Cloud computing adoption in regional councils

Cloud computing is becoming increasingly important in information technology as an enabler for improved productivity, efficiency and cost reduction; and is expected to offer benefits for public sector organisations. Cloud computing has the potential to improve the reliability and scalability of information technology systems, which allows organisations such as regional municipal governments to focus more on their core business and strategy. Research about the use of cloud computing in the public sector in general is limited. There is a lack of exploratory studies that provide an in-depth and holistic investigation of the factors perceived to influence the adoption of cloud computing. There are no empirical studies about the factors that are perceived to influence the adoption of cloud computing in reference to Australia. This research aimed at exploring perceptions of the potential for value creation from cloud computing in regional councils, to identify factors that are likely to influence adoption of cloud computing including factors that need to be considered when planning to adopt cloud, anticipated benefits of cloud adoption, and challenges and issues that faced cloud adoption. This research aimed to improve understandings related to the factors that influence cloud computing adoption decision making in regional municipal governments. The research employed a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative). In-depth interviews of Australian councils’ IT managers were conducted with the aim of providing insights into the factors that are perceived likely to influence adoption of cloud computing including factors that need to be considered when planning to adopt cloud, anticipated benefits of cloud adoption, and challenges and issues that faced cloud adoption. Survey data from 480 IT staff across 47 local government councils were collected to confirm the findings of the exploratory stage. The factors that were examined included: compatibility, complexity, cost, security concern, top management support, organisation size, government regulation, and information intensity. The findings of this research are expected to assist in making investment decisions on cloud computing adoption

The perceived benefits of cloud computing technology for regional municipal governments and barriers to adoption

Cloud computing is becoming increasingly important in Information Technology (IT) as an enabler for improved productivity, efficiency and cost reduction. It is expected to offer benefits for public sector organisations and government agencies. Cloud computing has the potential to improve the reliability and scalability of IT systems, which in turn allows organisations such as regional municipal governments to focus on their core business and strategy development and implementation. Research about the use of cloud computing in the public sector in general is limited. There is a lack of exploratory studies that provide an in-depth and holistic investigation of the factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing. To date there is a lack of empirical studies about the factors that influence the adoption of cloud computing in Australia. This research explores the potential for value creation that can be derived from cloud computing through its use by Australian regional municipal governments; to identify factors that are likely to influence its adoption including factors that need to be considered when planning to adopt cloud computing, current policy settings for cloud computing adoption, the anticipated benefits of cloud computing adoption, and the challenges and issues that the adoption of cloud creates. The research model was based on a combination of two theories derived from the literature: the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory. This research aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence cloud computing adoption decision making by regional municipal governments. This research has employed a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative). In-depth interviews with Australian local government councils’ IT managers were conducted with the aim of providing insights into the factors that were perceived to be those likely to influence their adoption of cloud computing; including factors that need to be considered when planning to adopt cloud computing, current policy settings that affect cloud computing adoption, the anticipated benefits of cloud computing adoption, and the challenges and issues that are faced by those seeking to adopt cloud computing. Survey data from 480 IT staff across 47 local government councils were collected to confirm the findings of the exploratory stage. The factors that were examined included: compatibility, complexity, cost, security concern, organisation size, and anticipated benefit which were found to have a positive and significant influence on intention to adopt cloud computing in Australian regional municipal governments. The findings of this research can be used to assist decision-making about investment in adopting cloud computing

Analysis of the Total Cost of Ownership for Cloud Computing Technology Adoption: A Case Study of Regional Municipal Government Sector

Having clear person-centred information guidelines relevant to a person’s unique situation are essential components to continued care following a hospital stay. Rising pressure on health services to discharge patients earlier is placing patients at risk. Patients’ ability to absorb information whilst in hospital can be significantly impaired under pressure and patients often return home with inadequate information to support recovery. To date the problem of patients returning to hospital following discharge has not been looked at from the perspective of person–centred information provision and the extent to which better quality, timing and delivery of information (what and when provided) could reduce the rate of return. This case study uses a series of longitudinal interviews and Roy’s Adaption Model, to examine the question: What are patients’ unique person-centred information needs at three critical time points pre- and post -discharge and how can individually focused information systems better satisfy these needs

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

Understanding digital eco-innovation in municipalities: An institutional perspective

Municipalities consume over 67% of global energy and are responsible for over 70% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that rapid adjustments need to happen at a global level, or the effects of climate change will be irreversible. The contribution of municipalities is therefore vital if GHG emissions are to be reduced. Our research is timely in its exploration of the ways in which municipalities institutionalise environmental sustainability practices in and through Green digital artefacts. Using mechanism-based institutional theory as a lens, the paper presents the findings of three contrasting case studies of large municipalities in the United Kingdom in their respective programmes to leverage the direct, enabling and systemic effects of Green ICT in order to reduce GHG emission and achieve their eco-sustainability goals. The case sites are also regarded as exemplars for further research and practice on digital eco-innovation. The mechanism-based explanations illustrate how a social web of conditions and factors influence eco-sustainability outcomes. We conclude that the digital technology-enabled grassroots-based initiatives offer the best hope to begin the transition to sustainable climate change within municipalities. The contributions of our study are therefore both theoretical and practical

Investigating factors influencing local government decision makers while adopting integration technologies (IntTech)

The emergence of innovative and revolutionary Integration Technologies (IntTech) has highly influenced the local government authorities (LGAs) in their decision-making process. LGAs that plan to adopt such IntTech may consider this as a serious investment. Advocates, however, claim that such IntTech have emerged to overcome the integration problems at all levels (e.g. data, object and process). With the emergence of electronic government (e-Government), LGAs have turned to IntTech to fully automate and offer their services on-line and integrate their IT infrastructures. While earlier research on the adoption of IntTech has considered several factors (e.g. pressure, technological, support, and financial), inadequate attention and resources have been applied in systematically investigating the individual, decision and organisational context factors, influencing top management's decisions for adopting IntTech in LGAs. It is a highly considered phenomenon that the success of an organisation's operations relies heavily on understanding an individual's attitudes and behaviours, the surrounding context and the type of decisions taken. Based on empirical evidence gathered through two intensive case studies, this paper attempts to investigate the factors that influence decision makers while adopting IntTech. The findings illustrate two different doctrines - one inclined and receptive towards taking risky decisions, the other disinclined. Several underlying rationales can be attributed to such mind-sets in LGAs. The authors aim to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring the factors influencing top management's decision-making process while adopting IntTech vital for facilitating LGAs' operational reforms

Recent progress of factors influencing information technology adoption in local government context

Information Technology (IT) adoption is increasingly being studied in many different contexts, both in public and private sectors. However, there are not many review papers published on IT adoption specifically in a local government context. Local governments have unique characteristics in terms of the organization’s structure, the power of authority, norms and culture. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to review recent literature from the year 2013 to 2017 on IT adoption at the organizational level in a local government context. We strategized our review methods through utilizing relevant keyword search in Scopus, Web of Science, Emerald and Springer Link databases which include journals, proceedings, books and book chapters. The search identified 715 publications during the initial stage using the snowballing technique. Thereafter, 22 relevant publications were filtered out during the quality assessment stage. Within the context of local government, this review presented the analyses of IT adoption research progress, the research domains, research methodology and the factors influencing IT adoption. This study identified 37 factors of IT adoption in local government context which have been categorized into four main dimensions which are Technological, Organizational, Individual and Environmental (T-O-I-E). Surprisingly, policy and regulations, top management support, relative advantage, cost, governance, personnel skills and citizen demand emerged as among the most influential factors for IT adoption in the context of local governments. The results from this study will help other researchers to understand the current stage of IT adoption in local government context in terms of research domains, research methodology, and the factors influencing IT adoption

Approaches to cloud computing in the public sector: Case studies in UK local government

© 2015 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.Cloud computing refers to a scalable network infrastructure where consumers receive IT services such as software and data storage through the Internet on a subscription basis. Potential benefits include cost savings, simpler IT and reduced energy consumption. The UK government and local authorities, like commercial organisations, are considering cloud-based services. Concerns have been raised, however, over issues such as security, access, data protection and ownership. This study attempts to investigate the likely impact of cloud computing on local government based on a conceptual framework and case studies of four London borough councils. It reveals that the concept of cloud computing is new and not clearly understood. Local authorities, who face further cuts in government funding, welcome a cloud-based IT infrastructure which may lead to considerable savings. Yet local government is conservative, so with their risk-adverse attitude local authorities are more likely to adopt a hybrid approach to implementation

Analysis of the total cost of ownership for cloud computing technology adoption: a case study of regional municipal government sector

One of the key drivers of cloud computing adoption is usage-based IT service delivery alternative to on premises IT infrastructure. Existing research supports the role of cloud computing for cost savings. We employed a mixed-method two-staged study to investigate the total cost of ownership of cloud computing in the local government sector of Queensland, Australia. The first qualitative study included 21 in-depth interviews of IT managers to understand the cost elements associated with cloud computing. This was followed by a quantitative study that analysed survey data collected from 480 IT staff across 47 local government organizations to investigate the impact of specific cost elements on cloud computing adoption. We found that cloud computing is perceived to save costs and more specifically for IT capital investments. However specific cost elements for training and operational costs may not reduce as expected. Research findings may assist to make investment decisions on cloud computing adoption

e-Skills: The International dimension and the Impact of Globalisation - Final Report 2014

In today’s increasingly knowledge-based economies, new information and communication technologies are a key engine for growth fuelled by the innovative ideas of highly - skilled workers. However, obtaining adequate quantities of employees with the necessary e-skills is a challenge. This is a growing international problem with many countries having an insufficient numbers of workers with the right e-Skills. For example: Australia: “Even though there’s 10,000 jobs a year created in IT, there are only 4500 students studying IT at university, and not all of them graduate” (Talevski and Osman, 2013). Brazil: “Brazil’s ICT sector requires about 78,000 [new] people by 2014. But, according to Brasscom, there are only 33,000 youths studying ICT related courses in the country” (Ammachchi, 2012). Canada: “It is widely acknowledged that it is becoming inc reasingly difficult to recruit for a variety of critical ICT occupations –from entry level to seasoned” (Ticoll and Nordicity, 2012). Europe: It is estimated that there will be an e-skills gap within Europe of up to 900,000 (main forecast scenario) ICT pr actitioners by 2020” (Empirica, 2014). Japan: It is reported that 80% of IT and user companies report an e-skills shortage (IPA, IT HR White Paper, 2013) United States: “Unlike the fiscal cliff where we are still peering over the edge, we careened over the “IT Skills Cliff” some years ago as our economy digitalized, mobilized and further “technologized”, and our IT skilled labour supply failed to keep up” (Miano, 2013)