Electronic government implementation projects with multiple agencies: Analysis of the electronic invoice project under PMBOK framework

Abstract

Contemporary public administrations have been suffering several ways of pressure to promote modernization in their structures and services. One of governments' options to meet that demand lies in the potential use of information and communication technology for the benefit of better service to citizens and greater state apparatus efficiency. This contemporary movement particularly connected with personal computing and the Internet arrival has been called Electronic Government (e-Gov). One of its actions relates to building government electronic services that integrate several government agencies in a collaborative format. However, e-Gov projects demanding integration to this degree have an implementation complexity that is greater than traditional projects, which reflects on low success rates worldwide. This paper investigates the good practices identification in multi-agency e-Gov project management. Using the PMBOK framework, this paper presents an in-depth study of Nota Fiscal Eletrônica - NF-e (Electronic Invoice) project implementation. This project was based on a nationwide integration of multiple agencies (26 State Tax Administrations, the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and nineteen large companies) and faced major technical and management complexity. The results found suggest that the project was implemented in an informal way, however with impressive results. There were identified two complementary management models. The first model was nationwide, focused in Scope and Communication Management. The second model was local to each institution, focused in Cost, HR and Procurement Management. © 2010, IGI Global.