Innovative Public Service Delivery: How to assess the new relationship between public agencies and society?

One of the major challenges faced by the Public Administration is how to create more value for both citizens and firms, mainly because of the increasing budgetary constraints and challenging demands from society. In fact, over the past two decades there has been a general movement of public reform in most developed countries, and for this reason it is essential to understand how users assess public services’ quality. This paper aims at understanding the determinants of public services’ quality. Due to the nature of the research problem, we have adopted a case-study methodology. The research involved an extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection with managers, citizens and front and back-office public servants, by means of interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. The paper presents the case of Citizen Shops in Portugal, a recent and innovative channel of public services’ delivery, within a strong relationship perspective. Firstly, it explores the kind of relationships that are developed during the public service encounter between the citizen, the public organization and society. Secondly, both citizen’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction with public services are investigated. The basic premise is that these two concepts are not opposite but have different determinants instead. Furthermore, the paper also explores the existence of a zone of tolerance and emphasizes the importance of managing emotions in the public service encounter. Finally, it is discussed that public services’ quality assessment should also take into consideration the implications on the value to society.Public services; citizen shops; quality determinants; satisfaction; dissatisfaction

New Forms of Public Service Delivery – are they really valuable?

One of the major challenges currently faced by Public Administrations is the creation of more value for both citizens and firms, mainly because of the increasing budgetary constraints and challenging demands from society. In fact, in the last two decades there has been a general movement of public reform in almost all developed countries, and for this reason it became essential to understand how users assess public services’ quality. This paper aims precisely at understanding which the determinants of public services’ quality are. Due to the nature of the research problem, the case-study methodology has been chosen. Thus, this paper presents the case-study of Citizen Shops in Portugal, a recent and innovative channel of public services’ delivery, within a strong relational perspective. This research involved an extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection. The main findings and implications are presented and discussed.public services; Citizen Shops; quality determinants; satisfaction; dissatisfaction

Assessing the Quality of Public Services: A Conceptual Model

One of the major challenges faced by Public Administration is how to create more value for both citizens and firms, mainly because of the increasing budgetary constraints and challenging demands from society. In fact, over the past two decades there has been a general movement of public reform in most developed countries, and for this reason it is essential to understand how users assess the quality of public services. The aim of this paper is to clarify the determinants of public service quality. Due to the nature of the research problem, we have adopted a case-study methodology. The research involved extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection with managers, citizens and front and back-office public servants by means of interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. The paper presents the case of Public Service Citizens’ Shops (Loja do Cidadão) in Portugal, a recent and innovative channel for the delivery of public services. Firstly, it explores the kind of relationships that develop during the public service encounter between the citizen, the public organization and society. Secondly, citizen satisfaction and dissatisfaction with public services are both investigated. The basic premise is that these two concepts are not opposite but have different determinants. Furthermore, the paper also explores the nature of tolerance and emphasizes the importance of managing emotions in the public service encounter. Finally, it also considers how the quality assessment of public services should also take into account implications regarding value to society.public services; quality determinants; satisfaction; dissatisfaction; zone of tolerance; emotions; citizens’ shops

ASSESSING USERS' PERCEPTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SERVICES QUALITY

In order to address new demands from citizens and companies, public agencies are developing new ways of delivering public services within a multi-channel logic. In this context, Citizen Shops have been designed to increase speed of response, to simplify procedures and, above all, to improve service quality. This article aims to evaluate the perceptions of users of public services in order to improve their quality. The article follows a marketing perspective, paying special attention to citizens' expectations and perceptions and to the role of emotions in the encounter. Given the nature of the research issue, the investigation followed a case-study methodology. The authors present an adaptation of the Critical Incident Technique and analyse extensive qualitative and quantitative data collected in six Portuguese Citizen Shops. The findings show that expectations are extremely dynamic and play a relevant role in users' satisfaction. Satisfying and neutral attributes were identified, and the Critical Incident Technique also revealed the importance of emotions in the encounter

Printed electronics for ubiquitous computing applications

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em QuímicaThis Ph.D. project is focused on the synthesis of functional inorganic materials, their formulation into inks and their deposition using inkjet printing on non-conventional substrates, such as paper, with the ultimate goal of advancing the state-of-the-art in the area of printed electrochromic displays. Other materials, inks,techniques and substrates were also explored. The first step in building a printed electrochromic display is to synthesize the functional materials necessary for the different layers of the device; this part of the work focused on inorganic electrochromic materials (tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide) and on transparent conductive oxides (TCO). ATO(antimony tin oxide) was synthesized using the Pechini method and the results obtained were promising. Tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide nanoparticles were also synthesized via a sol-gel route. FTIR,Raman and X-ray diffraction spectroscopic measurements showed that tungsten oxide nanoparticles synthesized via sol-gel are mainly in an amorphous state, with hexagonal crystalline domains, and allowed the analysis of the hydration extent of those nanoparticles. Vanadium oxide gel synthesized in this work is similar to those previously described in the literature, consisting of V2O5.6H2O, with microstructures similar to orthorhombic V2O5, while Raman spectroscopy also showed the presence of amorphous domains. The nanoparticle sizes were measured combining Dynamic Light Scattering, sedimentation and microscopic techniques (AFM and TEM). Tungsten oxide particles presented an average nanoparticle size between 160 and 200 nm, and vanadium oxide of 60 nm. The nanoparticles were used to produce ink formulations for application in inkjet printing. In addition to tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide, other electrochromic materials were printed. This part of the work examined the possibility of inkjet printing several organic (poly(thiophene)s) and inorganic electrochromic materials (metal oxides and metal hexacyanometallates) and also evaluated the performance of the resulting electrochromic devices. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrenesulfonate), poly(3-hexylthiophene), tungsten oxide, vanadium oxide and Prussian blue were inkjet printed on flexible substrates, such as plastic and paper. Solid-state electrochromic devices were assembled at room temperature on plastic and on paper substrates, without sintering the printed films, showing, in some cases, excellent contrast between the on and off state. The tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide devices were then tested through spectroelectrochemistry by Visible/NIR absorption spectroscopy. Tungsten oxide showed a dual spectroscopic response depending on the applied voltage and vanadium oxide presented several redox steps, which give rise to a variety of color transitions, also as a function of the applied voltage. Color space analysis was used to characterize the electrochromic transitions; monitorization of the color contrast and cycling tests, as well as techniques such as cyclic voltammetry, were also used to characterize device performance

Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance in Angola

Facing chloroquine drug resistance, Angola promptly adopted artemisinin-based combination therapy as the first-line to treat malaria. Currently, the country aims to consolidate malaria control, while preparing for the elimination of the disease, along with others African countries in the region. However, the remarkable capacity of Plasmodium to develop drug resistance represents an alarming threat for those achievements. Herein, the available, but relatively scarce and dispersed, information on malaria drug resistance in Angola, is reviewed and discussed. The review aims to inform but also to encourage future research studies that monitor and update the information on anti-malarial drug efficacy and prevalence of molecular markers of drug resistance, key fields in the context and objectives of elimination

Epidemiologic transition in northern Angola: discussion of cumulative results from CISA (Health Research Centre of Angola)

The 41 years of armed conflict (1961 to 2002) resulted in a poor development of the health care and education infrastructures, and forced the relocation of people to safer places, namely major urban cities like Luanda. This phase was characterized by typical demographic, nutritional and epidemiological profiles. With the end of this period Angola has been repeatedly ranked as one of the three fastest growing economies in the world, and along with the social stabilization and globalization, the country is facing the introduction of new medical technologies, improvement of health sys-tems and services, better access to them, and overall better quality of life. These changes could also be translating into socio-cultural, demographic and nutritional changes which in turn may leading to changes in the epidemiological profile of the country. Thus, the emergence of non-communicable diseases are likely to become an increasingly im-portant public health problem in Angola. Also, considering that several infectious diseases persist, our weakened health system will have to face a double burden. Thus, disease surveillance data on non-communicable diseases to determine their prevalence and impact, along with the major behavioural risk factors like consumption of tobacco, alcohol, diets and physical inactivity are urgently needed

Assessment of an IoT platform for data collection and analysis for medical sensors

Health facilities produce an increasing and vast amount of data that must be efficiently analyzed. New approaches for healthcare monitoring are being developed every day and the Internet of Things (IoT) came to fill the still existing void on real-time monitoring. A new generation of mechanisms and techniques are being used to facilitate the practice of medicine, promoting faster diagnosis and prevention of diseases. We proposed a system that relies on IoT for storing and monitoring medical sensors data with analytic capabilities. To this end, we chose two approaches for storing this data which were thoroughly evaluated. Apache HBase presents a higher rate of data ingestion, when collaborating with the Kaa IoT platform, than Apache Cassandra, exhibiting good performance storing unstructured data, as presented in a healthcare environment. The outcome of this system has shown the possibility of a large number of medical sensors being simultaneously connected to the same platform (6000 records sent by the second or 48 ECG sensors with a frequency of 125Hz). The results presented in this paper are promising and should be further investigated as a comprehensive system would benefit the patient's diagnosis but also the physicians

O Controlo de Gestão no CENTIMFE - Acompanhamento do Sistema de Custeio no CENTIMFE

O relatório de estágio apresentado corresponde ao trabalho desenvolvido no contexto do controlo de gestão, com uma duração de 1040 horas previstas no plano de estudos do Mestrado de Controlo de Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria. Espelha a dinâmica do Controlo de Gestão no Centro Tecnológico de Indústria de Moldes, Ferramentas Especiais e Plásticos e pretende-se relacionar os conhecimentos teóricos adquiridos no mestrado com o contexto real, isto é, perceber se o controlo de gestão representa um papel importante na gestão de uma entidade através das suas ferramentas. Assim, o foco do estudo de literatura recaiu sobre os aspetos relacionados com o Controlo de Gestão e os seus instrumentos. Além disso, foram revistos de forma detalhada as funcionalidades e vantagens de um sistema de custeio. As tarefas realizadas no estágio repartiram-se em acompanhar o sistema de custeio, elaborar mapas de análise de resultados e apoiar na elaboração do controlo de gestão mensal. Com a realização do estágio e com base no estudo da arte sobre o controlo de gestão e os sistemas de custeio é possível concluir que a entidade acolhedora para estágio dispõe de um bom sistema de controlo de gestão. No entanto, com fim a evoluir o sistema já implementado e gerar maio valor são apresentadas algumas sugestões

Keeping in touch with context: non-verbal behavior as a manifestation of communality and dominance

This research investigated the influence of observed touch on the perceptions of communality and dominance in dyadic interactions. We manipulated four key situational features of haptic behavior in two experiments: the initiation, reciprocity, the degree of formality of touch (Studies 1 and 2), and the context of the interaction (Study 2). The results showed that the default perception of touch, irrespective of whether it is initiated or reciprocated, is the communal intention of the toucher. Furthermore, the initiation of touch was seen as an act of dominance, particularly, when the contact between the actors was primed as being hierarchical. Reciprocation neutralized the perceived asymmetry in dominance, but such inferences seemed to hinge on the fit of the touch with the context: reciprocation of formal touch reduced the asymmetry in the hierarchical context, whereas reciprocation of informal touch reduced the asymmetry in the non-hierarchical context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio