Monitoring Collective Intelligence in Lithuania’s Online Communities

This paper presents the findings of a systematic survey that evaluated the potential of online communities (or Civic Tech) in Lithuania to co-create collective intelligence. Traditional approaches to public engagement remain relevant, notwithstanding, our enquiry is more interested in the growing potential of digital-enabled citizens to increase efficient collective performance. Civic intelligence is a form of collective intelligence exercised by a group’s capacity to perceive societal problems and its ability to address them effectively. The subject of the research is “bottom up” digital-enabled online platforms initiated by Lithuanian public organizations, civic movements and/or business entities. This scientific project advances our understanding about the basic preconditions in online communities through which collective intelligence is being systematically co-created. By monitoring the performance of Civic Tech platforms, the scientific question was examined, what are the socio-technological conditions that led the communities to become more intelligent. The results of web-based monitoring were obtained by applying Collective intelligence Monitoring technique and Pearson correlation analysis. This provided information about the potential and limits of online communities, and what changes may be needed to overcome such limitations

Satellite meteorology in the cold war era: scientific coalitions and international leadership 1946-1964

In tracing the history of the TIROS meteorological satellite system, this dissertation details the convergence of two communities: the DOD space scientists who established US capability to launch and operate these remote sensing systems and the US Weather Bureau meteorologists who would be the managers and users of satellite data. Between 1946 and 1964, these persons participated in successive coalitions. These coalitions were necessary in part because satellite systems were too big—geographically, fiscally, and technically—to be developed and operated within a single institution. Thus, TIROS technologies and people trace their roots to several research centers—institutions that the USWB and later NASA attempted to coordinate for US R&D. The gradual transfer of persons and hardware from the armed services to the non-military NASA sheds light on the US’s evolution as a Cold War global power, shaped from the “top-down” (by the executive and legislative branches) as well as the “bottom-up” (by military and non-military scientific communities). Through these successive coalitions, actor terms centered on “basic science” or the circulation of atmospheric data were used to help define bureaucratic places (the Upper Atmospheric Rocket Research Panel, International Geophysical Year, NASA, and the World Weather Watch) in which basic research would be supported by sustained and collaboration could take place with international partners.Ph.D

Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU - Understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society

This report presents the final results of the research “Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society”, in short DigiGov. After introducing the design and methodology of the study, the report provides a summary of the findings of the comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in the field, conducted reviewing a vast body of scientific literature, policy documents and practitioners generated reports in a broad range of disciplines and policy domains, with a focus on the EU. The scope and key dimensions underlying the development of the DigiGov-F conceptual framework are then presented. This is a theory-informed heuristic instrument to help mapping the effects of Digital Government Transformation and able to support defining change strategies within the institutional settings of public administration. Further, the report provides an overview of the findings of the empirical case studies conducted, and employing experimental or quasi-experimental components, to test and refine the conceptual framework proposed, while gathering evidence on impacts of Digital Government Transformation, through identifying real-life drivers and barriers in diverse Member States and policy domains. The report concludes outlining future research and policy recommendations, as well as depicting possible scenarios for future Digital Government Transformation, developed as a result of a dedicated foresight policy lab. This was conducted as part of the expert consultation and stakeholder engagement process that accompanied all the phases of the research implementation. Insights generated from the study also serve to pave the way for further empirical research and policy experimentation, and to contribute to the policy debate on how to shape Digital Europe at the horizon 2040.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATIONS

Enterprise application system implementations are highly complex implementations that automate several business functions, such as financials, accounting, supply chain, customer services management, human resources management and reporting among others. This study aims at providing an alternative view of organization's enterprise application system (EAS) acceptance. Despite the large body of literature, there are still empirical inquiries to investigate the EAS system implementation from adopters' perspectives and how to identify risks in a multi-stakeholder and dynamic environment. The thesis consists of three essays on various aspects of relationship between enterprise application implementation in a multi-stakeholder environment and project governance. Valid measurement scales for predicting organization's acceptance of enterprise systems are in short supply. The first essay develops and validates new scales for two specific variables, integration and inter-dependency risks. These variables are hypothesized as key determinant for organizational success of enterprise application implementations by mitigating risks involved in a multi-stakeholder environment. A model of organization acceptance of enterprise systems was developed using these two scales and then tested for reliability from a total of 365 users and nine application groups. The measures were validated using ten different direct measures with reliabilities between 0.72 and 0.96. Integration risk was significantly related with perceived ease of use, consultant's product knowledge and training provided to the end users. Inter-dependency risk was significantly correlated with perceived usefulness, consultant's industry and product knowledge. Both integration and inter-dependency risks are significantly related with success of the new enterprise application. This study would benefit project executives by offering valuable managerial insights that enable them to appreciate and improve integration and inter-dependency of stakeholders. Implications for theory and practice are discussed for two sub-groups: that less experienced resources treat risks differently than more experienced resources, and business applications compared to technical enterprise applications. Academic community has not addressed governance of enterprise application projects that involve dynamic environments and how to mitigate integration and inter-dependency risks. In the second essay it is argued that acceptance of the system from end users is not enough? Adopters of new enterprise wide information technology solutions get most benefit when the solution continues to be adaptable when business, environment or other organizational priorities change - therefore making an implementation sustainable. The second essay discussed characteristics of sustainability of enterprise application implementation from organizational perspective. A case study was used to validate the characteristics of sustainability. The thesis sought to demonstrate the causal relationship between the organization's preparedness for sustainability and the emergence of implementation problems. The study extracted insight into the criticality of certain factors and the type of problems making decisions under weak governance situation. The third essay develops determinants for project governance success of enterprise application implementations by mitigating risks in a multi-stakeholder environment. This essay develops and validates new scales for five specific variables. Definitions of five variables were used to develop a model that was presented for content validity and then tested for reliability from a total of 117 project executives globally. The measures were validated with reliabilities between 0.73 and 0.94. Relationships between five measures were broken down to meaningful components and a three tier project governance structure was proposed to mitigate integration and inter-dependency risks in a multi-stakeholder environment

Modeling a systems-based framework for effective IT auditing and assurance for less regulatory environments

Information Technology (IT) has become indispensable in contemporary business processes and in business value creation strategies. Those charged with governance, risk management and compliance are, often, challenged by sophisticated IT oriented decision-making dilemmas due to complex IT use in contemporary business processes. Investors and other stakeholders increasingly expect very rich, reliable and transparent assurance that their interests are safe. Auditors, as a result, are looked upon to expand their role to leverage the functions of those charged with governance and management. IT audit literature, hence, demonstrates existence of several best practices aimed at meeting the increasing demand for more audit and assurance outcomes that bridge the widening audit expectations gaps. In developing countries with less stringent regulatory systems, however, attempts to implement many of these frameworks have proved unsuccessful. Reasons include paucity of guidance in the frameworks and lack of suitable theoretical foundations to resort to for solutions to implementation challenges. Extant literature review reveals scanty research effort by practitioners or academicians in the field in the empirical situation to design a more suitable framework to serve as intervention. In this research an attempt has been made to create an intervention by designing a framework, i.e. an artefact for IT auditing for less regulated business environments. By adductive inference the cybernetics theory of viable systems approach was ingrained as the theoretical foundation from which the variables for the design were extracted. The abduction was based on the diagnostic power and ability to support self-regulation in a less regulatory environment. Action design research (ADR) approach was employed to achieve the research objective. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were found to be useful for the evaluation and data analysis. At the design phase, a multiple case study method together with workshops were employed to gain insight into the problem and to collect data to support the design process. Four organisations from both public and private sectors in Ghana were selected to participate in the research. At the evaluation stage a survey technique was used to collect data mainly for the validation of construct variables and the refinement of the framework. The questionnaire scale used was 1=Strongly Disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Somewhat Agree; 4=Agree and 5=Strongly Agree. A total of 136 respondents who included IT audit and Internal audit practitioners, Audit trainees and students, Directors and management staff were involved from four selected organisations. A factor analysis yielded twenty variables extracted from the ingrained theory for the building of a conceptual model which were grouped into six factors or domains. The entire conceptual model was tested with PLS-SEM technique because of the causal relationships that motivated the development of the conceptual hypotheses. A composite reliability used to assess the internal consistency of the model was overall adequate with values greater than 0.7. Similarly, a convergent validity of the model showed that all the variables were above the threshold value of 0.5. Thus, the model and design theory were found to be reliable and valid. Correlation and regression analysis was applied in testing individual hypotheses and the results helped to reorganise the final framework. The study contributed an artefact in the field of IT audit which represents a comprehensive teachable practitioner’s guide for the improvement of the IT audit practice. The framework also serves as guidance to those charged with governance and management in monitoring, self-review and as framework to attain IT audit readiness in less regulatory environments. Implementation challenges are expected to be resolved by reverting to the ingrained theory

Exploring Critical Success Factors for Managing Complex Information Technology Projects in Federal Agencies

The problem addressed in this study was the lack of understanding about failures of government leadership in accomplishing complex information technology (IT) projects and the ways such failures can negatively affect organizational performance. The purpose was to query subject matter experts and leaders with the intent to identify methods to reduce complex IT project failure rates in government organizations. This qualitative study drew on the technology acceptance model and the capability maturity model integration framework to evaluate organizations\u27 abilities to manage complex IT projects. The research questions focused on exploring senior managers\u27 experiences, the tacit knowledge of project management methodologies, and IT governance frameworks. The Delphi method was suitable for collecting and analyzing opinions of subject matter experts to help reach group consensus. Qualitative data analysis was used to identify themes, categories, and subcategories for thematic analysis. The result of the study was the identification of critical success factors and leadership attributes to increase the success rate of complex IT projects in federal agencies. This research may be beneficial to federal government program leaders who, as the result of increased insights and knowledge, can more effectively provide online government services using technology-enabled end-users\u27 computing devices in a cost-effective and secure method

Exploring Blockchain Governance

Blockchain systems continue to attract significant interest from both practitioners and researchers. What is more, blockchain systems come in various types, such as cryptocurrencies or as inter-organizational systems in business networks. As an example of a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one of the most prominent blockchain systems to date and born at the time of a major financial crisis, spearheaded the promise of relying on code and computation instead of a central governing entity. Proponents would argue that Bitcoin stood the test of time, as Bitcoin continues to operate to date for over a decade. However, these proponents overlook the never-ending, heated debates “behind the scenes” caused by diverging goals of central actors, which led to numerous alternative systems (forks) of Bitcoin. To accommodate these actors’ interests in the pursuit of their common goal is a tightrope act, and this is where this dissertation commences: blockchain governance. Based on the empirical examples of various types and application domains of blockchain systems, it is the goal of this dissertation to 1) uncover governance patterns by showing, how blockchain systems are governed, 2) derive governance challenges faced or caused by blockchain systems, and, consequently, to 3) contribute to a better understanding to what blockchain governance is. This dissertation includes four parts, each of these covering different thematical areas: In the first part, this dissertation focuses on obtaining a better understanding of blockchain governance’s context of reference by studying blockchain systems from various application domains and system types, for example, led by inter-organizational networks, states, or an independent group of actors. The second part, then, focuses on a blockchain as an inter-organizational system called “cardossier”, a project I was involved in, and its governance as a frame of reference. Hereupon, for one, I report on learnings from my project involvement in the form of managerial guidelines, and, for two, I report on structural problems within cardossier, and problems caused by membership growth and how they can be resolved. The third part focuses on a wider study of blockchains as inter-organizational systems, where I summarize findings of an analysis of 19 blockchain consortia. The findings, for one, answer the question of why blockchain consortia adopt blockchain technology, and, for two, show internal and external challenges these systems faced to derive managerial recommendations. The fourth and last part studies blockchain governance’s evolution and contributes an analysis of blockchain’s governance features and its contrast to established modes of governance. These four parts, altogether, have scientific value as they increase our understanding on blockchain governance. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on modes of governance, distributed system governance, and blockchain governance in general. I do so, by grounding the concept of blockchain governance in empirical detail, showing how these systems are governed on various application domains and system types, and by studying empirical challenges faced or caused by these systems. This approach is relevant and necessary, as blockchain systems in general, but particularly outside of cryptocurrencies, mostly still are in pursuit of a sustainable blockchain governance. As blockchains can be expected to continue to mature, the upcoming years offer very fruitful ground for empirical research along the empirical insights and theoretical lines shown in this dissertation

Public accountability: The case of government guarantee scheme in PFI/PPP projects

Although government guarantee scheme has become a well-known policy strategy for encouraging public-private infrastructure delivery. However, a huge concern with government guarantee in PFI/PPP is the issue of weak public accountability scrutiny. This study therefore investigates accountability mechanisms necessary for evaluating PFI/PPP government guarantee scheme within UK context. Using exploratory sequential mixed methodology approach, constructs from accountability theory (Process-Based Accountability Mechanisms, Ethics-Based Accountability Mechanisms, Democratic Accountability Mechanisms, and Outcome-Based Accountability Mechanisms) were examined. Sixteen (16) accountability mechanisms (value for money, parliamentary scrutiny, rule of law etc.) useful for evaluating PFI/PPP government guarantee scheme were identified and used to formulate theoretical hypotheses. Through literature review, documentation and case study interviews with experts in public and private sectors, 78 indicators contributing towards each accountability mechanism were uncovered. Confirming the relevance of each indicators from experts in the qualitative study, a final questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to wider audiences. Series of statistical tests were performed on the collected questionnaire data including Descriptive Mean Rating, Reliability Analysis, Mann Whitney U Test of Significant Differences in Perceptions and Structural Equation Modelling. The results revealed fourteen out of the sixteen tested hypotheses were validated, with two rejected (Benchmarking and Budgetary Reporting). Findings also identified the top-five accountability mechanisms critical for evaluating PFI/PPP government guarantee scheme comprising: Value for Money, Competition, Social and Political Impact, Risk Management, and Parliamentary Scrutiny. The study culminated in a multidimensional framework for public accountability in PFI/PPP government guarantee scheme. Contributing towards existing accountability theory, the study confirmed a combination of multiple accountabilities, as against a single-dimensional accountability, is necessary for strengthening public accountability in PFI/PPP government guarantee scheme. For UK policy formulators, the result suggested need for future re-dimensioning of accountability frameworks for infrastructure government guarantee schemes, especially as the nation faces new geo-political and economic complexities in years to come

An Innovation-driven IT Governance Framework for Benefits Realisation and its Application to Public Sector

Information and communication technology (ICT or IT) provides benefits to an organisation. However, a large number of IT projects fail. The research literature shows extant governance frameworks are not adequately protecting against project failures and are not as effective on many of these IT projects as they should be. This thesis developed a new IT governance framework using an agile benefit management approach, aimed to achieve benefits realisation for any scale of IT projects, particularly for projects in the public sector such as Defence. The framework objectively targets digital transformation and technological agility, however, is shown in the thesis to assist in other enterprise challenges with IT acquisition and through-life management, such as cyber-resilience. The framework is based on many theories, principles, and practices, such as: Transaction Cost Economics Theory, Prospect Theory (Decision-Making Under Uncertainty), Reference Class Forecasting, Stratification and the Incremental Enlargement Principle and Fuzzy Logic. The framework is shown to be effective primarily through better informed decision-making. Benefits realisation is critical for information technology project success. The framework provides a systematic methodology on how to define economic benefit, technical benefit, and strategic benefit. It provides benefit realisation measures through fuzzy inference system, and it provides decision support based on the benefit performance measures and dis-benefit risk management. When compared to industry-based frameworks for IT acquisition and sustainment this new framework is unique because it includes all internal and external stakeholders such as users, providers, industry, and academia to continuously collaborate for innovating, iterating, and evaluating technology for realisation of benefits to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. The proof of concept has been conducted through a detailed case study in the Defence public sector, and several critiques of IT reform in other public sector applications where difficulties are occurring. Organisations will be able to use this framework for a more rapid and assured uptake of emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution into their technology stack. Examples of some of these emerging technologies are AI, machine learning, geo-spatial, block chain, cognitive and brain computing, cloud computing, data echo system, and cybersecurity