112,144 research outputs found
Innovative public governance through cloud computing: Information privacy, business models and performance measurement challenges
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze challenges and to discuss proposed solutions for innovative public governance through cloud computing. Innovative technologies, such as federation of services and cloud computing, can greatly contribute to the provision of e-government services, through scaleable and flexible systems. Furthermore, they can facilitate in reducing costs and overcoming public information segmentation. Nonetheless, when public agencies use these technologies, they encounter several associated organizational and technical changes, as well as significant challenges. Design/methodology/approach: We followed a multidisciplinary perspective (social, behavioral, business and technical) and conducted a conceptual analysis for analyzing the associated challenges. We conducted focus group interviews in two countries for evaluating the performance models that resulted from the conceptual analysis. Findings: This study identifies and analyzes several challenges that may emerge while adopting innovative technologies for public governance and e-government services. Furthermore, it presents suggested solutions deriving from the experience of designing a related platform for public governance, including issues of privacy requirements, proposed business models and key performance indicators for public services on cloud computing. Research limitations/implications: The challenges and solutions discussed are based on the experience gained by designing one platform. However, we rely on issues and challenges collected from four countries. Practical implications: The identification of challenges for innovative design of e-government services through a central portal in Europe and using service federation is expected to inform practitioners in different roles about significant changes across multiple levels that are implied and may accelerate the challenges' resolution. Originality/value: This is the first study that discusses from multiple perspectives and through empirical investigation the challenges to realize public governance through innovative technologies. The results emerge from an actual portal that will function at a European level. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
A User Satisfaction Study of the London Congestion Charging e-Service
This research seeks to measure citizen satisfaction with the electronic London Congestion Charging (LCC)
payment system offered by Transport For London (TFL) in the United Kingdom (UK). The paper reports
on the findings of a survey of 500 users of the TFL LCC online payment system. Satisfaction is measured
using the four dimensions from the COBRA framework 0that comprise the cost, opportunity, benefits and
risk assessment constructs. The results show that most citizens using the LCC electronic service are
satisfied with the service and that the service meets their essential needs. The paper also presents the
results of qualitative feedback obtained from the participants that can be used to determine the areas that
need further improvement in the current electronic LCC electronic-service (e-service) system and
potential influences on user satisfaction
Recommended from our members
E-government adoption in Qatar: An investigation of the citizens' perspective
Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are in their early stages in many developing countries and faced
with various issues pertaining to their implementation, adoption and diffusion. Like many other developing
countries, the e-government initiative in the state of Qatar has faced a number of challenges since its inception in
2000. Using a survey based study this paper describes citizensâ behavioural intention and adoption in terms of
applying and utilising the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology (UTAUT) model to explore the
adoption and diffusion of e-government services in the state of Qatar. A regression analysis was conducted to
examine the influence of e-government adoption factors and the empirical data revealed that performance
expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influences determine citizensâ behavioural intention towards e-government.
Moreover, facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to determine citizensâ use of e-government
services in the state of Qatar. Implications for practice and research are discussed
Recommended from our members
The use of social media for improving energy consumption awareness and efficiency: An overview of existing tools
Raising consumersâ awareness of energy consumption is one of the first steps in encouraging the adoption of energy saving behaviours that result in energy efficiency. Green information systems are becoming recognised as a solution to many environmental problems although information technology (e.g. disposal of IT devices) has also been associated with causing detrimental effects on the environment. Researchers and practitioners have begun to focus on Green ICT but there is little scholarly research on the use of ICT tools such as social media from an energy efficiency context to raise consumer awareness and improve their engagement in tackling environmental issues. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the use of social media and existing tools for the interaction of people on energy saving discussions and for generating awareness and engagement (which thereby leads to energy efficiency behaviour). In this paper the authors provide a state of the art review around the concept of energy awareness, models of consumer engagement, and more importantly the use of social media in the energy efficiency context. This research is based on a desk-based normative review and seeks to provide a better understanding to both scholars and practitioners involved in the use of ICT for driving energy consumer awareness and engagement for energy efficiency.This work evolved in the context of the project DAREED (Decision support Advisor for innovative business models and useR engagement for smart Energy Efficient Districts), www.dareed.eu, a project co-funded by the EC within FP7, Grant agreement no: 609082
Density functional approach to finite temperature nuclear properties and the role of a momentum dependent isovector interaction
Using a density functional approach based on a Skyrme interaction,
thermodynamic properties of finite nuclei are investigated at non-zero
temperture. The role of a momentum dependent isovector term is now studied
besides volume, symmetry, surface and Coulomb effects. Various features
associated with both mechanical and chemical instability and the liquid-gas
coexistence curve are sensitive to the Skyrme interaction. The separated
effects of the isoscalar term and the isovector term of momentum dependent
interaction are studied for a modified SKM() interaction. The frequently
used Skyrme interaction SLy4 is one of the cases considered and is shown to
have better features for neutron star studies due to a larger symmetry energy.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, added more discussio
Photoemission Spectroscopy of Magnetic and Non-magnetic Impurities on the Surface of the BiSe Topological Insulator
Dirac-like surface states on surfaces of topological insulators have a chiral
spin structure that suppresses back-scattering and protects the coherence of
these states in the presence of non-magnetic scatterers. In contrast, magnetic
scatterers should open the back- scattering channel via the spin-flip processes
and degrade the state's coherence. We present angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy studies of the electronic structure and the scattering rates upon
adsorption of various magnetic and non-magnetic impurities on the surface of
BiSe, a model topological insulator. We reveal a remarkable
insensitivity of the topological surface state to both non-magnetic and
magnetic impurities in the low impurity concentration regime. Scattering
channels open up with the emergence of hexagonal warping in the high-doping
regime, irrespective of the impurity's magnetic moment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Recommended from our members
Evaluating e-Government services from a citizens' prespective: A reference process model
Evaluating and optimizing e-government services is imperative for governments especially due to the capacity of e-services to transform public administrations and assist the interactions of governments with citizens, businesses and other government agencies. Existing widely applied evaluation approaches neglect to incorporate citizensâ satisfaction measures. Several citizen satisfaction models and indicators have been suggested in academia; however a reference process model that can assist practitioners to apply these performance measures is missing. In this paper we draw upon the evaluation approach proposed by the EU funded project CEES and propose a reference process model that captures re-usable practices for e-government evaluation from a citizensâ perspective. The novelty of the proposed approach is that using DEA for evaluating the e-services the assessment results in suggestions for strategic improvement of the e-services.EU FP7 Marie Curie People Project âCEES - Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Systemsâ (reference IAPP-2008-230658
Superconducting energy gap in MgCNi3 single crystals: Point-contact spectroscopy and specific-heat measurements
Specific heat has been measured down to 600 mK and up to 8 Tesla by the
highly sensitive AC microcalorimetry on the MgCNi3 single crystals with Tc ~ 7
K. Exponential decay of the electronic specific heat at low temperatures proved
that a superconducting energy gap is fully open on the whole Fermi surface, in
agreement with our previous magnetic penetration depth measurements on the same
crystals. The specific-heat data analysis shows consistently the strong
coupling strength 2D/kTc ~ 4. This scenario is supported by the direct gap
measurements via the point-contact spectroscopy. Moreover, the spectroscopy
measurements show a decrease in the critical temperature at the sample surface
accounting for the observed differences of the superfluid density deduced from
the measurements by different techniques
- âŠ