Before, after or during the reforms? Towards information-age government in New Zealand

Abstract

Twenty years after the state sector reforms in New Zealand, high expectations of a new reform era for the New Zealand government can be observed. Reaping the benefits of the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution, government aims to achieve fundamental changes in the ways it works, collaborates and engages. Two important milestones for enabling the ‘transformation’ of the New Zealand government are the transformation of the operation of government by 2010, as government agencies and their partners use technology to provide user-centred services and achieve joint outcomes, and the transformation of people’s engagement with government by 2020, as increasing and innovative use is made of the opportunities offered by ICTs (State Services Commission, 2006).