E-Government Evaluation: Reflections on two Organisational studies

Senior executives in public sector organisations have been charged with delivering an e-Government agenda. A key emerging area of research is that of the evaluation of e-Government, given that economic factors have traditionally dominated any traditional ICT evaluation process. In this paper the authors report the findings from two interpretive in-depth case studies in the UK public sector, which explore e-Government organisational evaluation within a public sector setting. This paper seeks to offer insights to organisational and managerial aspects surrounding the improvement of knowledge and understanding of e-Government evaluation. The findings that are elicited from the case studies are analysed and presented in terms of a framework derived from organisational analysis to improve e-Government evaluation, with key lessons learnt being extrapolated from practice. The paper concludes that e-Government evaluation is both an under developed and under managed area, and calls for senior executives to engage more with the e-Government agenda and for organisations to review e-Government evaluation to improve evaluation practice

Environmental capacity in the East Midlands: an evidence base fit for purpose

This report relates to the initial study into the measurement of Environmental Capacity within the East Midlands Region considering what indicators/measures of Environmental Capacity can be put into place in the near future within the region and what are the aspirations regarding longer term indicators / measures of Environmental Capacity in the region. The study involved in depth interviews with relevant employees from local authorities and other key agencies within the region covering the current data collected/used in monitoring and the possible link to the monitoring of Environmental Capacity as well as the interviewees' awareness of and attitudes towards Environmental Capacity as a monitoring tool

EVALUATING COMPLEX GOVERNMENT SAAS THROUGH VALUE FLOW MODEL ESTIMATION

Government agencies are increasingly making use of cloud computing (CC) services, initially simpler infrastructure and platform as a service (IaaS and PaaS) ones, and later more sophisticated software as a service (SaaS) ones. However, with respect to the latter the electronic support of the high complexity government processes is a difficult task and requires highly sophisticated and complex government-specific SaaS offering extensive functionalities for fulfilling the extensive requirements posed by relevant legislation. It is therefore imperative to conduct comprehensive evaluations of such complex government-specific SaaS, in order to assess to what extent they support the targeted government processes and fulfil their extensive and complex requirements, and also identify and prioritize necessary improvements. This paper presents an advanced methodology for evaluating complex government-specific SaaS, which enables comprehensive multi-dimensional evaluation of a wide range of aspects of them that are highly important in the government context, and detailed evaluation of the provided complex and extensive functionality with respect to the requirements defined by relevant legislation; furthermore, it enables a rational identification and prioritization of necessary improvements. It is based on the estimation of multi-layer ‘value flow models’ of these SaaS from evaluation data collected from users. The proposed methodology has been applied for the evaluation of a complex SaaS aiming to support the wide range of activities of the Greek ‘Local School Committees’, which are responsible for managing all government funding provided for the operation of all the schools in a specific geographical area, as well as all other income of them, and for covering all kinds of their operating expenses as well as purchases. The research presented in this paper can contribute to a more rational, efficient and effective exploitation of an emerging ‘disruptive technology’, the CC, and especially its most sophisticated form, the SaaS, in the public sector

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 22: Establishing a research agenda for Scientific and Technical Information (STI): Focus on the user

The goal is the creation of a generally accepted, systematically developed and implemented, but user focused, research agenda for the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) and the Technical Information Panel (TIP) member countries. Information use seldom exists as an isolated incident. Information use usually takes place within organizational and interpersonal contexts. Therefore, it should not be studied in isolation, but rather in an holistic environment. Once implemented, this research agenda could be completed within 3 to 5 years. The results would be generalizable to AGARD member nations, would form the basis for the development of theory based practice, and would form a significant body of knowledge that can be used by AGARD information professionals for policy, practice, product, and systems development

Enhancing Ontario’s Rural Infrastructure Preparedness: Inter-Community Service Sharing in a Changing Climate — Environmental Scan

Given the research that has been done in this environmental scan and the gaps found in this research, it is our aim to find out: What types of service sharing are going on in Ontario municipalities, particularly in rural/remote areas? How can inter-community service sharing (ICSS) benefit the asset management planning process in these rural/remote areas to enhance capacities for climate change resilience? Climate change (CC) will exacerbate deterioration to existing infrastructure and increase replacement costs. Improved preparedness reduces risks and increases efficiency, readiness and coping capacity. To increase the preparedness of Ontario rural communities, this project develops CC-Prepared Inter-Community Service Sharing (ICSS) as an innovative strategy that expands cost-effective solutions within Ontario’s standardized Asset Management Planning (AMP) process. Overseen by a Project Advisory Board (PAB), it identifies a suite of best practice ICSS processes and principles and a range of factors and indicators that influence the uptake of ICSS as a viable and practical opportunity targeted to enhance rural infrastructure preparedness for CC. It utilizes a multimethod, interdisciplinary approach involving an environmental scan, interviews, a survey and case studies and develops an ICSS Toolkit consisting of reports, workbook, policy brief and media kit. Knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) includes blogs, teleconferences, articles, presentations and a workshop. For small rural Ontario communities, this study enhances management of CC impacts on infrastructure through the development of a CC-Prepared ICSS strategy, increasing anticipatory, collective actions that reduce dam age and increase efficiencies. It informs sound municipal/provincial level programs and policies about innovative ICSS that benefit rural communities through the identification of Ontario-wide trends, case study best practises and action-oriented recommendations

Serbia - public sector accounting review : report on the enhancement of public sector financial reporting

The government’s public financial management (PFM) Reform Program 2016-2020 foresees the gradual transition of public sector financial reporting from a cash basis to an accrual basis of accounting and the application of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). This will significantly improve the quality of financial information and should enable better informed decision-making, more efficient use of public funds and resources and improved fiscal performance. This Report on the Enhancement of Public Sector Financial Reporting is one output of the Serbia Public Sector Accounting Reform Technical Assistance project funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) through the Strengthening Accountability and Fiduciary Environment (SAFE) Trust Fund under the Public Sector Accounting and Reporting Program (PULSAR) which provides support for the development and implementation of public sector accounting standards. This report supports the development of a plan towards that goal by assessing the institutional framework for public sector accounting as well as the gap between Serbian public sector generally accepted accounting principles (PS GAAP) and IPSAS