Creating public value through digital service delivery from a citizen's perspective

Abstract

The use of information technologies to improve public services is fundamental to the mission of governments worldwide. As technology's value propositions have expanded, understanding how digital service delivery creates public values has become a complex and salient research problem. While the extant literature often discusses creating public values through digitizing public services from institutional and managerial perspectives, less is known about the citizens' perceptions of such value creation. This paper aims to address this gap guided by the following research question: what are the citizens' perceptions of public value creation through digital services? To answer this question, we use qualitative data collected through thirteen focus groups in four cities in Mexico. Our findings indicate that citizens tend to perceive the public value of digital services primarily through the individual benefits they receive and that they connect those values to specific characteristics and functionalities of digital services. Moreover, individual value extends to broader societal impacts related to advancing a more transparent and accountable government, stronger democracy, and a more equitable society. We contribute to the literature by describing main public values and their connections to digital services characteristics as perceived by the citizens.