Citizen Participation and engagement in the Design of e-Government Services: The Missing Link in Effective ICT Design and Delivery

Enid Mumford championed an ethical, socio-technical, and participatory approach to the design of ICT systems. In this paper, we focus on the development of e-government as an example of such a system. First, we present an extension of Mumford¡¯s ideas about the benefits and process of participation, based on an analysis of recent citizen engagement initiatives. We then examine the extent to which e-government reflects the principles she espoused. The evidence collated indicates that e-government development is currently characterised by a technocentric approach with minimal engagement of citizens. We discuss the implications arising from this analysis, and explore the benefits that governments could achieve from adoption of a socio-technical, participatory approach to e-government development. The crucial enabling role of capacity building is highlighted. Providing citizens with the necessary skills and capabilities to engage effectively offers the key to the successful development of systems such as e-government which impact our lives in the 21st century Information Society

Older people and digital disengagement: a fourth digital divide?

Digital technologies are becoming more pervasive in all areas of society. Enabling everyone to have access and capability to use the Internet and associated digital technologies, summed up in the term ‘digital inclusion', is seen to have wide-ranging benefits to the individual, to the economy and to society. For older people, being digitally included can help them to maintain their independence, social connectedness and sense of worth in the face of declining health or limited capabilities, as well as also offering new opportunities to improve their quality of life. At present however, access to the technology and to the benefits is not equally distributed either between or within nations, and older people tend to be on the ‘wrong' side of what is termed the ‘digital divide'. Governments globally are developing strategies to promote digital inclusion and indeed Internet uptake is increasing steadily, including amongst older people. However, such strategies have focussed on getting people online, and there appears to be an assumption that once someone is online they will remain ‘digitally engaged'. In fact statistics show that some users give up using the Internet, and there is emerging evidence that older people are more vulnerable to the factors which can lead to this outcome. The authors see this phenomenon as a potential but largely unrecognised ‘fourth digital divide' which has serious implications for social inclusion. The objectives of this article are (a) to raise awareness of the phenomenon of digital disengagement by considering some of the emerging evidence, (b) to explore some of the potential implications of not recognising and therefore not addressing the needs of the digitally disengaged older population, and (c) to reveal the prevailing gap in knowledge which future research should address

ICT Adoption in the Construction Sector: Education and Training Issues

Organisational and human issues have been highlighted, among other issues (ICT infrastructures, legal and contractual, etc.), as key elements in enhancing the competitiveness of the construction sector. More specifically, the importance of human resources has been recognised, especially training and professional development, in order to cultivate a stable workforce. The paper provides a review of the key training needs for the construction sector with particular reference to the uptake and exploitation of new technologies and working practices, presents an action plan to address learning and training needs, and proposes an eight-stage iterative learning and training methodology. The results will be of particular interest to managers in stakeholder organisations of all sizes throughout the sector, plus academic and research bodies intending to continue construction ICT research

User Involvement in the Systems Design Process-A Practical Guide for Users

Abstract. Increasingly users ® nd themselves `involved ’ in IT design projects. This occurs because the organizational culture of the parent organization purports to promote participation, or because structured design methods are being used which require users to play a part. In either case users who ® nd themselves required to participate in IT projects are frequently unclear about what this requires. In most organizations surprisingly little brie ® ng on the users ’ role in design projects is provided. Users are therefore confused about their brief and concerned about their lack of expertise in computing. Although research reports on participatory design (PD) projects abound, little coherent guidance for the key stakeholders representing users ’ interests is available. The contents of this paper go some way towards ® lling the gap. Clear differentiation is made in the paper between the roles of the different players involved. Detailed guidance is provided for meeting the varied requirements of the different roles. For example, the roles of `top ’ management and `middle ’ management in supporting user involvement are explored, their special responsibilities speci ® ed and required actions listed. The need for an infrastructure to support user involvement and how to create one is discussed. Guidance is provided on, for example, the representation process and the factors to consider in selecting user representatives. The role of user representatives is particularly problematical and therefore receives particularly close attention. Finally guidance is given regarding the common pitfalls in Quality Assurance procedures and especially how to avoid the procedures becoming a meaningless `rubber-stamping ’ exercise. The guidance presented is grounded in the extensive experience of the author in participative design processes in a wide variety of contexts including the footwear industry, a major UK government department and a telecommunications and broadcasting company. 1

Dialogue with Citizens - the Missing Link in Delivering e-Government?

Many governments and political bodies across the globe are exploring the potential benefits of ICT as a means of improving communication with citizens and stimulating participation and engagement in political and civic processes. This paper reviews progress to date in the UK towards delivering e-government at the local level, and concludes that that there is evidence of a lack of 'pull-through' of the ministerial concepts and vision in the current delivery of e-government. In order to achieve the important e-government goals of increasing citizen participation and improved speed and efficiency of the underlying processes, the authors argue that a participative approach to the design and delivery of e-government is required. A co-creation approach to design is proposed. This will enable a dialogue between the citizen and the local authority, and which will embody and support democratic processes which will facilitate the genuine co-creation of decisions

Citizen information needs of local authority websites in the UK

The UK Government is pursuing ambitious targets for the delivery of e-government at the local level. As part of the implementation of local e-government, all local authorities in the UK now have a website. Annual surveys, such as those carried out by the Society of Information Technology Managers (Socitm) show significant advances in the delivery of services but the level of usage of e-government services by citizens in the UK is low compared to other countries. One possible reason for low uptake is that the information contained in e-government websites is not organised in a way that meets citizens’ information needs. Using real life scenario-based queries an evaluation was undertaken of the ‘top 20’ local authority websites as rated by the Socitm 2005 survey. The findings suggest that even websites that perform highly in terms of accessibility, transactional capability and ease of use will not necessarily meet citizens’ information needs