REASSESSING OUTSOURCING IN ICT-ENABLED PUBLIC MANAGEMENT Examples from the UK

Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in public administration goes beyond online services, as it also enables new kinds of work sharing and information exchange between different agencies. These can be used to establish new forms of public service delivery, such as the separation of service delivery between front and back offices, which enable better access for citizens. This new kind of ICT enabled work sharing will be used as a basis to analyse whether outsourcing can be reassessed. First, existing approaches to such decisions will be explored against the backdrop of public service delivery processes which have been penetrated by ICT. Next, a framework will be derived which will be used to understand better the potential of different ICT functions to affect outsourcing decisions. Finally, ICT's effect upon outsourcing will be illustrated using examples from the United Kingdom. The UK findings demonstrate that new strategic issues are emerging which are not addressed in existing public management literature about outsourcing and which therefore require further exploration and examination.