Understanding How County Governments Strategically Plan and Strategize Technology: A Multiple Case Study in New York State

Embedded in the communities they serve, local governments increasingly leverage technology to modernize processes and operations to digitally transform public services and interactions with stakeholders to create and add value. Concomitantly, they must ensure that the use of technology does not threaten the rights and safety of individuals and organizations. Digital transformation requires alignment of technology with institutional, organizational, and environmental factors in addition to persistent innovations in technology, policy, and management. This balancing act hinges on governments’ capacity for strategic technology decision-making. As technology’s value propositions expand and local governments become more reliant on it, there is a growing need to strategically manage technology as a resource and investment. Such a need necessitates strategic planning and strategizing so that local governments can better plan and respond to change, navigate the complexities of digital transformation, and maximize technology’s value while minimizing its negative impacts. Previous research on local governments mostly examines technology-related strategic decision-making processes in cities and pays less attention to such decision processes in counties, which play a significant role as providers of a range of (inter)local and regional government services and programs. Given this role and the fact that counties are pervasive as there are about 3,143 of them across the country, there is a need for more insights into the internal and external factors shaping strategic decision-making processes in county governments. This dissertation addresses these gaps through multiple case studies in the unique context of New York State, where counties exercise substantial autonomy and have experienced considerable progress and challenges in digital transformation. Through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and a review of relevant documents and artifacts, the study identifies institutional, organizational, and environmental factors that influence technology strategic planning in New York State counties. The results of this dissertation also contribute to a better understanding of the continuous practice of strategy or strategizing as related to technology. In terms of implications, this research offers a grounded framework for policymakers, administrators, and technology professionals within the public sector tasked with navigating priorities and challenges of digital transformation in local governments.