scholarly journals Local Autonomy in Temporary Organizations: The Case of Smart City Pilots

2021 ◽  
pp. 009539972110098
Author(s):  
Dalia Mukhtar-Landgren
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Local Autonomy ◽  
Temporary Organizations ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Organizational Architecture

Local actors are to an increasing extent engaging in national and European Union (EU)–based development and sustainability agendas. These ventures often materialize in the form of temporary organizations such as pilots and projects. This article contributes to debates on project-based, experimental and temporary organizations by unpacking the organizational architecture of pilots and analyzing how the democratic autonomy of local public actors is formed. Through the example of smart city pilots, the study shows how a range of intersecting relations and hierarchies enable and circumscribe public-sector autonomy—from local actors’ attempts to align pilots with political goals to the limitations of standardized and scalable knowledge and strict funding requirements.

Datos abiertos y reutilización en el contexto de la Estrategia europea de datos

Tábula ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 201-213
Author(s):  
Julián Valero Torrijos
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Open Government ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Sector Information ◽  
Significant Process ◽  
Datos Abiertos

En los últimos años hemos asistido a un importante proceso de modernización tecnológica en España que ha afectado a las Administraciones Públicas. Más allá de las limitaciones en la regulación, en este proceso se percibe la importancia de los datos en general y de los datos abiertos en particular como uno de los ejes principales para reforzar las exigencias y principios del Gobierno Abierto. En esta ponencia se pretende analizar la evolución del marco normativo aplicable en España y ponerlo en relación con las recientes iniciativas que está impulsando la Unión Europea para promocionar la reutilización de la información del sector público y los datos abiertos. In the last few years we have witnessed a significant process of technological modernisation in Spain that has impacted on Public Administrations. Beyond the limitations in the regulation, in this process the importance of data and open data particularly is perceived as one of the main axes to strengthen the requirements and principles of Open Government. This lecture aims to analyse the evolution of the regulatory framework applicable in Spain and to connect it with the recent initiatives being promoted by the European Union to foster the reuse of public sector information and open data.

scholarly journals Prevailing Approaches and Practices of Citizen Participation in Smart City Projects: Lessons from Trondheim, Norway

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Savis Gohari ◽  
Daniela Baer ◽  
Brita Fladvad Nielsen ◽  
Elena Gilcher ◽  
Welfry Zwestin Situmorang
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Administrative Structure ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Participation Mechanisms

Citizen participation has become an important aspect in the design of smart cities. This paper investigates the frame and modality of citizen participation in a European Horizon2020 smart city project, +CityxChange, in Trondheim. +CityxChange aims at enabling citizen participation and co-creation in the transition to a positive energy city. The question is “what are the prevailing approaches and practices in relation to citizen participation amongst the key actors involved in +CityxChange? Which structures and processes have inhibited or fostered the participation mechanisms (e.g., for, by, and of people) and practices in Trondheim?” Through participatory observations and interviews with key local actors and citizens, we found that the focus of +CityxChange on efficiency and creating innovative solutions “for” people in partnership with the private sector has disturbed the “by” and “of” people mechanisms of participation. Citizens’ power and roles are not delegated to challenge or replace the project’s predetermined issue or plan. The anchorage of the project outside of the formal administrative structure has caused other functional barriers that inhibit citizen participation, rather than facilitate it. This paper discusses the causal relationships between these interconnected barriers and suggests how authorities can possibly overcome them.

Digitalization and Information Management in Smart City Government

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Syväjärvi ◽  
Ville Kivivirta ◽  
Jari Stenvall ◽  
Ilpo Laitinen
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Information Management ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
City Government ◽  
Electronic Government ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
City Governments ◽  
City Governance ◽  
Digital Or

The widespread use of information and communication technology (ICT) in public management and public sector reforms is widely recognized. Here digital or electronic government is studied on the basis of information management in smart city government. Digital governance and information management have changed the ways city governments are organized and public services delivered. Unlike the research that has concentrated on private sector developments from digital or business perspective, studies taking place in the public sector context must also take the dynamics of e-government into consideration. In this research, the empirical material was produced by interviewing high-position managers in city governments. Both individual thematic interviews and focus group interviews were done to scrutinize the organizational and management implications of ICT and data mining in information management. The authors' findings indicate that the managers view how information management quite often falls short in providing and presenting relevant information for all parties in city governance. Currently digital information management practices are fragmented and scattered over projects. It is concluded that issues related to the practices of organizing ICTs and projects in smart city government, and additionally the human dimension related to information management, should be addressed more thoroughly to increase understanding about the smart city governance. Furthermore, activities are needed on behalf of a more mature information management.

scholarly journals Smart city initiatives in the context of digital transformation

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Tomičić Pupek ◽  
Igor Pihir ◽  
Martina Tomičić Furjan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Private And Public

Digital transformation is an emerging trend in developing the way how the work is being done, and it is present in the private and public sector, in all industries and fields of work. Smart cities, as one of the concepts related to digital transformation, is usually seen as a matter of local governments, as it is their responsibility to ensure a better quality of life for the citizens. Some cities have already taken advantages of possibilities offered by the concept of smart cities, creating new values to all stakeholders interacting in the living city ecosystems, thus serving as examples of good practice, while others are still developing and growing on their intentions to become smart. This paper provides a structured literature analysis and investigates key scope, services and technologies related to smart cities and digital transformation as concepts of empowering social and collaboration interactions, in order to identify leading factors in most smart city initiatives.

Pension Obligations in the European Union: A Case Study for Accounting Policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Biondi ◽  
Marion Boisseau-Sierra
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Financial Supervision ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Member States ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

AbstractPension obligations constitute a critical issue for public finances and budgets. This is especially true for the European Union whose institutional mechanism aims to supervise Member States’ spending through centralised budgetary rules based upon financial covenants. In this context, accounting methods of recognition and measurement of pension obligations become an integral and critical aspect of Europe’s transnational budgetary and financial supervision. Drawing upon a comprehensive overview of pension management and regulation, this article aims to analyse the ongoing debate on accounting for pension obligations with a specific attention to the harmonization of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). While the European Commission has been favouring the ‘indisputable reference’ to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), European Member States’ practices and views remain inconsistent with the normative solution imposed by the IPSAS 25, which favours and facilitates Definite Contribution pension schemes. In this context, we do summarise the IPSAS position mimicking the IFRS, review the pension’s accounting in national statistics and EPSAS debate, and provide some building blocks for a comprehensive model of accounting for pension obligations that admits and enables several viable modes of pension management.

Evaluating public sector management approaches towards undeclared work in the European Union

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin C. Williams
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Sector Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Undeclared Work ◽  
Good Behaviour

PurposeThis paper seeks to analyse the various approaches being used by the public sector across the European Union to tackle undeclared work and to evaluate the direction of change.Design/methodology/approachTo do this, the National Action Plans for Employment 2001 and 2003 (NAPs) and the National Reform Programmes 2005‐2008 (NRPs) are analysed, along with the data collected in international reviews conducted by the European Employment Observatory in Autumn 2004 and the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) in 2005 on undeclared work.FindingsIn parallel with public sector management in other realms, where it is accepted that positive reinforcement of “good” behaviour is more effective at eliciting change than negative reinforcement of “bad” behaviour, the finding is that the public sector in EU member states is moving away from solely a repressive approach that seeks to detect and penalise offenders and towards an approach that also seeks to stimulate good behaviour by rewarding compliance. Until now, however, these positive reinforcement measures appear to remain firmly entrenched in a bureaucratic management approach that uses externally imposed direct control systems to generate reactive behaviours, rather than an internalised post‐bureaucratic approach that seeks to generate constructive pro‐activity and commitment to tax morality on the part of populations.Originality/valueThis is one of the first attempts to evaluate how public sector management is tackling undeclared work in European member states.

A Contested Asylum System: The European Union between Refugee Protection and Border Control in the Mediterranean Sea

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silja Klepp
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Border Region ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Border Controls

Abstract During the past few years the border waters between Europe and Africa have become an EU-policy crucible. In the midst of the tightening of EU border controls and refugee protection claims, supranational, national and local actors find themselves in a phase of legal insecurity and negotiation. This article is based on ethnographical research carried out in Libya, Italy and Malta. It sheds light on the different actors’ practices at sea and in the surrounding border region. It also explores how new parameters for refugee protection are emerging in the border regions of the European Union. The article argues that the policy practices of the co-operation between Italy and Libya as well as the informal operational methods carried out in the Mediterranean Sea function as a trailblazer of the overall EU refugee policy. In the long term, some of these practices will affect and change the legal basis and the formal regulations of the European refugee regime. The principle of non-refoulement could first be undermined and then abolished in this process. Using an approach that combines the empirical study of border regions with a legal anthropological perspective, the article analyses the Union’s processes of change and decision-making on local, national and supranational levels and their interconnections.

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