Quality Assessment of Digital Services in E-Government with a Case Study in an Italian Region

The quality assessment of e-government services is more and more emerging as a key issue within public administrations. Ensuring a proper quality of digital services is mandatory to satisfy citizens and firms’ needs and to accept the use of ICT in our lives. We propose a methodology for quality assessment that takes e-government quality features into account. We also define a reference model to provide a single quality value starting from a set of service parameters. To validate our approach we assess the goodness of the ‘TecUt’ shared services management system.

Introducing E-Procurement in a Local Healthcare Agency

This chapter deals with the introduction of electronic procurement in the public healthcare domain. After a brief discussion on the healthcare spending characteristics and on the suitability of e-procurement tools in the public sector; the long-lasting experience of e-procurement implementation promoted by an Italian Local Healthcare Public Agency is described. This initiative included some pilot projects and applied many different solutions; always involving both a new ICT tool and a thorough process redesign. The development of the innovation introductions is discussed; together with their organizational and managerial background; the description of the new processes; and the analysis of the most relevant results. The chapter provides a fairly comprehensive illustration of available solutions; opportunities; and challenges in this still neglected topic.

Providing Telemental Health Services after Disasters

The role of information technology (IT) in managing disasters is increasingly being recognized. The Healing Touch project was started after the tsunami disaster in Tamilnadu to address the healthcare needs of the survivors through IT. Specifically; it provided mental health support to the victims near their place of residence. This project has been different from other telemedicine projects because: It was sponsored and managed entirely by NGOs. The local community and local NGOs were directly trained to manage there own health problems after the natural disaster. Success was linked to the intensive pre and post execution work done. We believe that preparation and involvement of people is the key to success in most IT projects. Some problems we faced were related to a general lack of awareness and nonpenetration of IT in the community we served. If people are using IT in their day to day work; adoption of telemedicine and other e-services will be far simpler after a disaster.

vGOV

The need of rural and reservation residents to receive better government services has been long-standing. In spite of the best efforts of the Social Security Administration; a vast number of Native Americans living in rural and remote areas have had their access to program information and social benefits limited by distance; economic; and cultural challenges. A project at the University of North Dakota has found a way to transform the delivery of government services to these citizens. As an off-shoot of work in telemedicine and rural outreach; staff members of the Center for Rural Service Delivery collaborated with the Social Security Administration and the Indian Health Service to create the first video link connecting a hospital to a Social Security Office. The IHS hospital; in Belcourt; ND was connected to the SSA office in Minot; ND; some 120 miles away. The video link went live in October of 2003. The social benefits of remote video access to SSA services have been measured by the number of citizens who use video access to seek answers to questions and to make application for benefits each year. Since it went live; the link has resulted in more than 300 completed applications for disability benefits or income supplements. That total is more than 50 times the number produced through conventional service delivery. The economic impact to VSD has been measured as the cumulative value of monthly Supplemental Security Income and Disability payments to individual citizens and the total of annual Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement payments made to local healthcare facilities. The service impact includes increased application completion rates; accelerated claims processing; and increased third party assistance in the application process.

Evolution of Online Financial Trading Systems

This chapter focuses on the theme of e-service innovation in financial electronic markets. The discussion will cover the theories of “technology bundling” and how bundling creates value-added in servicing electronic markets. More specifically, this chapter looks at innovations created through e-service bundling for online brokers connected to various financial electronic markets. The proliferation of different e-trading systems raises the question of which systems provide better service to online stock traders. Many online brokers (e-brokers) now provide low-cost transactions and financial research capabilities, so where is the next level of innovation? The objective of this chapter is to show that several innovations in broker e-services are critical in the following areas: (a) how order processes are efficiently managed in financial e-markets; (b) how responsive e-trading systems are in handling trading rules and regulations; (c) how different systems address unique niches in financial e-markets; and (d) improving systems stability and reliability.

The Case of Roskilde University E-Services

Examining electronic services both as products and as organization, this chapter discusses the development and management of e-services at Roskilde University, Denmark. The services in question can be distinguished according to purpose into products meant for administration, communication, education, and integration. The chapter discusses several examples of e-services from the point of view of adoption of technological innovation. Further, it is argued that participatory design and voluntary adoption are factors favourable to, but also challenging to the adoption of e-services. The technical and organizational integration of e-services are also touched upon, as is the importance of maintaining a creative environment for developing the services. The chapter concludes by outlining some challenges to the continued diffusion of e-services in the organization.

The Role of E-Services in the Transition from the Product Focus to the Service Focus in the Printing Business

Today, many manufacturing companies are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the traditional product business. E-services can accelerate this process by offering companies new ways to control products and monitor equipment from a distance. This chapter describes the changes which are taking place in the printing business. It tells the story of Lexmark, a printer manufacturer that has recently created differentiated offerings to its business customers. In the case of Lexmark, this repositioning of offerings has been enabled by e-services. Here, the e-services consist of the Lexmark Fleet Manager system which monitors the use and availability of the equipment and makes suggestions on how to improve the printing processes on the customer site. The case ends with a description of the actual challenges that Lexmark is currently facing.

eInsurance

The chapter introduces an innovative organizational logic for developing and designing electronic services especially in the context of financial services, such as insurance. Furthermore, a novel electronic insurance service concept for consumers is introduced in the chapter. The authors argue that development of electronic service solutions for the use of financial sector formerly rather conducted in an organization may well be executed through a multi-organizational project-based working logic. In fact the chapter establishes that the multi-organizational project-based logic results in a more creative outcome. Hence, the authors hope that the chapter encourages both academics and especially practitioners within the insurance business sector to take steps towards more collaborative working practices in order to generate more creative electronic service solutions for customers.

Self-Service Systems

The evolution of information technology applications has changed the landscape of the service industry, offering the possibility of customer empowerment through self-service applications. Considering the main three streams of research already applied in the study of self-services, this chapter investigates customers’ perceptions about eight dimensions that characterise the quality of the self-service experience. On the other hand, the study attempts to analyse the influence of the self-service users’ profile (gender, Internet usage experience, and online self-service usage experience), and to provide specific insights about the needs and wants of various categories of customers.

Emerging E-Services in Accounting

This chapter analyses and provides an example of the introduction and first years of the management of accounting services and e-services in a professional accounting firm. It argues that e-services, as a result of adoption and use of Web-based digital technology, are slowly emerging within the accounting field. Further, the change to e-services implies a significant change in the business model for professional service providers as well as acceptance and adoption of the new services among customers. Furthermore, the author hopes that by identifying development and learning issues, the case cannot only be used for implementation of similar initiatives within other organizations but will also assist students in their understanding of the process of change and e-service management.