Social Inclusion and OmbudsOffice Websites in Canada

Author(s):  
Stewart Hyson

The Internet and digital technology provide great potential for public sector organizations to broaden their scope of social inclusion and thereby better serve the populace. This is especially the case of the Ombudsman institution that exists to provide the public with an independent mechanism through which members of the public may seek redress of grievances of alleged administrative wrongdoings. However has the potential of what has been a reality in Canada been realized? This chapter takes a user's approach to depict what users find when they go online to lodge complaints with OmbudsOffices, both federally and provincially in Canada. For the most part, Canadian OmbudsOffices have been relatively conservative by placing online information that is also found in printed format.

Author(s):  
C. G. Reddick

Electronic procurement (e-procurement) is one business-to-government e-commerce venture that can benefit from the Internet. Government e-procurement is different from private sector e-procurement because of concepts such as value for money, transparency and accountability, which may be considered the main benefits for the public sector. Public sector organizations have to meet multiple, often conflicting goals, and they are subject to constraints of a financial, legal, contractual, personnel and institutional nature. In addition, radical process changes from e-procurement can only be achieved with deep changes in bureaucratic practices. These changes cannot normally be achieved without either changes in the law or privatization (Panayiotou, Gayialis, & Tatsiopoulos, 2004).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Bastida ◽  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Zahirul Hoque

PurposeThis paper aims at reflecting on the role of accounting and accountability mechanisms in pre-COVID-19 conditions and how it may evolve in “new normal”, post-COVID-19 conditions.Design/methodology/approachMoving from the papers in this special issue, the authors draw on the literature on the social construction and reflective approaches to understand pre- and post-COVID-19 events and the role of accounting therein.FindingsThe “new normal” may exacerbated the difficulty of public sector organizations to manage the uncertainties and risks associated to the new context. While “old” wicked issues remain, such as social inclusion, poverty and corruption, new ones come. The authors speculate on the “new” and “old” roles accounting and accountability can play to support governments.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by setting new research avenues for future studies in a post-COVID-19 era.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Z. Elbashir ◽  
Steve G. Sutton ◽  
Vicky Arnold ◽  
Philip A. Collier

Purpose Recent research and policy reports indicate public sector organizations struggle to leverage information technology-based performance measurement systems and fail to effectively evaluate performance beyond financial metrics. This study aims to focus on organizational factors that influence the assimilation of business intelligence (BI) systems into integrated management control systems and the corollary impact on improving business process performance within public sector organizations. Design/methodology/approach The complete Australian client list was acquired from a leading BI vendor; and the authors surveyed all public sector organizations, receiving 226 individual responses representing 160 public sector organizations in Australia. Using latent construct measurement, structural equation modeling (SEM)-partial least squares is used to test the theoretical model. Findings When top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities that are critical to assimilation in private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. When top management effectively manages knowledge importation from external entities to counteract deficiencies, public sector organizations effectively assimilate BI knowledge into performance measurement yielding strong process performance. Research limitations/implications When top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities critical to assimilation in the private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. The research extends the theory behind organizational absorptive capacity by highlighting how knowledge importation can be used as an external source facilitating internal knowledge creation. This collaborative knowledge creation leads to affective assimilation of BI technologies and associated performance gains. Practical implications The results provide guidance to public sector organizations that struggle to measure and validate service outcomes under New Public Management regulations and mandates. Originality/value The results reveal that consistent with the philosophies behind New Public Management strategies, private sector measures for increasing organizational absorptive capacity can be applied in the public sector. However, knowledge importation appears to be a major catalyst in the public sector where the resources to retain skilled professionals with an ability to leverage contemporary technologies into service performance are often very limited. Top management team knowledge and skills are critical to effectively leveraging these internal and external knowledge creation mechanisms.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Park Y. J.

Most stakeholders from Asia have not actively participated in the global Internet governance debate. This debate has been shaped by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN) since 198 and the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) since 2006. Neither ICANN nor IGF are well received as global public policy negotiation platforms by stakeholders in Asia, but more and more stakeholders in Europe and the United States take both platforms seriously. Stakeholders in Internet governance come from the private sector and civil society as well as the public sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Śledziewska ◽  
Renata Włoch

In this article we focus on identifying the specificity of digital transformation within the public sector. The aim of the article is to present the main mechanisms resulting from the introduction of digital innovations that have changed the functioning of the public sector. Starting from a discussion on the technological requirements of digital transformation, we briefly characterise the use of computers and the Internet in public administration, resulting in the development of e-services and administration. The main part of the article is devoted to discussing the specificity of the implementation of the new digital technologies in public administration, focusing mainly on artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Our thesis is that the impact of innovative digital technologies on the operation standards and structure of public administration should be analysed through the prism of interrelated mechanisms of datafication and platformisation, characteristic for the digital economy. The adopted methodology, which is based on an analysis of the subject literature and an analysis of new technology implementations in public administration in EU countries, indicates the pilot, random and non-transformational nature of these implementations, partly due to the lack of well-established methodologies to study and assess the maturity of digital transformation within the public sector.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1241-1272
Author(s):  
Amir Manzoor

Cloud computing brings key advantages to the governments facing conflicting IT challenges. However, the cloud paradigm is still fragmented and concerns over data privacy and regulatory issues presents significant barriers to its adoption. Cloud computing is expected to provide new ways to run IT in public sector. At the same time, it presents significant challenges for governments, and to make the most of cloud, public sector organizations need to make some important decisions. Governments planning to migrate to the cloud are actively moving to harness digital services but with different focus, reasons, and strategy. However, the degree of cloud adoption by the public sector around the globe varies significantly. Most governments are piloting cloud computing but there are huge differences between each country. This chapter explores the state of the art of cloud computing applications in the public sector; various implications and specific recommendation are also provided.


Author(s):  
Mahmud Akhter Shareef ◽  
Vinod Kumar ◽  
Uma Kumar ◽  
Abdul Hannan Chowdhury ◽  
Subhas C. Misra

Though many countries are still just beginning to grasp the potential uses and impacts of Electronic-government (EG), advances in technologies and their applications continue. Observing the proliferation of EG, countries are increasingly turning to the Internet to market their EG system to gain a competitive advantage. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of such online government systems largely depends on the mission of implementing EG. For successful adoption and implementation of EG, it is essential that a country first identify an explicit objective and a specific strategy. We have examined implemention strategies of EG of seven diverse countries whose objectives and mission for implementing EG differ significantly. However, they have the following strategies in common: i) extensive application of information and communication technology (ICT) in the public sector; ii) overall reformation of the public sector; iii) development of a better quality service structure; and iv) more cohesive integration of citizens with government.


Author(s):  
Richard Heeks

Management information systems (MIS) are fundamental for public sector organizations seeking to support the work of managers. Yet they are often ignored in the rush to focus on ‘sexier’ applications. This chapter aims to redress the balance by providing a detailed analysis of public sector MIS. It first locates MIS within the broader management monitoring and control systems that they support. Understanding the broader systems and the relationship to public sector inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes is essential to understanding MIS. The chapter details the different types of reports that MIS produce, and uses this as the basis for an MIS model and a description of the decision-making benefits that computerized MIS can bring. Finally, the chapter describes generic public sector MIS that address internal government transactions, public administration/ regulation, and public service delivery. Real-world examples of all types are provided from the U.S., England, Africa, and Asia. <BR>


Author(s):  
Ronald M. Baecker

J. C. R. Licklider, Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Alan Kay optimistically and exuberantly imagined how computers could better the lives of people. Much of this has come to pass. The Internet supports learning by ‘students’ at all levels. Information on laws, procedures, diseases, and medical care may be found on the web. The Internet now provides the easiest, or in some cases the only, way to pay bills or order items such as books, groceries, and even clothing. It is a means of communication with family, friends, individuals one would like to meet, individuals with whom one could share insights, and potential employers. Music, films, and other means of entertainment stream to our digital devices. This implies that those for whom digital technology is not available are at a disadvantage. The gap between the technology-haves and the technology-have-nots became known in the 1990s as a digital divide. The concept is nuanced; we can speak of availability or scarcity of hardware, such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile phones; of infrastructure such as cellular networks; of communications bandwidth that enables a smooth media viewing experience; of expertise in using the technology; of commitment to its use; and of engagement in the process. Some only consume information; others contribute their ideas via methods such as blogging and tweeting. Yet a better way to describe digital technology widely accessible is the goal of social inclusion, to allow all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status, location, race, gender, or ability or disability, to take advantage of the benefits of modern computing and telecommunications. To have terminology that is even more evocative, we shall use the more modern and descriptive term of digital inclusion. This has been defined by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘empowering people through information and communication technologies (ICTs)’. The term ‘people’ is meant here to imply all people throughout the world. This chapter will first examine the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots (often the rich and the poor) within several nations. Examples of the benefits of digital inclusion will be cited.


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