Revisiting the Problem of Technological and Social Determinism: Reflections for Digital Government Scholars

There has been a long-standing debate over the best way to understand the relationships between technology, organizations, individuals, and the contexts in which they are embedded. One point of view proposes that technology can transform organizations and the way individuals behave in society. In contrast, another perspective argues that organizational and social variables influence the way technology is selected, managed, and used. These two perspectives are present in digital government research and both of them have important limitations that affect our understanding of government information technology initiatives. We argue that a more integrative perspective is needed. Moreover, some terms already available in the literature such as ensemble view, structuration, technology enactment, or socio-technical perspective could serve as starting points in this conversation. However, we also argue that a more integrative approach might not be enough and the development of new theoretical lenses based on concepts and variables from different disciplines should be a necessary next step in this process.