Digital Government Initiatives Research Articles

Future research directions: Enhancing the citizenship experience

This article explores the emerging concept of the Citizenship Experience (CZX), which encompasses the interactions individuals have with public services and infrastructure. Synthesizing insights from the recent literature and findings from our Special Issue, we highlight key areas, including public services, urban mobility, healthcare digital transformation, urban design, and taxation. We propose a future research agenda focused on integrating technology, applying user-centered design, evaluating digital government initiatives, enhancing transparency in policies, and fostering community engagement through urban design. This framework aims to enhance CZX and contribute to citizens’ overall well-being.

Factors Affecting User Experience of E-Government Services: An Exploratory Review

As governments worldwide increasingly embrace digital transformation, e-government services have become integral in providing citizens with convenient access to public services and information. However, the success of these digital initiatives depends heavily on the user experience (UX) they offer. This paper presents an exploratory review of the user experience factors influencing e-government services. Drawing upon existing literature and empirical studies, this review identifies and examines key factors that shape the UX of e-government platforms, including accessibility, usability, security, personalization, multi-channel accessibility, content quality, and feedback mechanisms. The paper explores how these factors contribute to the public value generated by e-government services, encompassing benefits such as enhanced accessibility, improved efficiency, increased citizen engagement, greater transparency, cost savings, and innovative service delivery. Furthermore, the review highlights the need for governments to prioritize user-centered design principles and continuously evolve their digital offerings to meet the evolving needs and expectations of citizens. By synthesizing existing research and insights, this paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the UX factors influencing e-government services and offers valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to enhance the effectiveness and impact of digital government initiatives

Digital Transformation and the Frontier of China’s State Governance

Digital transformation has emerged as a significant area of interest for scholars in global political science and public administration. The advancement of digital technologies is driving a comprehensive transformation across the economy, society, and governance, thereby profoundly affecting the state governance of China. The introduction of new technologies has altered traditional power dynamics, leading to centralization and empowerment—the power redistribution issue of the digital era, which is a fundamental concern in China’s state governance. The effects of technological power, including empowerment and disempowerment of various entities, give rise to or reinforce four secondary issues: the problem of data silos and collaborative governance in internal government operations, the challenges related to technological deficits and platform regulation in market regulation, the issues of the digital divide and social justice in social governance, and concerns about privacy, transparency, and rights asymmetry. This paper integrates specific cases from China’s digital transformation and digital government initiatives to examine these cuttingedge issues and to analyze the impact of digital government reforms implemented by local Chinese governments on traditional government theories.

The Impact of Digital Government Initiatives on Public Value Creation: Evidence from Ho Chi Minh City –Vietnam

Objective: This research aims to evaluate the effects of digital government initiatives on generating public value, with a specific focus on boosting citizen engagement in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Theoretical framework: The study is grounded in the theory of digital governance, which posits that digital technologies can transform public administration by improving transparency, efficiency, accountability, and service delivery. It explores how these technological interventions facilitate a participatory governance model by enabling better citizen-government interactions. Method: The study utilizes Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate key facets of digital governance, including transparency, cost-efficiency, data-driven policymaking, accountability, and service quality. Results and conclusion: The analysis reveals a strong positive link between the elements of digital governance and an increase in citizen engagement. These findings underscore the capacity of digitalization within public administration to enhance public participation and trust. Implications of the research: The study provides essential insights for policymakers regarding the impact of digital initiatives on urban governance. It underscores the importance of continued investment in technological advancements and data security to foster improved governance and citizen involvement. Originality/value: This research contributes uniquely to the understanding of how digital government initiatives can create public value by enhancing citizen engagement. It offers a critical examination of digital governance components and their effectiveness in fostering greater public participation and trust, providing valuable recommendations for policymakers focused on urban governance and digital transformation.

Understanding public servants’ perspectives on return to office and digital government: lessons learned from Canada

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore public servants’ perspectives on return to office, hybrid work model and digital government. This is done by answering two research questions: what benefits and challenges public servants foresee with return to office and whether hybrid work enables or impedes digital government initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThis research is designed as a mixed methods study of federal and provincial governments in Canada based on the analysis of Reddit data. Research methods include machine-assisted toxicity and sentiment analysis and manual content analysis to identify emerging themes.FindingsThe findings highlight public servants’ mostly discussed concerns with return to office. Other notable discussion topics include resistance to the hybrid work model and identifying the ways how it would be operationalized. Some supported return to office.Research limitations/implicationsThis study’s limitations are related to using Reddit as the data source and user representation on Reddit. The main implications are its contribution to emerging literature on the future of work and digital government.Practical implicationsThis study highlights that perspectives of public servants are paramount for development and implementation of transformational initiatives and offers insights for public sector managers on how to incorporate these into practice while improving the efficiency of digital government initiatives and the system.Originality/valueThis study addresses the gap in literature by seeking to understand the perspectives of public servants in a variety of roles as well as implications of transition to hybrid work on digital government and future of work initiatives.

Designing A User-Centred Model to Amplify Satisfaction in Utilizing Online Government Information

With the increasing reliance on digital platforms for accessing government services and information, user satisfaction becomes a crucial factor in ensuring effective service delivery and citizen engagement. Thus, this study explores into the development of a user-centred model aimed at enhancing user satisfaction in the utilization of online government information. The proposed model integrates Privacy; Safety; Service quality; Time; and Awareness with Satisfaction to create a model that aligns with citizens' needs and preferences. The data collection process targeted respondents among citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the questionnaire survey. The respondents were selected using a convenience sampling technique, allowing for the collection of samples conveniently located around a specific area or accessible through internet services. A total of 396 participants took part in the survey and the collected data was used to develop the model using SmartPLS software. The developed model was analysed and the results reveal that the path from Privacy to Satisfaction holds significant influence, as indicated by a T statistic of 3.755 and a p-value of 0.000. Similarly, the paths from Safety and Service Quality to Satisfaction are also significant, with T statistics of 2.363 and 4.580, respectively, and corresponding p-values of 0.009 and 0.000. However, the paths from Awareness and Time to Satisfaction are found to be not significant, with T statistics of 1.162 and 0.935, and p-values of 0.123 and 0.175, respectively. By prioritizing user satisfaction, this research contributes to the advancement of digital government initiatives and citizen-centric service delivery paradigms.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE IN THE PROVISION OF DIGITAL PUBLIC SERVICES: EU EXPERIENCE AND UKRAINIAN PRACTICE

The article is devoted to the implementation of the principles of administrative procedure in the provision of digital public services, focusing on the experience of EU countries and Ukrainian practice. The purpose of the study is to analyse the application of administrative procedural principles in the provision of digital public services, to assess the effectiveness of their implementation and to draw lessons for improving digital public services. The subject of the study is the search for ways to improve Ukrainian legislation on the administrative procedure of providing digital government services in accordance with the standards of EU countries. Methodology. The study uses general and special methods of scientific cognition. The method of analysis and synthesis makes it possible to analyse EU legislation and standards, national legislation, data from international official ratings, scientific publications, strategies and expert reviews in order to identify specific features of digital governance systems in EU countries. The comparative legal method makes it possible to see the main trends in the development of digital government initiatives, to outline the main directions and vectors of their implementation, and also to highlight the Ukrainian context of digital transformation and e-government initiatives with EU countries and. The systems method allows for a comprehensive study of the principles of administrative procedure, such as transparency, accessibility, efficiency and user-centredness, in the provision of digital public services in the context of digital governance. The comparative analysis method highlights the specifics of legal regulation of digital innovations in public administration in EU countries as well as in Estonia, Germany and Poland. Results. It has been established that EU countries have made significant progress in integrating the principles of administrative procedures into the provision of digital services, which has led to increased efficiency, user satisfaction and trust in public services. Ukrainian practice shows progress in aligning with these principles, with notable progress in expanding the availability of e-services and increasing automation. However, challenges remain in relation to ethical and legal frameworks, data protection and copyright issues in the use of digital technologies. This study contributes to the understanding of best practices in this area and offers practical recommendations for the further development of digital public services in Ukraine.

Enhancing Digital Government: A Roadmap for Standardization, Coordination, and Collaboration

Digital government has become a global trend in recent years, with countries and regions around the world utilizing digital technology to transform their organizational structure and production methods. However, the development of digital government is not without its challenges. key issues are the lack of standardization and coordination in technical organization, which adversely affects the development of digital government. To address this issue, this paper recommends establishing a corresponding standard technical organization that will coordinate the work of digital government. organization will ensure that the development of digital government standardization work is consistent, effective, and up-to-date with the latest technology advances. In addition to improving standardization and coordination, this paper also emphasizes the importance of collaboration between different technical committees across industry management, public services, market supervision, and digital government-related standards organizations. By ensuring that business connections are orderly and effective, a joint force can be formed for digital government construction. Furthermore, a mechanism for evaluating and verifying digital government standards will be established to guarantee their successful implementation. The paper also highlights the importance of ensuring that the development of important standards is done well. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the needs of different stakeholders, including citizens, businesses, and government agencies. It also requires a commitment to continue us improvement and innovation, as digital technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Overall, this paper provides a roadmap for enhancing digital government through standardization, coordination, and collaboration. By following these recommendations, governments can ensure that their digital government initiatives are effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of their citizens and businesses.

The impact of digital government policy on entrepreneurial activity in China

Digitalization of government is a crucial strategy for enhancing national competitiveness and improving public services in numerous countries. This study introduced a quasi-natural experiment in China to evaluate the impact of a country’s digital government policy on entrepreneurship. Using city-level data and regression analysis, we find that implementing the policy increases the number of newly registered firms by 0.0028 per 10,000 working-age labours. The study also examines potential mechanisms for this effect and finds evidence that the policy improves government efficiency, reduces risk-seeking behaviours of local government, and promotes access to financial resources. This study’s findings contribute to research on digital government initiatives in developing countries and can inform future policy decisions.

Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA)

The region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is diverse and retains a superior growth potential. It benefits from a privileged geographical location with big markets, a young and growing educated population, and competitive advantages in several industries. Regardless of their differences, countries face shared concerns, most notably in health. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MENA countries enact reforms to create a more robust and inclusive digital health systems to increase growth, development, and integrity. Throughout the coordinated containment and mitigation efforts, most of the countries have integrated digital technologies into the health systems. These procedures include digital government initiatives, the introduction of digital health training courses, live video surgeries and virtual patient monitoring, rural and remote telemedicine programs, and the development of a national electronic health records (EHR) system. Each country took necessary actions to address equity, literacy, and development of resilient health systems. The nine featured countries in this report illustrate the diversity among the MENA region and account for major opportunities and achievements as well as promises and challenges that “digital health” presents for its populations.

Trends of integrated project delivery implementations viewed from an emerging innovation framework

PurposeResearch into integrated project delivery (IPD) has attracted increased attention over the past 2 decades, and a significant number of IPD studies have been published more recently. The purpose of the study is to explore the state of IPD to reveal innovative areas of focus.Design/methodology/approachThe research presented puts forward a science mapping and bibliometrics methods to study systematic analysis of IPD scientific output published between 2006 and 2020. It uses a framework from emerging literature relating to innovation to incorporate a perspective of the process of innovation for the analysis of IPD. The adapted framework from the literature on innovation, called the Technology Innovation System (TIS), has functions that reveal novelty in the existing structures of IPD. The framework uses the analysis of scientific output from science mapping and bibliometric study techniques, using the ScienceDirect (SD) and Web of Science (WoS) databases as sources. The framework analyzes factors involved in the development and diffusion of the IPD approach and charts new knowledge development on IPD.FindingsFrom the analysis, future implementation of IPD will converge on cases of collaboration, as a systemic feature, among participating stakeholder teams. A significant and robust effect resulted from collaboration and integration as major mechanisms influence opportunities, problems and solutions within construction firms using IPD, marking a future trend. Reports further substantiate the importance and focus on collaboration and integration between IPD practitioners. With the same dynamic and gradual prominence, building information modeling (BIM) and new technology applications demonstrated the importance of the development and diffusion of IPD in the form of, for example, digital government initiatives. It is expected that the trend for IDS and resource mobilization functions will continue to grow – clear evidence of the benefits of the IPD approach in the construction sector. New evidence for gaining cognitive and normative legitimacy emerged. The expansion of new avenues for further legitimation is expected to enable growth.Research limitations/implicationsBeyond the innovative approach of viewing IPD from the emerging innovation framework, the research presented fully contributes to IPD literature, providing a comprehensive state-of-the-art status and a quantitative analysis of IPD scientific output, thereby illuminating promising work areas for future research into IPD. The main limitation is related to the dynamic process of indexing of IPD literature in the WoS and SD – although many new research publications are added in the discipline, only a part of them have been indexed in the WoS and SD core database.Practical implicationsThe study revealed key evolving trends within the field, including instructive findings and implications concerning possible deficiencies. Based on factors from network visualizations and quantitative evaluation from major influential articles, journals and authors, future critical IPD implementation focus will be on BIM and sustainability concepts – centerpiece concepts for the evolving line of IPD growth and development in the architecture, engineering and construction industry.Social implicationsThis study fills the gap created in a shortage of studies mapping out the most critical contributions in journals, authors and research perspectives related to IPD. It presents a framework that can be used as an objective procedure to evaluate the topic. It is expected that the study will serve as a cornerstone for researchers in this field, as it provides a bibliometric analysis and presents trends using an analytical framework of innovation.Originality/valueThe research presented is a keystone in the foundation of the literature review on this topic. The research draws on an existing framework for innovation – the TIS, developed from innovation studies using a robust theoretical framework to enable further analysis of IPD. This approach is one of a kind, using the results of scientometric analysis to study the scientific landscape and knowledge output of IPD in the AEC community. Science-mapping bibliometric analysis was conducted to shed light on IPD trends and explain factors that back or support the development and diffusion of IPD, including shaping and enabling evolution and growth. The framework helps to shed light on the interaction of socio-technical structures (i.e. stakeholders, technologies and rules) embedded in the industry, which helped create, direct and advance IPD in the project delivery system.

Evolution of the Indian LPG industry: Exploring conditions for public sector business model innovation

Business model innovation in the public sector is important in creating value for citizens, industry, and government. The differing priorities of these stakeholders, which often require intervention or unification to address a societal need, are at the heart of both supply-side and demand-side strategy research. Moreover, it represents a core element of the business model innovation delivering a key commodity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), to large populations in the developing world. In this paper, we examine varying conditions in the public sector that require both supply-side and demand-side business model innovation for value creation, capture, and appropriation through deployment of digital government initiatives and policy interventions. By analysing the Indian LPG industry over a 70-year period, we argue that the supply-side and demand-side perspective, along with the business model concept, promote a better understanding of government industry interventions in the interest of all stakeholders. Specifically, the contribution of this paper to the public sector is unique, because (i) research on demand-side strategy can help business model scholars gain a more robust, granular understanding of effective value propositions for citizens, (ii) supply-side strategy business models create a seamless delivery mechanism, and (iii) both supply-side and demand-side strategy with their unique propositions serve as a “bridging concept” in coming up with the Framework for the Customer-Integrated Public Sector Business Model that connects the shared ideas of both areas of study to resource-based streams of strategy research.

Digital disruption and planning – use of data and digital technology by professional planners, and perceptions of change to planning work

ABSTRACT In an era of smart cities and digitalisation, there is a plethora of digital government and digital planning initiatives. Such rapid digitalisation is putting the planning profession under pressure to adapt to new digital technology. Our research investigates the use of data and technology, perceived and desired outcomes arising from digital disruption, and perceived barriers to the adoption of new technologies to in day to day planning work from the point of view of practicing planners across a wide range of professional roles. This paper reports the results of a mixed-methods study involving both a survey and workshop, with participants located primarily in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Our research finds that widespread digital disruption is anticipated by most participants and provides important evidence to assist planning organisations in preparing for this change.

Towards a comprehensive understanding of digital government success: Integrating implementation and adoption factors

When analyzing the causes that lead to digital government success or failure, state of the art research is often divided into two main areas: (1) implementation of these initiatives by government agencies and (2) their adoption by citizens, as some of the most important users. Each of these two perspectives has its own concepts, measurements, and theoretical models. This separation becomes significant when trying to have a comprehensive understanding of digital government success and when facing practical problems since factors affecting both governments and citizens contribute to the success or failure of digital government initiatives. Therefore, this paper proposes a comprehensive digital government success model that attempts to integrate implementation and adoption perspectives. In addition, based on data from the 32 states of Mexico, the paper provides an illustrative example of how the proposed model could be used.

Workplace Digitalization in Public Sector Organization Towards Operational Effectiveness: Current Landscape, Issues and Challenges

To date, public sector organisation begin to implement the digital workplace as part of their digital government initiative but yet there is proven the success of its implementation and how it impacts the government operation effectiveness. Therefore, based on a Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, this paper aims to investigate the current landscape, issues and challenges in workplace digitalization in public sector organization. A comparative analysis of the digital workplace approach was performed on nine Malaysian Public Sector organisations of the various business core function. This study found that there are nine factors related to digital workplace implementation. The main finding revealed that most organisation are not fully optimizing the digital workplace functionality and only using it as a digital repository. Based on this finding, significantly it can contribute the development of a new digital workplace framework for public sector organization in ensuring its contribution to operational effectiveness

The role of information and communications technology in the transformation of government and citizen trust

We present an empirically tested conceptual model based on exit–voice theory to study the influence of information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government on citizen trust in government. We conceptualize and address the key factors affecting the influence of transformation of government on citizen trust, including government performance and transparency. Based on 313 survey responses from citizens in Bahrain, the top-ranked country in information and communications technology adoption in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, we test government performance and transparency as mediators between transformation of government and citizen trust. The resulting preliminary insights on the measurement and manifestation of citizen trust in the context of information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government have multiple policy implications and extend our understanding of how information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government can improve the government–citizen relationship and digital services adoption. Points for practitioners To fundamentally change the core functions of government, information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government must move beyond the simple digitization and web enabling of processes. Information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government has the potential to address declining citizen trust in government by improving transparency and performance. The success of information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government in Bahrain is attributable to its small size and demographic composition, the relative maturity of digital government initiatives, and the complete commitment of the government to information and communications technology-enabled transformation of government.

Reminiscences of Steve Fienberg

My professional relationship with Steve began in the early 1990s, when I came to NISS as Associate Director and he was a member of the Board of Trustees. We sometimes disagreed, or perhaps more accurately, I failed to grasp his wisdom. Something must have worked, though, because Steve also chaired the committee that selected me to be Director of NISS.
 Our scientific collaboration arose in late 1990s, when I was PI, and he co-PI, on two grants from NSF's Digital Government initiative. These grants, as did the entire collaboration, stemmed from Steve's fervent belief that deep mathematics can be brought to bear on pressing personal and societal problems. The first had to do with web-based query systems now known as restricted data access systems (RDAS), and specifically with table servers. We were frontiersmen together in formulating and applying risk-utility frontiers, released table frontiers and unreleasable table frontiers.
 With his usual prescience, Steve knew before data breaches were daily news that privacy and confidentiality are major concerns. We wrote only a few papers together, but we exchanged sometimes wildly complementary ideas for more than twenty years. I still remember a meeting with a number of federal statistical agencies at which what I proposed as a risk measure was exactly what Steve construed as a utility measure.
 From the science grew a multi-year, multi-continent friendship that drew in Joyce and Senora as well. It mattered not whether the last encounter was three weeks or three years ago. Sadly, only one of the four of us now remains, but in keeping with the advice of Dr. Seuss, instead of crying because what ended, I smile because what happened.

Electronic Voting

Election is a democratic process by which a group of individuals choose between alternatives. It allows citizens to choose their leaders. Demand for accurate election process has led governments worldwide to adopt electronic voting, which is a smarter way. This is the next stage in the evolution of democracy and part of the digital government initiatives. The aim of this paper is to present a brief introduction to electronic voting.

Public Use of an Online Advanced Traveler Guidance Information System: Trust in the e-Service and the Agency

INTRODUCTION In recent years, countless public transit systems have installed interactive, web sites to assist riders in obtaining transit route information and assistance with trip planning. For many of these citizens, the web interface has become the only method of communication with the public service agency and the primary method of obtaining information about transit services for bus, train and other local and regional methods of travel. This study seeks to understand the end user citizen trust experience as users with e-government transit web sites, including how citizen perceptions of the transit service and transit agencies are affected through web site use. In addition to the service satisfaction offered by online trip planners, several studies suggest that use of e-government services such as transit planning systems may be dependent on users' trust in the government services provided and government agency outcomes (Grimsly & Meehan, 2007). The current phase of research investigates trust in the transit planning website as a service, the transit authority, and the intent to use services in the future. We begin with a review of the state of e-government services and systems, along with the specific context of the study, an online advanced traveler information system (ATIS) installed in Minneapolis, MN. The methods are presented, followed by results and discussion of the statistical analysis and qualitative focus group discussions. Trust in Online Public Services and E-Government In recent years, public services have been redefined due to the implementation of e-government services (Gauld, Goldfinch, & Horsburgh, 2010). For example, it is now commonplace for a transit service to provide a web site to citizens with route information along with the ability to plan trips. In this way, a wide range of transit planning systems offer expedited and flexible services to citizens while providing opportunities to improve service planning and route efficiencies. However, trust in e-government systems and services varies greatly, partly due to the distant and impersonal of interaction with such systems (Belanger & Carter, 2008). Specific instances of success with online services, such as with transit planners, have emerged in a context of broad claims that e-government benefits society by reducing overhead and contributing to the digital economy (Bakry, 2004). As the nature of e-government mediated interaction services has changed, so have citizen expectations. For example, a particularly appealing characteristic of e-government is that it allows citizens to seek public services at their own convenience rather than just when the public service office is open (West, 2004). While the promise of ubiquitous e-Government services is desirable, there are important government-to-citizen interactions to consider in the design of such systems. The simple objective of online delivery of information to citizens should not be the sole aim. Improving the performance of e-government in response to rising citizen expectations underlines the need for confidence in government-sponsored digital initiatives. Recent studies have focused on technical aspects of such interactions that help to motivate confidence (Hof, 2003; Nelson, 1997; Steimke & Hagen, 2003). For example, some public sector websites attempt to convince the public that they are secure by explaining the implementation of methods for process management and security (e.g., Beer, Kunis, & Runger, 2006; Weerakody, Baire, & Chaudhrie, 2006; Zheng, Okuyama, & Finley, 2005). However, a rationale for the technical processes of e-government does not necessarily result in adoption of e-government services by the public. Initiatives delivering citizen-centric services through existing digital government initiatives suggest that citizen perceptions of public institutions and their digital initiatives remain critical factors needed for effectiveness. …

Key factors and processes for digital government success

Digital government projects and initiatives are complex endeavors. Technology by itself is a source of complexity, as its impacts, benefits and limitations are not always fully understood by project leaders or researchers. This is particularly the case when the implemented technology is not yet widely adopted. Moreover, digital government projects regularly involve the participation of a wide range of diverse stakeholders both in public and private organizations who need to reach agreement on project goals, objectives, and means [2]. Further, project goals and activities are usually constrained by institutional arrangements such as laws and regulations, and several context-related factors such as specific economic situations, demographic conditions, or broader social technology adoption and access [1,3,4]. Given this complexity, it is not uncommon that digital government projects are abandoned before completion or fail delivering the expected benefits. Some experts estimate an 85% failure rate for digital government projects [11]. In 2009 alone, government spending in technology worldwide was about 428.38 billion US dollars, thus failure rates for these kinds of projects are a major concern [10]. In this way, understanding reasons for project success or failure is an important research and practical problem. In order to understand success and failure rates, researchers in digital government and more in general, researchers in information systems and information technologies have used two different approaches: a factor approach and a process approach [9]. The factor approach involves the use of correlational statistics to identify the “key success factors”, that is to say, the most important variables in determining the success of a project [5,6]. Such factors involve variables as technology, organizational, institutional or contextual variables. On the other hand, process approaches, which frequently involve case studies, offer a complementary way to understand project success [9]. From this approach, key variables interact among themselves in a series of processes that evolve dynamically over time, and these processes are as important as the key variables to fully understand success [7,8].