Government Information Quarterly最新文献

The digital transformation (DT) is not only forcing companies to rethink their business models but is also challenging governments to address the question of how information technology will change society today and in the future. By setting the legal boundaries and acting as an investor and promoter of the domestic digital economy, governments actively influence in which ways this transformational process takes place. The vision and objectives how DT should be realized on state level is portrayed in well-crafted DT policies. Yet, little is known how governments, as strategic actors, see their role in the DT and how they frame these documents. In this paper, we argue that policymaking about DT is isomorphic in the global context, rather than a differentiator for countries to gain a competitive edge. Using machine learning to analyze a vast text corpus of policy documents, we identify the common repertoire of narratives used by governments from all around the globe to picture their vision of the DT and show that DT policies appear to be almost context-free due to their high similarity.

Although the Open Government Data (OGD) movement is flourishing globally, the large-scale utilization and value creation of OGD has not really opened yet, which is far from the goal and expectation of data openness. Guiding the practice of OGD with the concept of “ecosystem” can help promote the efficient utilization and value realization of data. From the perspective of the whole process of OGD utilization, ecosystems have various types of ecological characteristics such as data flow, information expression and value realization. To this end, this paper proposes a new perspective of viewing OGD ecosystems across data, information and business based on the theories of supernetworks, data value chains, information ecosystems and business ecosystems, and further explores the ecosystems through a case study in Guizhou, China. We conclude that the hierarchical division of OGD ecosystems as a whole is clearer, and the focus of each layer is more focused; the cross-level dynamics mechanism of the ecosystem, and the information transmission mechanism assumed by the information ecosystem make the three layers interact with each other; and the different actors play different roles in the three layers and occupy different ecological position. This study provides useful reference for OGD practice and also expands new ideas and space for theoretical research and application practice of the ecosystem approach.

In recent years, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become increasingly common in the public sector. Users have been switching their experiences in handling businesses from interactions with human staff to those with robots. Prior studies have focused on investigating the key factors that influence users' adoption of public service robots; however, only a few have considered users' switching behaviors from traditional human services to robotic ones. This study employs a push–pull–mooring (PPM) framework derived from the human migration field to understand the factors that affect users' switching intentions in the context of public service robot applications. The research model was tested with 419 valid responses among users who had experienced both human services and public service robots in Chinese government service halls. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method was applied to quantitatively analyze the data. This study sheds new light on the key determinants of users' switching intentions toward public service robots from the perspectives of push, pull, and mooring effects. The results can help practitioners and managers understand users' intentions for such switches and make scientific decisions to encourage citizens' positive responses to service robots.

In recent years, the effective governance of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has become a strategic necessity for many nations. Among those nations, Canada is particularly noteworthy: Canada was the first nation to implement a national AI strategy, and more recently, Canada's federal and provincial governments have designed and implemented a wide range of initiatives that attempt to intervene in a variety of potential impacts associated with AI systems. We present a semi-systematic review and synthesis of 84 of those AI governance initiatives. We find that those 84 initiatives predominantly focus on developing programs, policies, and strategic plans to intervene in industry and innovation, technology production and use, AI research, and public administration. Conversely, we find relatively little focus on developing ethics statements or standards, as well as little focus on intervening in social and workforce development services, AI education and training, and digital infrastructure. We suggest three opportunities for researchers and four opportunities for practitioners that, if enacted, would strengthen the overall state of Canadian AI governance. Our study contributes a novel macro-scale synthesis of AI governance initiatives within a national context, as well as practical opportunities for intervening in national AI governance challenges related to evaluation of initiative outcomes, public trust and participation in initiatives, AI impact representation in initiatives, and national unification.

A number of government agencies have started deploying the Metaverse to connect better with their constituents. The Metaverse provides a rich interaction environment and has the potential to engage with, especially, the younger generation. However, the Metaverse's potential impact on the government sector has been given limited attention. This discussion paper aims to fill this void by reviewing the state of the art, analyzing possible roles of the Metaverse for governments and providing research directions. We found six facilitators and nine barriers and risks. The Metaverse offers much more than a virtual presence or copy of the physical world; significant transformations are needed in government to reap the benefits. Given the evolution of the Metaverse, government presence also needs to evolve, and different governments make different decisions about their Metaverse presence. We recommend more research into the nature, use, applications, transformations, and implications of the Metaverse on government functioning.

Public value creation is one of the most important opportunities of open government data (OGD) for different stakeholders including public sector agencies, private businesses, academia, citizens, and civic organizations. However, OGD has hardly any value on its own, yet the value is created by its use, hence supporting OGD portal use is a key point to delivering public value. Indeed, making an effective impact on OGD requires users to activate its value. Therefore, this study aims to propose a model to explore factors that hinder or facilitate public value creation using OGD from the public sector employee perspective. Using the DeLone and McLean (2003) model as a theoretical basis with the combination of the Moore (1995) framework, the study model was validated in the Australian public sector, using partial least square structural equation modelling. The results of this study support the validity of the research model and discover the factors that have a significant influence on public value creation through the use of OGD in the Australian public sector. Findings reveal that employee's OGD portal use and their satisfaction significantly predict the public value of OGD, while the OGD portal quality, open data quality and service support indirectly affect the public value of OGD. Furthermore, the moderator analysis suggests that awareness of the value of OGD among public sector employees has a critical effect on the delivery of public value.

The proposed theoretical framework can be used to assess the factors affecting OGD public value creation by users in the public sector, which can help researchers and developers to improve and update their system, based on the results.

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.

Chatbots are increasingly taken up by public service providers, yet the implications of taking up this technology as part of public service provision is understudied. Based on a thematic analysis of 34 in-depth interviews with citizens and public service providers concerning a chatbot for municipal information and service delivery, this article contributes insights on how public service chatbots impact public value creation. Theoretically, we draw on public value theory, analyzing chatbots' impact on public services, administration, and the relationship between citizens and public service providers. Our analysis shows that chatbots have an impact on public values and public value creation, particularly by improving citizens' access to public services and public service providers insights into citizens' needs. The findings suggest that citizens and public service providers experience chatbots as an improvement in terms of access and efficiency, albeit not a massive shift. Simultaneously, the findings suggest potential for more profound changes in service and administration as public service providers gain better insights of citizen needs and respond to these accordingly.

Open government data (OGD) has great potential to promote economic growth, stimulate innovation, and improve service efficiency. However, as more and more private information is collected by government information systems, private data become increasingly vulnerable. Thus, governments must monitor the privacy risks of OGD. The focus of this study is to identify privacy risk factors in the process of developing OGD. Using a mixed-method design, we developed a privacy risk identification framework based on evidence from China. According to the results of qualitative interviews, the privacy risk identification framework mainly includes five risk dimensions: data risk, institutional risk, technical risk, structural risk, and behavioral risk. We identified 17 risk factors under these five dimensions. We further developed the measurement items for each risk factor and verified the indicator framework through quantitative methods. Our research provides a theoretical basis for identifying the privacy risks in OGD, supporting governments in discovering and dealing with them accordingly. Future research can continuously explore potential privacy risks arising from merging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence when applied to OGD.

Smart cities have been studied for many years, but smart homes and the citizens' actual living in these smart homes are less researched. We argue that for digital government research, and for governments to be successful in smart city development in practice, it is necessary not only to understand living on a societal level, but also living aspects in the narrow context of homes. Citizens populate the smart city and are the ones who are supposed to use the services provided by the government. In this article we explore and analyze digital and analogue services in smart homes developed in a new city district. We have conducted observational studies in 53 apartments during an urban living expo which we analyze by applying a set of socio-technical design principles. The research question that guides the analysis is: “What tensions between values in digital and analogue services for a smart living can be revealed by a socio-technical perspective?”. We identify five tensions between: 1) being in control and being controlled, 2) intended and undesirable use of personal data, 3) digital and analogue smartness, 4) smart home visions and practices, and 5) environmental and social sustainability. By revealing these tensions, we contribute to an understanding of the complexity of smart living. We also contribute by highlighting the importance of applying a perspective that captures both technology and citizen and user issues (i.e., social aspects) when developing services in the smart home context.