Opportunities and Challenges of Agile Transformation in a Public Administration Organisation

The thesis examines the opportunities and challenges associated with agile transformation within a European Union (EU) agency. Given that the agency operates in a heavily regulated environment, the adoption of agile practises presents a significant challenge, particularly with regards to legislative, political, and behavioural aspects. The main objective of the thesis is to evaluate the strategy, plan, and current progress of the agile transformation in the EU agency managing information systems, based on a defined theoretical framework and a case study, and to identify the challenges, obstacles, and opportunities for implementing agile principles. The research is based on a theoretical framework of agile practices defined through both systematic and traditional literature review, which serves as an outline for the case study. The data were collected through a combination of in-depth semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. The findings of the case study indicate significant deficiencies, particularly in the absence of a vision and strategy for agile transformation, lack of knowledge and experience in agility by the leadership, unclear role definition leading to staff overload, superficial communication, and an inflexible public procurement system. Conversely, positive aspects include openness to change and new technologies, intrinsic motivation of employees, emphasis on customer collaboration, and positive dynamics within cross-functional teams. The thesis concludes with recommendations for improving the agile transformation of the examined organisation.