Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Monika Magnusson and Marie-Therese Christiansson
Figure 2: Goal model structure adapted from Bleistein et al. (2006a: 847)
3. Methodology
A case study of an eService project in Karlstad municipality was undertaken. Karlstad has approximately
85 000 citizens and 7000 employees. The studied eService project took part in a wider collaboration
of the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme; the Smart Cities project
(www.smartcities.info). The local project owner was the municipality’s IT department. The goal analysis
was performed in the spring of 2009 and was limited to official and documented goals. The research
strategy was what Kavakli (2004) describe as an expert-analytical approach with a ‘analyse
existing document strategy’. Data were first gathered via official documents such as policy documents,
action plans, project plans and website information. Next, these elements were structured into
graphical goal models according to the structure in Figure 2 to illustrate decomposition links and contribution
links between elements at different levels. The authors’ individual classifications and goal
structures were then compared, analysed and aligned until there was consensus. Next, the goal models
were discussed and further analysed with the municipality’s project manager and an IT-architect at
the IT department at the municipality during two workshops. Some changes in interrelationships between,
and formulations of, goals were performed during an iterative process in an email conversation
until there was an agreement. The final report was sent to the local project manager, and presented at
the Smart Cities Steering Committee in June 2009.
4. The municipality case –a goal modelling example
An extract from the goal analysis is presented in the paper in order to state some examples of our
findings. The transnational level was excluded from our example but is analyzed in the same way.
Only manifested, i.e. explicitly stated goals were used. The goals were analyzed in terms of inter-level
alignment (goal contribution between levels) and intra-level alignment (goal contribution at the same
level) by asking questions such as; “Does goal B contribute to goal A?” and “Can goal B be considered
as a refinement or decomposition of goal A?” Also in some documents, goals were explicitly
decomposed into sub-goals (as in Table 1). Moreover, the overall quality of the goals in terms of clarity,
scope etc. (c.f. Morsaky, 1977) are discussed. The formulations in the original documents are
used in the tables although translated into English in Table 1 and 2.
4.1 Goals at the national level
At the national level, the primary policy document was the “Action plan for eGovernment – New
grounds for IT-based business development in Public Administration” (Regeringskansliet, 2008). The
action plan was constructed in 2008 and the overall goal to be implemented in 2010 was that the administration
should be “as simple as possible for as many as possible” (NG1). Four sub-goals for prioritized
policy areas are also presented; see Table 1.
4.2 Goals at the municipal level
At the time of the project the essential document guiding the municipality’s eService development was
the “Action plan and goals for eGovernment 2009-2011”. The stated goals are presented in Table 2.
Among the actions mentioned in documents are the eService projects, a study of customers’/citizens’
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