Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy

Citation

Irani, Z. and Kamal, M. (2015), "Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 9 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-03-2015-0014

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy

Article Type: Editorial From: Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Volume 9, Issue 2

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the second issue of the ninth volume of Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy (TCPPP). Over the years, the constant update of the journal’s scope to advocate theoretical as well as empirical research has led to an increase in the quality of submissions and citations. The papers in this issue of TGPPP provide a rich contextual background into e-Government services; e-Governance adoption; the value of open government data;, discussing the role of service quality dimensions and demographic variables in the adoption of e-Government services, transforming public sector operational activities; and use of social media in government organisations.

This issue commences with a research paper by Karin Hedström, Elin Wihlborg, Mariana S. Gustafsson and Fredrik Söderström entitled Constructing Meanings of eID in Public Organizations – In the Interface of the Professional and Private among Public. According to the European Commission (2010), electronic identifications (eIDs) are considered as a vital back-office enabler for vigorous, efficient and sustainable e-Government services. eIDs are also seen as a tool for realising business goals and ensuring managerial control and information security. The reasons for using eIDs, and the benefits sought after, are thus no different on an organisational level than they are on an EU level. This paper therefore aims to reveal how identities are constructed when eIDs are introduced through information systems (IS) in the public sector. Through the use of interpretative approach, this research presents two case studies that generate rich data on the construction of identities through the use of eID within public organisations. The analysis presented based on actor–network theory (ANT) focusses on the translation of eIDs in the case study settings. The authors argue that eID can be viewed as an artefact where the public and private spheres meet. Based on the empirical findings, the authors found at least three role dimensions in employees’ use of eID, i.e. as a:

1. purely private person;

2. private person in the work place; and

3. professional in the work place.

The empirical cases offer an opportunity to study implementation and use of eID in two very different public service organisations. The findings presented in this research illustrate:

• how eID is translated into organisational contexts; and

• how identity management within an organisational setting is linked to the employees’ private and professional roles.

A comparison of these two cases indicate that the division of private and public aspects of people’s identity and its management can indeed differ. Meanings and values are embedded within the technological artefacts, where the eID becomes a key actor or even a gatekeeper for constructing and materialising identity.

Following the above research paper, we have another research paper by Alaa Aldin Alathmay, presenting his research entitled Demographic Factors as Determinants of E-Governance’ Adoption: A Field Study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this study, the author combines two dimensions of e-Governance, namely, e-openness and e-participation, and empirically investigates how these two concepts of e-Governance are affected by some demographic characteristics from a citizens’ perspective. Thus, this research examines influential demographic factors as determinants of the adoption of e-Governance in the context of UAE. The author claims that these two dimensions of e-Governance are neither studied before in the context of Arab countries nor explored earlier in relation to some demographic variables. The primary purpose of this study is to analyse and extend knowledge of how demographic characteristics are important determinants of understanding citizen’s perception towards the adoption of e-Governance. The author argues that to have a successful e-Governance system in place, there is a clear need to understand how citizens perceive the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a vehicle to enhance participation in democracy. The specific research questions that this study addressed are:

RQ1. How satisfaction with the two dimensions of e-Governance (e-openness and e-participation) is affected by demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, nationality and nature of employment)?

RQ2. What is the overall level of satisfaction with two dimensions of e-Governance which can be to the aforementioned demographic characteristics?

To validate the conceptual findings, a questionnaire was administered to collect data from three locations in UAE. Demographic data were analysed to test e-openness and e-participation dimension of e-Governance underpinning five demographic variables (e.g. age, education, nationality, gender and type of employment). A sample of 1,500 respondents was used to measure the significance of these demographic variables in relation to the aforementioned dimensions of e-Governance. The empirical findings suggest that with the exception of nationality variable, all other demographic variables, including gender, age, education and type of employment, clearly explain differences among the respondents of e-Governance.

We then have Iryna Susha, Åke Grönlund and Marijn Janssen presenting their research entitled Organizational Measures to Stimulate User Engagement with Open Data. In this research, the authors discuss on open government data (OGD) – which is suggested to be “the new goldmine” capable of encouraging development and generating huge revenue. According to Janssen et al. (2012), the value of OGD – social or economic – is created by its use and not by merely publicising it. Therefore, as Ubaldi (2013) notes in an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, to unlock the value of open government data, “universal participation” is essential, signifying that everyone should be able to use, reuse and redistribute public sector information. Based on the Open Data Barometer survey published in 2013, in the majority of countries, the impact of OGD is not evident yet and difficult to measure. Implementation of OGD initiatives is commonly supply-driven, as it is difficult to predict the possible uses and users of data. Nonetheless, the value of open data materialises only upon its use – either to achieve societal benefits or economic value. This paper therefore investigates which organisational measures can facilitate the use of open data. In doing so, following steps were covered:

• Step 1: Reviewing the open data literature specifically dedicated to the problem of poor usage of data.

• Step 2: Investigating the open data engagement strategies in four cases in two different types of organizations and two different country settings (statistics agency and municipality in Sweden and The Netherlands).

• Step 3: Analysing the case findings and comparing them to the measures recommended in the literature.

The authors argue that public sector organisations find it challenging to set up support for open data users having various requirements and skills. Most public sector organisations have none or limited interaction with data users and are often selective with regards to with whom and how to communicate.

Then, we have Sujeet Sharma, with the paper entitled Adoption of e-Government Services: The Role of Service Quality Dimensions and Demographic Variables. The author argues that the effect of service quality dimensions remains largely unexplored in the e-Government adoption literature. This research paper focusses on the effect of heterogeneous profiles of users and service quality dimensions on the willingness to use e-Government services in the context of Oman. It is thus vital to understand the influential determinants of e-Government services, thereby enhancing the degree of usage of these services by the citizens. This research provides the following research hypothesis:

• men are more likely to use e-Government services in comparison to women;

• age is negatively associated with the use of e-Government services;

• education is positively associated with the use of e-Government services;

• reliability has positive influence on the willingness to use e-Government services;

• security has a positive influence on the willingness to use e-Government services;

• efficiency has a positive influence on the willingness to use e-Government services; and

• responsiveness has a positive influence on the willingness to use e-Government services.

Based on the review of the relevant literature and above-mentioned hypotheses, this research develops a research model for understanding the relationship between service quality dimensions and demographic variables, and the willingness to use e-Government services in Oman. The model presents that demographic profile of users and quality dimensions have effect on the users’ willingness towards the use of e-Government services. A research survey (with 248 sample size) was used to assess the quality dimensions of the e-Government services in Oman. The results demonstrate that service quality dimensions, namely, reliability, security, efficiency and responsiveness, were the influential determinants that influenced the willingness to use e-Government services.

Then, we have Mark Taylor, Emma Higgins, Hulya Francis, Mark Jones and Debbie Appleton presenting their case study base paper, entitled Transforming Fire Prevention: A Case Study. In this research, Taylor et al. argue that public sector organisations may need to change their operational activities for a variety of reasons, including changes required to improve efficiency or effectiveness, changes to the scope of their operations, or changes due to new legislation amongst others. As a result, this research examines the transformation of fire prevention processes through improved targeting of fire prevention interventions over a four-year period (i.e. from 2008 to 2012), involving a UK fire and rescue service, local council, National Health Services (NHS) primary care trust and a police force. According to O’Grady (2014), existing approaches to fire prevention typically utilise spatial analysis of fire incidence combined with measures of social deprivation, whereas, in this paper, the authors examine the transformation of fire prevention in a UK fire and rescues service through socio-economic causal factor analysis, population segmentation analysis and multi-agency collaboration. To conduct research into the changing nature of fire prevention, an appropriate data collection and data analysis strategy was devised, i.e. the transformation of fire prevention activities was discussed with staff involved in fire prevention and customer insight such as:

• project managers, information technology managers, data protection officers and community fire safety officers within the fire and rescue service;

• councillors and information analysts from the local council;

• information analysts from the NHS primary care trust; and

• community liaison officer from the local police force.

On the other hand, the data were content analysed by identifying themes within the meeting texts, e.g. what was involved in fire prevention, and what potential benefits were envisaged from fire prevention activities? The fire and rescue service studied had identified that the reduction in fire incidence and fire fatalities within the region studied had started to “flatten out”. The authors anticipate that the analysis of the transformation of fire prevention presented in this paper may be of benefit to other fire and rescue services.

Finally, we have a paper by Agnes Mainka, Sarah Hartmann, Wolfgang Stock and Isabella Peters entitled Looking fo Friends and Followers: A Global Investigation of Governmental Social Media Use. In this paper, the authors report that enhanced ICT infrastructures and the increasing use of technology have reshaped communication, e.g. social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. ICT infrastructure and high Internet penetration are significant prerequisites for ensuring that a large number of citizens can make use of social media communication channels and of the Internet in general. The authors argue that despite the significance of this research area, there is no study on governmental social media activity which has been focussed on a global comparison between cities and different social media services. This research paper therefore aims to identify governmental social media use in cities with enhanced ICT infrastructures (i.e. informational world cities [Stock, 2011]) and high Internet penetration rates, i.e. studying e-Governments in prototypical cities of the knowledge society all over the world. This paper is based on an iterative content and Web analysis from November 2012 until January 2013 and offers a comparison of different social media service types and the particular use. Based on the empirical findings, the authors formulate recommendations for governments regarding their social media activities, e.g.:

• How many platforms should we deploy?

• How should we interconnect our websites with our social media channels (as well as the social media channels among each other)?

• How often should we add posts on certain media?

• Do we really reach our stakeholders via social media?

Moreover, the empirical analysis laid the foundation for future research studies on governments’ social media use concerning the style of posted content as well as the effectiveness of running social media accounts by governments.

We hope that you will find this issue interesting and thought-provoking, and hope to receive your valuable contributions for the forthcoming issue (Table I).

Zahir Irani - Editor

Muhammad Kamal - Editorial Assistant

References

European Commission (2010), “Digitizing public services in Europe: putting ambition into action, 9th benchmark measurement”, Directorate General for Information Society and Media, Unit C.4 Economic and Statistical Analysis, available at: http://www.capgemini.com/resources/2010-egovernment-benchmark

Janssen, M., Charalabidis, Y. and Zuiderwijk, A. (2012), “Benefits, adoption barriers and myths of open data and open government”, Information Systems Management, Vol. 29, pp. 258-268.

O’Grady, N. (2014), “Securing circulation through mobility: milieu and emergency response in the British fire and rescue service”, Mobilities, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 512-527.

Stock, W.G. (2011), “Informational cities: analysis and construction of cities in the knowledge society”, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 62 No. 5, pp. 963-986.

Ubaldi, B. (2013), Open Government Data: Towards Empirical Analysis of Open Government Data Initiatives, OECD Publishing, Paris.