From 2007 to 2022, the Chair in Digital Government conducted research on the effects of information and communication technologies on the public sector.
Remembering the Chair
Professor Miriam Lips
Adjunct Professor Miriam Lips was the inaugural Chair in Digital Government. During her time at Wellington School of Business and Government, she was an educator in both the School of Information Management and the School of Government.
While holding the Chair in Digital Government, Miriam researched the introduction, management, and use of information technology in the public sector, exploring the managerial, governmental, and democratic implications of IT, along with the sector’s external relationships with society.
Sadly, Miriam passed away suddenly in 2024. Read our tribute to her and her wide-ranging academic contributions.
Fellow researchers
Among the collaborators working alongside Miriam Lips were fellow researchers Karl Löfgren and Elizabeth Eppel.
Modern societies focus on what people need from government and how to meet their needs using emerging technologies, data, and changes to government culture, practices, and processes. This includes everything from accessing business advice to management of online identities.
The Chair in Digital Government sought to address these issues through research on the effects of information and communication technologies on the public sector.
The Chair was supported in part by New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Education.
The Chair's mission
The position of the Chair in Digital Government (previously e-Government) was established by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington to:
provide thought leadership in the field of digital government
undertake and disseminate research
provide leadership and co-ordination with other academics working in the field
provide academic opportunities in the field.
Advisory board
The Chair's advisory board included the following members:
Effects of COVID-19 on digital government services
A summary of the arrival of Covid-19 in New Zealand and digital public service developments during the lockdown (Alert level 4). This is followed by an overview of the policy context within which digital public services in New Zealand operate.
Based on research undertaken by the research team of the Chair in Digital Government, some evidence of how well digital government is performing is presented together with opportunities and threats associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Understanding digital inclusion and exclusion among seniors
It is widely accepted that people over 65 (called seniors throughout this research report) belong to one of the most digitally excluded groups in our society (see for example, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), 2019; 2018). Accessing and effectively using digital technologies, such as smart phones and the internet, to achieve outcomes of increased societal participation, is referred to in this research as being digitally included.
However, it is not well understood which seniors are digitally included and which are not and what digital exclusion or inclusion look likes in New Zealand. People have assumptions, but empirical evidence is lacking. This research aims to cater for this need by exploring why seniors in New Zealand are using, or not using, digital technologies to participate in society, and what the barriers to the effective use of digital technologies are for older people. Furthermore, the research findings are intended to be used as a basis for developing a self-evaluation approach to digital inclusion.
Understanding children's use and experience with digital technologies
This research seeks to understand how primary school students from various backgrounds use and experience digital technologies, and how these technologies are affecting their daily lives. This study is conducted by an academic research team as part of the Chair in Digital Government's research work programme at the School of Government.
Effective electronic record management in 21st century government
Part one
This research project empirically explored how individuals employed by New Zealand public service departments identify and manage e-mails of critical value to the business of government. The project has sought to identify specifications for effective email management across the New Zealand central government, as well as to make recommendations to government agencies on how to overcome existing gaps between the Public Records Act and current electronic record keeping practices and behaviour.
Part two
This research project investigated how public servants across the New Zealand central government handle emails of significant organisational value. The project also identified specifications for effective electronic record management across New Zealand central government, and made recommendations to government agencies on how to improve email management practices that support compliance with the Public Records Act.
This research project involved an overview study of available academic definitions of the concept of 'Identity Management' in the public sector, with the purpose of arriving at a working definition of Identity Management for the New Zealand Central Government. Moreover, the research explored Identity Management initiatives in several other jurisdictions (Australia, Austria, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore and the UK).
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) commissioned the Chair to conduct this mixed-method research project to get a deeper understanding of the online identity information behaviours of New Zealanders. The research looked at how varying e-relationships are enabled by different online channels or devices and identified effective solutions for the New Zealand Government in managing risks around online identity information behaviours and people’s experiences with cybercrime. The project was undertaken during 2013 and 2014.
Improving information sharing for effective social outcomes
In order to build government structures and activities around the fundamental needs of individuals and to achieve more effective social outcomes for New Zealanders, how can cross-government information sharing be improved, taking into account fundamental rights like the privacy protection of the individual? What can be learned from other jurisdictions in this respect?
Public attitudes to the sharing of personal information in the course of electronic public service provision
What are attitudes of different members of the New Zealand general public towards the collection, management, and sharing of personal information in the course of online public service provision?
The use of new media by political parties in the 2008 national elections
This empirical study involves qualitative research into forms and ways in which political parties in New Zealand made use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the 2008 elections, and their implications. The project focused on exploring changes in both external relationships and the internal organisation of political parties as a result of using ICTs.
e-Campaigning by political parties in the 2011 New Zealand General Election
This research activity is a follow-up study on the project 'The use of new media by political parties in the 2008 national election', conducted with Hugo Gong in 2008–2009.
The use of new media in managing natural disasters
How, why, and under what conditions have new media been used for information sharing and collaborative action across government agencies, between government agencies, NGOs, businesses, and among members of the general public in dealing with a major natural disaster?
