Information Polity

Creating commercial value through open data use in open data ecosystems is a wicked problem. This problem is characterized by a lack of specific formulation, complex interactions amongst a variety of stakeholders, a lack of criteria determining a sat

Anneke Zuiderwijk

Marijn Janssen

Geerten van de Kaa

Kostas Poulis

The wicked problem of commercial value creation in open data ecosystems: Policy guidelines for governments

In recent years, ``smart cities'' have rapidly increased in discourses as well as in their real number, and raise various issues. While citizen engagement is a key element of most definitions of smart cities, information and communication technologies (ICTs) would also have great potential for faci litating public participation. However, scholars have highlighted that little research has focused on actual practices of citizen involvement in smart cities so far. In this respect, the authors analyse public participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities'', paying attention to both official discourses and actual practices. Smart Communities were selected in 2010 by the Japanese government which defines them as ``smart city'' projects and imposed criteria such as focus on energy issues, participation and lifestyle innovation. Drawing on analysis of official documents as well as on interviews with each of the four Smart Communities' stakeholders, the paper explains that very little input is expected from Japanese citizens. Instead, ICTs are used by municipalities and electric utilities to steer project participants and to change their behaviour. The objective of Smart Communities would not be to involve citizens in city governance, but rather to make them participate in the co-production of public services, mainly energy production and distribution.

Benoit Granier

Hiroko Kudo

How are citizens involved in smart cities? Analysing citizen participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities''

This study represents two critical steps forward in the area of smart city research and practice. The first is in the form of the development of a comprehensive conceptualization of smart city as a resource for researchers and government practitioners; the second is in the form of the creation of a bridge between smart cities research and practice expertise. City governments increasingly need innovative arrangements to solve a variety of technical, physical, and social problems. ``Smart city'' could be used to represent efforts that in many ways describe a vision of a city, but there is little clarity about this new concept. This paper proposes a comprehensive conceptualization of smart city, including its main components and several specific elements. Academic literature is used to create a robust framework, while a review of practical tools is used to identify specific elements or aspects not treated in the academic studies, but essential to create an integrative and comprehensive conceptualization of smart city. The paper also provides policy implications and suggests areas for future research in this topic.

J. Ramon Gil-Garcia

Theresa A. Pardo

Taewoo Nam

What makes a city smart? Identifying core components and proposing an integrative and comprehensive conceptualization

Open data ecosystems are expected to bring many advantages, such as stimulating citizen participation and innovation. However, scant attention has been given to what constitutes an open data ecosystem. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of essential elements of open data ecosystems for enabling easy publication and use of open data. To achieve this objective, the literature has been reviewed and a scenario about the publication and use of open data has been analyzed. It was found that various applications, tools and portals are available which together can form an ecosystem. The best functionalities of this ecosystem can be selected and utilized by open data providers and users. To create an open data ecosystem at least four key elements should be captured, namely, 1) releasing and publishing open data on the internet, 2) searching, finding, evaluating and viewing data and their related licenses, 3) cleansing, analyzing, enriching, combining, linking and visualizing data and 4) interpreting and discussing data and providing feedback to the data provider and other stakeholders. Furthermore, to integrate the ecosystem elements and to let them act as an integrated whole, there should be three additional elements 5) user pathways showing directions for how open data can be used, 6) a quality management system and 7) different types of metadata to be able to connect the elements.

Chris Davis

Innovation with open data: Essential elements of open data ecosystems

开放数据创新：开放数据生态系统的关键要素

Due to digitalisation, automation, and the use of artificial intelligence in policy implementation, public administrations are adapting their workflows and organisational structures. We explore the impact of the digital transformation on the nature of tasks as well as the subsequent (potentially) changing demand for competences and job profiles in public executive agencies, based on a comparative case study and semi-structured interviews with over 60 public servants from three key administrative services in Germany – electronic tax returns, internet-based vehicle registrations, and digital building applications. The findings reveal less complex tasks being partially substituted and core discretionary tasks being standardised. We highlight the emergence of “work for digitalisation” that often remains “invisible”, including “compensating work” (scanning, IT support), “connecting work” (software maintenance) and “cleaning work” (validating data), resulting in an overall increased workload. Additionally, there is a need for role-specific new competences and upskilling of middle-level public servants. Our results indicate a potential substitution of traditional administrative job profiles but a growing demand for highly skilled, academically trained public servants. The findings therefore challenge the notion that digitalisation and automation threaten human labour or effectively counteract staff shortages. Rather, (potential) benefits, burdens, and job perspectives are distributed unevenly across job profiles.

Philipp Gräfe

Justine Marienfeldt

Liz Marla Wehmeier

Sabine Kuhlmann

Changing tasks and changing public servants? The digitalisation and automation of public administrative work

任务转变与公务员转变？公共行政工作的数字化与自动化

This study investigates the significant influence of patriarchy on the potential acceptance and use of local digital government innovations in resource-constrained countries, building on studies that highlight patriarchy’s impactful role in shaping innovation. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was adopted as the evaluation theory (n= 270) using Ethiopia as a case study. The results from structural equation modeling (SEM) reveal that patriarchy moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behavior. Contrary to conventional assumptions, we found that despite facing systemic barriers, women demonstrated higher engagement levels with the local digital innovation compared to their male counterparts, even when they did not perceive direct job-related benefits. This revelation not only challenges prevailing gender stereotypes but also underscores the resilience of women in circumventing patriarchal constraints. The study significantly contributes to theory by contextualizing the UTAUT model within a patriarchal framework, bringing out how societal norms and gender dynamics shape technology adoption in public sector settings. Practically, our findings advocate for gender-sensitive policies and interventions to bridge digital divides, emphasizing the need for inclusive strategies that account for underlying societal structures. By providing empirical evidence from a resource-constrained setting, this research offers important insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers aiming to foster equitable digital engagement and harness the full potential of digital government innovations.

Debas Senshaw

Hossana Twinomurinzi

How women circumvent systemic constraints: Patriarchy’s extension to the adoption of digital government innovations

女性如何绕过系统性限制：父权制对数字政府创新采纳的延伸

Data analytics (DA) use has been frequently considered a transformational practice in the public sector, particularly in terms of its potential for data-driven decision making by local governments. Despite growing interest from academics and practitioners, empirical research on what cities are actually doing regarding DA and how is still relatively scarce, particularly in terms of a focus on specific activities and processes. Based on a socio-technical view, this paper examines a local government’s experience with DA use and how DA can be seen as a process and transformational practice. Results reveal that DA practices go beyond the use of specific technologies and involve collaborative efforts to formulate meaningful problems and prepare data for specific uses. Indeed, problem formulation is an essential step where collective discussions and assessment by technical and nontechnical DA practitioners occurs. Our findings suggest that (1) data analytics viewed as a socio-technical process involves data management and analysis, but also collaborative processes between multiple city agencies, (2) collaborative efforts go beyond data analytics and include data collection, data representation, and problem formulation; and (3) formulating the problem in a collaborative manner could be considered an important first step when using data analytics for decision-making in local governments. Furthermore, collaborative problem formulation in DA seems to be affected by specific variables related to the collaborative effort such as leadership, governance, and technology.

Felippe Cronemberger

Understanding the importance of collaborative problem formulation for data analytics: Key lessons about leadership, governance, and technology

理解数据分析中协作问题构建的重要性：关于领导力、治理和技术的关键经验

Does compliance with open government reforms imply openness? Based on an institutional framework, this article analyses the implementation of two open government reforms – the Access to Information and Citizen Participation laws – in three Chilean municipalities. The results suggest that how formal rules interact with informal strategies could explain the different outcomes of open government reforms and that compliance does not necessarily lead to openness. In contrast, the complexity of formal and informal interaction, defined by the strength of formal laws and their convergence with local informality, can produce counterproductive results on local governance.

José Hernández-Bonivento

Does compliance imply openness? An institutional analysis of open government reforms in three municipalities in Chile

合规是否意味着开放？智利三个城市开放政府改革的制度分析

Perspectives in Public Management", edited by Melodena Stephens, Raed Awamleh, and Fadi Salem, provides a comprehensive overview of the many and varied aspects of agile government, from digitization and the use of all available intellectual resources to stakeholder trust and collaboration.While innovative practices are a key element of agile projects, cognitive biases and limited resources might be obstacles to successful implementations of strategies and projects.For the authors, skills, better data, and political will are scarce resources that need to be further cultivated.The 23 chapters help the readers to understand the ups and downs of agile government (e.g., the support for change brought about by digitalization and the difficulty to deal with a long-term agenda) and identify areas where institutions and stakeholders need to improve to meet future challenges (e.g., innovativeness, adaptability, data literacy, and data sharing).The book is structured into 7 sections, which aim to familiarize readers with agile government and key definitions, present specific case examples to learn more about change processes and uncover tips and significant elements for future considerations.The sections are the following: (1) Concepts & Realities, (2) Systems Thinking, (3) Futureproofing for an Agile Government, (4) Building Trust and Solving Wicked Problems, (5) Cross-Border Challenges, (6) Strategic Communication, and (7) Innovation.In section (1), Chapter 1 defines agile government as "a way of mobilizing public resources in a fluid, interactive, flexible, and resilient manner that optimizes public value generation without rigidity while utilizing fit-for-purpose policies and procedures" (p.18).In that regard, agile government as a new model in public administration aims to enable multilevel and complex structures to navigate challenges in an uncertain future.The COVID crisis has highlighted the importance to move toward "better government" (p.19).Chapter 2 puts forward that a balance is needed in the way one approaches change within institutions, to leave room for agility, but also for stability, structure, and regulations.The authors of Chapter 3 integrate the wide range of stakeholders (i.e., citizenry, service designers, I.T. experts, and policy owners or leaders) in their agile model.While Chapter 4 illustrates restructuration from an agile and public value perspective with the example of the federal government of the United Arab Emirates, Chapter 5 highlights the democratic changes taking place in South Africa.The above examples demonstrate that transformation requires political will.Finally, in the era of digital transformation, recommendations for the Arabic region are developed in Chapter 6, including the need to expand technological readiness, data literacy, and adaptive leadership, among others.Chapter 7 in section (2) explains the WISE method -Whole, not just the Parts (W), Intelligence flows (I), Sensemaking (S), Emergent effects (E) -and highlights that, due to systematic biases, policymakers should always be human-focused.Chapter 8 emphasizes the importance of assessing readiness or the

Audrey Gonin

Stephens, Melodena, Awamleh, Raed, and Salem, Fadi (Eds.) (2022) Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives in Public Management, World Scientific Publishing Company

Abbreviation	IP
Journal Impact	1.30
Quartiles(Global)	INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE(Q2)

ISSN	1570-1255, 1875-8754
h-index	43

Publication Information	Publisher: IOS Press BV，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 2002，Proportion of original research papers: 96.77%，Self Citation Rate:15.40%， Gold OA Rate: 31.82%

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The wicked problem of commercial value creation in open data ecosystems: Policy guidelines for governments

How are citizens involved in smart cities? Analysing citizen participation in Japanese ``Smart Communities''

What makes a city smart? Identifying core components and proposing an integrative and comprehensive conceptualization

Innovation with open data: Essential elements of open data ecosystems

Changing tasks and changing public servants? The digitalisation and automation of public administrative work

Changing tasks and changing public servants? The digitalisation and automation of public administrative work

How women circumvent systemic constraints: Patriarchy’s extension to the adoption of digital government innovations

Understanding the importance of collaborative problem formulation for data analytics: Key lessons about leadership, governance, and technology

Does compliance imply openness? An institutional analysis of open government reforms in three municipalities in Chile

Stephens, Melodena, Awamleh, Raed, and Salem, Fadi (Eds.) (2022) Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives in Public Management, World Scientific Publishing Company