Digital Strategies in Action – a Comparative Analysis of National Data Infrastructure Development

In recent years, many countries have started to draft strategies and policies related to the data economy. To support new data-driven activities and innovations, the development of a national data infrastructure (NDI) is seen as key. The concept of NDI has entered governmental strategic discussions on data as an asset, the role of data infrastructures in innovation and economic activity, and the role of government therein. However, there is a gap between the ambitions as laid out in the strategies and the actual actions taken towards realizing them. To understand this gap and support NDI development, insight is needed in the components and processes of realizing NDI strategies. In this paper, we study NDI strategies 'in action' in the Netherlands and Switzerland using an analytical framework comprising strategies, stakeholders, design, components and governance. Special emphasis is put on the role of government in formulating and implementing strategies. Our cross-case analysis uncovers lessons that seem relevant for NDI development elsewhere, as well as challenges that need to be resolved before NDIs can hope actually make the impact associated with them

A Case Study of Crowdsourcing Imagery Coding in Natural Disasters

Crowdsourcing and open licensing allow more people to participate in research and humanitarian activities. Open data, such as geographic information shared through OpenStreetMap and image datasets from disasters, can be useful for disaster response and recovery work. This chapter shares a real-world case study of humanitarian-driven imagery analysis, using open-source crowdsourcing technology. Shared philosophies in open technologies and digital humanities, including remixing and the wisdom of the crowd, are reflected in this case study.This research was funded through the European Commission FP7-ICT project: Citizen Cyberlab: Technology Enhanced Creative Learning in the field of Citizen Cyberscience

Co-creation of improved quality in disaster response and recovery

There is a compelling argument that the number and intensity of disasters are increasing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The causes are already evident. They include global climate change, increasing population density, human encroachment into disaster prone areas, recurrent famine, and the increasing intensity of weather events. Similarly, there is a general concern that the quality of the responses to these disasters is decreasing, particularly those causing the most damage. Recent examples include the Ebola epidemic, the Philippian tsunami, Hurricane Sandy, the Tibetan earthquake economic and famine refugee crises, and war-caused refugee situations around the world. Elements of the decrease in response quality include limited global logistics capacity, difficult inter-agency and/or international collaboration, and increased reliance on non-governmental organizations to provide the response. This essay is an appeal for more research on responder co-creation of and quality in the four broad phases of the disaster life cycle: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery

Netcentric Information Orchestration: Assuring Information and System Quality in Public Safety Networks

During daily operations, relief agencies such as police, fire brigade and medical services manage information in accordance with their respective processes and organization structure. When disaster strikes, the ad-hoc combinations of such hierarchy based information systems fail to assure high information quality (IQ) and system quality (SQ) for relief workers. Disaster such as 9/11, Katrina and the Polderbaan-crash have taught us that poor IQ and SQ significantly hamper disaster response efforts and can be lethal for relief workers and citizens. Drawing on empirical data (field studies) and pathways in ‘state of the art’ theories, this dissertation presents ten design principles for assuring IQ and SQ in public safety networks. These principles are the cornerstones of a design theory coined as ‘Netcentric Information Orchestration’ and are meant to guide information system architects, practitioners, software vendors and policy makers in the (re)design of information systems for disaster response. We evaluated the design principles on their technical feasibility (using prototyping) and on their ability to assure IQ and SQ for relief workers (using quasi-experimental gaming-simulation). Findings indicate that the proposed design principles assure higher levels for most IQ and SQ dimensions.Information and Communication TechnologyTechnology, Policy and Managemen

The rise of GovTech: Trojan horse or blessing in disguise? A research agenda

As GovTech solutions are steadily entering the public sector, they have yet to find their way into the mainstream literature. GovTech refers to socio-technical solutions – that are developed and operated by private organisations – intertwined with public sector components for facilitating processes in the public sector. GovTech solutions promise a superior customer journey for citizens and businesses compared to current government portals and front desks. GovTech solutions can be a blessing in disguise for governments struggling in their digital transformation journey, carrying the burden of public service innovation and replacing legacy systems with modern GovTech solutions. Yet, there are also concerns that GovTech solutions are a Trojan horse, exploiting the lack of technical knowledge at public agencies and shifting decision-making power from public agencies to market parties, thereby undermining digital sovereignty and public values. This paper develops a research agenda for GovTech based on a conceptual framework. This framework reveals four interrelated design areas for GovTech: institutional, governance, technical and human-centred design. Governments can employ the conceptual framework to further align and develop their strategies by focussing on GovTech governance, referring to the ability to manage the various interdependencies between the four design areas.Information and Communication Technolog

Digicampus - Preliminary lessons from a quadruple helix ecosystem for public service innovation

Many governments want to harness the potential of new digital technologies for shaping an progressive and inclusive society. However, they often struggle to translate their ambitions into reality. Drawing on the quadruple helix model, Digicampus is an innovation ecosystem in the Netherlands in which government, academia, citizens and companies explore future public services. Since the launch of Digicampus, more than hundred requests for collaboration were submitted by public organizations. The objective of this ongoing research paper is to share the experiences of starting a quadruple helix ecosystem for public service innovation. We do this by discussing the innovation guidelines, research agenda and lessons learned in the first year of Digicampus. Important innovation guidelines are: embrace design thinking and an agile way of working, facilitate multidisciplinary knowledge exchange, co-create prototypes (make technologies tangible) and foster open experimentation (assess the potential). Other countries looking to explore future public services in a collaborative manner can benefit from the insights presented in this paper.</p

Reconsidering information management roles and capabilities in disaster response decision-making units

When disaster strikes, the emerging task environment requires relief agencies to transform from autonomous mono-disciplinary organizations into interdependent multidisciplinary decision-making units. Evaluation studies reveal that adaptation of information management to the changing task environment is difficult resulting in poor information quality, indicating information was incorrect, outdated or even unavailable to relief workers. In this paper, we adopt a theory-driven approach to develop a set of information management roles and dynamic capabilities for disaster management. Building on the principles of advance structuring and dynamic adjustment, we develop a set of roles and capabilities, which we illustrate and extend using two field studies in the Netherlands. By studying regional relief workers in action, we found that in tactical disaster response decisionmaking units, several information management roles are not addressed and that information managers are preoccupied with information gathering and reporting, whereas information quality assurance is not on the agenda.Infrastructures, Systems and ServicesTechnology, Policy and Managemen