Outcomes of Value Co-Creation and Co-Destruction in the Digital Transformation of Public Services

Abstract

Transforming public services from an analog to a digital delivery mode is generally assumed to have positive effects. Most recently, these transformations include the co-creation of newly designed digital services by including users in the design, development, and delivery process. The outcomes beyond creating a digital public service are, however, unclear. We, therefore, provide empirical evidence of the types of public value that are created but potentially also destroyed in these digital transformation processes. The results are based on the perceptions collected from 40 digital transformation experts who identify four types of public value in the co-production of digital public service development: 1) economic value, 2) administrative value, 3) citizen value, and 4) democratic value, and highlight that at times public value might also be destroyed in the process. Co-destruction occurs when digital public services lack user-centricity or representation.