The development of ICTs brings opportunities for governments to improve their services provision. Since early 2000, governments at all levels have increasingly enabled citizens to get e-services, or... Show More

The development of ICTs brings opportunities for governments to improve their services provision. Since early 2000, governments at all levels have increasingly enabled citizens to get e-services, or services online, which was the primary function of e-government. Although great progress has been made, studies indicate that e-services levels are still low and great variances exist. Previous research, that has explored the determinants of government performance on e-services, was often lacking an emphasis on government capacity. This study aims at examining the influence of government capacity (technical capacity, financial capacity, and administrative capacity) on e-services. With data from 146 municipalities in New Jersey, the research finds that government capacity, specifically administrative capacity, positively affects government performance in e-services.

Collaboration between government, the private sector and citizens is deemed critical to further improve the quality and effectiveness of public services. However, the stage models describing and... Show More

Collaboration between government, the private sector and citizens is deemed critical to further improve the quality and effectiveness of public services. However, the stage models describing and guiding the development of e-government do not or only rarely cover external collaboration for improving public services. The authors argue that this gap can be filled by including insights from literature on the evolution of platforms, which can serve as a medium for collaboration between public and private parties. This paper aims to synthesise e-government maturity models and platform development models to act as a guide to move from government-centred public service improvement to collaborative innovations by government, businesses and citizens. The result is a platform development model with five stages. To see how the model holds in practice, three cases are investigated. The authors find that their model shows promise but also requires further evaluation and refinement.

Social networks have become very popular online sources of participation in crowdsourcing. This article examines the antecedents of user participation in crowdsourcing and importance of online... Show More

Social networks have become very popular online sources of participation in crowdsourcing. This article examines the antecedents of user participation in crowdsourcing and importance of online community involvement in local public administration. Based on data collected from local public administrators and local public through survey, the results produce evidence that importance of online platforms in crowdsourcing can have a consistent impact on services delivery system in local public administration and importance of online open sources have significantly higher level in crowdsourcing on the whole, while importance of social media have significantly lower level overall. The paper contributes with potential implications and recommendations for local public management to achieve effective services delivery in developing countries through crowdsourced work. The present study is the first study that not only shows the effect of online platforms in local public administration, but also analyses the antecedents of crowdsourcing for participation (knowledge sharing, consultation, innovative ideation and reporting).

This article examines the Canadian public sector's efforts to devise mobile service capacities predicated upon efficiency, engagement, and innovation, and how such capacities are intertwined with... Show More

This article examines the Canadian public sector's efforts to devise mobile service capacities predicated upon efficiency, engagement, and innovation, and how such capacities are intertwined with both the advent of Gov 2.0 and the inertia of traditional public administration. The author's primary focus is on the federal government (Government of Canada), with some additional consideration of provincial governments and inter-governmental dynamics as appropriate. Through three typologies of public sector governance (traditional public administration, new public management, and public value management), the author seeks to better understand these aforementioned tensions – and formulate fresh insights into how governments can pursue the leveraging of mobility as a basis for not only more efficient service delivery but also wider opportunities for public engagement and service innovation.

Crowdsourcing is a concept in which the crowd is used as a source of labor, idea generation, or problem identification. Crowdsourcing originated in the private sector; though with any good private... Show More

Crowdsourcing is a concept in which the crowd is used as a source of labor, idea generation, or problem identification. Crowdsourcing originated in the private sector; though with any good private sector practice it is increasingly being utilized in government. This paper provides an overview of the concept of crowdsourcing, gives examples of its use in the private and public sectors, and develops a framework for how governments can begin to strategize and think about crowdsourcing to solve problems when engaging with citizens. The authors' framework is illustrated with a number of cases from current or past uses of crowdsourcing in government. They conclude with important considerations about how governments should strategize their crowdsourcing efforts.

Social media applications (SMAs) have been increasingly used by the public sector to interactively communicate with citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders, but we know little about what drives... Show More

Social media applications (SMAs) have been increasingly used by the public sector to interactively communicate with citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders, but we know little about what drives their adoption and usage. In this paper the author hypothesizes that SMA adoption is jointly shaped by top management characteristics, organizational attributes, and interorganizational and environmental factors. Drawing on a national survey of the U.S. local health departments (LHDs), his empirical findings suggest that the age and career background of top executives, organizational size, jurisdictional coverage, quality improvement initiatives, contracting-out experience, and emergency presence are key predictors of SMA adoption. The author also finds that the adoption and number of SMAs are affected by two different groups of antecedents. The results contribute to our understanding of SMA adoption and generate meaningful policy implications for LHDs and other public sectors.

Citizens' use of e-government channels is considered key to achieving savings from the digitization of the public sector. Channel choice studies have found that citizens use multiple channels in a... Show More

Citizens' use of e-government channels is considered key to achieving savings from the digitization of the public sector. Channel choice studies have found that citizens use multiple channels in a service encounter and e-government channels supplement, rather than replace traditional channels. This interplay between traditional and e-government channels remains to be explained. There is also a lack of empirical knowledge of how government organizations can apply findings from user studies and migrate citizens online while simultaneously reducing traffic through traditional channels. Therefore the authors present a detailed longitudinal case study of how public authorities collaborated to create a multichannel strategy for a mandatory online self-service application for single parents. After the strategy was carried out there was an increase in the use of the application and a substantial reduction in calls. The authors offer contributions to the channel choice literature and recommendations on multichannel management to practitioners.