Gamification: Stimulating User Smart City Application

The urban problems have led to an increase in the population in urban areas considering the needs of many government employees to provide service to all citizens. However, in actual conditions, government employees are limited, therefore, need community empowerment involved to support government management of the city. The solution for community empowerment is using communication technology as a public space for the citizens to communicate with the government. Citizen participation used smart city application ass public space to inform the sentiment public to the government. Citizens have adapted from traditional public play to public technological space. Gamification on smart city application devices motivates citizens, which has a growing influence on reporting and complaint activity. Technology set up gamification to create active citizens by reporting complaints of city infrastructure. Results identified gamification encourage a lot of citizen participation in reporting sentiment and complaint inside smart city applications

Gamification of E-Participation: A Literature Review

Gamification is one of the most commonly employed approaches for motivating individuals to participate in several types of activities. One of its largest application areas has been e-participation (i.e. citizen engagement in policy-making). Even though the required ICT infrastructure to facilitate e- participation mostly exists today, the focus of the problem has shifted towards humans; citizens are not motivated enough to participate. Gamification is a potential approach to increase motivation towards e- participation. However, currently there is a dearth in our understanding of how gamification is being applied and researched as well as what kinds of result there exist from gamification. The aim of this paper is to synthesize research and findings on gamified e-participation, providing directions for future research in this area

Gamifying a Map-based Feedback Service to Support Youth Participation in City Improvement

In recent years, youth has been recognized as an indispensable stakeholder of city environment. On the one hand, young citizens who have intentions to contribute their community should be given an opportunity to express ideas. On the other hand, it is necessary for city agencies to listen to the needs from young generation to create a more livable and friendly city environment. Since location is considered as an essential attribute of human activities, local knowledge of residents always has a direct relation with spatial data. Thus, utilizing Geography Information System (GIS) has been developed to help public to participant in improving city environment, that is, Public Participation Geography Information System (PPGIS). However, younger people are thought to be less attracted by traditional political engagement, and annoyed with authoritative and tough tone. Thus, gamification as an innovative and increase popular trend has been implemented in a variety of youth-related applications and projects. Gamification is proposed to fulfill the desires of young people in the aspects of achievement, social, and immersion. The effects of gamification individuals with different player types and preferences of games to some degree. The research in thesis is conducted in connection with All-Youth project based in Finland, which is a multidisciplinary research project to enhance the connection with young people and their communities. This thesis focuses on applying gamification into digital public feedback service to motivate and sustain youth participation. Firstly, the discussion of related work includes status of youth participation in city planning, digital map technology used in public participation, and definition, content, and benefits of gamification. Secondly, three map-based tools for different purpose of public participation are studied to evaluate their usability and aesthetic quality. Thirdly, a gamified feedback service is prototyped based on initial user research and analysis. Finally, the effects of the gamified prototype are evaluated in user testing with the comparison to a control prototype without gamification. The results suggest that gamification can have positive effects on attractiveness and hedonic system qualities, while it may also influence on pragmatic quality. Overall, the research of this thesis can be considered as a successful attempt to gamify the public map-based platform which could have influence on youth engagement

Using citizen science to complement IoT data collection: A survey of motivational and engagement factors in technology-centric citizen science projects

A key aspect of the development of Smart Cities involves the efficient and effective management of resources to improve liveability. Achieving this requires large volumes of sensors strategically deployed across urban areas. In many cases, however, it is not feasible to install devices in remote and inaccessible areas, resulting in incomplete data coverage. In such situations, citizens can often play a crucial role in filling this data collection gap. A popular complimentary science to traditional sensor-based data collection is to design Citizen Science (CS) activities in collaboration with citizens and local communities. Such activities are also designed with a feedback loop where the Citizens benefit from their participation by gaining a greater sense of awareness of their local issues while also influencing how the activities can align best with their local contexts. The participation and engagement of citizens are vital and yet often a real challenge in ensuring the long-term continuity of CS projects. In this paper, we explore engagement factors, factors that help keeping engagement high, in technology-centric CS projects where technology is a key enabler to support CS activities. We outline a literature review of exploring and understanding various motivational and engagement factors that influence the participation of citizens in technology-driven CS activities. Based on this literature, we present a mobile-based flood monitoring citizen science application aimed at supporting data collection activities in a real-world CS project as part of an EU project. We discuss the results of a user evaluation of this app, and finally discuss our findings within the context of citizens’ engagement

Gameful civic engagement: A review of the literature on gamification of e-participation

With increased digitalization, governments and public institutes became potentially better able to practice fuller and wider ranges of democratic governance through e.g., e-participation. E-participation, as any means of engagement with the common good, is, however, a difficult area of human motivation as it can be seen to exist outside the common hurdles of the everyday life and where the effects of participation are often invisible or take a long time to materialize. Recent trends of digitalization, such as gamification; a popular approach for stimulating motivation, have been proposed as remedies to foster e-participation. A plethora of applications and research has emerged related to gamified e-participation. However, there is currently a dearth in our knowledge of how gamification is being applied, researched or what its possible positive and negative outcomes can be. This study employed a systematic literature review approach in order to summarize research and findings on gamified e-participation. 66 papers were reviewed, the majority of which indicated that gamified e-participation is linked to increased engagement, motivation, civic learning and enjoyment amongst other outcomes. Nonetheless, question remains as to ethical and inclusive gamification, for which, this research provides directions for future research.</p

A Gamified Mobile Application to support Societal Participation of Youth of Different Cultures in Finland

Youth are always the major stakeholders of society, and they should be taught about the value of society as they are the future of every society. Country like Finland, where a significant population is of internationals, it is important to have more societal participation of youth for the right development of society and country. Although Finnish youth is the key stakeholder of this society but participation of youth of other backgrounds also has the significant value. It is significant to mention that previous studies have shown that Finnish youth are facing the challenges of societal participation due to lack of information, lack of social integration and lack of interest. Youth of age 16-25 from different backgrounds including Asian, Finnish, and European were invited to discover the reasons and challenges for societal participation. The study has determined the challenges of social integration which includes shy nature of Finnish citizens, differences of language, lack of interest and lack of information about system and society. Gamification is an effective approach which is majorly appreciated by youth, and it could help in learning new concepts. Therefore, to support the youth in social integration and societal participation, the study has suggested a gamified mobile application which gives the opportunity to youth to integrate and to get information about societal participation with attracting gamified elements. Furthermore, mentorship could be the motivation and a way of attraction for youth in societal participation as they are facing the challenges of lack of information, shy nature and hesitance due to difference of cultures

Digital Citizen Participation – Involving Citizens Through Immersive Systems in Urban Planning

Citizen participation is a democratic practice that became, especially on a local level, an important mean for the public to be included in the development of their immediate surrounding. With the digitalization of work and social life also the digitalization of the public sector, including governmental action, began. This process, as a research discipline called digital government, includes addressing how the interaction between citizens and their state should be designed. A meaningful way to do so are digital platforms that enable participation in governmental action. Digital Citizen Participation, a concept introduced in this dissertation, tries to include recent technological innovations in e-Participation platform design. This dissertation argues that these innovations might help overcome general barriers in participation processes. When it comes to construction projects in urban environments for example, public debates and protests may arise if architectural plans remain unshared or are not sufficiently accessible for the citizens they might affect. To involve the public affected by urban planning, offering easily graspable visualizations for citizens is key. This dissertation deals with the participation of citizens in urban planning through an e-Participation platform that makes use of immersive technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality. In this work, this idea is investigated through a design science research approach that uses qualitative and quantitative methods. While the first qualitative study puts for-ward a set of meta-requirements and design principles based on interviews with 27 individuals, the second study (n=339) and third study (n=382) evaluate quantitatively a prototype based on those design principles. The used methods are adequately contex-tualized and, in the end, a final prototype of the platform is demonstrated. This allows to show findings concerning the forms and levels of participation citizens and initiators are interested in when using immersive systems for public participation, and how an ideal platform should be designed. Among many other findings, the studies show that citizens have a high interest in using immersive systems for public participation and find their qualities for visualization to be highly valuable

An examination of the psychometric properties of the Gameful Experience Questionnaire (GAMEFULQUEST) in an online training environment

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH SUMMARY: The South African corporate environment has experienced a significant digital, social, and economic upheaval provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic. Organizations have transformed and digitalized their practices and procedures overnight and adapted their skills and knowledge to function remotely. Some businesses have adapted the training and development of their staff and sought new approaches such as gamified learning technologies to create a more fun, inclusive, and meaningful experience. Measures are required to assess the gameful experience of employees to continuously enable a rich gamified training experience. The GAMEFULQUEST instrument by Högberg et al. (2019) originally designed to measure the gameful experience in a service environment, is recommended. In this study the instrument was subjected to a validation procedure to test its psychometric properties with a view of determining its suitability for a corporate training environment when administered to a South African sample. For this study the research design followed a quantitative research analysis, and a cross-sectional research design was used. The respondents were sourced from a diversified sample group located within SPAR retail company and distributed to these employees nation-wide, utilizing a non-probability convenience sampling. The validation procedure included an examination of construct validity, reliability (i.e. alpha and omega), convergent validity, discriminant validity and predictive validity. Structural Equation Modelling, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and reliability techniques were applied to the GAMEFULQUEST measure in order to test the validities of the measure. The statistical analyses of the instrument found support for validity and reliability of the measure in the chosen sample. In addition, evidence of a predictive relationship between gameful experience and self-directed learning was found. The GAMEFULQUEST instrument can potentially be utilized as a feedback measure. This is achieved through identifying dimensions of a gameful experience that are deemed ineffective in gamified training platforms, which would be subject improvement to ensure a quality learning experience. Additionally, the measure can assist HR practitioners to improve an organization’s online training environment, by further creating a competitive advantage amongst industries that adopt gamification as a design strategy. Lastly, the study contributes to current literature by providing evidence of the validity and reliability of the GAMEFULQUEST measure in a South African sample.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika het die korporatiewe omgewing aansienlike digitale, maatskaplike en ekonomiese omwenteling ervaar as gevolg van die Covid-19 pandemie. Organisasies het oornag hulle digitale praktyke en prosedures getransformeer en hulle vaardighede en kennis aangepas om virtueel en oor afstand te funksioneer. Sommige besighede het personeelopleiding en ontwikkeling sodanig aangepas en nuwe benaderings, soos onder andere, speletjie georienteerde ‘gamified1’ leer/studie tegnologie aangewend vir groter ontspanning en betekenisvolle ervarings. Om deurgaans bevredigende ‘gamified’ opleiding te verseker, word metingsinstrumente vir assessering benodig. Die GAMEFULQUEST instrument wat deur Hőgberg et al. (2019) oorspronklik ontwerp is om die ‘gameful’ ervaring in die werk omgewing te meet, word aanbeveel. In die studie was die instrument aan ‘n valideringsprosedure onderwerp om die psigometriese eienskappe te toets met die oog op bepaling van die toets se bruikbaarheid vir ‘n korporatiewe opeleidingsomgewing wanneer dit aangewend word in ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse steekproef. Vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie, was beide kwantitatiewe navorsingsontleding en dwarssnit navorsingsontwerp gebruik. Die respondente was gewerf uit ‘n gediversifiseerde personeelgroep van SPAR as kleinhandel maatskappy en nasionaal versprei, en ‘n nie-waarskynlikheid gerieflikheidsteekproefneming was gebruik. Die validerings prosedure het bestaan uit toetsing van konstruk geldigheid, betroubare alfa en omega, konvergente, asook diskriminerende en voorspellende geldigheid. Om geldigheid van die meetinstrument verder te toets, was strukturele vergelykingsmodellering, bevestigende faktoranalise en tegnieke om betroubaarheid te evalueer. Statistiese analise het die geldigheid en betroubaarheid van die meetinstrument tydens die gekose steekproefneming bevestig. Daarbenewens was gevind dat ‘n voorspellingsgeldigheid bestaan tussen die ‘gameful’ ervaring en selfgerigte-leer/studies. Die GAMEFULQUEST meetinstrument beskik oor die potensiaal om as terugvoer-instrument aangewend te word. Dit word bereik deur die identifisering van dimensies van ‘gameful2’ ervaring en oneffektiewe en onderontwikkelde ‘speletjie elemente in ‘gamified’ opleidingsplatforms wat verbetering benodig om leerervarings te verseker. Bykomend kan die meetinstrument Menslike Hulpbronpraktisyns help om virtuele (aanlyn) opeleidingsomgewings te bevorder en sodoende kompeterende voordeel tussen maatskappye te skep wat ‘gamification’ as ontwerpstrategie aanvaar. Laastens het die studie bygedra to die huidige literatuur deurdat bevestiging voorsien word ten opsigte van die geldigheid en betroubaarheid van die GAMEFULQUEST meetinstrument in ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse steekproefneming.Master

Metodología para la evaluación de las iniciativas gubernamentales de participación electrónica

La presente tesis de maestría describe en detalle la Metodología para la Evaluación de Iniciativas Gubernamentales de Participación electrónica (MEIGeP) obtenida como resultado de esta investigación. Esta metodología fue construida con base en dos revisiones sistemáticas de literatura. Por un lado, se encontraron los factores asociados a la participación electrónica y, por el otro, se identificaron las variables y los indicadores propuestos en la literatura. Se realizó la asociación de los resultados de las dos RSL, es decir, se asociaron las variables y los indicadores con respecto a los factores, luego de esto se elaboró la primera versión de la metodología, la cual tuvo un refinamiento al utilizar el juicio de expertos como método para valorar las variables propuestas y sus actividades. Con base en las observaciones obtenidas en el juicio de expertos, se generó la versión final de MEIGeP, la cual cuenta con tres fases (planificación, ejecución y conclusión), diez actividades, 12 factores, 25 variables y un conjunto de indicadores clasificados en cada una de las categorías del modelo de madurez propuesto por Tambouris para la participación electrónica. En este sentido, se propusieron 49 indicadores para la categoría de e-información, 58 indicadores para la categoría de e-consulta, 56 indicadores para la categoría de e-involucramiento, 57 indicadores para la categoría de e-colaboración y 48 indicadores para la categoría de e-empoderamiento. Como conclusión se tiene que, por la forma como fue diseñada MEIGeP, ésta es aplicable y replicable en cualquier iniciativa gubernamental siempre y cuando se tenga acceso a la información.Abstract: The present Master Thesis describes in detail the Methodology for the Evaluation of Government Initiatives of Electronic Participation (MEIGeP) obtained as a result of this research. MEIGeP was structured based on two Systematic Literature Reviews (SLR). On the first one, it was found out a set of factors associated with Electronic Participation (eParticipation). In the second one, it was identified variables and indicators proposed in the literature to evaluate the eParticipation. Following this, the results of the SLR were associated by organizing the variables, and indicators regard to the factors identified. With the association made, an initial version of the MEIGeP was developed. This version of the MEIGeP was improved through method expert judgment to value the variables and the activities proposed. Based on the observations obtained in the expert judgment was developed the final version of the MEIGeP. The final version includes three phases (planning, execution, and conclusion), 10 activities, 12 factors, 25 variables, and 268 indicators. The indicators were organized in each one of the categories of the Tambouris Maturity Model to eParticipation. With this, 49 proposed indicators belong to the e-Informing category, 58 indicators are in the e-Consulting category, 56 indicators correspond to the e-Involving category, 57 indicators are part of the e-Collaborating category, and 48 more indicators are related to the e-Empowering category. As a conclusion, the process to develop MEIGeP allows that the methodology can be applied and replicated for evaluations of any eParticipation governmental initiative as long as the data are available.Maestrí

Participando com jogos: uma análise da gamificação como intervenção em pesquisas de opinião

Survey over the years have become a practical and common way of collecting data using software for the most diverse purposes. Participation in Survey can be considered a phenomenon in which collaborative systems can be applied, since these systems are designed to allow people to communicate and work together in a shared space. In this approach, the survey can be considered as an instrument that operationalizes the cooperation between a research requester and the respondent. However, participation in Survey, regardless of the modality, is greatly influenced by the lack of engagement of the participants. Gamification, which is defined as the use of game elements and characteristics in non-game contexts, has been considered an approach to increase engagement and encourage participation in Survey. Thus, the objective of this dissertation was to investigate how gamification can be used as a motivational factor to stimulate engagement in Survey. The methodology of this work was defined based on the epistemological paradigm Design Science Research (DSR), which was used to carry out two research and two artifacts were developed, the Collaborative Engagement Model and the Opina Aí application. The artifacts were evaluated in two experiments in which two versions of the application were compared, gamified and non-gamified versions. Although the results regarding the impact of gamification on engagement have not been conclusive, this work can expand knowledge and support future studies in contexts where participation can be exercised collaboratively and provide guidance on the use of gamification in Survey.As pesquisas de opinião com o passar dos anos se tornaram um meio prático e comum de se coletar dados com uso de software para as mais diversas finalidades. A participação em pesquisas de opinião pode ser considerada um fenômeno no qual os sistemas colaborativos podem ser aplicados, uma vez que, esses sistemas são projetados para permitirem que pessoas se comuniquem e trabalhem em conjunto em um espaço compartilhado. Nessa abordagem, a pesquisa de opinião pode ser considerada como um instrumento que operacionaliza a cooperação entre um requisitante da pesquisa e o respondente. No entanto, a participação em pesquisas de opinião, independente da modalidade, é muito influenciada pela falta de engajamento dos participantes. A gamificação, que é definida como o uso de elementos e características de jogos em contextos que não são de jogos, tem sido considerada uma abordagem para aumentar o engajamento e encorajar a participação em pesquisas de opinião. Dessa forma, o objetivo dessa dissertação foi investigar como a gamificação pode ser utilizada como fator motivacional para estimular o engajamento em pesquisas de opinião. A metodologia desse trabalho foi definida com base no paradigma epistemológico Design Science Research (DSR), que foi utilizado para a realização de duas investigações em que foram desenvolvidos dois artefatos: o Modelo de Engajamento Colaborativo (MEC) e o aplicativo Opina Aí. Os artefatos foram avaliados em dois experimentos nos quais foram comparadas duas versões do aplicativo, versão gamificada e não gamificada. Embora os resultados em relação ao impacto da gamificação no engajamento não tenham sido conclusivos, esse trabalho pode ampliar o conhecimento e fundamentar estudos futuros em contextos em que a participação pode ser exercida de forma colaborativa e possibilitar direcionamentos sobre o uso da gamificação em pesquisas de opinião