Artificial intelligence for the public sector: results of landscaping the use of AI in government across the European Union

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being used by public sector organisations. Previous research highlighted that the use of AI technologies in government could improve policy making processes, public service delivery and the internal management of public administrations. In this article, we explore to which extent the use of AI in the public sector impacts these core governance functions. Findings from the review of a sample of 250 cases across the European Union, show that AI is used mainly to support improving public service delivery, followed by enhancing internal management and only in a limited number assist directly or indirectly policy decision-making. The analysis suggests that different types of AI technologies and applications are used in different governance functions, highlighting the need to further in-depth investigation to better understand the role and impact of use in what is being defined the governance “of, with and by AI”.     

Co-production in digital transformation of public administration and public value creation: The case of Denmark

Public administrations are investing in the digital transformation of their citizen-oriented services and internal administrative processes. They are using co-production approaches and include different types of stakeholders into these transformative processes to increase service quality and generate public value. In this study, we investigate how these co-production approaches are implemented in both digital strategy formulation and implementation in Denmark. We identify four different types of public value: citizen, economic, administrative and societal public value.     

Digital government transformation as an organizational response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Many public organizations struggle to adapt to digital transformation. Whereas previous research has identified internal drivers of change, an unpredictable factor from the external environment such as the COVID-19 pandemic can trigger public innovation. In this study, we aim to investigate if and how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the digital government transformation. In more detail, we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected different organizational aspects that are expected to be affected by a digital transformation. Findings from case studies of ten organizations from the Austrian federal administration indicate that the pandemic has not only led to an increased use of technological means but also influenced various organizational aspects such as employees' attitudes toward technology and organizational culture toward innovation. In particular, organizations heavily affected by the pandemic have benefited from a greater degree of digital transformation. Consequently, the pandemic has influenced a spirit of innovation and accelerated the speed of digital transformation.     

Evaluating the readiness of government portal websites in China to adopt contemporary public administration principles

This article aims to evaluate whether the e-government development in China is ready to adopt contemporary public administration principles. In response to these questions, we propose an evaluation framework that integrates the contemporary public administration principles and current web-quality evaluation theories. The proposed framework evaluates government portal websites in terms of their content, function, and construction, following the theory of website evaluation. The indices for each of these dimensions emphasize interactions, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, all of which reflect the contemporary public administration principles. The validation analysis shows that the proposed evaluation framework well fits the data. The empirical studies suggest that China has implemented advanced e-government services.     

Digital government transformation and internet portals: The co-evolution of technology,organizations, and institutions

Researchers and practitioners around the world recognize the potential of information technologies to promote government transformation. This transformation has been understood in at least two different ways: (1) as a transformation of internal processes and (2) as a transformation of the relationships between governments and other social and political actors (institutional transformation). Unfortunately, there is little or no evidence of such transformation, and current studies reveal that for this transformation to happen, a better understanding of the complex relationships between information technologies, organizations, and institutions is still required. This paper presents a theory of the co-evolution of technology, organizational networks, and institutional arrangements in the transformation of government. The theory uses the grammars of system dynamics and builds upon institutional approaches to understand interactions among all these variables in the development of information and communication technologies in government. Although the theory suggests the relevance of some specific reinforcing processes in this transformation, the endogenous view used in the theory empowers all stakeholders by illustrating how transformation could be promoted from any individual position involved in the process of developing digital government applications.     

AI adoption and diffusion in public administration: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation in public administration is gaining momentum heralded by the hope of smart public services that are personalised, lean, and efficient. However, the use of AI in public administration is riddled with ethical tensions of fairness, transparency, privacy, and human rights. We call these AI tensions. The current literature lacks a contextual and processual understanding of AI adoption and diffusion in public administration to be able to explore such tensions. Previous studies have outlined risks, benefits, and challenges with the use of AI in public administration. However, a large gap remains in understanding AI tensions as they relate to public value creation. Through a systematic literature review grounded in public value management and the resource-based view of the firms, we identify technology-organisational-environmental (TOE) contextual variables and absorptive capacity as factors influencing AI adoption as discussed in the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that outlines distinct AI tensions from an AI implementation and diffusion perspective within public administration. We develop a future research agenda for the full AI innovation lifecycle of adoption, implementation, and diffusion.     

Digital government transformation in turbulent times: Responses,challenges, and future direction

We are living in turbulent times, with the threats of COVID-19 and related social conflicts. Digital transformation is not an option but a necessity for governments to respond to these crises. It has become imperative for governments worldwide to enhance their capacity to strategically use emerging digital technologies and develop innovative digital public services to confront and overcome the pandemic. With the rapid development of digital technologies, digital government transformation (DGT) has been legitimated in response to the pandemic, contributing to innovative efficacy, but it also has created a set of challenges, dilemmas, paradoxes, and ambiguities. This special issue’s primary motive is to comprehensively discuss the promises and challenges DGT presents. It focuses on the nature of the problems and the dilemmatic situation in which to use the technologies. Furthermore, it covers government capacity and policy implications for managerial and institutional reforms to respond to the threats and the uncertainty caused by disruptive digitalization in many countries. To stimulate discussion of the theme of this special issue, this editorial note provides an overview of previous literature on DGT as a controlling measure of the pandemic and the future direction of research and practice on DGT.     

A survey of government document front-line employees: the road to service standards continues

In From Red Tape to Results, U.S. Vice President Albert Gore established a three-step process for creating service standards for federal agencies. This article presents the second step of this methodology, known as the front-line employee survey. The author administered this survey to staff of Oklahoma government document collections. The employee survey found that the Oklahoma government document employees are essentially satisfied with their positions; yet, improvement may be needed in services offered and in workplace facilities.     

Providing access to local government information: The nature of public library activity

This article focuses on the problems associated with providing access to local government information. The research on which it is based is from a 1986 survey conducted by the author of 265 public libraries in six library systems in northern Illinois, the largest comparative study of public library providers of local government information conducted to date. Fifty-five active providers of local government information (those that received requests for this information at least every two weeks) were identified: the findings are based on telephone and group interviews with key staff of those libraries. The article examines a variety of methods that might be used to increase access to local government information. It analyzes the nature of requests received and the types of responses given by these libraries. It examines the major problems associated with providing access to local government information and discusses the reasons given by librarians for providing access to local government information sources. The article concludes that a serious local government information gap exists and that librarians who seek to over-come it must articulate a role that addresses the serious barriers that must be overcome before a library can provide meaningful access to local government information.     

数字化进程中的政府管理行为初探

中国数字图书馆建设除了图书馆系统自身的努力外，政府管理行为在其中扮演着重要角色。文章从立法保障、科学规划、督导评估、行政协调四个方面探讨了政府管理行为在数字图书馆建设中的地位和作用。     

An experimental study of public trust in AI chatbots in the public sector

This study investigates the public's initial trust in so-called “artificial intelligence” (AI) chatbots about to be introduced into use in the public sector. While the societal impacts of AI are widely speculated about, empirical testing remains rare. To narrow this gap, this study builds on theories of operators' trust in machines in industrial settings and proposes that initial public trust in chatbot responses depends on (i) the area of enquiry, since expectations about a chatbot's performance vary with the topic, and (ii) the purposes that governments communicate to the public for introducing the use of chatbots. Analyses based on an experimental online survey in Japan generated results indicating that, if a government were to announce its intention to use “AI” chatbots to answer public enquiries, the public's initial trust in their responses would be lower in the area of parental support than in the area of waste separation, with a moderate effect size. Communicating purposes that would directly benefit citizens, such as achieving uniformity in response quality and timeliness in responding, would enhance public trust in chatbots. Although the effect sizes are small, communicating these purposes might be still worthwhile, as it would be an inexpensive measure for a government to take.     

The impact of legacy systems on digital transformation in European public administration: Lesson learned from a multi case analysis

Legacy systems have continued to pose a major challenge to digital transformation efforts in public administration. A comprehensive review of literature suggests seven levels of complexity in transforming legacy systems, including, being a stand-alone system, being part of a larger system, and data incompatibility, each depicting unique criteria and challenges. Nonetheless, very little is known as to what degree these complexities implicate the implementation of digital transformation efforts in public administration (PA). To address this gap, this research conducted an analysis on four cases of digital transformation in three European PA settings (i.e., Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK). The findings revealed complexities that pose the key challenges to systems interoperability and integrability, which are crucial in any digital transformation project. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the systems to be transformed, the policies which they are serving, and the broader PA setting in which they are implemented were deemed central to succeeding in digital transformation efforts.     

Social media use by government: From the routine to the critical

Social media and online services with user-generated content (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube) have made a staggering amount of information (and misinformation) available. Government officials seek to leverage these resources to improve services and communication with citizens. Significant potential exists to identify issues in real time, so emergency managers can monitor and respond to issues concerning public safety. Yet, the sheer volume of social data streams generates substantial noise that must be filtered in order to detect meaningful patterns and trends. Important events can then be identified as spikes in activity, while event meaning and consequences can be deciphered by tracking changes in content and public sentiment. This paper presents findings from a exploratory study we conducted between June and December 2010 with government officials in Arlington, VA (and the greater National Capitol Region around Washington, D.C.), with the broad goal of understanding social media use by government officials as well as community organizations, businesses, and the public at large. A key objective was also to understand social media use specifically for managing crisis situations from the routine (e.g., traffic, weather crises) to the critical (e.g., earthquakes, floods).     

Enabling AI capabilities in government agencies: A study of determinants for European municipalities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually becoming an integral part of the digital strategy of organizations. Yet, the use of AI in public organizations in still lagging significantly compared to private organizations. Prior literature looking into aspects that facilitate adoption and use of AI has concentrated on challenges concerning technical aspects of AI technologies, providing little insight regarding the organizational deployment of AI, particularly in public organizations. Building on this gap, this study seeks to examine what aspects enable public organizations to develop AI capabilities. To answer this question, we built an integrated and extended model from the Technology-Organization-Environment framework (TOE) and asked high-level technology managers from municipalities in Europe about factors that influence their development of AI capabilities. We collected data from 91 municipalities from three European countries (i.e., Germany, Norway, and Finland) and analyzed responses by means of structural equation modeling. Our findings indicate that five factors – i.e. perceived financial costs, organizational innovativeness, perceived governmental pressure, government incentives, regulatory support – have an impact on the development of AI capabilities. We also find that perceived citizen pressure and perceived value of AI solutions are not important determinants of AI capability formation. Our findings bear the potential to stimulate a more reflected adoption of AI supporting managers in public organizations to develop AI capabilities.     

Transparency and technological change: Ensuring equal and sustained public access to government information

The Obama administration campaigned on the platform of increased transparency and access to government information after the limitations of the Bush years. As part of this focus on transparency, the Obama administration is emphasizing the use of e-government and new social media services to open up access to government. This paper explores the considerations and challenges of this approach, such as the inclusion of members of the public with limited access to the internet, the use of non-governmental channels to disseminate government information, the permanence of digital-born government information, and the design of e-government.     

An attention-based view of AI assimilation in public sector organizations: The case of Saudi Arabia

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been suggested to have transformative potential for public sector organizations through enabling increased productivity and novel ways to deliver public services. In order to materialize the transformative potential of AI, public sector organizations need to successfully assimilate AI in their operational activities. However, AI assimilation in the public sector appears to be fragmented and lagging the private sector, and the phenomena has really limited attention from academic research community. To address this gap, we adopt the case study approach to explore three Saudi-Arabian public sector organizations and analyze the results using the attention-based view of the organization (ABV) as the theoretical lens. This study elucidates the challenges related AI assimilation in public sector in terms of how organizational attention is focused situated and distributed during the assimilation process. Five key challenges emerged from the cases studied, namely (i) misalignment between AI and management decision-making, (ii) tensions with linguistics and national culture, (iii) developing and implementing AI infrastructure, (iv) data integrity and sharing, and (v) ethical and governance concerns. The findings reveal a re-enforcing relationship between the situated attention and structural distribution of attention that can accelerate the successful assimilation of AI in public sector organizations.     

The role of British newspapers in framing the public perception and experience of European radio 1930 to 1939

This article analyses how British newspapers in the 1930s created a particular frame or view of radio as an international medium. This frame was created around the idea of a duality, of radio being defined by both national and foreign broadcasts. By analysing coverage provided by the main national newspapers at this time, in relation to their specific radio coverage, such as programme listing and highlights, this paper delineates the form the frame took, what was included and was absent. Such a frame provides an understanding of how the newspapers viewed and valued radio in a period when international broadcasts were seen as an important part of what radio could offer.     

公共危机管理中政府信息公开存在的问题与对策

文章分析了政府信息公开在公共危机管理中的作用,指出公共危机管理中政府信息公开存在的问题,并从制度、法律、政府、媒体、公民等多方面,提出加强公共危机管理中政府信息快速、高效公开的对策。     

Cybertroopers and tea parties: government use of the Internet in Malaysia

The advent of the Internet has enabled a disruption of the Malaysian government's long-standing control of media content. However, there are also opportunities for the government to extend into the Internet what Cherian George has called ‘narrow tailoring’ policies, designed to ensure ‘hegemonic consensus.’ Demonstrating the interconnections of intraparty factional rivalry, blogging and newspaper management, as well as the extension of government influence into online content, this paper discusses three cases: the transformation of a bloggers association; the organisation of ‘cybertroopers’ by the dominant governing party; and, the use of a blog, Facebook, and Twitter by the prime minister (PM), Najib Razak. Each of the cases highlights particular ‘blog affordances’, a concept used to parse the potentials and limitations of blogs and other social media with regards to state hegemonic control through media ownership. In addition, an adapted concept of ‘extended parasocial relations’ is proposed in relation to Najib's blog and social media presence. Overall, these cases demonstrate the continuity and complementarity of on- and offline activities, which form a relatively stabilised assemblage of political activity.