Executive Summary

P7: Executive Summary
An important finding of the research is the diffusion of ICT within the Public Sector, which is
associated with two motives, a positive and a negative one. The positive motivation is a
combination of the employees’ skills in the usage of computers as the well as of the frequency
they use them. On the contrary, the negative motivation is a combination of the existing
bureaucracy within the Public Sector, which reinforces mistrust towards organisational
changes. This mistrust is a counter- motive in the ICT skill development, as the employees
regard these skills as possible threats. It should be highlighted that any of the skills
employees have remain unexploited within the general negative attitude towards ICTs.
At IT Department Executives, a crucial percentage has been noted that states that:
o
o
They do not know/have not been taught how to use computers
They do not use a computer when performing their tasks
IT Department Executives have a higher skill level than the other users, but they seem to be
unable to provide sufficient technical support to the users and information systems, to connect
a computer to a network as well as take some basic action such as form a presentation, use
Excel sheets, etc. Furthermore, according to the study evidence, one out of two IT executives
has not updated his skills in 2006 because of lack of time. Behind this answer we can realize
that executives deny to leave their the everyday work for seminars that they do not
appreciate.
This image is not particularly representative as it depicts an important obstacle in the effort of
expanding the diffusion degrr of ICTs in Public Administration. More specifically, a current
information official is to operate simultaneously as:
o
o
Information Intermediate Knot for the services similar to the one he works for.
This means that any problems faced by the users within a service department, but
especially the way of solving these problems, is to be communicated to the users of
other corresponding services, through IT Executives, so that the Public Sector is not
obliged to “reinvent itself” and
Information Transmitter to the headquarters which have the comprehensive duty
of maintenance and desigh of systems and applications, in order to facilitate the
effort to develop user- friendly and efficient systems and applications.
However, without the necessary skills, many IT Executives do not contribute to but prevent
the ICT diffusion process, which- it goes without saying- has multiple consequences.
Lastly, regarding the General Managers, probably the most important conclusion that can be
drawn is that the skills they have in information technologies compared to the ones of simple
users at all levels are somewhat inferior. The study has shown that the General Managers’
skills in ICT have not been certified. This is somewhat expected since General Managers are
usually older than the average age of Public Sector employees (over 50 years of age 71% of
them). (We have to state here that the small number of remarks we collected might not give
us a representative picture).
In addition, despite the fact they acknowledge how important computers are in everyday work,
and they urge their subordinates to use computers, they do not assess highly the importance
of computer skills for their career. We must state here that a big number of General Managers
consider that their Service is focused towards citizens, assist in complains and problems
solving and believe that his Service is positive toward organizational and administrative
changes.
First Version
April 2007 27