Digital Governance Master Programme. The Gov3.0 Master’s Curriculum by Gabriela Viale Pereira

1. Digital Governance Master Programme
The Gov3.0 Master’s Curriculum
Ass.-Prof. Dr. Gabriela Viale Pereira, MSc.
Department for E-Governance and Administration, Danube University Krems
The 10th Samos 2020 Summit: 15 July 2020

2. 15/07/2020 | 2Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
AGENDA
2 RESEARCH AND TRAINING NEEDS FOR DIGITAL GOVERNANCE
THE GOV3.0 MASTER’S CURRICULUM3
4
1 CONTEXTUALIZATION
RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

3. 15/07/2020 | 3Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
CONTEXTUALIZATION
Building the Gov3.0 Digital Governance Curriculum
• Considering the novelty of the Government 3.0 field, there is a need for identifying the capacities and competences of
professionals to attend the demands of emergent technologies and transformation in government and society, and
therefore framing the training needs for graduates in the area
• The ongoing ERASMUS+ research project “Scientific Foundations Training and Entrepreneurship Activities in the Domain of
ICT-enabled Governance” (Gov 3.0) goes beyond the existing state-of-the-art in analysing developments from the public
and private sector towards establishing the new scientific domain of Government 3.0
• The work developed under the project aimed at establishing the current baseline of e-Governance curricula and describe
its fundamental aspects
• The Gov 3.0 Master’s Curriculum (D3.2, Ronzhyn, Wimmer et al. 2020) builds upon the knowledge and expertise acquired
during the Gov3.0 project, particularly: Report for Electronic Governance Research and Practice Worldwide (D1.1),
Worldwide Training Needs on Electronic Governance (D1.2), two versions of the Government 3.0 Roadmap (D2.1, D.2.2)
and Pre-Graduate Modules on ICT-enabled Governance (D3.1)

4. 15/07/2020 | 4Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
RESEARCH AND TRAINING NEEDS FOR DIGITAL GOVERNANCE
Challenges towards the development of a universal view and understanding of the e-Governance domain:
• Lack of proper definition of roles, responsibilities, competencies and skills to efficiently cover the e-Governance training
needs
• The existence of a dichotomy between a specialized program of e-Governance or a multidisciplinary one that combines
different fields (technical and non-technical)
• The development of an e-Governance training program at an inter-regional or at an international level
• The continuous updating of an e-Governance program taking into consideration the emerging technologies (data science
and big data, robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, quantum computing technology, etc.)

5. 15/07/2020 | 5Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
THE GOV3.0 MASTER’S CURRICULUM
The curriculum addresses several crucial points relevant for the current developments in the digital government
domain:
• Internationalisation. When examining the digital transformation, it is crucial to consider both national and international
levels. Cross-border cooperation and services (Once Only principle, eIDas) become an important areas of digital public
service development
• Bridging the gap between different regions in the European Union
• Innovation aspects (the implementation of disruptive technologies in public services)
• Combining technology training and soft skills education (the need to consider legal, managerial and ethical issues of the
introduction of new technologies and services based on these technologies)

6. 15/07/2020 | 6Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
THE GOV3.0 MASTER’S CURRICULUM
Objectives of the Curriculum:
• The Master Programme in Government 3.0 is aimed to provide the comprehensive understanding of the domain of digital
government with particular focus on the emergent technologies with potential to disrupt the public governance processes.
• The programme deepens the fundamental understanding of digitalization contexts and related organizational
modernization of the public sector, knowledge of information technology systems in the public sector, knowledge of the
decision-making systems in public sector and public sector automatization.
• The programme also aims to provide the graduates the high degree of self-reliance, responsibility and practical skills in the
IT areas of public sector as well as foster excellence in the scientific research within the domain.
• The aim of the programme is to award a master degree (Joint Master), where the courses integration is ensured by a single
study guide, unified assessment rules, a single student agreement and a single joint degree.

7. 15/07/2020 | 7Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
THE GOV3.0 MASTER’S CURRICULUM
Learning Outcomes
• Demonstrate the understanding and use of concepts related to digitalization contexts and related organizational
modernization of the public sector
• Understand of the rise of digital platforms in digital government and the opportunities and challenges they create
• Understand the benefits of the disruptive technologies in digital governance and critically assess the areas of application
for such technologies
• Understand the challenges associated with introduction of disruptive technologies in digital governance
• Understand the link between ICTs and wider societal challenges, the role of ICT in achieving the sustainability goals and
ethical issues arising during the implementation of specific public services
• Understand and use research methods appropriate for digital government research, including data collection, preparation
and analysis methods
• Develop and plan a research project, identify its goals, formulate research questions and decide on appropriate
methodology to tackle the research questions

8. 15/07/2020 | 8Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Information Systems & Entrepreneurship (15% of the Master programme)
Modules included in the module group:
• Project Management
• Information Systems Development
• Research Methods
• Legal Foundations, including international and national laws regulating digital government
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation (at least 5 % of the credits)

9. 15/07/2020 | 9Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Gov 1.0: Foundations of Digital Government (10% of the Master programme)
Modules included in the module group:
• Introduction to Digital Government
• Digital Transformation of Public Sector
• Standardisation and Interoperability
• Foundations of Digital Government Research

10. 15/07/2020 | 10Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Gov 2.0: Digital Governance and Engagement (15% of the Master programme)
Modules included in the module group:
• Open Government and Data
• E-Participation
• Collaborative Governance and Service Co-creation
• Social Media in Government

11. 15/07/2020 | 11Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Gov 3.0: Towards data-driven and evidence-based Decision and Policy Making (20% of the
Master programme)
Modules included in the module group:
• Introduction to Disruptive Technologies in Digital Government
• Big Data
• Smart City Government / IoT
• Machine Learning / Data Mining
• Blockchain and Smart Contracting
• AI-based Decision Making
• Data-driven Policy Modelling and Simulation

12. 15/07/2020 | 12Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
Research project, ethics and soft skills (15% of the Master programme)
Modules included in the module group:
• Research Project
• Sustainability and Societal Challenges
• Ethics in Disruptive Technologies

13. 15/07/2020 | 13Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
IS basics
24 ECTS
Gov 1.0
18 ECTS
Gov 2.0
18 ECTS
Gov 3.0
30 ECTS
Semester 1
30 ECTS
Information Systems (IS)
Development and
Project Management (6)
Introduction to Digital
Government (6)
Digital Transformation of
the public Sector (6)
E-Participation (6)
Introduction to
Government 3.0 (6)
Semester 2
30 ECTS
Legal foundations (3)
Entrepreneurship (6)
Security in IS and in E-
Government (3)
Standardisation and
Interoperability (6)
Big Open and Linked
Data (6)
Ethical foundations (3)
Summer
School
Research project (6)
Semester 3
30 ECTS
Research methods and
theories (6)
Collaboration and
Smart City
Governance (6)
Big Data Analysis (6)
AI-based Decision
Making (6)
Digital Sustainability (3)
Semester 4
30 ECTS
Master thesis (30)

14. 15/07/2020 | 14Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH
Within each module a combination of teaching methods such us lectures, presentations, seminars and project-
based learning is applied:
• Lectures introduce the module subjects and provide students with the theoretical grounds for a deeper understanding of
ICT-enabled government, ensuring common understanding of the main topics, themes and methods taught within the
Master Programme.
• Presentations are used for practical application and deepening of the taught material as well as for the acquisition of
practical skills in potential application areas. Student presentations are intended to train the competence to speak and
communicate, analyse problems, relate the problems to the existing theory in the corresponding domain, solve them,
present the background, the problem, proposed solution, and defend their findings.
• Seminars are intended to allow students acquiring specialized knowledge and familiarise with specific tools, technologies
and approaches. Exercises, led by experienced tutors, help students deepen their knowledge of the subjects and solve
increasingly complex problems. Scientific writing is improved through the elaboration of seminar works related to the
programme's subjects.
• Project-based learning involve students into designing solutions to real-world problems and training soft skills of
cooperation, problem solving and project management.

15. 15/07/2020 | 15Digital Governance Master Programme, (c) Dr. G. Viale Pereira (Based on D3.2 – GOV3.0 Project)
RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION
• Critically reflect on the technological state of the art in the public sector and adjust the curriculum accordingly
• Assess the actual competences of the partners involved in the preparation of the Programme
• Focus on disruptive technologies and Government 3.0 along the whole programme
• The inclusion of the practitioner perspective is crucial to ensure the relevance of the Programme
• Ensure the diversity of views on the topics by engaging external lecturers from different universities and different
backgrounds
• Make use of the blended learning approach
• Provide a balanced view on the possible advantages and drawbacks of the introduction of the disruptive
technologies
• Underlining the controversial nature of some government initiatives (ethical and legal issues)
• Ensure an interdisciplinary approach
• Training of the soft skills and promotion of individual competences
• Ensuring contribution to the wider society
• Ensure the appropriate evaluation procedures and engage experts in evaluation of their programme

16. Thank You!
Ass.-Prof. Dr. Gabriela Viale Pereira
Danube University Krems, Austria
gabriela.viale-pereira@donau-uni.ac.at