Information Polity

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-229016

Ruijer, Erna; Piotrowski, Suzanne

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-229017

Azad, Bijan; Zablith, Fouad

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-220010

Open e-Government scholarship is meant to address the twin dimensions of openness: greater transparent access to data and more inclusive participation in design. Extant research, however, rarely addresses the inclusive design of e-Government, which is the focus of our research. We focus on broad desire for inclusive e-Government design by analyzing data from three countries – United Kingdom, Lebanon, and Qatar – involving (a) a qualitative survey of users seeking their input on e-Government design improvements and (b) interviews with service providers to elicit their views on inclusive e-Government design. Our findings highlight that inclusion may begin with seeking design input only; however, once the process is triggered, it can lead to what we call a landscape of inclusive e-Government design. More importantly, our paper contributes to the literature by elaborating the granular underpinnings of this landscape encompassing an emergent mechanism of inclusive e-Government design that consists of the following three components: (i) the enabling social inclusion affordances; (ii) the supporting processes; and (iii) the enabling organizational capabilities.

Marin, Anca Monica

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-220005

This paper investigates from a comparative perspective the development of e-government in the field of social services and benefits for the case of Romania.The analysis takes into account the global context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where there has been an increased usage of ICT technology and new circumstances for delivering social services. Therefore, the analysis will examine whether there has been an impetus for developing e-government social services in Romania. Research questions address whether there is a difference in the availability of electronic delivery of social services and benefits during the pandemic period and examine potential differences between types of services and benefits, counties/regions and types of institutions (central, regional/county, local – mayoralties/urban and rural municipalities). Additionally, informative procedures available in 2021 are examined. The analysis revealed that there is no standardized set of available electronic procedures from similar institutions. The most eloquent case is the one of deconcentrated institutions, County Agencies for Payments and Social Inspection, which are subordinated to the same central level institution – Ministry of Labor. However, the study outlines a development on the total number of available procedures for social services and benefits. Significant improvements are needed to standardize the same procedures from different institutions, irrespective of their type of affiliated territory.

Reggi, Luigi; Dawes, Sharon S.; Gil-Garcia, J. Ramon

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-220004

In order to improve legitimacy, accountability and effectiveness for both policy making and service delivery, governance networks can benefit from the knowledge, skills and other key resources of external actors. However, these networks are often prone to social and cognitive exclusion of outsiders, reducing the potential benefits of greater inclusiveness and diversity. Inclusiveness within governance networks is defined here as the possibility for new actors to both enter the network and to influence its decisions. Based on an extensive literature review, this paper argues that Open Government Data (OGD) strategies and related technologies can potentially contribute to governance network management strategies aimed at preventing social and cognitive exclusion. We propose a conceptual model of how these relationships work. However, empirical evidence from the literature included very few cases in which the positive effect of OGD strategies has actually been achieved. Therefore, we also identify two critical success factors that appear to be needed: (1) proactive data strategies to expand the network of interested parties and their ability to use data, and (2) empowering new interested actors by promoting their access to structural and formal roles in the network and systematically integrating their feedback into the policy cycle.

Schwoerer, Kayla

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-220008

Open government data (OGD) is believed to enhance democratic outcomes by empowering citizens with the information necessary to participate in meaningful ways. Nonetheless, questions remain about whether OGD is indeed empowering citizens to participate or if the data that governments publish is more reflective of the interests of non-citizen stakeholders. Using the metadata of 2607 publicly available datasets scraped from New York City’s open data portal, this exploratory study employs qualitative content analysis to identify what types of data are published and what the data say about OGD’s potential as a tool for advancing inclusion in democratic processes. The analysis focused particularly on the datasets’ relevance to five particular stakeholder groups: citizens, private sector firms, nonprofits, researchers, and the city’s internal agencies. Findings showed that non-citizen-relevant datasets not only outnumbered citizen-relevant datasets by a large margin but they were also viewed and downloaded at higher rates too. I discuss the implications for inclusion in democratic processes, including power imbalances among OGD user groups, the discretionary power data publishers possess, and, ultimately, whether the types of data cities publish is sufficient for empowering an informed citizenry, as an effective democracy demands.

Shin, Bokyong; Rask, Mikko; Tuominen, Pekka

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-211551

Local authorities increasingly employ digital platforms to facilitate public engagement in participatory budgeting processes. This creates opportunities for and challenges in synthesizing citizens’ voices online in an iterated cycle, requiring a systematic tool to monitor democratic quality and produce formative feedback. In this paper, we demonstrate how cases of online deliberation can be compared longitudinally by using six Big Data-based, automated indicators of deliberative quality. Longitudinal comparison is a way of setting a reference point that helps practitioners, designers, and researchers of participatory processes to interpret analytics and evaluative findings in a meaningful way. By comparing the two rounds of OmaStadi, we found that the levels of participation remain low but that the continuity and responsiveness of online deliberation developed positively.

Singh, Sumanjeet; Kumar, Vimal; Paliwal, Minakshi; Verma, Pratima; Rajak, Binod

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-220001

A citizen-centric approach was used to understand the effectiveness of e-government web portals in India. So, the study aims to find the factors of e-government (i.e., information clarity and appropriateness, relevance & usefulness, information accuracy & completeness, system security, users’ privacy, system stability, and interactive services) and their influence on citizen perception, citizen satisfaction, and users’ intention. Since the e-government web portal is for the citizen of a country and random sampling is more appropriate. So, our study did the same with a modified scale. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model was applied to show model fit and multiple regression analysis was employed to analyze the final data. The results revealed that the factors of e-government positively impact quality perception, citizen satisfaction, and Users’ intention toward e-government. Further, data analysis has enough evidence to say e-government quality perception and citizen satisfaction mediate the relationship between factors of e-government and Users’ intention. This investigation outlines how the government designs its e-government portal to enhance citizen satisfaction, citizen perception in terms of e-government quality, and users’ intentions.

Kimemia, Douglas

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-229015

Promoting the participation of the citizenry is the cornerstone of socially inclusive governance. Public participation ensures that citizens are heard and can actively participate in the decision that impacts their needs. Besides increasing efficiency, this increased transparency brought about by the universal use and access of ICT has inadvertently led to a reduction in corruption. In 2022, each county has set up a website with different information with varying usefulness and timelessness. Some of the websites are well functioning and organized, while others only have basic information. There’s room for more improvements to enhance public participation and E-services.

Campbell-Meier, Jennifer

2022 Information Polity

doi: 10.3233/ip-229008