Digital government as implementation means for sustainable development goals

Abstract

One of the challenges for implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the measurement of indicators that represent progress towards such goals. Measuring such progress enables data-driven decision-making and management of SDG-relevant projects and strategies. The premise of this research is that measuring such indicators depends on measuring so-called means of implementation, i.e. activities that directly contribute to the achievement of SDGs. Building on this premise, this article studies how the measurement of digital government (DG) can contribute to the measurement of SDGs. In particular, how the indicators originating in three DG measurement instruments can inform the SDG indicators. The main finding is an alignment matrix, showing how the DG indicators contribute with varying level of specificity to the measurement of 10 SDG indicators.