Successful Broadband Projects in the Public Sector - a Service Innovation Perspective

The development of national broadband infrastructures has been recognized as an important part of the vision of the information society, as well as of the modernization of the public sector. This paper investigates the relationship between broadband dissemination and service innovation in the public sector. We ask, what characterizes successful broadband based service innovation projects in the public sector? The research approach is a quantitative survey in a large public broadband diffusion initiative in Norway. The paper offers three conclusions. First, broadband based service innovation is seen as a two-step process; first a technologically oriented project, followed by an organizational implementation. The focus of the project manager should be on the second of the phases, not the first. Second, the engagement of a professional external project manager does not support service innovation. The reason is that the external project manager lacks the necessary local knowledge and alliances with central stakeholders. Third, traditional project management is not well suited to understand and manage service innovation