Public value creation in digital government

Public value theory offers innovative ways to plan, design, and implement digital government initiatives. The theory has gained the attention of researchers due to its powerful proposition that shifts the focus of public sector management from internal efficiency to value creation processes that occur outside the organization. While public value creation has become the expectation that digital government initiatives have to fulfil, there is lack of theoretical clarity on what public value means and on how digital technologies can contribute to its creation. The special issue presents a collection of six papers that provide new insights on how digital technologies support public value creation. Building on their contributions, the editorial note conceptualizes the realm of public value creation by highlighting: (1) the integrated nature of public value creation supported by digital government implementations rather than enhancing the values provided by individual technologies or innovations, (2) how the outcome of public value creation is reflected in the combined consumption of the various services enabled by technologies and (3) how public value creation is enabled by organizational capabilities and configurations

Harnessing Technology to Advance Citizen-Centric Land Administration in Rwanda

Rwanda is recognized as a global land governance leader due to the success of its Land Tenure Regularisation Program (LTRP), which resulted in the registration of over 11 million parcels and the issuance of 7 million certificates of title, and the establishment of the Land Administration Information System (LAIS). These notable achievements have contributed to land market viability, reductions in land disputes, and increased land-based revenue. However, some land administration challenges persist, including high costs and delays for buyers and sellers, as well as the double selling of land, identity fraud, and repudiation associated with land transfers.In recognition of the need for innovative solutions to these persistent challenges, Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority (RLMUA), Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), and Medici Land Governance (MLG) developed Ubutaka App, a paperless, secure, and fully interoperable land administration system. The system uses emerging technology to simplify land transactions by voluntary sale and prevent double selling of land, identity fraud, and repudiation. Designed for use by Land Notaries and Registrars in Rwanda, and currently being piloted in Gasabo District, Ubutaka requires only one visit to a notary through the use of biodata, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and blockchain. The web-based application integrates seamlessly with existing Rwandan systems, including Irembo, LAIS, and Rwanda National Identification Agency (NIDA) to securely transmit citizens’ information. Authorizations and approvals by users are completed using PKI. Finally, for added transparency and security, key components of the process are recorded on blockchain.The adoption of advanced land governance systems enhanced by emerging technologies, such as Public Key Infrastructure and blockchain, enables the Government of Rwanda to solve modern land sector problems and better protect the country’s land heritage. This paper demonstrates how technologies such as Ubutaka app provide opportunities for positive transformation in citizen-centric land administration

Digital (Re)Evolution In An Italian Public Administration: Some Implications In Pandemic Era

Nowadays, the COVID-19 pandemic condition has generated an acceleration of change in public administration. The challenges around the COVID‐19 pandemic have further spurred public organizations into action by increasing their awareness of the need to accelerate digital transformation. The digital revolution in public administration is defined as e-government . The context of public administration appears to be increasingly complex and requires skills able to better manage the digital transformation under-way. The role of the Human Resources Manager, in this particular historical phase, in which the work is digitalized, is transformed. The figure of the Human Resources Manager (HR Manager) overlaps with that of the Chief Digital Officier (CDO). In recent years, the role of the Chief Digital Officer has emerged and attracted scholars’ attention. However, the role of the CDO is still in its nascent and not well-defined stages, the role means different things for different organizations. On this basis, the main objective of the research is understanding if the HR manager is also a CDO in this historical phase in public organizations; trying to understand if the CDO is going to play the role of change agent in these organizations. This study is based on qualitative analysis

Innovative solutions of improving efficiency in public management

The paper reflects the analyzing of current trends in the use of innovation, technical and technological potential of different countries in the context of optimizing the interaction of government and the public to stimulate the effectiveness of public management. As a result of correlation analysis, it has been proven that the basic factors, determining the effectiveness of the outlined management model, are the level of development of online services and the availability of the necessary information data infrastructure. Perspective for e-government lies in the ability to improve and adapt innovative tools to public management systems around the world by using the existing digital, research and technological potential of governments of different countries

Public value management and new public governance as modern approaches to the development of public administration

The article studies Public Value Management and New Public Governance - two new approaches to the management process in the public sphere. It is established that they arose in response to modern challenges of the global world. Applying dialectical, theoretical and empirical methods of scientific research, in particular the method of analogy, classification, generalization, we identified the main factors that influenced the emergence of new approaches to management and policy making, and described each approach. The analogy of the traditional model of management and governance with the newest one is drawn. It is determined that according to the traditional model of public administration and governance, only the state has a monopoly on decision-making and centrally forms public policy

Experience of administrative and legal support for control and supervision

The aim of this article is to analyse the experience of the EU countries regarding the administrative and legal support for control and supervision in the context of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. The main methods of research in the article are methods of structural construction, analytical substantiation, and logical construction. The development and implementation of a new public administration policy was determined in the article as one of the most important vectors for the modernization of public administration. It reduces the relativity and number of points of contact between companies and the state. On the other hand, the European Community establishes a model of the number of regulatory bodies, and the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the EU require bringing their objectives in line with European standards. When the optimization of the system of control and supervisory institutions is imperfect, it is fundamentally important to make a balanced acceptable decision and to avoid an imbalance in the work of state control and supervisory bodies. Based on the conducted research, a list of measures to reduce control and regulatory activities in the context of Ukraine’s accession to the EU was made. At the same time, regulatory bodies are the most important guarantors of the success and sustainable development of the entire country. This determines the relevance of the research and substantiates the need to analyse the experience of the EU countries regarding administrative and legal mechanisms of supervision and control. Prospects for further research are the analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed measures, and determining a range of interested persons in order to improve the administrative and legal support for control and supervision

Citizens' expectations about achieving public value and the role of digital technologies: It takes three to tango!

Governments across the globe are facing pressure to increase the speed of their digital transformation to meet the needs of the digital society while fulfilling their primary task of delivering public value. While researchers agree on the importance of the public sector for public value creation, recently, more and more studies have recognized the criticality of collaboration between the public and private sectors for successful public value creation. In our research, we conduct a qualitative survey. We examine the idea of collaboration between the public and the private sectors in more detail and add the citizens' perspective. We highlight the need for joint forces for optimal public value creation, identify ways to achieve this, and determine what digital technologies can support this process

Monitoring and Measurement of Digital Inclusion: A Critical Analysis of Key Global Frameworks

Taking up the challenge laid down by the High-Level Panel on Digital Co-operation to develop a global framework for measuring digital inclusion, this paper analyses ten current international and national attempts to measure and monitor digital inclusion. Two key questions are asked: What indicators of digital inclusion or inequality exist in current international initiatives? What, if any, are the weaknesses of current indicators to support strategic and practical decision making facilitating digital inclusion? Collectively the ten initiatives include 303 indicators, with access, (127 indictors), skills (62), use (50) and supporting environment (29) emerging as dominate clusters. Skills related to the digital age such as digital competence, critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship are limited. Sup-porting elements such as financial inclusion, online identification, security, and trust are largely missing. Focus is on country level data and comparisons. User specific and geographical segmentation of indicators is rare thus limiting their value to decision makers in pinpointing areas, communities, and individuals at risk of digital exclusion

IT Alignment and its Influence on Digital Transformation Success

Managing digital transformation is a complex enterprise dependent on various organisational, managerial, and technological factors. Among others, the influence of factors related to IT alignment on digital transformation is recognised. This study attempts to establish the significance of eight organisational and managerial factors (organisational agility, organisational structure, organisational culture, leadership skills, digital metrics, HR management, stakeholder relationships, and external domain alignment). Our aim is to investigate whether these factors’ influence on IT alignment affects the success of digital transformation in public organisations. The proposed conceptual research model, founded on related prior studies, was tested with quantitative data collected through a survey from 402 leaders. Our results indicate that IT alignment is positively related to digital transformation success in public organisations. However, the PLS-SEM analysis reveals a varying degree of influence among the factors on IT alignment as organisations undertake digital transformation