Digital Förvaltning is a research consortium uniting public sector organizations and universities to advance purposeful digitalization in Swedish public administration through clinical research, evaluation tools, and actionable methodological support.
2018
Forskningskonsortiet Digital Förvaltning is a research consortium organized within the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation (SCDI) at the University of Gothenburg. Since 2016, it has worked at the intersection of research and practice to strengthen purposeful digitalization in Swedish public sector organizations — municipalities, regions, and government agencies. The consortium operates through a clinical research model in which assignments from public organizations generate both practical recommendations and generalizable knowledge, creating a feedback loop between academia and practice. The consortium also runs an executive doctoral school (Forskarskolan Digital Förvaltning), publishes open research reports, and develops practical tools including DiMiOS (digital maturity), PIOS (portfolio governance), DIOS (digital infrastructure inventory) and Strategios (strategy).
Digital government, portfolio management, digital debt, digital infrastructure, investments, benefits realization
Swedish public sector organizations face persistent structural barriers to purposeful digitalization — including fragmented governance, imbalanced investment portfolios skewed toward internal efficiency over innovation, constraining digital legacies, and a lack of evidence-based tools for measuring and steering digitalization. The gap between political ambition and organizational capacity has widened, and existing governance models were not designed to enable digital transformation at the pace and scale now required.
The consortium uses a clinical research model: individual assignments from public organizations are conducted as structured studies that generate both case-specific recommendations and broader, scalable insights. Findings are published openly as reports and peer-reviewed articles. The doctoral school integrates senior practitioners as executive doctoral candidates, simultaneously advancing knowledge and building leadership capacity.
The consortium has produced over 40 open research reports and published numerous peer-reviewed articles. In the reports, the targeted organizations so far follow 85% of the recommendations. The digital solutions created have been adopted by a wide range of Swedish public organizations, directly impacting their day-to-day operations. The doctoral school has produced a steady stream of doctors that have returned to their home organizations.
The consortium has influenced national policy (including input to the creation of DIGG, the Swedish Agency for Digital Government), contributed to Sweden's national digital infrastructure debate, and created openly accessible tools and curricula used by public sector organizations across the country. It has also shaped the academic field of public sector IS in Sweden through doctoral training, peer-reviewed publications, and the development of a distinctive Gothenburg School approach to digital governance research.
Sundsvall, Regeringskansliet, Helsingborg, Trollhättan, Varberg, Socialstyrelsen, Trafikverket, Skatteverket, Eskilstuna, Kungsbacka and many more.
Contact our team to learn more or explore collaboration opportunities.
