Toward Government as a Platform: An Analysis Method for Public Sector Infrastructure

abstract

Government as a Platform (GaaP) is a promising approach to the dig-ital transformation of the public sector. In practice, GaaP is realized by platform-oriented infrastructures. However, despite successful examples, the transfor-mation toward platform-oriented infrastructures remains challenging. A potential remedy is the analysis of existing public infrastructure regarding its platform ori-entation. Such an analysis can identify the gaps to an ideal platform-oriented in-frastructure and, thus, support the transformation toward it. We follow the design science research methodology to develop a four-dimensional analysis method. We do so in three iterations, and, after each iteration, evaluate the method by its application to infrastructures in practice. With regard to theory, our results sug-gest extending GaaP conceptualizations with a specific emphasis on platform principles. With regard to practice, we contribute an analysis method that creates proposals for the improvement of infrastructures and, thus, supports the transfor-mation toward GaaP.