Digitalization is one of the foremost ways to make the public sector more efficient, and yet many employees, managers and executives feel that a lot of things go wrong and that the benefits are not realized. Many IT solutions are born with problems, and it often takes longer to clean up and convert data and get to know the new IT system than expected (see e.g. Ursula Plsener and Lise Jussen's research from CBS).
If we look at the literature, it is thick with heroic descriptions of leaders implementing digital transformation. However, these descriptions are often far from the reality experienced by employees, HR managers and managers/directors in today's municipalities. In daily practice, much management consists of implementing IT solutions that come "traveling in" from outside - from KOMBIT, KL, the state, etc. This is difficult, because the opportunities to act actively as a manager and employee are limited. With the joint solutions - and all the good things that come from the municipalities joining forces - also comes less influence on timing, functionality, changes, service experiences, etc.
How do you step into and lead this type of process? How do you manage the residual amount you can manage? This is what the Greater Copenhagen Digitization Community (DSD) set out to work on when the board of directors in 2021 initiated a project to realize gains from the implementation of the KOMBIT solution Kommunernes Ydelsessystem (KY). It is a solution that is of crucial importance to the country's recipients of cash benefits, unemployment benefits, flex pay supplements, etc. and has been underway for 7 years. A complex solution with a myriad of integrations to a number of other shared public systems.
