A Model of the Decision Process For GIS Adoption and Diffusion In A Government Environment

A Model of the Decision Process For GIS Adoption and Diffusion In A Government Environment
(1996 Horwood Critique Prize)

Abstract: The way a government organization conducts its business can be viewed as a public management system, consisting of a ‘public production process’ in an organizational setting. In this system, many factors interact with one another to make it operate. Accordingly, the decision for the adoption and diffusion of geographic information systems (GIS) in such a system also will be subject to the influence of these factors. Based on the experience of GIS adoption and utilization observed in several Australian State government agencies in 1995 and 1997, six such factors are identified, namely, GIS aligned dominant vision of decision makers, production infrastructure, production process, product mix, organizational setting, and the external environment of the stakeholders. Their relationships are described in a model that confirms the need for alignment between GIS and these factors in a government organization.