How digital portfolios become governable: a venture design research study of public sector digital development

Abstract

Purpose Public sector organizations increasingly struggle to govern digital development in a coherent and strategic manner. This paper aims to examine how governance of digital development can be actively specified through the design of a digital solution, rather than merely supported by tools that reflect existing practices. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal Venture Design Research study was conducted, integrating three empirical sources: semi-structured interviews informing early governance design, developer logs tracing how governance assumptions were translated into and revised through artifact functionality, and three mini-cases illustrating how use of the solution reshaped governance discussions and decision-making in practice. Findings Governability, understood as the degree to which digital development initiatives can be made visible, comparable and subject to collective steering, emerges as a property of sustained design rather than a preexisting organizational condition. Four analytical dimensions of governability are proposed: visibility, comparability, steerability and reflexivity. The evidence most directly supports increased visibility and changed governance discussions. Changes in prioritization and decision-making processes are observable but emergent, while longer-term outcomes such as strategic alignment, accountability and public value creation remain beyond the scope of the present study. Governance specification is iterative, context-sensitive and shaped by the ongoing interplay between design choices and use. Research limitations/implications The study is conducted in a single national context with a limited number of organizations and focuses on one portfolio solution. Future research should examine alternative designs and assess long-term outcomes in terms of public value creation. Practical implications Effective governance of digital development requires solutions that explicitly specify what counts as development, how initiatives relate to strategic direction and how tradeoffs are made visible rather than tools that merely document ongoing projects. Social implications Better governance of digital development may lead to more equitable prioritization of digital services and stronger alignment between digitalization strategies and citizen outcomes. Originality/value The paper conceptualizes governance of digital development as a design problem and demonstrates how Venture Design Research enables longitudinal study of governance specification in public sector settings. The authors do not claim this establishes Venture Design Research as a validated, distinct research tradition.