Evaluative design of egovernment projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework supporting the design and evaluation of egovernment projects, especially those involving voluntary and community organisations. Designmethodologyapproach The research adapts a socioeconomic model of community sustainability, reinterpreting it in the context of egovernment. It documents the evolution of a conceptual framework for evaluative design through study of a project in London, UK. An interpretive approach was adopted, within which research was guided by the structuredcase method. Findings The research provides an evaluative framework for egovernment projects featuring four forms of community capital infrastructural, environmental, human and social. An ex post evaluation illustrates how the framework identifies design and management issues that are not considered by conventional evaluative frameworks. Research limitationsimplications The main sources of data reflect project management perspectives and information from monitoring the evolution of activities undertaken by participant organisations. There has been limited direct engagement with the latter and the next phase of research will apply the framework from their perspectives to identify factors promoting and inhibiting ongoing engagement with the system. Practical implications The framework provides an analytic tool for designers and managers of egovernment systems, especially those which feature online community building as a strategic outcome. All project stakeholders can use the framework to structure engagement with system design and management. Originalityvalue The distinctive contribution is to reinterpret egovernment from a community development perspective. It offers a means of identifying project shortcomings ignored by methods taking a narrower approach to egovernment information systems development.