Evaluating e–government initiatives : the role of formative assessment during implementation

The paper addresses theory-based e-government assessments and reviews the limitations of current methods based on summative evaluation and delivery benchmarking. It proposes the use of in itinere formative evaluation as a tool to better understand complex programs that involve various constituencies and to provide feedback on the design, adoption and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems. Moving the evaluation process from summative to formative elevates it to a cognitive tool that can steer policy outcomes in the desired direction. The preliminary findings of applying this model to an antipollution e-government initiative confirm the relevance and potential of such an approach