Case Study in Intellectual Capital and Territorial Development: Analysing Portuguese Local Governments WEB Pages

Multiple authors argue that the digital infrastructure of municipalities and regions, such as websites, have an important role to play in local and regional development since they enable the access and sharing of information, knowledge and the provision of certain services. Functioning as an entrance way to a territory, the websites provide important contributions in the knowledge and intellectual capital management activities. In this sense, an evaluation of websites is a core activity for the updating of content and delivery of services, contributing to their best management in the context of e-government. However, there are a limited number of studies on evaluation of websites from the perspective of intellectual capital, although the importance of this asset, either in business or public sector, and also to the development of territories is recognized. So, this study intend to show the importance of intellectual capital in the public sector, more specifically on local government, by assessing the intellectual capital of its web pages by implementing a model of intellectual capital for the public sector

Web accessibility compliance for e-Government websites in the Gulf region

The World Wide Web is a digital platform that helps people access and retrieve information in an accessible and equitable manner. However, people with disabilities can face a number of challenges when it comes to using the Web and accessing content on websites. According to Henry, web accessibility means “that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web” (2005, para.1). While different countries across the globe tackle issues of equitable access to the web via policy and legal instruments, not all countries and regions have shown progress in terms of meeting the requirements of the internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). This research aimed to evaluate web accessibility and practice in e-government websites in three Arabian Gulf countries. The study sought to identify accessibility issues and discover levels of conformance to the WCAG 2.0 web accessibility standards, while also eliciting awareness and knowledge of web accessibility in practice. Exploratory research methods were applied in this study, including case studies of nations. Automated website assessments, manual assessments and document analysis were amongst the instruments used within this research. In terms of web evaluation, the findings from the evaluation conducted on e-government websites in relation to ten different sites from each of the three selected countries indicated that there was no clear evidence of an even minimal levels of accessibility features for people with disabilities. Furthermore, the webpages that were tested showed accessibility problems across nearly all aspects of the WCAG 2.0 guidelines. In terms of accessibility awareness for the organisations e-government websites examined in this study, document analysis showed that none of the government websites of Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar made specific reference to web accessibility standards, or where they did, they were not implemented. The results showed that laws and policies did exist for people with disabilities, but did not seem applicable in terms of government run e-services or content. In fact, this interpretation revealed a lack of awareness within the websites examined, despite the existence of laws and policies designed to protect and support people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to understand the role that web accessibility plays in gulf nation egovernment services, and whether citizens of these nations are being supported in relation to access to online digital resources and services. Whilst other nations have seemed to recognise the need to make government services available to all citizens, including those with disabilities, this research finds that whilst Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar enshrine the rights of people with disabilities into law, these rights do not yet seem to have found their way to the digital domain

UNPLAG Web Based Correspondence Application as an Effort to Improve Public Service in Wonosari Village

The role of digital transformation facilitates bureaucratic services in the village. Current technological developments bring many changes to various aspects, including the aspect of public administration services, one of which is online correspondence services which are useful for improving the village government management system so that it can work efficiently and effectively. So far, in Wonosari Village, correspondence services such as birth certificates, certificates of good behavior, transfer certificates and other letters are still done manually so it takes a long time. Therefore, a Web-based Correspondence Application was built in Wonosari Village. Where in this application consists of a menu of master data, Master Letters, Reporting, Validation of Letters and user settings. This application is built using the PHP programming language and MYSQL database. With this Web-based correspondence application, it is hoped that it will simplify and speed up the correspondence administration process at the village government level

The web ecology of the online state: the case of Australia

The online state, comprised of websites owned and managed by government institutions, is part of a wider web ecology made up of websites to which government websites point and which point to government websites. The web ecology’s shape and structure and its relationship to the offline state is scarcely understood. Using digital methods, this paper examines the web ecology of the Australian online state as derived from 75 federal, state and local government seed websites. It is dominated by Australian and commercial websites, with the most important being social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), the Australian government’s webportal, and informational websites Wikipedia and WordPress. Websites tend to cluster by jurisdiction, policy/service domains, and functional web services. These findings highlight the relationship between the online and offline state, and enhance our understanding of the changing role, operation and importance of government in the twenty-first century

Web Archiving Democracy

Mary Haberle is a Web Archivist at Archive-It, which is the Internet Archive’s subscription web archiving service. She's part of a support team that provides training and direct support services to our partners, including the archivists on this panel who are all using Archive-It at their institutions. Dory Bower has been an Archives Specialist at the U.S. Government Publishing Office since 2010, where she has worked on a number of projects to increase access to electronic U.S. government resources. Dory began working with web archiving in 2011 and has played a key role in all aspects of the Federal Depository Library Program Web Archive. Megan Craynon has worked at the Maryland State Archives since 2011, and has spent the majority of that time as a team member on the web archiving project. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Special Collections. Ben Goldman is the Kalin Librarian for Technological Innovations at Penn State University Libraries, where he has overseen web archiving efforts since 2012. Roger Christman is the Governors’ Records Archivist at the Library of Virginia. In his spare time, he also manages the Library’s web archiving program. Nicholas Worby is the Government Information and Statistics Librarian as well as the Web Archives Program Coordinator at the University of Toronto. Ian Milligan is an associate professor of digital and Canadian history at the University of Waterloo. He’s leading a Mellon-funded project to develop a cloud-based infrastructure for the analysis of web archives.As repositories of primary source materials, archives play a central role in supporting the democratic principles of transparency and accountability. Political discourse and many official records of government have shifted from analog to web-based delivery. Web archiving programs that collect content created by elected officials and governments are vital to a robust civil society, which is central to a healthy democracy. This panel brings together information professionals and a digital historian engaged with related content. Professionals actively acquiring websites of elected officials and online government publications will discuss why and how their institutions are building web archives in these areas and what gaps, if any, exist. Panelists will offer their perspectives on the current state of researcher access and how archives can better support researcher engagement with web archives. Questions of professional and institutional responsibility as citizens and as employees of democratic institutions will be explored

The impact of e-service quality on public trust and public satisfaction in e-government public services

Responsive, timely, and friendly service quality plays a central role in shaping trust between the government and citizens. With the improvement of service quality, the public feels valued and heard, reinforcing the mutual trust relationship between the government and citizens. In this regard, technology-enabled service processes can streamline time and cost, while automation reduces the risk of human errors. Through web platforms or applications, the government can provide easier access for citizens to various services without the need to physically visit government offices. Good and quality public services are not only aimed at meeting the practical needs of the public but also play a role in shaping the mutual trust relationship between the government and citizens. Therefore, the concept of e-service quality, which encompasses the quality of services provided through electronic platforms, becomes crucial. The objective of this research is to explore the extent to which e-service quality can influence the level of public satisfaction. The research method employs a quantitative approach using primary data sources, where random sampling is applied as the sampling technique. The research respondents are citizens using digital public service platforms organized by the local government of Jakarta. The sample size used in this study is 262. The variables tested in this research involve e-service quality, public trust, and public satisfaction. In analyzing the data, this research utilizes SmartPLS 4 software. The analysis results show that e-service quality has a significant influence on the formation of public trust. Furthermore, findings indicate that e-service quality also significantly affects public satisfaction. However, the analysis results do not support the idea that public trust mediates the relationship between e-service quality and public satisfaction. This signifies that while public trust directly contributes to public satisfaction with public services, other unmeasured factors also play a role in shaping public perceptions and satisfaction

Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada

City governments around the world are developing and expanding how they connect to citizens. Technologies play an important role in making this connection, and one frequent way that cities connect with citizens is through 311-style request systems. 311 is a non-emergency municipal notification system that uses telephone, email, web forms, and increasingly, mobile applications to allow citizens to notify government of infrastructure issues and make requests for municipal services. In many ways, this process of citizen contribution mirrors the provision of volunteered geographic information, that is spatially-referenced user generated content. This research presents a case study of the city of Edmonton, Canada, an early adopter of multi-channel 311 service request systems, including telephone, email, web form, and mobile app 311 request channels. Three methods of analysis are used to characterize and compare these different channels over three years of request data; a comparison of relative request share for each channel, a spatial hot spot analysis, and regression models to compare channel usage with sociodemographic variables. The results of this study indicate a shift in channel usage from traditional to Internet-enabled, that this shift is mirrored in the hotspots of request activity, and that specific digital inequalities exist that reinforce this distinction between traditional and Internet-enabled reporting channels

Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government

Offers strategies for realizing Knight's 2009 call for e-government and openness using Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies, including public-private partnerships to develop applications, flexible procurement procedures, and better community broadband access

Enhancing choice? The role of technology in the career support market

This report explores the role that technology has played in the development of the career support market. This market is conceived broadly to include all possible resources that individuals might draw upon to support them in their career development. A key element is the role that is played by public-sector career services and by careers professionals; though these resources are supplemented by services paid for in a wide range of ways and delivered by a range of professionals and non-professionals.UKCE