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Schedler, Kuno; Guenduez, Ali Asker; Frischknecht, Ruth
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/ip-180095
Smart information and communication technologies (ICTs) are finding their ways into public administration, and numerous smart government efforts are marking the start of a new digitalization wave in the public sector. Despite being in the early stages of development, these initiatives promise a new model for the provision of public services: smart government. Because past technical innovations in the public sector did not reach their full potential, it is crucial to know the difficulties if one is to successfully address them. We explore the perceived barriers to the adoption of smart government in an early phase of implementation. We analyzed barriers, utilizing 32 interviews with actors involved in smart government initiatives. Cluster analysis helped us to identify six barrier groups: a lack of legitimacy, a lack of legal foundations, a lack of policy coherence, a lack of technical infrastructure, cost-benefit considerations, and a lack of innovation capacity. We distinguish between organizational and institutional barriers, and discuss restrictions and implications for praxis and future research.
Schedler, Kuno; Guenduez, Ali Asker; Frischknecht, Ruth
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/IP-180095
Smart information and communication technologies (ICTs) are finding their ways into public administration, and numerous smart government efforts are marking the start of a new digitalization wave in the public sector. Despite being in the early stages of development, these initiatives promise a new model for the provision of public services: smart government. Because past technical innovations in the public sector did not reach their full potential, it is crucial to know the difficulties if one is to successfully address them. We explore the perceived barriers to the adoption of smart government in an early phase of implementation. We analyzed barriers, utilizing 32 interviews with actors involved in smart government initiatives. Cluster analysis helped us to identify six barrier groups: a lack of legitimacy, a lack of legal foundations, a lack of policy coherence, a lack of technical infrastructure, cost-benefit considerations, and a lack of innovation capacity. We distinguish between organizational and institutional barriers, and discuss restrictions and implications for praxis and future research.
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/IP-180105
Recently, digital democratic applications have increased in presence and scope. This study clarifies how civic applications – bottom-up technologies that use open data to solve governance and policy challenges – can contribute to democratic governance. While civic applications claim to deepen democracy, systematic frameworks for assessing the democratic potential of civic apps are missing, because apps are often evaluated against technical criteria. This study introduces a framework for evaluating the democratic potential of civic apps, distinguishing six criteria: inclusiveness, deliberation, influence, publicity, mobilization, and knowledge production. The framework is applied to a case study of the Finnish DataDemo competition in 2014 by analyzing the institutional design features of six civic applications. It is argued that in terms of democratic governance, the greatest potential of civic apps lies in enhancing publicity and mobilization, while they should not be expected to increase inclusiveness or direct influence in decisions. Thus, our study contributes to understanding how civic applications can improve democracy in times of open data abundance.
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/ip-180105
Recently, digital democratic applications have increased in presence and scope. This study clarifies how civic applications – bottom-up technologies that use open data to solve governance and policy challenges – can contribute to democratic governance. While civic applications claim to deepen democracy, systematic frameworks for assessing the democratic potential of civic apps are missing, because apps are often evaluated against technical criteria. This study introduces a framework for evaluating the democratic potential of civic apps, distinguishing six criteria: inclusiveness, deliberation, influence, publicity, mobilization, and knowledge production. The framework is applied to a case study of the Finnish DataDemo competition in 2014 by analyzing the institutional design features of six civic applications. It is argued that in terms of democratic governance, the greatest potential of civic apps lies in enhancing publicity and mobilization, while they should not be expected to increase inclusiveness or direct influence in decisions. Thus, our study contributes to understanding how civic applications can improve democracy in times of open data abundance.
Lioy, Alberto; Del Valle, Marc Esteve; Gottlieb, Julian
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/ip-180093
This article examines the interaction of organisational and technological changes adopted by parties to respond to members’ demands for more participation. We develop a term, platform politics, and create a framework for identifying how parties use platforms to open or close intra-party decision-making. The framework is then applied to two institutionalised parties (PSOE and PD) and to two movement-based parties (Podemos and M5S) of the changing party systems of Spain and Italy. We conclude that the tensions between existing organisational structures and the use of internet-based platforms create a series of unintended consequences for parties, which result in potentially disruptive outcomes.
Lioy, Alberto; Del Valle, Marc Esteve; Gottlieb, Julian
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/IP-180093
This article examines the interaction of organisational and technological changes adopted by parties to respond to members’ demands for more participation. We develop a term, platform politics, and create a framework for identifying how parties use platforms to open or close intra-party decision-making. The framework is then applied to two institutionalised parties (PSOE and PD) and to two movement-based parties (Podemos and M5S) of the changing party systems of Spain and Italy. We conclude that the tensions between existing organisational structures and the use of internet-based platforms create a series of unintended consequences for parties, which result in potentially disruptive outcomes.
Wang, Victoria; Shepherd, David; Button, Mark
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/ip-180107
This paper explores some of the key barriers to Open Government Data (OGD) that responsible civil servants in the UK face as they try to comply with the UK-led OGD initiative. Empirically, we provide a quantitative analysis of the resources published on the government’s central OGD portal, data.gov.uk, and a unique insight into the publishing of OGD in the UK based on 22 interviews with responsible individuals at the operational level of publishing OGD. Our findings reveal that while the barriers to open government information have been substantially reduced, the barriers to open government data persist. Even the most enthusiastic responsible individuals face considerable obstacles in publishing OGD. Further, a key barrier to OGD in the UK is its impression management strategy based on its informational rather than data orientation. Due to the UK’s pioneering position in the OGD initiative, these findings are relevant to understanding and improving OGD programmes at local, national and international levels. The findings may subsequently lead to evidence-based strategies and policies.
Wang, Victoria; Shepherd, David; Button, Mark
2019 Information Polity
doi: 10.3233/IP-180107
This paper explores some of the key barriers to Open Government Data (OGD) that responsible civil servants in the UK face as they try to comply with the UK-led OGD initiative. Empirically, we provide a quantitative analysis of the resources published on the government’s central OGD portal, data.gov.uk, and a unique insight into the publishing of OGD in the UK based on 22 interviews with responsible individuals at the operational level of publishing OGD. Our findings reveal that while the barriers to open government information have been substantially reduced, the barriers to open government data persist. Even the most enthusiastic responsible individuals face considerable obstacles in publishing OGD. Further, a key barrier to OGD in the UK is its impression management strategy based on its informational rather than data orientation. Due to the UK’s pioneering position in the OGD initiative, these findings are relevant to understanding and improving OGD programmes at local, national and international levels. The findings may subsequently lead to evidence-based strategies and policies.
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