Competency-based Educational Models for Electronic Governance: Implications for Inclusion and Responsiveness in the Public Service

Abstract

This article proposes a structured approach to the creation of a formative, competencies-based model of public affairs education. With it, public affairs education would become more attuned to the demands of a public service responsive to the citizenry, pursuant to the duties of public officials. The paper examines, in particular, the challenges presented in this context by the rapid development of electronic governance. There is an important difference between incidental or improvised approaches to education for the public service and deliberate approaches built on precise strategic objectives. The proposal presented here builds on a critical premise, namely that the demands placed on public officials by electronic (or digital) government constitute a challenge of the first magnitude, one that will radically alter the relationship between the state and civil society, that is, the political and administrative functions of the state. The potential impact of emerging information and communications technologies on public affairs education and on public administration is limitless and all but unimaginable.