A participatory design approach for the development of support environments in eGovernment services to citizens

The introduction of eGovernment services and applications leads to major changes in the structure and operation of public administrations. In this paper we describe the work in progress in an Italian project called “SPO.T.” aimed at the analysis, development, deployment and evaluation of tools and environments to support the people who plan, deliver, use and evaluate user-centred provision of One-Stop-Shop services to citizens. The “SPO.T.” project has focused on two requirements: 1. the support tools and environments must facilitate the active involvement of all stakeholders in the definition and evolution of eGovernment applications and services, and it is argued that through participatory design changes of structure, process and culture can be delivered effectively; 2. they must embody a set of architecturally coherent resources which reflect the new roles and relationships of public administration and which are sufficiently generic to be relevant to a wide range of local contexts across the community

A Country Level Evaluation of the Impact of E-government: the Case of Italy

Despite considerable investments made worldwide in e-government initiatives in the past years, whether e-government succeeded in achieving the expected benefits in terms of increased efficiency, effectiveness and quality in the delivery of services is still under discussion. This chapter proposes an evaluation of the outcomes of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the diffusion of e-government at the local level in Italy. The evaluation considers whether the implementation of the projects funded under the action plan determined positive effects at the country level in terms of an increase in the value generated for different stakeholders. The discussion of data from both national and international secondary sources shows that during the period in which the benefits of the NAP should have become apparent no positive effects have emerged with evidence. The chapter argues that this depends on some of the principles the NAP has been based on that limited its capability of achieving the expected results

ITALY’S ONE-STOP BUSINESS SHOPS: WHY ‘INNOVATION BY LAW’ IS A CAR WITHOUT WHEELS

Lean administrative procedures and One-Stop Shops are key drivers of bureaucratic simplification and to ease the administrative burdens on business and industry with the ultimate aim of making a country more competitive and of spurring its economic growth. The paper investigates the case of Italy’s One-Stop Business Services and Information Shops and why it has taken 15 years and a stream of legislation to get the municipalities to implement the concept. The paper assesses whether the Italian government’s One-Stop Business Shop (‘SUAP’) programme has effectively lightened the administrative load that weighs on the country’s enterprises and then analyzes its implementation. A critical discussion of the “innovation by law” approach taken by the Italian government to not only the setting up of the One-Stop Business Shops, but also to diffuse e-government (i.e., the National Action Plans for e-Government) seeks to shed light on the problems that continue to dog e- Government implementation in Italy

Data Ingredients: smart disclosure and open government data as complementary tools to meet policy objectives. The case of energy efficiency.

Open government data are considered a key asset for eGovernment. One could argue that governments can influence other types of data disclosure, as potential ingredients of innovative services. To discuss this assumption, we took the example of the U.S. 'Green Button' initiative – based on the disclosure of energy consumption data to each user – and analysed 36 energy-oriented digital services reusing these and other data, in order to highlight their set of inputs. We find that apps suggesting to a user a more efficient consumption behaviour also benefit from average retail electricity cost/price information; that energy efficiency 'scoring' apps also need, at least, structured and updated information on buildings performance; and that value-added services that derive insights from consumption data frequently rely on average energy consumption information. More in general, most of the surveyed services combine consumption data, open government data, and corporate data. When setting sector-specific agendas grounded on data disclosure, public agencies should therefore consider (contributing) to make available all three layers of information. No widely acknowledged initiatives of energy consumption data disclosure to users are being implemented in the EU. Moreover, browsing EU data portals and websites of public agencies, we find that other key data ingredients are not supplied (or, at least, not as open data), leaving room for possible improvements in this arena

Incentives for the adoption of e-government by Greek municipalities

Purpose: The research aims to identify the incentives that play an important role in the evolution of e-government in Greece at local scale and its actual development level. It also investigates the factors and the perceived barriers that affect the development of local egovernment in Greek Municipalities, as well as the benefits they derive from it. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on a survey that was conducted through a questionnaire to all 325 Municipalities of the country and includes data from 109 Municipalities that participated in the quantitative approach. Findings: While e-government is spread at a relatively satisfactory level, it appears that only a few Municipalities are performing well. Results highlight also the two main incentives that motivate Municipalities to adopt e-government: The first is the improvement of the efficiency of information exchange with the external environment and the second is managing internal issues-relationships in conjunction with the existence of prominent IT departments. Amongst the main factors that affect e-government adoption by Local authorities, budgetary constraints stand out, while the lack of personnel specialized in Information Technologies is identified as common obstacle. Practical Implications: Findings suggest that an integrated approach to e-government is needed in order to enable organizations to minimize failures and to overcome barriers and counter risks. The capacity to align e-government applications with the increasing and evolving needs and requirements of the citizens is the key to optimizing the benefits of eGovernment at local scale. Originality/Value: There is no similar empirical research in the context of Greece; hence, it seems important to increase the knowledge about the drivers of e-government adoption, especially in the public sector at the local scale.peer-reviewe

The Implementation Of ICT In Public Sector Organisations. Analysing Selection Criteria For eGovernment Projects

Taking as a starting point the recent approval of 138 co-financing proposals put forward by numerous local government bodies within the context of a national e-government plan, the article poses the question of whether these types of initiatives are really likely to unleash mechanisms capable of improving organisational performance. The evaluation criteria adopted in the course of the selection process are analysed on the basis of a model elaborated by Soh and Markus (1995) with the object of throwing light on the role attributed to information and communication technology (ICT) in the shaping of organisational innovation in the public sector

Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy

Living in a rapidly changing society, where information travels with great speed and its upgrade is essential, we decided to approach certain aspects of e-democracy, as a dynamic way of citizen participation, using new Information and Communications Technologies. The theme chosen for this research, Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy, is a part of Electronic Administration field and identifies the meanings of implementing e-government and e-democracy, the necessity and effects of putting them into practice and the conditions to be fulfilled for the development of electronic services and fostering citizen participation in their use. E-governance as well as edemocracy have a clear contribution in making social progress, thanks to capitalize the most important irreversible resource, the time for achievement of the main administrative operations. The overall objective of the research aims to establish the relationship between governance and electronic democracy. From this perspective, this paper will contain: analyzing the importance of both e-governance and e-democracy, risks and benefits for each one, clarifying the need and implications underlying the implementation of electronic systems and explain the conditions to be met by citizens in order to benefit from these services. To achieve the objectives set, will be dominant the analyzing method of the social phenomena in their evolution. They will also combine harmoniously with practical examples in various member states of the European Union.e-governance, e-democracy

The Status and Perspectives of eGovernment in Bosnia and Herzegovina

E-Government or electronic administration is a form in which public service authorities and local self-government carry out business processes. It is based on the usage of contemporary information-communication technology and is directed towards end-users. Its purpose is to make the service quality more available and clearer for its users and also to achieve the better efficiency of the inner work. E-Government provides the participation of various public spheres and institutions in the processing of publicly or locally relevant issues, and working of state and public administration. In doing so, there have been versatile methods of work automatization, not only in the outer communication (such as service requests, work distribution, solution distribution, e-democracy), but also in the inner communication (connections of record files, self-initiative data processing). If we introduce the information-communication technologies into the all segments of administration, we will achieve the long-term synergetic effects in terms of clarity, rationalization and flexibility of work. The transformation of a government into an e-government is a crucial segment of the general process of information society development. This work summarizes some good solutions of e-government services in the developed European countries. After this, there are the directions for the e-government field and its spatial aspect from the Strategy of Information Society Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, there is a brief description and analysis of the application level of the informationcommunication technology in Bosnia and Herzegovina administration