Does the answer lie in collaboration? - A case study on e-government and societal aging

E-Government can be considered the key element when it comes to modernizing public administrations as result to rising demands of citizens towards the provided services. At the same time, the demographic change posed numerous challenges to the development of new strategies. The need for inclusive E-Government, as well as human resource issues and the general reorientation of services require substantial investments. However, depopulation leads to a reduction in tax income, resulting in an imbalance of public budget. Cooperation between municipalities can be a promising approach to reduce costs and thus deal with major challenges of demographic transition in both front office and back office. Our exploratory single case study analysis introduces auspicious solutions related to these aspects and discusses in how far they might be applied to other settings. Summary of Arguments • Literature identifies demographic change as a key future research theme for E-Government while it is hitherto considerably under-researched. • Aging and depopulation are two major, often inseparable elements of the demographic change. • The demographic change creates a dilemma for public administrations as it, on the one hand, increases the need for reforms and IT investments in inclusive Age-Aware E-Government solutions, and, on the other hand, decreases the financial means available. • Cooperation both in front as well as back office E-Government – in the case study setting in terms of a shared service center, inter-organizational collaboration, and public-privatepartnerships – is a possible mean to cope with demography-induced challenges.