Espen Sjøvoll is a PhD research fellow at the Department of Informatics, working at the intersection of the social sciences and information systems. His doctoral project examines how funding mechanisms shape digital transformation in the public sector, using Norway as the empirical context.
The project starts from a fundamental tension: government budgeting and governance processes are designed for predictability and control, while digitalisation initiatives often require exploration, learning, and the ability to change course along the way. Espen studies how this friction plays out in practice, and how adaptive funding arrangements can provide better conditions for complex digitalisation efforts. A central case is the Norwegian co-financing scheme (Medfinansieringsordningen), administered by the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir), where Espen also holds an institutional affiliation.
Methodologically, the project combines qualitative case studies, process tracing, and typological theory development. The empirical material includes in-depth interviews with executives and specialists across a range of Norwegian government agencies, as well as analysis of policy documents, evaluations, and audit reports.
The ambition is to contribute both to the research literature on the governance and financing of digital transformation, and to practice: How can governments design their policy instruments so that they support, rather than hinder, successful digitalisation of public services?