in times of crisis.
to the COVID-19 pandemic. In more detail, we investigate different
organizational aspects that are expected to be affected by a digital 2. Theoretical background
transformation. We thereby build on the digital transformation litera
ture (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020; Mergel, Edelmann, & Haug, Modern information and communication technologies provide new
2019; Tangi, Janssen, Benedetti, & Noci, 2021) and argue that digital possibilities for government at different levels to innovate service de
transformation does not only involve the implementation of digital livery, intensify relationships with citizens, and integrate external actors
technology but refers to changes in both the technical and social sys in the co-production of public services (Ingrams, Kaufmann, & Jacobs,
tems. Accordingly, we study government transformation as a holistic 2020; Mergel, 2015; Moon, 2020), resulting in the emergence of gov
process that involves changes in all organizational aspects. Based on ernment digitalization at different degrees at the national and interna
these results, we explore if and how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted tional level (Edelmann & Mergel, 2021; Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga,
the digital government transformation. 2020; Ingrams, Manoharan, Schmidthuber, & Holzer, 2020). This
To examine digital government transformation, we draw on the transformation process triggered by the potential of digital technologies
Austrian public sector and conduct ten case studies representing is summarized under the term “digital transformation.”
different organizations in the Austrian federal administration. Austria’s At the organizational level, the transformation comprises reorgan
response to the COVID-19 outbreak is particularly interesting to study, izing existing processes, procedures, structures, and services (Tangi
as the country was one of the “First Mover” countries that introduced et al., 2021). The concept of “digital transformation” has to be distin
strict measures relatively early (Shields, 2020). Due to a sharp increase guished from the concept of “e-government,” as the transformation goes
in infected cases, a strict lockdown was introduced on March 16th, 2020, beyond adopting new technologies toward redesigning organizational
several weeks earlier than in many other European countries. Unlike in aspects, including structures, operations, and the culture of government
other federal countries, the Austrian federal government has taken a (Omar, Weerakkody, & Daowd, 2020; Tangi et al., 2021). Digital
unified public health response due to epidemic laws prioritizing the transformation involves a change in the technical system and changes in
central level in such circumstances (Czypionka & Reiss, 2021). At the the social system involving cultural and organizational aspects (Mergel
same time, despite Austria’s progress in digital transformation, several et al., 2019). Digital transformation is thus to be distinguished from
European countries outperform the country’s digital performance (Eu digitization, in which switching from analog to digital services involves
ropean Commission, 2022). Consequently, there is a need to advance a 1:1 change in the delivery mode and the addition of a technological
toward a digital government. channel of delivery, and digitalization, i.e., “potential changes in the
By understanding the influence of the pandemic on digital govern processes beyond mere digitizing of existing processes and forms”
ment transformation, we contribute threefold to previous literature: (Mergel et al., 2019, p. 12).
First, we contribute to research on governance in the digital age and the The status of digital government greatly varies across countries
determinants of digital government transformation by illustrating how (Ingrams, Manoharan, et al., 2020), within countries, and between de
external pressure makes organizations transform (Gil-Garcia et al., partments (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020). This indicates that the
2018). Previous research has already investigated the factors explaining success of implementing digital government is multifactorial, as already
organizational transformation (Tangi et al., 2020, 2021), and there are shown by previous research (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020). For
some first studies shedding light on the changes in a public organiza example, managerial activities can drive the transformation of digital
tional context attributed to the pandemic such as remote working government (Tangi et al., 2021); political support improves the success
practices (Garcia-Contreras et al., 2021; Reina et al., 2022) and their of digital government projects (Danielsen, 2021); the availability of IT
effects on organizational and digital culture (Edelmann et al., 2021). We infrastructure facilitates the digitalization of information and services;
contribute to this literature stream by exploring how the pandemic has and individuals’ perception of the perceived usefulness and ease of use
caused changes in different organizational aspects. of the technology is decisive for technology adoption (Gil-Garcia &
Second, we provide insights into the process of digital transformation Flores-Zúñiga, 2020). Investigating the digital transformation process of
projects using an organizational lens, thereby responding to a call by Dutch public administration, Tangi et al. (2020) found that the main
Mergel et al. (2019). We identify the organizational aspects that have motivation for organizational transformation is external drivers such as
been changed in response to the pandemic and investigate how the external pressure, legal obligations, or expectations from external ac
pandemic has influenced the progress made in digital government tors. In the Italian context, Tangi et al. (2021) highlighted the impor
transformation (Gabryelczyk, 2020). In addition, by comparing the level tance of support from politicians in organizational transformation,
of digital transformation in different Austrian organizations, we can whereas cultural factors did not impact digital government
analyze how the organizational context and environment affect the transformation.
progress in digital transformation. From an analytical perspective, we Next to organizational characteristics and in line with the Technol
thus explain the success of digital government by examining govern ogy Enactment Framework (Gil-Garcia, 2012), the organizational envi
ment organizational practices rather than citizens’ adoption of digital ronment such as political, social, and economic conditions can affect
government. government activities and institutional arrangements, which directly
Third, we provide empirical insights into the organizational re influence the success of digital government (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga,
sponses to a crisis by studying different organizations of the Austrian 2020). In 2020, the coronavirus disease pressured governments world
public administration. The Austrian public administration is especially wide at different levels to take measures (Eom & Lee, 2022; Kim, 2021;
interesting, as Austria can be described as a Neo-Weberian state model Polzer & Goncharenko, 2021). Several case studies have highlighted the
of administration, which is characterized by the adoption of managerial significant role of digital governance in helping to meet these challenges
elements and a performance orientation (Korac, Saliterer, Sicilia, & (Lee, Lee, & Liu, 2021; Lee-Geiller et al., 2022). Beyond this necessity to
2
respond to the crisis and find responses to urgent problems, we argue obtain accounts from those experiencing the phenomenon of theoretical
that this urgency in implementing digital solutions will likely have interest, thereby following an interpretive paradigm that focuses on
multiplier effects on different organizational aspects. subjective perceptions and meanings assigned to them by individuals (e.
In line with the comprehensive and integrative view of government g., Kidd, 2002).
transformation, digital transformation is not only characterized by
adopting new technological tools but by a change throughout all orga 3.1. Research context
nizational aspects (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020; Tangi et al., 2021).
Digital government transformation can thus be understood as “second- The Austrian federal administration was chosen as a research
order organizational changes enabled by digital technologies trans context, which is an interesting case due to three reasons: First, the
forming the way organizations are structured and organized and Austrian federal government has taken a significant role in responding
resulting in a new state, from the point of view of processes, culture, to the pandemic (Czypionka & Reiss, 2021) and is also responsible for
roles, relationships, and possibly all aspects of the organization” (Tangi coordinating the digital transformation of the public sector. As the ten
et al., 2021, p. 2). While transformation is triggered by technological organizations are part of the Austrian federal administration, we refer to
means, it also influences organizational and social elements, which is the characteristics of the Austrian federal administration. Second, as a
why we understand organizations as complex socio-technical systems “First Mover” country, Austria took early and strict COVID-19 measures
(Bostrom & Heinen, 1977; Tangi et al., 2021). To capture the depth and (Shields, 2020). The COVID-19 situation in Austria is described in this
width of digital government transformation, all elements that charac section. Third, Austria has already progressed in digital transformation.
terize digital transformation must be considered, so it is essential to However, several European countries especially recently outperformed
cover changes in all these organizational aspects (Tangi et al., 2021). the country’s digital performance (European Commission, 2022), which
Table 1 gives an overview of the organizational aspects that are ex illustrates the need to advance toward a digital government.
pected to be affected by a digital transformation (Eom & Lee, 2022; Gil-
Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020; Mergel et al., 2019; Tangi et al., 2021; 3.1.1. Characteristics of the Austrian federal administration
Vial, 2019). First, this concerns the tasks and processes that can be According to the Austrian constitution, Austria is a federal state. The
specified by the type, technology, and competencies needed to perform federal government is in charge of the judicial system, responsible for
the task. Second, an individual such as a public employee, is responsible the police and military, and in control of public accounts and the
for carrying out the task. This person can be characterized by their at administration of public funds on all levels of government (Bußjäger &
titudes toward the tasks, motivation to work, experience, and compe Schramek, 2020). The nine state governments (Vienna is both state and
tencies. Third, the employee’s work process is influenced by local government) exercise power within their own legislative and
organizational resources and structures such as technological and administrative autonomy and on behalf of the federal government
financial resources and a strategy for digital transformation. Fourth, (Hammerschmid & Meyer, 2005).
resource availability relates to organizational culture such as organiza More than 361,000 employees (full-time equivalent) are working at
tional regulations, relationships, and pressures. the federal (135,840), state (146,695), or local (78,865) government
level (BMKÖS, 2022), which is about 17% of total employment. The
3. Research design Austrian public administration is challenged by demographic change, as
more than 35% of central government employees are 55 years of age or
To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital older and thus will retire within the next 10 years (OECD, 2021).
government transformation, we conducted ten case studies representing
different organizations in the Austrian federal administration. A case 3.1.2. COVID-19 situation in Austria
study approach allows for connecting theory and empirical evidence As was the case with other European countries, Austria was affected
(Yin, 2009), where we can explore the phenomena that emerge from the by the coronavirus from March 2020 onwards. As illustrated in the on
data at hand and incorporate useful concepts from previous research. A line supplementary material, the first confirmed COVID-19 case was
multiple case study research approach (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2009) reported in Austria at the end of February 2020. In mid-March 2020, the
allows for comparing and contrasting the effects of the COVID-19 Austrian government introduced the first lockdown measures, including
pandemic in the different cases against each other and against the restrictions on outdoor activities, social distancing measures, and rec
theoretical background. We apply a qualitative research approach to ommendations for telework. First shops were reopened in mid-April, and
measures were eased in mid-May. Summer 2020, with a few cases, was
Table 1 followed by the second wave, with a sharp increase in infections in
Organizational aspects influenced by digital government transformation. autumn 2020. Consequently, the government has introduced several
measures over the winter months. At the start of 2021, citizens were
Organizational Definition Examples
aspects offered a free COVID-19 vaccination, which was accepted in the
beginning. However, the vaccination rate stagnated at around 60% in
Tasks & Characteristics of the tasks Level of client interaction,
Processes and processes level of standardization, type
the summer of 2021. In addition to the vaccination campaign, the
of task Austrian government extended the offer to be tested for COVID-19.
Individual Characteristics of the Attitudes toward using Citizens could test regularly and free of charge using both anti-gene
individual’s duties and technology, technological and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests until spring 2022, when the
competences needed to knowledge, experience with
offer was restricted to a certain number of free monthly tests. Using the
perform the task digital services
Resources & Characteristics of the Availability of infrastructure, green pass app, individuals needed to show their test, vaccination, or
Structures organizational resources and management and political recovery certificates when entering a restaurant or their workplace
structures available to support, financial resources, (from November 2021 to March 2022). Additional information on the
perform the task strategy for digital COVID-19 situation in Austria and details on the number of confirmed
transformation, system
integration
COVID-19 cases over time are illustrated in the online supplementary
Culture Organizational regulations Communication within and material.
and values between government units,
leadership culture, internal 3.1.3. Status of digital government in Austria
pressure
Austria is ranked 15th in the 2020 E-Government Development Index
Sources: Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga, 2020; Tangi et al., 2021. of the United Nations (United Nations, 2020) and 6th among 36
3
European countries according to the eGovernment Benchmark (Euro organizational characteristics, and the extent to which they were
pean Commission, 2021). Austria is described as a country where citi affected by the pandemic. In analyzing how the COVID-19 pandemic
zens and businesses can complete almost all public services online and influences different organizational aspects, we first have to understand
rarely need to visit a government building (European Commission, the context of these organizations, as situational opportunities and
2021). “Digital public services” is the Digital Economy and Society Index constraints “affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational
(DESI) dimension that Austria performs best in and ranks 10th among EU behavior as well as the functional relationships between variables”
countries (European Commission, 2022). The Austrian federal admin (Johns, 2006, p. 386).
istration has an official web portal (österreich.gv.at), which is an The external context refers to political and environmental variables
interagency platform where citizens can find information on adminis such as a pandemic that is related to political decisions (Mergel, 2019).
trative topics and complete selected public services online. Another The ten cases, however, vary in the degree to which they were respon
platform, particularly for businesses, is the Business Service Portal (usp. sible for facing challenges and being affected by the pandemic. The
gv.at), and one for financial administration services is the “FinanzOn Federal Chancellery (Case A) communicated COVID-related topics to
line” portal (see also Edelmann & Mergel, 2021; Scholta, Mertens, citizens and coordinated the vaccination campaign. The Federal Minis
Kowalkiewicz, & Becker, 2019). Responsible for digital government is try for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and
the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (responsibilities Technology (Case B) was working partly remotely already before the
changed mid-2022), which cooperates with different actors and groups pandemic and was responsible for developing specific COVID-related
such as the BRZ (Austrian Federal Computing Center, a privatized IT regulations in terms of traffic. The Federal Ministry for Digital and
service provider), Chief Digitalization Officers Taskforce (installed in Economic Affairs (Case C) was supporting businesses in facing the
every ministry), coordination boards for digital administration, and DIA challenges related to the pandemic, and the Federal Ministry of Finance
(digitalization agency). (Case E) was dealing with COVID-related benefits for businesses. The
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (Case D) organized
measures for schools and educational institutions. The Federal Ministry
3.2. Case description
of Interior (Case F) and the police were concerned with controlling
citizens’ adherence to rules and standards. Furthermore, the increasing
We conducted ten case studies of organizations in the Austrian fed
workload of the police was also related to the high number of demon
eral administration. For choosing the ten organizations, we followed a
strations against COVID-related measures and vaccination policies. The
polar-type approach where extreme cases were selected. Thus, the cases
Federal Ministry of Labour (Case G) was confronted with a large volume
are useful for illuminating changes in different organizational aspects,
of unemployed people and had to register for COVID-related short-time
and we expected a contribution to our research aim (e.g., Eisenhardt &
work (“Kurzarbeit”). Especially the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs,
Graebner, 2007). Organizations were selected based on their varying
Health, Care and Consumer Protection (Case I) and the Public Employ
involvement or roles during the pandemic, differing number of services
ment Service (Case H) were greatly involved in organizing measures to
for stakeholders, and differing levels of face-to-face contact.
protect individuals from health risks and unemployment. Finally, the
Table 2 provides an overview of the organizations analyzed, their
Table 2
Overview on case studies.
Case Name of the organization Organizational characteristics (pre-COVID) Role during pandemic
Infrastructure Telework culture Services to Face-to-face

stakeholders contact with
stakeholders
A Federal Chancellery On-site Uncommon Low Low Citizen-government communication;

COVID vaccination
B Federal Ministry for Climate Partly mobile Common Low Low Special regulations in terms of traffic
Action, Environment,
Energy, Mobility,
Innovation and Technology
C Federal Ministry for Digital Partly mobile Uncommon Intermediate Low Supporting businesses
and Economic Affairs (responsible for
offering e-services)
D Federal Ministry of On-Site (Education)/ Partly common (in High High COVID-related measures in schools; corona
Education, Science and mobile (Science and central bonus
Research Research) administration)
E Federal Ministry of Finance Mobile Uncommon High Intermediate COVID-related benefits for businesses
(‘Ausfallbonus’, ‘Corona Hilfsfonds’)
F Federal Ministry of Interior Mobile (police), on- Pilot project High High Police to control measures; demonstrations;
site (central entry regulations
administration)
G Federal Ministry of Labour Partly mobile Uncommon Low Low High number of unemployed, COVID-related
short-time working
H Public Employment Service Partly mobile Uncommon High High Registering high number of unemployed
people;
Registering COVID-related short-time
working (‘Kurzarbeit’)
I Federal Ministry of Social Mobile (social Partly common Intermediate Low Reporting of COVID infections, COVID-
Affairs, Health, Care and affairs), on-site related measures, COVID anti-gene and PCR
Consumer Protection (health care) test infrastructure, COVID vaccination,
contact tracing, mask mandate, vaccine
mandate, bonus for health workers
J Austrian Court of Audit Mobile Common Low Low Providing information on as well as auditing
of financial aid measures
Sources: Websites of the ministries and organizations, Interview data.
4
Austrian Court of Audit (Case J) that was used to remote work was insights when necessary (Eisenhardt, 1989). An informed consent form
responsible for providing information and auditing financial aid was signed by the interviewer and the interviewee beforehand, with
measures. information on the purpose of the study, data protection, and confi
Next to the organizations’ role in tackling the challenges of the dentiality, declaring that the actual identity of the interviewee would
pandemic, we provide some more internally contextual information on not be revealed.
the organizations’ infrastructure, telework culture, number of services The interviews are blended with data collected online—articles in
to stakeholders, and degree of face-to-face contact with stakeholders in newspapers and news and blogs on government websites. This included
Table 2 (additional information on the cases can be found in online reports and strategy documents like the digitalization report and the
supplementary material). Although telework was already possible pre- digital action plan for Austria from the website Digital Austria for in
COVID according to public service law, it was only used by a small formation on the overall federal administration but also documents from
proportion of employees (Gabmayer, Dohnal, & Luczensky, 2019), the specific case organizations such as the “8-Point Plan for Digital
which is also reflected in the interview data regarding telework culture. Learning” from the website of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science
and Research. In addition to interviewing experts in different positions,
3.3. Data collection the triangulation of primary and secondary data helped build the cases
from different perspectives.
The case studies are built on document analysis and semi-structured
interviews with 17 public managers (such as Chief Information Officers, 3.4. Data coding and analytical method
Chief Digitalization Officers, and department heads) in the selected case
organizations, one representative of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Cul With the permission of the interviewees, all interviews were recor
ture, the Civil Service and Sport, and one representative of a privatized ded, full transcriptions were produced, and they were coded using
IT service provider who have expertise and experience in the area of MAXQDA qualitative analysis software. Our method was a qualitative
digitalization at the federal administration level. In total, 19 interviews content analysis of the interview transcripts; therefore, the coding
were conducted. scheme was derived from the theoretical background following a
The interviewees are highly knowledgeable informants with posi deductive approach (Mayring, 2014). We chose a deductive approach,
tions at higher levels of the hierarchy “who view the focal phenomena since there is relevant previous research on digital transformation (e.g.,
from diverse perspectives” (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007, p. 28) and are Mergel et al., 2019), digital government, and organizations as complex
thus able to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. The five socio-technical systems (e.g., Tangi et al., 2021) that can be used to
interviewees of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, in operationalize our research aim into categories.
particular, provided information not only about their own ministry but Consequently, we followed the steps of deductive category assign
about all ministries since they were involved in the formulation and ment (Mayring, 2014) and defined the main categories and sub
implementation of digitalization projects in the whole federal adminis categories prior to the analysis based on the theoretical background and
tration. Information about the federal administration as a whole was previous literature. The main categories are the organizational aspects
also provided by the interviewees of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Cul that can be influenced by digital government transformation (i.e., tasks
ture, the Civil Service and Sport, the privatized IT service provider, and and processes; individuals; resources and structures; and culture), for
the Austrian Court of Audit. This allowed not only to get the view from which we have derived subcategories based on previous literature. In
inside the respective case organization and the outside perspective but order to capture the progression of the categories, a simple scale with
also to cross-check the answers given by interviewees (Eisenhardt & two values (change, no change) and three values (more/increased, less/
Graebner, 2007; Yin, 2009). decreased, the same) for every subcategory was developed. After a
Potential interviewees were identified through directories on the material run-through and preliminary coding of half of the transcripts,
websites of the respective departments and were contacted by email. we discussed and revised the coding scheme; since we started with very
The head of the department was asked first since, in most cases, approval detailed subcategories, we merged some of them and, where necessary,
must be given by this official anyway. In some cases, the head of the specified coding rules for an unambiguous assignment to a particular
department was available for an interview; in others, a team member subcategory. The final coding scheme with example quotes was used to
was referred to. To identify further experts within the federal adminis code all transcripts and is presented in the online supplementary ma
tration, snowball techniques (Biernacki & Waldorf, 1981) were used, i. terial, with the literature from which we derived the code. For consis
e., respondents were asked for other people they knew who could pro tency, each transcript was coded by two researchers; the coding was
vide information on the questions posed. discussed, and an agreement on the codes were reached. In total, 33
The interviews with the 19 experts were conducted in German using codes and 481 codings related to the theoretical background were
online video tools (Zoom and Skype for Business) between July and defined.
November 2021 and lasted, on average, 44 min. The open-ended ques
tions were derived from the literature in the field (e.g., Clement, Espo 4. Findings
sito, & Crutzen, 2022; De Vries et al., 2016; Fischer, Heuberger, & Heine,
2021; Mergel et al., 2019), and following the aim of this study, they The findings of our case study analyses are presented as follows: In
covered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital government the first part of the section, we provide an overview of the results on how
transformation. First, more generic questions about the interviewee and the pandemic has influenced the different organizational aspects (i.e.,
the respective organization were asked, followed by questions regarding tasks and processes, individuals, resources and structures, and culture).
drivers and barriers to digitalization. After going into more detail about In the second part of this section, we aggregate these level-specific
the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on, e.g., barriers, objects, and findings and conclude the degree of digital transformation of the ten
digitalization strategy, as well as if digital solutions were used to solve organizations that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted.
problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaire ended
with questions regarding the future of a digitally transformed public 4.1. Case analysis
sector (the full questionnaire can be found in the supplementary mate
rials). In addition, field notes were made for each interview to capture 4.1.1. Tasks and processes
any impression that emerged during the conversation; this overlap of Following the theoretical background, we assessed the role of the
data collection with data analysis allowed us to add questions to COVID-19 pandemic in digitalizing tasks and processes. The first factor
following interviews for cross-checking answers and obtaining more we examined was the use of technological means, i.e., the level of
5
digitalization. Although some emphasized that the employees had knowledge did not change due to the pandemic.
already always worked digitally, with the exception of one interviewee, When it comes to perceived risks and barriers, they are twofold: On
all agreed that the use of technological means and the level of digitali the one hand, most interviewees reported that perceived barriers to
zation in performing tasks and processes increased during the pandemic. adopting digital tools decreased as employees lost their fear of using
Due to the pandemic, this digitalization of tasks and processes led to digital tools.
the reengineering of existing processes and was less of a 1:1 translation
[…] I think people have understood that the opportunities it [digitaliza
of analog to digital ones. To implement certain tasks and processes to
tion] offers far outweigh what might once have been seen as a danger. I
fight the pandemic, collaboration between different levels of govern
think that understanding has set in, yes. (Case C, Federal Ministry for
ment increased but also posed a barrier to implementation. Also, the
Digital and Economic Affairs; Interviewee 6).
level of standardization increased when it came to using communication
tools. Only one interviewee reported that the problems and challenges did
The pandemic caused an increase in the duration or frequency of not change. But another interesting aspect that an interviewee
certain tasks related to fighting the pandemic, e.g., monitoring systems mentioned was that the pandemic made employees claim digitalization.
for COVID-19 cases and financial support for families, where the orga This, however, also means that those incapable of using digital tools are
nizations applied digital technologies to process the high number of increasing under pressure, and their fear has increased enormously. On
applications. the other hand, risk awareness for cyber security and information se
curity increased among employees. They learned that connecting their
But yes, that was also one of the things that was quite deliberately initi
laptop to any public network and sharing content in video calls is
ated by Corona, that is, that work was done here with comprehensive tools
different from meeting people in person.
and very modern approaches to artificial intelligence in order to achieve
rapid results so that the people who really urgently needed the money in […] that one becomes clearly more aware of the dangers, where perhaps
this phase could have their applications processed positively as quickly as before the focus was not on it. (Case C, Federal Ministry for Digital and
possible. (Case G, Federal Ministry of Labour; Interviewee 3). Economic Affairs; Interviewee 6).
Furthermore, a digital identity (“Handy-Signatur”) was required to Changes in the perceived ease of use were mentioned only rarely by
access the green pass. Due to the high frequency of the task and the the interviewees. Two mentioned that employees liked that tasks were
increasing level of client interaction, chatbots were implemented to help getting easier, faster, and more efficient. In contrast, perceived useful
citizens with their inquiries. The level of client interaction decreased in ness was mentioned by almost all interviewees, as they observed a
areas that were characterized by a lot of face-to-face contact before the change in perception among the employees in almost all cases (except
pandemic, e.g., applying for unemployment benefits. These processes for two, where interviewees did not mention this aspect). So, by being
were handled online during the pandemic through email or the online forced to work remotely,
portal (e-AMS). As the complexity of the task increased in some cases,
[…] you’ve seen how much is actually possible and works online or
applying digital tools, e.g., artificial intelligence to knowledge man
remotely because you might not even be aware in the office of what’s
agement or combining different register data in the background to
already being done electronically. (Case F, Federal Ministry of Interior;
provide applications like the mobile phone signature, was necessary.
Interviewee 13).
In most cases, task accomplishment was perceived as unchanged,
with some exceptions, e.g., one interviewee perceived the output of the And that has led to a change in the mindset regarding digitalization
employees as higher while they were working from home, while another as useful for the employees, as one interviewee emphasized:
highlighted that those tasks where someone had to be in the office, e.g.,
The pandemic has triggered a change in the mindset of many people, and
reconstruction, were delayed.
many aspects have been understood and implemented more quickly than
Skills and competencies to perform the task did increase. This relates
would otherwise have been the case.
to the proper use of video conferences and, thereby, different codes of
(Case G, Federal Ministry of Labour; Interviewee 3)
behavior (e.g., not whispering with colleagues so that those online
cannot hear them) and how to collaborate and lead via video confer
ences and at a distance. In addition, different online courses were 4.1.3. Resources and structures
offered to increase digital competencies. While one interviewee mentioned that the number of services and
products increased constantly and was less triggered by the pandemic,
4.1.2. Individual many others brought up examples of internal services (e.g., digital
On an individual level, job satisfaction and motivation increased as communication, monitoring systems for COVID-19 cases, or dash
employees experienced that digital tools functioned well, as well as boards) and external services (e.g., the green pass or financial support
because employees were highly motivated to avoid going to the office for families) implemented due to COVID-19. At the same time, the
due to a computer problem. Some interviewees indicated that particu number of people working in the IT organization remained broadly
larly those areas and departments, which already performed well before unchanged during the pandemic due to the natural fluctuation, except in
the pandemic, got an extra motivation boost. two cases where they formed an expert team for video conferences to
ensure online communication for the ministers.
In other words, the pandemic did not drive us into innovation; the
Some interviewees reported that political support for digitalization
pandemic activated the resources we already had and, with an incredible
increased during the pandemic. Politicians were aware of the necessity
activation also of intrinsic motivations, drove employees forward. (Expert
of investing in IT infrastructure for internal applications, but the focus
from the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and
was not on newer technologies. In addition, the parliament was keen to
Sport; Interviewee 16).
monitor data protection during the pandemic. However, the increased
Most interviewees noted that as their experience with digital services public awareness of technological failure by the state made political
increased, they learned about the well-functioning tools that exist, decision-makers more risk-averse, as one interviewee highlighted.
particularly in the area of digital collaboration and communication. When it comes to financial resources, interviewees reported that
Other interviewees also emphasized that employees were forced to work partly more budget became available to modernize and keep operating
with digital tools. With this experience, their technological knowledge during the pandemic.
also increased in most cases. Some areas, e.g., the police, were used to
working remotely and with digital tools. For them, technological
6
Corona has certainly enabled us to expand our digital services even relatively short time […] (Case C, Federal Ministry for Digital and
further, and we have also been given the budget to do so. (Case C, Federal Economic Affairs; Interviewee 6).
Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs; Interviewee 7).
Also, communication with stakeholders has changed in some areas,
Not all organizations have a written strategy for digital trans as video conference tools and chatbots were used for interaction.
formation, but some at least have a plan or roadmap. These strategies Additionally, a real change to the digital opening hours for the public
were partly affected by COVID-19 as priorities have changed; only in was discussed.
two cases were no effects perceived by the interviewees. On the one side, Interviewees perceived pressure from the public as expectations for
less time was available for not immediately necessary projects, which faster implementation of digital services have increased. An example is
resulted in a delay. On the other hand, the adoption, implementation, or the green pass app, accessible through a mobile phone signature. While
concretization of other projects important during the pandemic were the demand for this tool increased rapidly, citizens started to show in
accelerated. terest in other digital services as stated here:
The strategy is always based on this [government program], and it is also And that helps us a lot, which is, of course, a driver in digitization, that
very flexible, changes, of course, and must be able to adapt. And it’s quite people have found all these e-government services via the green pass.
clear that this digitalization boom, which Corona has now triggered, is (Case C, Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs; Inter
now accelerating many products if I can describe it that way. (Case C, viewee 7).
Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs; Interviewee 7).
Yet, with increased demand comes an increased awareness of the
In all cases, interviewees reported that more technology was avail public and its critical eye. In offering the green pass, interviewees
able to their organizations. This was mainly triggered by teleworking, perceived that small technical malfunctions were scandalized and
which meant that employees needed to work remotely and organiza considered a failure of the state in digitalization efforts.
tions had to provide laptops, mobile phones, and software for video When it comes to information security, interviewees indicated that
conferences. This shift toward mobile workplaces with docking stations working remotely and holding video conferences was a challenge at the
was related to a procurement challenge: beginning of the pandemic. In addition to an increased awareness of
information security among employees, from a technical perspective,
So, that was one of the big challenges, making people ready for mobile
the organizations were able to get safe systems to connect laptops and
work and also equipping them with correspondingly IT-secure devices.
safe video conference tools conforming to the general data protection
(Case I, Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Con
regulation (GDPR).
sumer Protection; Interviewee 15).
Regulations such as government-wide standardization of solutions
Nevertheless, the situation remained unchanged in areas of newer for digital information and services have slowly increased, and the
technologies (artificial intelligence, robotics) or for departments or or pandemic has highlighted the need for IT consolidation in the federal
ganizations with laptops and licenses for video conferences before the administration.
pandemic.
Furthermore, institutional arrangements, particularly laws and reg
4.2. Case evaluation
ulations, have changed to enable teleworking or offering services online.
As a country governed by the rule of law, every management change
Table 3 provides a summary of findings and indicates whether and
taking place necessitates a legal change; thus, interviewees reported
how these organizational aspects have changed since March 2020, the
that, e.g., the public service law was changed quite quickly to allow
start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. Based on the interviews,
working from home.
subcategories were classified as change or no change to represent in
The aspects of system integration were only rarely mentioned by
crease/decrease or no change, respectively. In some cases, for example,
interviewees. They stated that new infrastructure (laptops and mobile
interviewees reported that one aspect of a subcategory changed while
phones) needed to be integrated into the existing architecture, video
another did not, which is indicated as a change or no change in Table 3.
conferences needed to be hosted constantly and with different systems,
The aggregation of the findings allows one to assess the level of digital
and data architecture in the background was needed to set up processes.
government transformation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We
distinguish between four levels of digital government transformation: A
4.1.4. Culture
low level of digital transformation is defined as changes in single ele
Pressure from inside (from employees) to digitalize increased. An
ments of a few organizational aspects only. A medium level points to
interviewee reported that there was a high interest in digitalizing
changes in a few elements of a few organizational aspects, whereas a
additional processes. Furthermore, interviewees reported that the
high level refers to changes in elements of all organizational aspects. An
organizational culture became more innovative:
advanced level of digital transformation refers to changes in all orga
And I would say that the Austrian federal administration is a tanker, a nizational aspects.
really ponderous tanker, in which innovations are initiated at some point In general, all organizations experienced a certain level of digital
through the laborious, repeated turning of the wheel and only really transformation during the pandemic. Organizations can be divided into
become apparent at some point very, very late. The pandemic has already three groups based on maturity levels: One organization experienced a
acted as a trigger here that has led to a change in mindset on the part of low level of digital transformation characterized by changes in indi
many people, and many aspects have simply been understood and vidual skills and competencies, resources, and communication channels
implemented more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. only. In this organization, mobile infrastructure was already available,
(Case G, Federal Ministry of Labour; Interviewee 3). and a teleworking culture was established, combined with a low degree
of face-to-face services (Case J, Austrian Court of Audit).
Due to remote work, the communication within and between
The pandemic has initiated a medium-scale digital transformation in
administrative units has changed. As interviewees emphasized, most
three organizations (Cases B, E, and I), including major changes in in
changes due to the pandemic occurred in digital communication and
dividual attitudes, resources, and structure. These organizations had at
collaboration, but the administration started collaborating remotely.
least partly a mobile infrastructure, and some had an established tele
[…] we now conduct hybrid meetings as standard, and I believe that this is work culture pre-COVID (Cases I, Federal Ministry of Social Affairs,
very positive. And especially in an environment that has grown histori Health, Care and Consumer Protection, and B, Federal Ministry for
cally like the public sector, this is a change that has happened in a Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and
7
Table 3
Summary of findings.
Organizational Aspects J B E I A C D F G H
/ Code
Digital government Low Medium Medium Medium High High High High High High
transformation
Tasks & Processes

Complexity Increase Increase Increase
Client interaction Increase Decrease Decrease
Collaboration with
others necessary
Duration/frequency Increase Increase Increase
Level of standarization Increase
Reengineering of the Change/no Change/no Change/no Change Change/no Change Change Change Change/
existing processes change change change change no change
Task accomplishement No change No change No change No change No change Increase No change
Level of digitalization Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase/ Increase Increase
no change
Skills and competences Increase Increase Increase
necessary to perform
the task
Individual
Perceived usefulness Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase
Perceived ease of use No change Increase Increase Increase
Perceived risks and Decrease Decrease Increase/ Increase/ Decrease Increase/ Increase Decrease
barriers decrease/no decrease/ decrease
change no change
Technological Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase/ Increase Increase
knowledge no change
Experience with digital Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase/ Increase Increase
services no change
Motivation Increase Increase Increase Increase
Resources & Structures

Availability of Increase/ Increase/ Increase/ Increase/ Increase/no Increase/no Increase/ Increase/ Increase Increase
technology to an no change no change no change no change change change no change no change
organization
Management support Increase Increase Decrease
Political support No change Increase Decrease Increase/ Increase
decrease
Financial resources Increase Increase Increase Increase Increase
System integration Change Change Change
Strategy for digital Change No change No change Change/no Change/no Change Change Change/no Change/no Change
transformation change change change change
People working in the IT Increase No change Increase No change No change No change No change
organization
Number of services/ Increase Increase Increase Increase No change Increase Increase
products offered
Institutional Change Change Change Change/no Change Change
arrangements change
Culture
Regulations No change Increase Increase/no
change
Communication within Change Change Change Change Change Change Change
and between
government units
Communication with Change Change Change Change/no Change
stakeholder change
Leadership Change Change Change Change
Understanding of
employees’ / citizens’
roles
Information security Increase Increase/ Increase/ Increase Increase Increase/ Increase
decrease decrease/no decrease
change
Perceived internal Increase Increase
pressure
Perceived external Increase Increase Increase Increase
pressure
Innovative Change Change Change Change Change Change
organizational culture
8
Technology). However, they offered only a low to intermediate number level so that technological knowledge and the perceived usefulness of
of face-to-face services, either because they offered a low number of leveraging technology have increased, whereas perceived risks and
services in general or because their services were available online (e.g., barriers have been lowered. Furthermore, substantive changes are found
Case E, Federal Ministry of Finance). These differences might explain in terms of resources and structures such as the availability of technol
why the three cases in this group do not show any patterns in terms of ogy and a strategy for digital transformation. Consequently, the
changes in the organizational aspects. For example, three different levels pandemic seems to have initiated a more holistic change. This could be
of change in terms of resources and structures are observed, which might due to the increased awareness of the benefits and the dependence on
relate to the differences in mobile infrastructure, telework culture, and technological means in society during social distancing. Public admin
the number of face-to-face services pre-COVID. istrators did not have to convince their employees to adopt a new digital
Finally, six organizations generated a high level of digital trans way of working; instead, using innovative technological tools was the
formation described by partial changes in all four organizational as only way to communicate and complete tasks—both in the office and at
pects. Comparing these findings with the characteristics of sample home. Consequently, the pandemic has triggered organizations to
organizations pre-COVID shows that although those organizations overcome structural barriers such as financial resources and techno
(Cases A, C, D, F, G, and H) had a partly mobile infrastructure, a tele logical infrastructure and resources, and cultural barriers such as a lack
working culture was not established, and the degree of face-to-face of awareness about the value of a digital government (Wilson & Mergel,
services was high. All six organizations in this group show advanced 2022).
levels of change at the individual level and some changes with regard to Third, organizations show varying degrees of digital transformation
resources and structures. In general, organizations show varying during the crisis, depending on their pre-COVID organizational char
changes with regard to organizational aspects of culture as well as tasks acteristics and responsibilities. Those organizations that were greatly
and processes. Apart from that, there is no advanced level of digital affected by the pandemic in their face-to-face service delivery showed a
government transformation in any of the analyzed organizations. high level of digital government transformation during the crisis. For
Thus, organizations that were used to providing several services and example, in Case D, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and
a high degree of face-to-face contact with different groups of stake Research has already partly implemented mobile infrastructure and
holders have experienced a high level of digital transformation. Also, established a teleworking culture. However, their face-to-face service
cases with a low degree of face-to-face contact with stakeholders show a delivery was highly affected by the pandemic (school closure). In
high level of digital transformation when they did not have a complete contrast, organizations with many services but a lower degree of face-to-
telework infrastructure and an established telework culture and were face contact due to offering e-services report only medium digital
highly involved in fighting the pandemic. For example, the Federal transformation (e.g., Case E, the Federal Ministry of Finance). However,
Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (Case C) was responsible for even those organizations with few face-to-face services show a high
the digitalization of the administration, and the Federal Ministry of degree of digital transformation when they have little telework infra
Labour (Case G) was responsible for the labor market during the structure and culture and are involved in crisis management (e.g., Case
pandemic. These two cases also reported increased complexity and A, the Federal Chancellery). Consequently, the urgency to adapt due to
duration/frequency of tasks and processes. While other cases with organizational responsibilities put pressure on the ministries and
almost complete telework infrastructure (Cases E and J) and/or an accelerated the speed of digital transformation.
established telework culture (Cases B, I, and J) show a low to medium
digital transformation during the pandemic. This indicates that the ur 5.2. Implications
gency of adapting to the new situation has triggered public innovation.
This study has several implications for research on digital govern
5. Discussion and implications ment transformation and public innovation in general. First, we added
qualitative evidence on the effect of environmental conditions as an
5.1. Discussion explaining factor for the success of digital government. Previous
research has focused on the internal drivers of change and identified the
This study aims to understand the digital transformation of organi factors stimulating or hindering organizational change (e.g., Wilson &
zations in the Austrian federal administration during the COVID-19 Mergel, 2022). For example, we know from research on technology
pandemic and comes up with three key findings: First, the COVID-19 acceptance that employees’ perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and
pandemic has impacted the digital transformation of organizations to risks significantly influence the use of technological means (Gil-Garcia &
a different extent. The pandemic has influenced a high level of digital Flores-Zúñiga, 2020; Oschinsky, Stelter, & Niehaves, 2021). In contrast,
transformation in six of ten organizations. Consequently, this study this study shows how the pandemic, as a sudden exogenous shock, has
shows that an unpredictable factor from the external environment has triggered an organizational change. To be more specific, we have
accelerated the speed of organizational change toward digital govern analyzed ten organizations that share a similar external context (i.e., the
ment in several organizations of the federal administration (Danielsen, COVID-19 pandemic) but vary in terms of organizational context char
2021; Gabryelczyk, 2020; Reina et al., 2022; Tangi et al., 2020). acteristics and their specific role during the pandemic. Findings indicate
Although the pandemic has impacted digital transformation, no that the more the organization was affected by the pandemic, the greater
advanced level of digital transformation can be observed. This may be the transformation toward digital government, lending support to pre
explained by the time required to reorganize existing processes, pro vious literature on the significant influence of different environmental
cedures, structures, and services (Tangi et al., 2021) and finally move variables on digital government success (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga,
toward an advanced level of transformation. Beyond that, digital gov 2020; Ingrams, Manoharan, et al., 2020; Tangi et al., 2020).
ernment encompasses changes in the technical system and in the social These external pressures have then triggered a change regarding
system (Mergel et al., 2019). However, both systems were constrained internal organizational aspects. Building on the literature on public or
during the time of the pandemic. Providing adequate resources was ganizations’ adoption of digital technology (Gil-Garcia & Flores-Zúñiga,
restricted by supply shortages, and introducing a new organizational 2020; Tangi et al., 2021), we found that the pandemic has not only
culture was restricted by staff shortages due to, e.g., sick or care leave. affected the mode of working due to social distancing measures but has
Second, the pandemic has impacted different organizational aspects. influenced all organizational aspects by different degrees. Consequently,
Accordingly, the external pressure to change has translated to an in existing processes were not just translated from analog to digital, but a
crease in the level of digitalization (see Mergel et al., 2019). Beyond change involving organizational aspects such as tasks and processes,
that, however, the perceived urgency has also influenced the individual individual employees, resources and structures, and organizational
9
culture has been triggered (Gabryelczyk, 2020). While previous research practices. Consequently, exploring organizational practices over time
has shown that digital technology changes the technical system of the and understanding their long-lasting effects might be an interesting area
organization before the social system (Tangi et al., 2020), our findings for future research (Gabryelczyk, 2020).
indicate that the pandemic has influenced both systems to some degree, Finally, whereas we emphasize on if and how the pandemic has
meaning that organizations have moved beyond the digitization of influenced digital government transformation, it is beyond the scope of
services and the digitalization of processes (see Mergel et al., 2019). this study to evaluate how desirable the associated changes are
Despite the fact that technologies are used for providing information, perceived by organizational members, citizens, and society at large. As
communicating, and collaborating more intensively, findings do not Eom and Lee (2022) put it, a pertinent research area would be to analyze
indicate a digital transformation toward AI-augmented public adminis “challenges, dilemmas, paradoxes, and ambiguities” associated with the
tration (Ahn & Chen, 2022). digital government transformation.
Second, this study contributes to the literature on organizational
responses to a crisis (Comfort, Yeo, & Scheinert, 2019; Eom & Lee, 2022; 6. Conclusion
Phillips, Roehrich, & Kapletia, 2021). The pandemic has suddenly
shocked a sector that is known for a culture of risk aversion and resis The federal administration played a significant role in coordinating
tance to change (De Vries et al., 2016; Feiock, Lee, Park, & Lee, 2010), the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the introduction
resource constraints, and small innovation budgets (Borins, 2001). The of lockdown and social distancing measures, governments worldwide
COVID-19 pandemic, as a high-velocity situation, has led to organiza have offered citizens digital solutions to trace contacts and face chal
tional changes in digital practices. For example, there was a virtually lenges together. Although online platforms, new apps, and intensive
immediate increase in the use of digital technology, which facilitated the discussion on social media channels provide some indications for gov
production and dissemination of information and coordination among ernments’ digitalization, there is scant empirical research about how the
organizations and citizens. Digital transformation was especially prev pandemic has affected the digital government transformation and, thus,
alent in organizations greatly affected by the pandemic and those of government transformation beyond the technical system, including the
fering several services to stakeholders or those without a teleworking social system.
culture. Consequently, both the urgency and feasibility of using digital By taking the Austrian federal administration as a research context,
technology have influenced the digital government transformation of this study has shown that the pandemic has not just led to increased use
the Austrian federal administration. The crisis thus seems to not only of technological means among individuals but has also influenced
expose organizational shortcomings but also motivate organizations to various organizational aspects of the federal administration; in partic
enable organizational learning and reveal the unrealized potential of ular, individual aspects such as attitudes toward applying new techno
digital transformation (Christianson, Farkas, Sutcliffe, & Weick, 2009; logical means and competencies have improved. The sudden shock has
Meyer & Simsa, 2018; Phillips et al., 2021). changed people’s mindset, meaning that the benefits of using digital
means became clear, and perceived risks were reduced. Furthermore,
5.3. Limitations and directions for future research findings indicate that organizations heavily affected by the pandemic
without a telework infrastructure and culture or offering several face-to-
Some studies’ limitations are worth mentioning. First, some limita face services have benefited from a greater degree of digital trans
tions stem from the methodological approach. In general, case studies formation. Beyond that, we observe transformation processes to a lower
have certain limitations such as the tendency of interviewees to show but comparable degree in organizations unaffected by the pandemic.
socially accepted behavior or the limited generalizability due to the The pandemic has therefore influenced a spirit of innovation and
context-bound nature of the results (Yin, 2009). Consequently, the accelerated the speed of digital transformation. Consequently, the
findings should be interpreted with these limitations in mind. In addi pandemic can be seen as an incentive from an organizational perspective
tion, the number of interviews is relatively limited due to the in to take measures that would not have been considered at another time.
formants’ central and unique role. Nevertheless, we are confident that
triangulating interview data from respondents inside and outside the Author statement
cases with secondary data allowed us to achieve a rich data set to un
derstand the focal phenomenon. Birgit Moser-Plautz made a substantial contribution to this article
Second, in analyzing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the with respect to conceptualization, data collection, data analysis, and
digital transformation of the public sector, we rely on the perspective of manuscript writing. Lisa Schmidthuber made a substantial contribution
representatives of the federal administration about one year after the to this article with respect to conceptualization and manuscript writing.
pandemic started. Although our research approach allows comparing
influencing factors across organizations, a more detailed look into the Funding
transformation process of single organizations and intra-organizational
dynamics would be pertinent. Furthermore, we cannot capture the dy This work was supported by the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation
namics of digital government over the years, from the start to the end of [Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Fellowship 2021].
the pandemic in 2023, so some further research is needed.
Third, whereas understanding the perspective of the supply side of Declaration of Competing Interest
digital government is important to learn about internal challenges,
success in transforming toward digital government also depends on the The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
perspectives of the demand side. Future research is recommended to interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
combine this research with the service users’ perspective (Gil-Garcia & the work reported in this paper.
Flores-Zúñiga, 2020) such as perceptions toward digital government,
public critique of COVID-19-related measures, and citizens’ trust in the Appendix A. Supplementary data
political-administrative system. In addition, future research might focus
on adding contextual factors to the analysis (Castelnovo & Sorrentino, Supplementary material to this article can be found online at htt
2018). ps://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2023.101815.
Forth, we aim to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic right
after. This means that we cannot conclude whether organizations still
adhere to these practices or have already reverted to the original
10
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Government Information Quarterly 40 (2023) 101815

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Government Information Quarterly

Digital government transformation as an organizational response to the

1. Introduction civic hackathons to face associated challenges together with citizens

Infrastructure Telework culture Services to Face-to-face

A Federal Chancellery On-site Uncommon Low Low Citizen-government communication;

Sources: Websites of the ministries and organizations, Interview data.

Tasks & Processes

Resources & Structures

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