Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders - Hardcover

by Siim Sikkut (Author)

How to lead the digital transformation of governments

Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders delivers a fascinating treatment of digital leadership as governments around the world start or restart the digital transformation of their work and service delivery.

The author provides a playbook on how to achieve digital excellence via interviews with 20 remarkable digital government leaders from around the world. Each one offers insights on strategies for how to incorporate the best of digital into public services and practical tips on leading digital reforms and delivery teams. The book also:

• Explores how to begin the task of making all of government to "go digital" or go deeper and bolder in this direction, including the first steps and beyond
• Highlights leadership styles and practices for effective and lasting delivery of digital strategies and reforms
• Provides food for thought about what it takes to be an impactful digital transformation leader - in government and beyond

The book is ideal for Chief Digital/Information/Technology Officers or digital agency leaders in public service. Digital Government Excellence is also an indispensable resource for any practitioner, policymaker or political leader in governments at any level, as well as any student or advisor of governments looking into how to deliver digital transformation in the public sector.

Front Jacket

Governments around the world are in a bind. Populations with increasing expectations toward public services require public servants to come up with innovative and digital solutions. But the twin challenges of governmental inertia and dwindling public resources make it hard to implement such solutions widely and fast enough.

In Digital Government Excellence: Lessons from Effective Digital Leaders, master digital strategist and former Chief Information Officer of the government of Estonia, Siim Sikkut delivers an eye-opening playbook on how to lead digital transformation efforts at whole-of-government level. The author gives readers a glimpse into a range of experience for starting, restarting, or improving the delivery of digital services by public agencies.

The book features interviews with 20 effective digital government leaders from around the world. Each of them has faced daunting challenges in their quest to make public services more responsive to people's needs and modern practices, and each one offers insights into how to respond to common pitfalls and opportunities of governmental digital transformation.

You'll find practical tips and step-by-step strategies for digital reform and implementation, including how to begin the task of moving government services to a digital platform. You'll also discover the leadership styles and practices that are most effective for implementing digital strategy at a public level and consider what it takes to be a great digital leader for digital teams and beyond--whether you're in government, the non-profit sector, or at a for-profit firm.

A must-read for executives - including Chief Digital/Information/Technology Officers-- and teams deeply involved with digital transformation and technological innovation efforts, Digital Government Excellence is also an essential resource for politicians, senior officials, academics, and consultants who seek to tackle the challenges of modern government with modern approaches.

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT EXCELLENCE

"We have been inspired for many years by the author who set the standards for how the digital transformation of governments should advance. This is a very precious book that will guide decisions of digital leaders worldwide!"

--Barbara-Chiara Ubaldi, Head of Unit, Digital Government and Data, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Siim does a masterful job helping those on the front lines of the transition to digital era government tell their stories, and the challenges and opportunities we will all face."

--David Eaves, Lecturer of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

"Hats off to Siim Sikkut, former CIO of the world's first truly digitized nation, for creating a Who's Who compendium of the world's top digital government pioneers sharing their journeys. Digigov fans everywhere will be reading, re-reading, and learning from this tour de force for years to come."

-- Julia A. Glidden, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft Corporation

"Anyone leading digital government projects in Latin America and the Caribbean will get extraordinarily valuable insights from Siim's engaging interviews to some of the most recognized digital government leaders worldwide."

-- Miguel Angel Porrúa Vigón, Data and Digital Government Cluster Coordinator, Inter-American Development Bank

"If you are involved in digital government transformation in any way, this book is an absolute must-read as it is a goldmine of incredible insights. Reading this book felt like I was actually there myself having the conversation with them over a cup of coffee."

--Mohammad J Sear, Futurist and Digital Government Advisor

Author Biography

SIIM SIKKUT is the former Government Chief Information Officer of Estonia, where he led the national digital policy and digital government strategy and delivery. He also chaired the OECD Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials. Siim is a globally in-demand keynote speaker and has been recognized as one of the world's most influential people in digital government by Apolitical.