Let's Play ... eGovernment! A Simulation Game for Competence Development among Public Administration Students

Ogonek N, Distel B, Becker J

Abstract
The rollout of eGovernment is in full swing worldwide, because of governments' realization of its possible efficiency and effectiveness gains. The introduction of service accounts, as exemplary initiation of the European eID strategy in Germany, is one of the eGovernment projects that keeps the German public sector busy. Owing to the federal structure of Germany, the nationwide implementation poses an extraordinary challenge. With this, it forms a good example for the complexity of eGovernment projects in federal states. (Future) public servants need to have a full understanding of the interdisciplinary environment, they will need to operate in.Simulation games, offering the possibility of immerging into a subject matter in a neutral, risk-free environment, are increasingly used in educational programs in times of digitalization and therefore could represent a powerful tool to teach the needed eGovernment competences. At the same time, they help to early sensitize eGovernment students to the numerous exigencies in their working life. We developed a simulation game, targeting the introduction of service accounts in Germany, and tested it with an international student group (n=16) to measure its potential for competence development in higher education programs in eGovernment.