Information Polity

Zhang, Jing; Kim, Yushim

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160395

The theme of the 16th International Conference on Digital GovernmentResearch (dg.o 2015) - ``Digital Government and Wicked Problems'' - drewattention to the increasingly complex global problems we are facing today.In the late 1960s, the term ``wicked problems'' was coined to refer tosocietal and public planning problems that had no definitive solutions [1,2].Many problems, such as those identified in the theme of theconference - climate change, urbanization, and inequality - often exhibitthe characteristics of ``wickedness'' in the sense that they are bothdifficult to define and solve. The selection of this theme for dg.o 2015reflects the digital government research community's ambition and dedicationto achieve a degree of understanding necessary to address some of the mostintractable of these problems with the aid of emerging technologies. Thisspecial issue includes seven of the best papers from the dg.o 2015conference.In this editorial, we highlight the characteristics of ``wicked problems''briefly, and the way in which the term is relevant in digital governmentresearch. We then introduce the articles selected for this special issue.Lastly, we provide suggestions to foster future research that addresses thenature of ``wickedness'' in digital government initiatives.

Zuiderwijk, Anneke; Janssen, Marijn; van de Kaa, Geerten; Poulis, Kostas

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160391

Creating commercial value through open data use in open data ecosystems is awicked problem. This problem is characterized by a lack of specificformulation, complex interactions amongst a variety of stakeholders, a lackof criteria determining a satisfactory solution, including what constitutes`value', and uncertain outcomes. Wicked problems cannot be solved by onlyconsidering part of the problem. Yet, open data efforts all too often focusmainly on open data publication and neglect the use of the data; while it isthe use of data (not just publication) that generates value. This paperaddresses the question: Which policy guidelines can support commercial value creation from open data? This study first elicits characteristics of wickedproblems for studying the wicked problem of commercial open data valuecreation. Subsequently, we use the wicked problem characteristics to studyopen data innovation in two countries and consult experts. This work resultsin eliciting four policy guidelines that can help to derive greatercommercial value from open data ecosystems. The four policy guidelines showthat governmental open data policies for commercial value should payattention to: 1) increasing the knowledge of open data ecosystemstakeholders about contextual factors influencing open data use andcommercial value creation, 2) ensuring the availability and quality of fivetypes of resources: open data, open Information Technology (IT), internalIT, knowledge and governance, 3) cooperating between businesses and citizensto create alliances, and 4) reducing the negative effects of value creationby companies in the open data ecosystem. These policy guidelines areexpected to stimulate commercial value creation with open data use.

Feng, Shu; Zhang, Jing; Gao, Yue

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160396

The growth of smart grid technologies is already defining energy in the21st century: smart cities depend on the smart grid for resilientenergy delivery and improved energy efficiency. Adopting the smart gridunder conditions of uncertainty demands focused attention and innovativeapproaches. This paper employs the Real Options Approach (ROA) to study howutilities make investment decisions regarding smart grid informationtechnology innovation, under conditions of investment uncertainty. We arguethat investing in the smart grid is analogous to having the option rights ina call option in the US financial market. We propose a model in which thesmart grid cost is taken as the primary decision variable to identify theoptimal first time for utility suppliers to adopt the smart grid. This studydemonstrates that ROA can be an important tool for simulating the impact ofpublic policy on the adoption of the smart grid technology of electricutilities.

Reddick, Christopher G.; Chatfield, Akemi Takeoka; Brajawidagda, Uuf

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160392

This paper explores antecedents of the public's perception of governmentcrisis communication transparency during the 2014 AirAsia QZ8501 crash,which was characterized by hyper-unknown and hyper-uncertainty. A model ofgovernment crisis communication transparency was developed to identify knownantecedents. The authors collected and analyzed special issue news reportson the 2014 AirAsia QZ8501 crash from the detik.com website. There were 328articles citing government as the information source, which the authors usedto construct a framework to guide their media content analysis of thesearticles. Our findings strongly indicate that openness of the search andrescue process is the most salient antecedent to the media's positiveperceptions of government transparency in crisis communication on ongoingsearch and rescue operations. Other antecedents of importance are managementand structure, information quality, government leadership, and ICT use. Arevised model of government transparency in crisis communication isconstructed which underscores the importance of implementing open governmentpolicy to enhance transparent government crisis communication. The researchcontribution of this paper is this revised model of government transparencythat considers the unique context of crisis communication, something theliterature has not fully explored.

Comfort, Louise K.; Bert, Jennifer; Song, Jee Eun

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160394

The escalation of Ebola from December, 2013 - December, 2014, represents aclassic wicked problem. Logical steps taken to limit the disease encounteredunexpected responses and failed to curb the rapidly escalating transmission.As Ebola escalated, the scale of inter-organizational response exceeded thecapacity of organizations at different jurisdictional levels of operationthat had responsibilities for health emergencies. We examine the lack ofinformation that hampered early recognition of risk, consequent failures incommunication that fueled the escalation of Ebola, and the sobering lack ofcapacity in public organizations to stop the spread of Ebola. We use acomplex adaptive systems framework to examine interactions amongorganizations, process tracing of key decisions, and network analysis basedon data coded from the United Nations Relief Web situation reports toidentify the networks of actors engaged in this response. Through thenetworks, we trace the information flow that gradually lessened uncertainty,informed local actors, and contributed to the eventual containment of thedisease. We conclude that timely, valid information mobilized through acomplex, adaptive system of systems serves a primary role in creating abasis for collective action to mitigate the uncertainty, misinformation, andmistrust that spurred the escalation of the Ebola disease.

Sung, Wookjoon

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160398

In this study, we evaluate the digital divide in a Koreancontext, where most people own smartphones. Specifically, we seek tounderstand how the proliferation of smartphones affects the digital divideacross particular demographic categories. The independent variables used forthis study were gender, age, income, education, and employment status. Thesevariables were used to predict digital skills or usage access, as moderatedby smartphone use. Results indicate that smartphone use reduces the digitaldivide across participants of different ages, education levels, occupations,and income levels. These results suggest that policies associated withdigital gaps should seek to increase the usage rate and accessibility ofsmartphones.

Coelho, Taiane Ritta; Cunha, Maria Alexandra; de Souza Meirelles, Fernando

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160397

This article investigates the client-consultant relationship in theimplementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) using a case study ofthe human resource model in the government of the state of Minas Gerais,Brazil. To understand this relationship, we use the theoretical framework ofPozzebon and Pinsonneault, which suggests that knowledge and power areshared and negotiated during ERP implementation. The findings show a uniquedynamic of cooperation between the client and the consultant due to mutualdependence, with nine identified mechanisms of knowledge and power thatinfluence the relationship. Some of these mechanisms may be specific togovernments and large corporations, including a common language, theinvolvement of an external agent in the project, and the externalinformation technology (IT) team. This study provides insight that canbenefit governments and consultants in successful implementations of ERP.

Valle-Cruz, David; Sandoval-Almazan, Rodrigo; Gil-Garcia, J. Ramon

2016 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/IP-160393

The implementation of information technologies in government could havesignificant effects on efficiency, transparency, and corruption. However, itis not clear whether and how citizens perceive these effects. Based on asurvey conducted in 2015, this study examines the role of technology use andits effects on transparency, efficiency, and corruption in Mexican localgovernments from the perspective of citizens. Specifically, the paper seeksto respond to the following question: What technology-related factors affectcitizens' perceptions of transparency, efficiency, and corruption? Theresults of multivariate regression analyses indicate that interactionsbetween citizens and municipal governments, supported by technologies, doaffect citizens' perception of transparency, efficiency, and corruption. Themost impactful technologies identified were websites, social media, andmobile technologies. The only demographic factor that had a significanteffect on citizens' perception was employment status.