Managing stakeholders in transformational government — A case study in a Danish local government

According to the e-government maturity literature public organizations will move through different stages of maturity implying that more mature e-government is better. For many public organizations the next stage to enter is the stage of transformational government (Dhillon et al., 2008). This paper contributes to this literature by reporting the findings from a case study in a Danish local government who has reached the stage of transformational government. Using a grounded theory approach, information about the local government was initially collected and further analyzed within a stakeholder perspective. The paper reports how they succeeded in involving the most important stakeholders in the process of reaching transformational government. Finally the paper offers six lessons learned, based on the case study, about how to manage the involved stakeholders to reach transformational government.     

An integrative public IoT framework for smart government

The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained significant importance in science and management and holds great value creation potential for public services. A pressing issue in this regard is how governments and public organizations can adapt their traditional structures and processes to the innovative field of the IoT to create public value. Previous research fails to provide a holistic explanation to this research question. Its technological background and predominant consideration in technology-based research areas has led to a one-sided understanding of the IoT concept that neglects its value-adding aspects. To fill in this research gap, this study presents an integrative public IoT framework for smart government, consolidating insights from IoT literature and related fields of research, complementing the so far predominant technology perspective of IoT with important business-related or value-adding aspects. In doing so, it enhances our understanding of public management-specific key dimensions and aspects of the IoT, serving as a holistic guidance for future research as well as practical implementation and application.     

Analyzing the role of stakeholders in the adoption of technology integration solutions in UK local government: An exploratory study

Over the last decade many governments across the world have intensified their efforts to improve efficiency of public services through Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled transformation of Local Government Authorities (LGAs). Many of these efforts involve implementing new Information Systems and Technology (IS/IT) and integrating various disparate legacy systems to deliver improved services. While there is a surfeit of literature that have outlined the various organizational and technical challenges posed by Technology Integration Solutions (TIS), few studies have examined the role of stakeholders and surrounding challenges when implementing TIS in LGAs. The TIS adoption process involves several stakeholders, each with specific domain knowledge and expertise that are crucial to the success of TIS projects. In this paper, the authors use the concept of stakeholder theory to analyze the role of stakeholders during the TIS adoption process with regards to their perceptions on the factors influencing TIS adoption in LGAs and their involvement on the adoption lifecycle phases. A qualitative multiple case study approach is adopted to empirically highlight the different categories of stakeholders involved in the TIS adoption process, the dynamic nature and importance of their role, and why their domain knowledge and expertise are vital for TIS projects.     

A new interpretation of scientific collaboration patterns from the perspective of symbiosis: An investigation for long-term collaboration in publications

Based on complementarity in terms of factors such as skill and knowledge, researchers might build long-term partnerships with one another during their scientific careers. It has been shown that such relationships have a significant positive impact on researchers’ scientific performance. However, the preferential connection mechanism in collaboration networks actually suggests the unequal positions of participants in the process of scientific collaboration. This study argues that this phenomenon is very similar to the symbiosis function in the natural world. Hence, this work provides a novel interpretation of scientific collaboration patterns from the perspective of symbiosis. In more detail, long-term collaboration relationships are investigated based on the scope of an academician dataset with multiple fields and an economic dataset. With the aid of a quantitative metric for symbiosis degree, six meta-patterns of the short-term evolution of symbiosis degree are proposed. Furthermore, by exploring the evolution of meta-patterns, four scientific collaboration patterns are summarized according to the common characteristics as follows: leading growth, continuous leadership, chasing each other, and standing on equal footing. Extensive experimental results on an academician dataset with multiple fields show that the collaboration network evolution of four collaboration patterns is consistent with our summarized characteristics based on symbiosis. This indicates that our symbiosis-based framework can be used to effectively interpret the developmental and evolutionary trajectories of scientific collaboration.     

A framework for Internet of Things-enabled smart government: A case of IoT cybersecurity policies and use cases in U.S. federal government

Internet of Things (IoT) is ubiquitous in society. IoT-enabled dynamic capabilities in real-time sensing and responding can spur digital transformation in unlocking the potential of digital government into data-driven smart government capable of delivering policies and services of public interest and public value. However, the literature indicates challenges in IoT cybersecurity and systemic use across the government. There is the urgent need for IoT research on policy and use. This paper developed a framework for IoT-enabled smart government performance. We applied this framework to conduct case study analyses of digital technology policy, IoT cybersecurity policy, and IoT use in major application domains at the U.S. federal government level. The results show that some agencies were strategic and forward-thinking in funding and partnering with sub-national governments in promoting the IoT use. However, there remains a critical need for national IoT policies to promote systemic IoT use across the application domains.     

Mining diversity subgraph in multidisciplinary scientific collaboration networks: A meso perspective

This paper proposes a framework to analyze the interdisciplinary collaboration in a coauthorship network from a meso perspective using topic modeling: (1) a customized topic model is developed to capture and formalize the interdisciplinary feature; and (2) the two algorithms Diversity Subgraph Extraction (DSE) and Constraint-based Diversity Subgraph Extraction (CDSE) are designed and implemented to extract a meso view, i.e. a diversity subgraph of the interdisciplinary collaboration. The proposed framework is demonstrated using a coauthorship network in the field of computer science. A comparison between DSE and Breadth First Search (BSF)-based subgraph extraction favors DSE in capturing the diversity in interdisciplinary collaboration. Potential possibilities for studying various research topics based on the proposed framework of analysis are discussed.     

Factors in the adoption of open government initiatives in Spanish local governments

The Open Government Data (OGD) projects have spread rapidly in recent years, given that they involve a great transformative potential, whose aims to guarantee transparent government and stimulate the participation and citizenry engagement. It seems that there is a lack of studies analysing factors regarding both the access to OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify main factors affecting both the way of accessing the OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects in larger Spanish municipalities (with >50,000 inhabitants and a sample of 145 municipalities). Our main findings seem to point out the intention of sample governments to increase their information disclosure as a way for enhancing their reputation or government's image introducing OGDPs initiatives. Also, it revels differences among analysed municipalities regarding the context in which the information is disclosed.     

Benchmarking open government: An open data perspective

This paper presents a benchmark proposal for the Open Government and its application from the open data perspective using data available on the U.S. government's open data portal (data.gov). The benchmark is developed over the adopted Open Government conceptual model, which describes Open Government through data openness, transparency, participation and collaboration. Resulting in two measures, that is, one known as the e-government openness index (eGovOI) and the other Maturity, the benchmark indicates the progress of government over time, the efficiency of recognizing and implementing new concepts and the willingness of the government to recognize and embrace innovative ideas.     

A stigma power perspective on digital government service avoidance

The digital-by-default policy for government services implemented in many European countries can pose challenges to marginalized citizens, such as people with disabilities. Prior research on electronic inclusion and the digital divide has mainly considered technology-related concerns, such as Internet anxiety, preventing people with disabilities from using digital government services. Yet, these concerns may insufficiently account for the fact that people with disabilities may suspect that governments provide new services only to reduce costs and forgo the need for more meaningful social change. Therefore, we draw from stigma power theory to understand how perceptions of stereotyping and discrimination contribute to the avoidance of digital government services among people with disabilities. Our results indicate that overcoming underutilization of digital government services among people with disabilities requires a holistic approach by addressing technology-related as well as stigma-related concerns.     

Developing and validating a citizen-centric typology for smart city services

This study proposes a new typological framework for classifying smart city services. Intentionally focused on citizen-centricity, away from bureaucratic perspectives that most typologies have taken, this typology is derived from marketing and service science literature. The proposed typology consists of four dimensions: mode of technology (automate–informative–transformative), purpose of service (hedonic–utilitarian), service authority (voluntary–mandatory), and delivery mode (passive–interactive). This typological framework is validated with a qualitative exercise of classifying inventories of actual smart city services in practice into the framework. Exercise results revealed that the categories provided are mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive in general, and useful in further conceptualization of new services by identifying gaps in reality. In practice, this typology would be useful in positioning specific smart city service under development in terms of citizen-centricity. Urban planners and administrators may use this framework in understanding the pattern of their service development. Also, this framework may provide a useful guideline for service designer pinpointing the design characteristics of old and new smart city services from the perspective of users and customers of city services: citizens.     

Science, government, and information: 1988 perspective

Twenty-five years have passed since the appearance of Science, Government, and Information (SGI), the 1963 report by the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC). The Information Analysis Center, which was prominently recommended in SGI, has not become a central element of the information system. Instead automation, which was only beginning in 1963, has become dominant. Though extreme automation may be appropriate for those activities that are time constrained, it may lead to clogged information channels for those scientific activities for which time is less important than depth of understanding.     

The changing face of a city government: A case study of Philly311

This study explores the transformation of a city government led by a 311 program, which provides a consolidated channel for non-emergency services and information. The paper first discusses the concept of “smart city” as a foundation for the examination of the 311 non-emergency contact program as a practice of government innovation, and then presents the details of the 311 program as instantiated in the City of Philadelphia. In-depth interviews with Philadelphia City government officials and managers responsible for creating and operating the City's 311 non-emergency contact program (Philly311) offer practical insights into the contributions the program is making to a more efficient, effective, transparent, and collaborative city government.     

On the barriers for local government releasing open data

Due to expected benefits such as citizen participation and innovation, the release of Public Sector Information as open data is getting increased attention on various levels of government. However, currently data release by governments is still novel and there is little experience and knowledge thus far about its benefits, costs and barriers. This is compounded by a lack of understanding about how internal processes influence data release. Our aim in this paper is to get a better understanding of these processes and how they influence data release, i.e., to find determinants for the release of public sector information. For this purpose, we conducted workshops, interviews, questionnaires, desk research and practice based cases in the education program of our university, involving six local public sector organizations. We find that the way data is stored, the way data is obtained and the way data is used by a department are crucial indicators for open data release. We conclude with the lessons learned based on our research findings. These findings are: we should take a nuanced approach towards data release, avoid releasing data for its own sake, and take small incremental steps to explore data release.     

Factors affecting openness of local government websites: Examining the differences across planning,finance and police departments

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in public organizations increasingly holds the potential to improve transparency, accountability, and public participation, by providing a more effective and efficient disclosure of information to the citizens and organizations and by providing channels for interaction with the government. While transparency and interactivity features of government websites constitute two critical elements for public participation and democracy facilitated by web-based technologies, little research has been done to explain why some public organizations choose to deploy website technology more openly with these features. This paper aims to examine the managerial, organizational, and environmental factors that are related to variation in transparency and interactivity features of local government websites, which we believe are key dimensions to governmental website openness. The paper first develops a literature informed conceptual model of governmental website openness and then tests this model using data from a national survey of 850 government managers in 500 cities. The model results are compared across three different departments: community development, finance, and police department. Overall findings indicate that higher website openness is positively related to increased frequency of public participation in agency decision making and civil society influence, increased technical capacity, lower organizational control, and higher perceived usefulness of website technology. In addition, due to differences in the operating contexts of the departments, the effects of organizational control, technical capacity, environmental influences, and perceived usefulness of website technology on governmental website openness tend to differ by the type of department.     

Examining the antecedents and outcomes of smart government usage: An integrated model

Smart government is viewed as the highest modernization stage of public agencies. Governments seek to employ disruptive technologies to substantially transform government-citizen relationships, enhance citizens’ experiences, transform public decision making, emphasize citizen engagement in the democratic decision-making process, provide more agile and resilient government structures, create substantial public value and generally improve quality of life. Despite its numerous potential advantages, smart government is still in its early phases of development. Examining issues related to the usage behavior of smart government services has received little attention. Outcomes of the usage of online technologies in general, and electronic public services in particular, have been largely overlooked. Accordingly, this study aims at developing and empirically validating an integrated model of smart government usage by extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) through the incorporation of a set of determinants and outcomes of smart government usage following an extensive review of extant literature. The data were obtained from 414 smart government clients in the United Arab Emirates through an online questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of this study indicated that, among all significant antecedents of smart government usage, performance expectancy has the strongest impact, whilst facilitating conditions has the weakest influence. It has been also reported that personalization has no significant effect on smart government usage. The results further revealed that the strongest impact of smart government usage is on information transparency. Implications for theory and practice are also offered.     

Mobile government: A challenge for agriculture

Mobile government (or mGovernment) is a subset of electronic government comprising an alternative provisioning channel of governmental information and services. Governments are increasingly making efforts to provide more access to information and services for citizens, businesses, and civil servants through wireless devices. One of the future challenges for the implementation of mGovernment is the creation of effective business cases (e.g. tourism, health, agriculture). Within this context, the scope of this paper is to study the deployment of mGovernment services in the agricultural sector, taking into account its peculiarities, priorities, and needs. The objective of this paper is twofold: first, to present a framework for identifying appropriate and cost-effective mGovernment services for the agricultural sector and, second, to illustrate the application of the proposed framework, describing a case study for a particular agribusiness sector.     

A prioritization-based analysis of local open government data portals: A case study of Chinese province-level governments

While most data originate within a local context, our knowledge about the realization of open government data (OGD) at local levels is limited due to the lack of systematic analysis of local OGD portals. Thus, we focus on a core question about analysing and guiding the development of local OGD portals. An evaluation framework is developed based on the comparison of related studies and principles. To fill the gap in existing frameworks which lack clarity in the prioritization process, Analytic Hierarchy Process together with an expert survey is used to derive priorities of elements of the framework. To test the capability of the framework in analysing and guiding the development of local OGD portals, a case study of Chinese province-level OGD portals has been carried out. Results show that data accessibility and quality matter more than data quantity for a local OGD portal. Currently, Chinese province-level OGD portals are in their infancy of development, with a great gap between Taiwan and Hong Kong with other portals. Data relating to local statistics, credit records, and budget and spending are well released on portals in China. Population size and the size and wealth of the local government show no significant relation with the number of datasets. By combining priorities of the framework with evaluation results, it could help local governments to recognise their present shortcomings and give them recommendations for recognizing directions for OGD portal's future development.     

From E-budgeting to smart budgeting: Exploring the potential of artificial intelligence in government decision-making for resource allocation

Artificial intelligence has become an important tool for governments around the world. However, it is not clear to what extent artificial intelligence can improve decision-making, and some policy domains have not been the focus of most recent studies, including the public budget process. More specifically, budget allocation is one of the areas in which AI may have greatest potential. Therefore, this study attempts to contribute to this gap in our existing knowledge by answering the following research question: To what extent can artificial intelligence techniques help distribute public spending to increase GDP, decrease inflation and reduce the Gini index? In order to respond to this question, this article proposes an algorithmic approach on how budget inputs (specific expenditures) are processed to generate certain outputs (economic, political, and social outcomes). The authors use the multilayer perceptron and a multiobjective genetic algorithm to analyze World Bank Open Data from 1960 to 2019, including 217 countries. The advantages of implementing this type of decision support system in public expenditures allocation arise from the ability to process large amounts of data and to find patterns that are not easy to detect, which include multiple non-linear relationships. Some technical aspects of the expenditure allocation process could be improved with the help of these kinds of techniques. In addition, the results of the AI-based approach are consistent with the findings of the scientific literature on public budgets, using traditional statistical techniques.     

Stakeholders' stake and relation to smartness in smart city development: Insights from a Swedish city planning project

Many of today's city planning projects aim to realize smart city ambitions. In order to plan and build a smart city district, where ICT is integrated in critical infrastructure and used to control and govern city functions in innovative ways, new ways of working in city planning are needed. The purpose of this article is to develop a framework that takes into account stakeholders and smartness dimensions in city planning. We have studied a city district development in Sweden where a new planning approach was implemented. The developed framework was used to analyze the complexity of this city planning process. By defining which smartness dimension each stakeholder primarily focus on and analyzing the consequences of this, the framework pinpoints each stakeholder's contribution and/or hindrance to the process and outcome. A recommendation from this study is that new stakeholder groups are important to involve in smart city planning, but this also adds complexity that must be acknowledged when setting up this kind of projects. The developed framework can be useful when organizing and staffing city planning processes as well as when evaluating project outcomes.