Information Quality in Participatory Systems: The Case of Abu Dhabi

Literature Review

Current theories view co-producer engagement in public service as raising expectations for greater efficiencies and satisfactory outcomes, but question the validity and certainty of VGI data. Contemporary research finds that while co-production of public service delivery decreases uncertainty for users, it tends to increase uncertainty for organization, and thus organizational needs for reducing uncertainty may diminish possibilities for user coproduction. (Fledderus, Brandsen, & Honinghegen, 2015).

While co-production differs from e-participation in that it implies stronger public influence on governmental decision-making, the UAE Federal Government has unequivocally called for public empowerment in their smart e-government policies. Abu Dhabi (AD) also invites involvement through a sophisticated panel of interactive web-based applications accessible through both a single e-government portal and through specialized mobile applications. Differences between national governments and municipal or regional governments can clearly raise problems in many places, but much less in the UAE and especially in Abu Dhabi, which act as both city-state and national capital to set many common agendas.

Assessing AD’s e-government relations to participation should at least situate it among global rankings and draw some comparisons with global Smart Cities processes, policies and practices of e-governance. Taking an overview of e-governance / Smart Cities research, several research entities have websites that post rankings and discussion of theories and methods used in ranking as “the comparison of cities can support investors in their choice of location and it can be an important guide for the cities to judge their strengths and weaknesses and to define their goals and strategies for future development and better positioning in the urban system” (Giffinger, 2009, p. 703). Researchers in a more recent study found that “different metrics of urban smartness are reviewed to show the need for a shared definition of what constitutes a smart city” (Albino, Bernardi & Dangelico, 2015, p. 3).