Enablers for self-directed citizen services on a government business platform model

Following the rise of commercial business platform models (BPMo), governments are deploying this model for selected citizen services, such as employment, education, care, health, or social services. The goal is not to generate profit but to personalize citizen services and provide convenience and self-service options through a digital marketplace and ecosystem of delivery partners. This requires governments to adopt agile and dynamic operating procedures to enable process efficiency, for which we found little guidance. Drawing on extant governance literature, we define enablers and characteristics that can evolve into governance mechanisms. The result is a descriptive governance framework that covers all lifecycle phases of a BPMo. The framework was validated with four (4) organizations, establishing today’s standing and what governance mechanisms should be implemented to meet their ambition. We conclude that our framework provided the right guidance and can serve as a basis for developing processes to govern a BPMo.