Birth of a Failure: Consequences of Framing ICT Projects for the Centralization of Inter-Departmental Relations. Issue 1 (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pelizza, Annalisa; Hoppe, Rob
• Is Part Of: Administration & society. Volume 50:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 101
• Page End: 130
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: information system -- failure -- frame -- public administration -- media -- information infrastructure; Public administration -- Periodicals; 351
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399715598343
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0095-3997

Abstract

Government information system failures are filling not only newspapers but also parliamentary and administrative reports. This article deals with a case in which information and communication technologies (ICT)–related failure claimed by the media influenced the parliamentary agenda, and intra-governmental relations. Drawing on a narrative analysis of a Dutch parliamentary commission's hearings, it argues that the way the issue was initially framed by the media and then adopted, un-problematized, by Parliament steered the direction of action toward specific administrative solutions, thus shaping the landscape of possible organizational alliances. The article recommends a proactive role of parliaments in framing ICT projects.