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Governance of Large Innovation Projects: The Implementation of the Electronic Health Card in Germany

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Innovation Policy and Governance in High-Tech Industries

Abstract

The electronic health card is the largest information technology project in Germany to date. It is part of the German High-Tech Strategy. This study examines the major players that are responsible for the implementation of the project. The major argument is derived from an analysis of the German system of innovation in which the state can be considered as initiator of general innovation policy in Germany. Yet it does not take on this role in the implementation of the electronic health data card. Rather, the structural configuration resembles a macro-corporatist network, in which the Department of Health is the most influential actor that works together with private and societal organizations. In order to reach conclusive results the reputation and network centrality of the actors in question were examined and visualised using methods derived from social network analysis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A fast breeder is a nuclear reactor with an advanced technology.

  2. 2.

    Overall, 43 actors participate in the eHC. The health insurance associations Arbeiter-Ersatzkassen-Verband (AEV) und Verband der Angestellten-Krankenkassen (VdAK) submitted a joint representative to the boards so a total of 42 actors were contacted. The standardised questionnaire was completed by seven insurance companies, four service providers, a state actor, five actors from industry, three actors from the area of patients and consumers, three scientific actors, and representatives of six test regions.

  3. 3.

    In a pre-test, a questionnaire with 12 questions was sent to nine actors. On the basis of their feedback, eight questions were selected for the final version of the questionnaire. In the first stage of the survey in December 2007, this version of the questionnaire was sent to all stakeholders via e-mail. Reminder messages were sent every other week. In February 2008, a reminder letter including the questionnaire was sent to all respondents who had not yet responded.

  4. 4.

    Further explanations with regards to the measures can be found in the respective figures.

  5. 5.

    This is what the concrete technical implementation of the eHC is called.

  6. 6.

    It must be mentioned at this point that the data matrix was made symmetric in order to acquire statements on actors who did not participate in the survey. Additionally, betweenness centrality scores were calculated for the data matrix, which only contains the organizations that have taken part in the survey. The comparison of both calculations showed that the distortions due to this transformation were minimal. Actors, who were graded as central in the first data matrix, similarly obtained central positions in the second data matrix.

  7. 7.

    Network density measures relate the actual number of ties in a network to the maximum possible number of ties in a network. Thirty-five percent means that 35% of maximally possible ties between actors have been realised.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Achim Lang & Alexander Mertes

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  1. Achim Lang
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  2. Alexander Mertes
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Correspondence to Achim Lang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Quello Center for Telecommunication, Michigan State University, Communication Arts and Sc. Building 409, East Lansing, 48824, Michigan, USA

    Johannes Bauer

  2. , Department of Politics and Management, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz, 78464, Germany

    Achim Lang

  3. , Department of Politics and Management, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz, 78464, Germany

    Volker Schneider

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Lang, A., Mertes, A. (2012). Governance of Large Innovation Projects: The Implementation of the Electronic Health Card in Germany. In: Bauer, J., Lang, A., Schneider, V. (eds) Innovation Policy and Governance in High-Tech Industries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12563-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12563-8_11

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