Role of Business Intelligence in e-Government:

A Case Study of Swedish Municipality Contact Centers

Paper within: Masters Thesis in Informatics

Author: Olawale Adelakun
Supervisor: Kerstin Grundn
Trollhattan March 2010

Contents
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Purpose ............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Problem Statement............................................................................................................................ 4
1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 5
1.6 Disposition......................................................................................................................................... 5
References .............................................................................................................................................. 7

1.1 Introduction
Business Intelligence is a tool that is far more prevalent in the private sector enabling
executives, managers and decision makers to make fact based decisions based on information
and analysis retrieved from data within their organization and its processes. This widespread
adoption of BI in the private sector has been necessitated by competition in the market and the
need for companies to be able to have crucial insight into their company its processes, how
well or badly its doing - and to use that information as leverage.
The ubiquity of the information society is all but inevitable and at the same time the data
available is greater than ever. Making meaning out of the available data not only creates better
insight for planning, but can also impact resource allocation, quality of service and improve
level of understanding of the data.
There are relatively far fewer amounts of available literature on the process of implementing
Business Intelligence in an e-government context and the role it can play in allowing for easy
investigation, analysis of data obtained from the e-services provided. There however potential
impacts that can be made to the benefit of both the decision makers attached to the egovernment and the citizens within the society it serves. This paper attempts to address those
possibilities.
e-Government
The importance for the managers attached to e-government initiatives to be able to gain insight
into the data that the services obtain from residents within the community cannot be
negligible. Having a more in-depth view of these data sources can help reveal valuable
knowledge, patterns and needs of the residents within their municipality in a way that is not
overwhelming and can possibly facilitate improved decisions on how to allocate limited
resources, improve quality of services and increase awareness of residents within their
respective municipalities.
Contact Centers
Contact Centers are an attempt to a more inclusive e-government that allows citizens of the
municipality it is located in access to services they may otherwise have been unable to. Both
Jrflla and Jnkping municipalities have contact centers in place in which the municipal
population can contact regarding various issues, enquiries and concerns that affect them.
Pertinent information regarding residents that contact the center such as nature of issue,
enquiry or concern, dates and so on are logged and stored in data sources. As the rate of
citizens that utilize the contact center increase, so will the level of data. This study will attempt
3

to investigate ways in which this data made available through the e-government services can be
leveraged through the use of analytics and Business Intelligence to improve resource utilization,
planning and services within the respective municipalities.

1.2 Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role that a Business Intelligence solution can play
in e-government by investigating the contact centers at Jrflla and Jnkping municipality. The
key focus of this paper will be the process and data that is collected at the contact centers from
municipal residents and to examine how it can be leveraged to improve different aspects of the
e-government, provision and quality of services, as well as efficiency in utilization of resources.
Investigation of the role it plays will be in the context of how it relates to the major
stakeholders involved- municipal residents and personnel at the contact center. Investigating
and identifying the possible role and impact that business intelligence can play with regards to
the e-Government services at Jrflla and Jnkping can provide helpful insight in determining
whether it is a worthy initiative to invest in.

1.3 Problem Statement

Implementation of contact centers can lead to increased accessibility by the citizenry of

municipalities. Consequently, this potential increase in accessibility due to the implementation
of contact centers can cause an influx of data made available to municipal staff regarding their
citizens needs, requests and concerns. Sifting through and discerning patterns or insight within
this data can be potentially beneficial to the contact center, management and municipality as a
whole in a myriad of ways. The ways in which this can be possible will be the focus of this
paper.
Though some studies have been done to cite business value of business intelligence, there has
been little geared to the context of the public sector and fewer still at a local government or
municipal level. Business intelligence implementations within the government or public sector
do not have as much literature and therefore this paper can be useful in identifying the role BI
can play in that context through investigating two Swedish municipalities.

1.4 Research Questions

This paper aims to investigate ways in which BI can be used to impact awareness of municipal
citizens, affect the provision and quality of services provided and facilitate efficient resource
utilization within the municipality.

The Following research questions will be answered:

1. How can BI play a role in e-Government with regards to planning and effective
utilization of resources within the municipalities?
2. How can BI impact provision and quality of services and e-services at the
municipalities?
3. How can a BI solution impact citizens awareness of their municipalitys functions and
activities?

1.5 Methodology

A synthesis of primary and secondary data will be used in order to help identify the role a
Business Intelligence solution can play within the municipal contact centers. Qualitative
interviews will be the method employed for the collection of primary data and will target
municipal personnel and other experts knowledgeable in the area that can provide valuable
insight towards helping answer the research questions.
1.6 Disposition
Introduction
Content in this section will include the general premise of the report and discussion of the
overview of the study. Concepts pertinent to business intelligence will be discussed, as well as
the contact centers and their current status. Knowledge gaps in the examined literature will be
identified and the motivation for pursuing this study will be explained.

Methodology
This section will provide in-depth details of the procedure adopted, justification for its selection
as well as additional pertinent information such as the participants, design and materials
utilized to accrue data.
Literature Research
This section will furnish an overview of the body of literature examined that helped provide a
better understanding of the pertinent concepts business Intelligence, the contact centers and
e-government. Also, the chosen theories that can best achieve useful insight in the
investigation and analysis of BIs role in the contact centers will be provided. Justification for
and critique of the chosen theories will also be examined.
Empirical Findings
The data accrued from the municipal personnel and the other targeted experts using the
selected methodology as well as the secondary data will be presented within this section.
Analysis
This section will provide a critical dissection of the data obtained and from that investigate any
patterns that are inherent therein.
Conclusion
The conclusion will aim to reiterate some of the key findings obtained during analysis and
provide a culminating overview of how they fit into the context and how they are of value.
Future Work
This section will aim to explicate the ways in which this study can be further developed.
Suggestions and recommendations vis--vis how the findings arrived at can be used in other
research or applications will be offered.

References
Watson, H., & Wixom, B. (2007), The current state of Business Intelligence.
Computer, 40(9), 96-99.
Bernhard, I., Grundn, K., Towards Inclusive e-Government: Contact Centers in Swedish
Municipalities University West, Sweden.
Aberdeen Group (2010), Business Intelligence in the Public Sector: The value of efficient
resource utilization. Aberdeen Group
Inmon, B. (2010), A Definition of Data Warehousing.
Retrieved 2011-03-27 from
http://www.intranetjournal.com/features/datawarehousing.html