Enabling accountable processes through digital tools: the development of a risk management system at ISTAT

In this paper we seek to extend existing understanding of how the development of an information system (IS) supporting managerial practices (risk management) is associated with processes’ change in a public administration (PA). Our research aim is twofold: on one side we look at the role of IS in supporting the adoption of new managerial practices in a large PA and, on the other side, we investigate how its introduction improves the already existing managerial processes. Analyzing the implementation of a risk management system in ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics), we study how organizational members perceive the system and how it impacts the organizational changes (in daily activities, communication, coordination, etc.) needed to achieve the planned strategic objective (the introduction of a permanent risk management system in the public administration). We will also highlight how the introduction of IS also supports the management control on existing organizational activities. Focusing on the analysis of a set of interviews with ISTAT members and a dataset where organizational performances have been measured before and after the introduction of the IS, this paper summarizes the first phase of a broader and more structured research project investigating the dynamic relationships among the development and implementation of an IS in a public administration and its ability to change (introducing new managerial practices) and to improve its standardized processes (improving the performances of existing practices).