Transparency in the Open Government Era

Technology Diffusion ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Public ◽

Normative Perspective

Following an initial euphoria about the power of the information superhighway to provide better access to information and wealth for all, what we have experienced in reality instead is that information and communication technologies have created further inequalities at individual, business, national and international level. To ease the effects of this “digital divide,” policy makers have taken up the role of change agencies, influencing the public in using innovative information technologies. This chapter focuses on the role of these change agencies for technology diffusion and the elimination of the digital divide. It is argued that examining the interest of change agencies and the other stakeholders involved in the diffusion process from a normative perspective can help in the preparation of effective information technology diffusion policies.

Habermas, Networks and Virtual Public Spheres

Information Communication Technologies and the Virtual Public Sphere ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-159-1.ch004 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 72-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Veena V. Raman

Keyword(s):

Local Governance ◽

Capabilities Approach ◽

Public Spheres ◽

The Public ◽

Digital Divides ◽

The Face ◽

The Public Sphere

This chapter examines Habermas’ conceptualization of the public sphere as it applies to a non-Western context, in Bangalore City, India. It provides examples of how Information and Communication Technologies are being used to empower ordinary citizens to participate in local governance, though deep digital divides persist. The chapter highlights problematic aspects of using technologies to promote better governance in the face of pervasive asymmetries in access to resources, power to leverage networks, and in levels of civic competencies. Drawing on the capabilities approach, it argues that there is need for a blended model of deliberative ‘e-democracy’ that does not privilege online venues and interactions, but employs technologies in strategic combinations with existing civic networks to improve governance in developing countries.

Digital Divide Challenge

Social and Economic Transformation in the Digital Era ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-158-2.ch004 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 47-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou ◽

Athanasia Pouloudi

Keyword(s):

Digital Divide ◽

Technology Diffusion ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Public ◽

Normative Perspective

Following an initial euphoria about the power of the information superhighway to provide better access to information and wealth for all, what we have experienced in reality instead is that information and communication technologies have created further inequalities at individual, business, national and international level. To ease the effects of this “digital divide,” policy makers have taken up the role of change agencies, influencing the public in using innovative information technologies. This chapter focuses on the role of these change agencies for technology diffusion and the elimination of the digital divide. It is argued that examining the interest of change agencies and the other stakeholders involved in the diffusion process from a normative perspective can help in the preparation of effective information technology diffusion policies.

Civil Servants' Resistance towards E-Gopvernment Development

Electronic Government ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-947-2.ch190 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 2580-2588

Author(s):

Mila Gasco

Keyword(s):

Resistance To Change ◽

Electronic Government ◽

Rapid Progress ◽

Government Programs ◽

Public Servants ◽

The Public ◽

The People ◽

Information And Communication

As the new UNPAN E-Government Readiness Report (2004) stated, during the last years, governments worldwide have made rapid progress in embracing information and communication technologies for electronic government. All over, several projects have been carried out in order to offer more and better information to citizens and to improve public service delivery. Nevertheless, not all of them have been successful. Several factors have restrained governments at all levels from implementing thriving e-government initiatives. Research has shown that workers’ resistance to change is one of the major obstacles that organizations face when trying to implement innovation change processes. The public sector is not an exception. Due to its intrinsic characteristics, the introduction of information technology and, particularly, of electronic government programs requires paying special attention to the potential crisis situation to which these initiatives could lead. The intention of this article is to make clear how public servants experience and react to those changes that result from the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) within the public administration; that is, to analyze the people dimension of change.

Natural Hazards

Advanced ICTs for Disaster Management and Threat Detection ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-987-3.ch004 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 46-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Helena Zemp

Keyword(s):

Information Seeking ◽

Media Coverage ◽

The Public ◽

Disaster Communication ◽

The Media ◽

Disaster Reporting ◽

The Public Sphere

The growing importance of mass media in the ‘information society’, combined with society’s increased dependence on electronic modes of information is important to the perception, regulation and management of risk at a local, national and international level. However, media organisations have their own logic and goals that are not necessarily compatible with the logic and goals of disaster planning and assistance agencies. Using a detailed study of the media coverage of floods in Switzerland from 1910 to 2005, we will illustrate the salient features of disaster reporting and how these relate to issues of risk perception and risk prevention behaviour in the public sphere. The findings are used to discuss the traditional media’s shortcomings for the goal of risk reduction, the public’s information seeking behaviour, and the opportunities and limitations arising from the emergence of digital, internet-based information and communication technologies (ICT) for disaster communication.

Civil Servants' Resistance towards E-Gopvernment Development

Encyclopedia of Digital Government ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-789-8.ch028 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 190-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. Gasco

Keyword(s):

Resistance To Change ◽

Electronic Government ◽

Rapid Progress ◽

Government Programs ◽

Public Servants ◽

The Public ◽

The People ◽

Information And Communication

As the new UNPAN E-Government Readiness Report (2004) stated, during the last years, governments worldwide have made rapid progress in embracing information and communication technologies for electronic government. All over, several projects have been carried out in order to offer more and better information to citizens and to improve public service delivery. Nevertheless, not all of them have been successful. Several factors have restrained governments at all levels from implementing thriving e-government initiatives. Research has shown that workers’ resistance to change is one of the major obstacles that organizations face when trying to implement innovation change processes. The public sector is not an exception. Due to its intrinsic characteristics, the introduction of information technology and, particularly, of electronic government programs requires paying special attention to the potential crisis situation to which these initiatives could lead. The intention of this article is to make clear how public servants experience and react to those changes that result from the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) within the public administration; that is, to analyze the people dimension of change.

Smarter Open Government Data for Society 5.0: Are Your Open Data Smart Enough?

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21155204 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (15) ◽

pp. 5204

Author(s):

Anastasija Nikiforova

Keyword(s):

Industry 4.0 ◽

Economic Value ◽

Open Data ◽

Digital Data ◽

Open Government ◽

Data Sets ◽

Time Data ◽

Open Government Data ◽

Government Data

Nowadays, governments launch open government data (OGD) portals that provide data that can be accessed and used by everyone for their own needs. Although the potential economic value of open (government) data is assessed in millions and billions, not all open data are reused. Moreover, the open (government) data initiative as well as users’ intent for open (government) data are changing continuously and today, in line with IoT and smart city trends, real-time data and sensor-generated data have higher interest for users. These “smarter” open (government) data are also considered to be one of the crucial drivers for the sustainable economy, and might have an impact on information and communication technology (ICT) innovation and become a creativity bridge in developing a new ecosystem in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. The paper inspects OGD portals of 60 countries in order to understand the correspondence of their content to the Society 5.0 expectations. The paper provides a report on how much countries provide these data, focusing on some open (government) data success facilitating factors for both the portal in general and data sets of interest in particular. The presence of “smarter” data, their level of accessibility, availability, currency and timeliness, as well as support for users, are analyzed. The list of most competitive countries by data category are provided. This makes it possible to understand which OGD portals react to users’ needs, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 request the opening and updating of data for their further potential reuse, which is essential in the digital data-driven world.

Mapping CRISPR-Cas9 public and commercial innovation using The Lens institutional toolkit

Transgenic Research ◽

10.1007/s11248-021-00237-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Osmat Azzam Jefferson ◽

Simon Lang ◽

Kenny Williams ◽

Deniz Koellhofer ◽

Aaron Ballagh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Investment ◽

Open Data ◽

Regulatory Elements ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Base Editing ◽

The Public ◽

Homology Directed Repair ◽

A Genome ◽

Institutional Capability ◽

Cellular Dna

AbstractCRISPR-Cas9 is a revolutionary technology because it is precise, fast and easy to implement, cheap and components are readily accessible. This versatility means that the technology can deliver a timely end product and can be used by many stakeholders. In plant cells, the technology can be applied to knockout genes by using CRISPR–Cas nucleases that can alter coding gene regions or regulatory elements, alter precisely a genome by base editing to delete or regulate gene expression, edit precisely a genome by homology-directed repair mechanism (cellular DNA), or regulate transcriptional machinery by using dead Cas proteins to recruit regulators to the promoter region of a gene. All these applications can be for: 1) Research use (Non commercial), 2) Uses related product components for the technology itself (reagents, equipment, toolkits, vectors etc), and 3) Uses related to the development and sale of derived end products based on this technology. In this contribution, we present a prototype report that can engage the community in open, inclusive and collaborative innovation mapping. Using the open data at the Lens.org platform and other relevant sources, we tracked, analyzed, organized, and assembled contextual and bridged patent and scholarly knowledge about CRISPR-Cas9 and with the assistance of a new Lens institutional capability, The Lens Report Builder, currently in beta release, mapped the public and commercial innovation pathways of the technology. When scaled, this capability will also enable coordinated editing and curation by credentialed experts to inform policy makers, businesses and private or public investment.

From digital citizen to digital professional

Kybernetes ◽

10.1108/k-07-2018-0390 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 48 (7) ◽

pp. 1463-1477

Author(s):

Olga Marino ◽

Jaime Andres Gutierrez ◽

Sandra Aguirre

Keyword(s):

Cutting Edge ◽

Case Study Methodology ◽

Content Type ◽

Innovative Strategy ◽

Global Issues ◽

Wide Range ◽

Teaching Learning

Purpose This paper aims to propose and evaluate a pedagogically sound and innovative strategy to teach a higher education course that prepares future professionals to intelligently use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their personal and professional lives. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual framework used for the design of the course was the socio-constructivism and activity theories. The implementation of the course was evaluated using the intrinsic case study methodology by including several instruments. Findings The pedagogical strategy proposed proved to be sound, as the evaluation showed that students were able to describe, use and propose innovative uses of a wide range of cutting-edge technologies in their both everyday lives and professional settings; they also had the skills to analyse the opportunities and challenges that these presented. Moreover, students liked this innovative way of learning and ended with a positive attitude towards ICT. Originality/value Although several courses prepare students to be digital citizens or use ICT to enhance the teaching-learning process, millennials are ill prepared to use cutting-edge technologies in an innovative, responsible and critical way in their future professions. The course that was designed is original in that it goes beyond preparing digital citizens to prepare professionals in any domain to use ICT in an informed and responsible way. Moreover, it is a documented, successful example of an undergraduate universal course in a highly important current society dimension. The authors believe that its pedagogical proposal could be transferred to courses dealing with other global issues such as the environment, economy and peace.

Evidence of an Open Government Data Portal Impact on the Public Sphere

International Journal of Electronic Government Research ◽

10.4018/ijegr.2016070102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 21-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rui Pedro Lourenço

Keyword(s):

Public Sphere ◽

Qualitative Content Analysis ◽

Research Effort ◽

Open Government ◽

The Internet ◽

The Public ◽

Open Government Data ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

Google Search ◽

The Impact

Data portals are being created as part of open government strategies to increase transparency. But although the potential of the internet to increase transparency (as data disclosure) has been widely considered in the literature, there is no reported evidence of any of the released data actually being used by their ultimate recipients (citizens) for public accountability purposes. This descriptive research effort aims to find evidence of the impact of open government portals, asserting whether data is indeed being used and for what purposes. One contract portal was selected and Google Search was used to find portal references on the internet. A qualitative content analysis approach was adopted, whereby references were examined with respect to its main purpose and data usage. Evidence was found of contract data being used, among others, to identify possible situations of corruption, nepotism and misusage of public resources, support argumentation on public policy debates and, in general, to hold public officials accountable in the public sphere through ‘blame and shame' sanctions.