Stakeholder Involvement in Public e-Service Development - Broadening the Scope of User Involvement

This paper investigates if user involvement (UI) theory and theory on stakeholder theory (ST) can be merged to form a new theoretical entity that can inform whose voice should be heard in public e-service development. The investigation is based on a hermeneutic literature review and analysis. The result is a merger of ideas on who should be involved (extracted from stakeholder theory) with ideas on why this involvement should be organized (extracted from the user involvement literature). The paper presents research in progress, meaning that the merger presented is not particularly advanced. Still, this merger of ideas is substantial and important as it could function as the fundament for a more elaborate understanding of how to determine who should be involved in public e-service development. Involving the 'right' actors is believed to lead to higher quality in public e-services; therefore, advancement in our knowledge on how to identify these actors and finding better ways of involving these actors is needed.