Changing public service delivery: Learning in co-creation

Co-creation – where citizens and public organizations work together to deal with societal issues – is increasingly considered as a fertile solution for various public service delivery problems. During cocreation, citizens are not mere consumers, but are actively engaged in building resilient societies. In this study, we analyze if and how state and governance traditions influence learning and policy change within a context of co-creation. We combine insights from the co-creation and learning literature. The empirical strategy is a comparative case study of co-creation examples within the welfare domain in childcare (Estonia), education (Germany) and community work (the Netherlands). We show that state and governance traditions may form an explanation for whether co-creation, learning and policy change occurs. Our paper suggests that this seems to be related to whether there is a tradition of working together with citizens and a focus on rule following or not

Technological capacity in the public sector: the case of Estonia

© 2018, The Author(s) 2018. Technology is clearly a critical factor in the lives of organizations, yet there are only a few studies that deal with technology and public organizations. In this article, we propose to understand technological change in the public sector, in particular, how technology influences administrative capacity, through a new concept of technological capacity. We use the case of Estonia – internationally associated with a strong e-state profile – as an exploratory case to answer two research questions: ‘Why and how does technological change take place in the public sector?’ and ‘How does technological change influence administrative capacity in public organizations?’ We demonstrate how dynamic and static change in technological capacities is influenced by four different public sector feedback and selection mechanisms. We conclude that in spite of the neglected position of technology in the public administration literature, technology is an intrinsic factor in how administrative capacity evolves.status: publishe

The potential impacts of digital technologies on co-production and co-creation

Contains fulltext : 209837pub.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Despite growing interest in the potential of digital technologies to enhance coproduction and co-creation in public services, there is a lack of hard evidence on their actual impact. Conceptual fuzziness and tech-optimism stand in the way of collecting such evidence. The article suggests an analytical framework that distinguishes between the impacts of different technologies on different elements of coproduction and co-creation, and illustrates this in three different areas. It argues that there is no reason to assume that digital technologies will always encourage coproduction or co-creation. In fact, they can also be used to bypass interaction with citizens.07 juni 201923 p

Changing public service delivery: learning in co-creation

Co-creation – where citizens and public organizations work together to deal with societal issues – is increasingly considered as a fertile solution for various public service delivery problems. During co-creation, citizens are not mere consumers, but are actively engaged in building resilient societies. In this study, we analyze if and how state and governance traditions influence learning and policy change within a context of co-creation. We combine insights from the co-creation and learning literature. The empirical strategy is a comparative case study of co-creation examples within the welfare domain in childcare (Estonia), education (Germany) and community work (the Netherlands). We show that state and governance traditions may form an explanation for whether co-creation, learning and policy change occurs. Our paper suggests that this seems to be related to whether there is a tradition of working together with citizens and a focus on rule following or not

Public Sector Innovation: Adapting Institutions to Systems Thinking

The need to overhaul systems thinking in public sector management is discussed. While systems thinking as the methodology behind purpose-driven change could be used to accomplish missions, the public sector is not necessarily interested or ready to use it for that. Systems thinking inside the public sector is generally a ‘sense-making’ tool to make interconnectedness visible (usually with the help of outside experts) rather than a day-to-day practise that helps guide everyday action and decisionmaking. Even if policy makers as individuals are systems thinkers, it does not mean the policies they design are systemic; one needs institutions to support systems policymaking. OECD’s and IIASA’s work shows that public sector leaders face an uphill battle: there is little clarity on who should promote systems thinking in public organisations and who should assure their capacity

Changing public service delivery: learning in co-creation

Co-creation – where citizens and public organizations work together to deal with societal issues – is increasingly considered as a fertile solution for various public service delivery problems. During co-creation, citizens are not mere consumers, but are actively engaged in building resilient societies. In this study, we analyze if and how state and governance traditions influence learning and policy change within a context of co-creation. We combine insights from the co-creation and learning literature. The empirical strategy is a comparative case study of co-creation examples within the welfare domain in childcare (Estonia), education (Germany) and community work (the Netherlands). We show that state and governance traditions may form an explanation for whether co-creation, learning and policy change occurs. Our paper suggests that this seems to be related to whether there is a tradition of working together with citizens and a focus on rule following or not