Commentators have noted countless times that digitization is having an unprecedented impact on society. The dozens of reports published on ICT in recent years use adjectives such as revolutionary developments, unique opportunities, complex tensions, fundamental changes, shifting interests and obsolete social and institutional contexts. But why, precisely, is digitization having such an unparalleled impact? Why should commentators refer to the related opportunities, tensions, shifts and challenges as ‘fundamental’, ‘unique’ or ‘complex’? And if all that is true, what are the consequences of digitization for the relationship between government and the citizen? If we set these qualifications to the side and examine the features that make ICT ‘different’ or ‘new’, we see that the nature of digitization is less uniform than it may at first appear. Although the term ‘digitization’ suggests a clear-cut, well-defined phenomenon, everyday reality teaches us that it in fact consists of a wide variety of trends and developments, technological breakthroughs and specific applications. Each of these trends, breakthroughs and applications is initiated and, gradually, influenced by the many different actors involved, their interactions, and the foreseen and unforeseen consequences of those interactions. The next chapters (in Part II) attempt to make sense of the dynamics between actors, processes and interests, with the analysis focusing specifically on the relationship between government and citizens (individually or collectively). Our description of empirical reality in the Netherlands will help us understand the impact of digitization on that relationship. Before we begin our empirical analysis, however, this chapter offers an analytical framework. It also discusses the main issues and key concepts explored in the rest of the book.

As stated previously, the analysis presented in this book focuses less on individual technologies than on the role these technologies play in the relationship between different actors. In other words, it studies the ‘sociotechnological complex’, and explores the interplay between technology and information from that perspective (Section 2.2). The chapter goes on to offer a descriptive and normative framework for charting empirical reality. The emphasis is on practical developments and actual shifts in the various actors’ positions, authority and influence. Section 2.3 defines the main actors: government, citizens and technological applications. Section 2.4 then introduces a normative framework for describing the dynamics of empirical reality.