The Relationship of is and Law - Insights into the German Online Car Registration Case

The mutual influence of Information Systems (IS) and law can be observed in projects of various industry sectors, but it seems to be prevalent in e-Government projects. Existing IS research in the field of e-Government suggests that the relationship between these two worlds has high potential for conflict and can be crucial for a project’s success. But an in-depth analysis of this specific relationship is still missing. We observed the German e-Government project ‘online car registration’ with a case study research approach. During the case analysis we developed a framework for the description and classification of the relationship of IS and law. The frameworks dimensions are the perceived influence direction (IS Law, Law IS, IS  Law), the perceived influence character (Positive, Negative, Ambivalent) and the perceived influence impact (Restrictive, Demanding, Enabling). We use this framework to structure the case and to derive project management recommendations on how to manage the relationship of IS and law in e-Government projects. The framework can further be used as a basis for a more in-depth systematic literature analysis or empirical case analyses.