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Conceptualising Public Value
No full textPart 1: FoundationsInternational audienceThis paper delves into the complex landscape of digital government (or e-Government) research, exploring the concept of public value. Drawing from extensive literature from public administration, particularly the works of Moore, Beck Jørgensen and Bozeman, and Rose et al., the study investigates the relationship between public value ideals, using structural equation modelling (SEM). Utilizing data from both citizens and public servants in a Swedish municipality, two models are constructed, reflecting the multifaceted nature of public values in practice. The findings highlight a disconnect between the perceived values of citizens and of public servants. While citizens prioritize efficiency and service as values to be created, public servants emphasize internal values of support for the public organization, referred to as an "institutional approach". This study contributes to the ongoing debate on public value(s) in digital government by illustrating the importance of contextual viewpoints and question the role of service provision in relation to public values. It emphasizes the need to balance generative and institutional perspectives and advocates for further research to explore the shift from "serving" to "service" in the public sector ecosystem. Through these insights, this research is intended to inform more effective strategies for digital government and public sector management in contemporary societies
From Digital Hopes to Governance Gaps: The Double-Edged Sword of Public Service Ecosystems
No full textPart 3: Public ServicesInternational audienceHopes are high for enhancing public sector capabilities in addressing complex challenges and creating value from digitalization through various multi-actor and multi-level approaches. Yet, scholars also raise concerns that an emphasis on digital resource configurability may overlook important contexual dimensions, leading to increased managerialism and reduced legitimacy within new public sector paradigms. This paper explores the concept of public service ecosystems, both as an analytical lens and a subject of critique, focusing on the shifts brought about by digitalization, while scrutinizing the optimism and technological focus that often accompany these transformations. Drawing on a longitudinal case study from the Swedish public sector, we unveil how a public service ecosystem, facilitated by modular open-source architecture and multi-actor engagement, faces challenges including i) demand-supply gaps in digital services, ii) governance issues, and iii) integration between digital and physical channels. As such the framework of public service ecosystem is challenged as a sometimes naïve idea underplaying the complexity of e-service development in the public sector. At the same time it worked as a lens to structure and nuance the findings and bridge the gap between technological and contextual focus, and informed suggestions for further research
Unveiling the Invisible: Caseworkers’ Data Work in a Public Welfare Organization
No full textPart 3: Public ServicesInternational audienceThe public sector is undergoing a transformation characterized by the increasing adoption of digital technologies, commonly referred to as digital government. Within this context, caseworkers who manage citizens seeking benefits from welfare organizations play a crucial role in providing public services to citizens. As digital technologies increasingly shape decision-making processes, their work now encompasses a significant amount of data work, involving understanding, managing, and producing citizens’ data through meticulous documentation. Caseworkers are in charge of providing high-quality services to citizens in need. To do so, they navigate a complex web of regulations and utilize various digital systems that generate many invisible tasks. In this study, we aim to shed light on caseworkers’ data work. We conducted a qualitative case study in a Scandinavian welfare agency, focusing on caseworkers’ utilization and production of documentation. Our findings reveal that caseworkers’ data work is articulated through three work practices mandated by the complex context. We abstracted these practices into two classes of invisible work activities that significantly impact their daily responsibilities. By unveiling these hidden aspects, we contribute valuable empirical insights to policymakers and emphasize the importance of data work and invisible work concepts in the field of digital government
Innovation Frames: Governments Making Sense of New Decentralizing Technologies
No full textPart 6: Emerging TopicsInternational audienceThere is a global sensemaking going on regarding new decentralizing technologies, with labels like blockchain, SSI and Web3 facilitating the discourse. Like many other institutions, governments are engaging in early innovation processes to learn what role they can and will play. There are, however, many ways that groups of government actors can make sense of such innovation. Based on a qualitative, interpretative, case study of two different types of government organizations (a state agency and a municipality) I show that early innovation with new decentralizing technologies can be framed differently by government actors along several dimensions: 1) application vs. infrastructure, 2) incremental vs. future oriented, 3) technology as driver vs. technology as trigger, 4) use case vs. institutional design, and 5) low vs. high material engagement. From this I propose a concept of innovation frames in public sector innovation. With this concept I contribute to knowledge on early innovation work with technologies that are new-to-the-world, and where the potential scope is wider than organizational processes. The insights overall inform future research on public sector innovation as it highlights the importance of being sensitive to early phases, the novelty of technology, and infrastructural change
Internal Versus External Forces: Which Dominates in Driving the Use of Open Government Data
No full textPart 5: Open GovernmentInternational audienceOpen Government Data (OGD) can significantly enhance economic and social outcomes. Research in this area often focuses on the determinants of OGD use, typically examining either the internal dynamics of governments or the external pressures affecting OGD. However, comprehensive reviews that cover both aspects are rare. This study reviews the impact of internal government resources and external institutional pressures on OGD usage. Our findings indicate that effective OGD use is linked to a combination of robust internal government resources and a proactive approach to external pressures. These insights underscore the necessity of integrating internal resource management with dynamic responses to external pressures to maximize the benefits of OGD
Automation in Social Care: A Case Study of Organizational Challenges and Skills Dynamics in Three Swedish Municipalities
No full textPart 3: Public ServicesInternational audienceThis study explores the adaptation to automation in social services, focusing on organizational challenges and skill dynamics to enhance workforce competencies. Using a sociotechnical systems perspective, it examines social workers’ responses to implementing robotic process automation for decision-making. The analysis highlights a shift towards high-skilled labor, requiring advanced digital and interpersonal skills that can lead to job polarization and routine task automation. Key organizational challenges include resistance to automation, ethical considerations, and the need for effective communication and training. These findings emphasize the complexity of integrating automation in the public sector, necessitating transparent and inclusive strategies to build trust among employees and clients. Additionally, the study highlights competence challenges in ‘shrinking’ municipalities, pointing to the need for continuous skill development and organizational restructuring amidst technological advancements
A Preliminary User Interface for Software Vendor Analysis and Selection Tool
No full textPart 5: DemosInternational audienceIn software ecosystems, the decision-making process for vendor selection remains a significant challenge, often worsened by the lack of effective tools that leverage visualization to aid in these decisions. This study aims to bridge this gap by prototyping a tool and hence proposing a user interface for the same, based on a software vendor selection framework, enhancing decision-making through intuitive visualizations and a user-friendly interface. Our research methodology combined a semi-structured literature review, preliminary user interface development, and expert feedback to ensure the tool’s practicality and effectiveness. The prototype testing of the user interface design, informed by expert feedback, indicates a positive impact on decision-making processes, demonstrating the prototype’s ability to streamline vendor analysis and selection. The proposed tool significantly contributes to reducing the complexity and subjectivity of vendor selection, offering a more structured and data-driven approach
Evaluation of Categorization Patterns for Conceptual Modeling of IoT Applications
No full textPart 1: Enterprise Modelling for Digital Transformation and Industry ApplicationsInternational audienceThe Internet of Things (IoT) plays a crucial role in applications for the emerging Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0. However, due to the complex nature of IoT systems, it is essential to have well-defined conceptual models for effective understanding. A good way to enhance this understanding is by incorporating categorization into the conceptual models, which can be achieved through the use of categorization patterns. This paper evaluates how different categorization patterns have an impact on the quality of IoT systems. Specifically, two categorization patterns (Inheritance and Type pattern) and a base model are used to create conceptual models in an IoT setting and are evaluated by the Quality Model for Object-Oriented Design (QMOOD) metric. We examine the impact of these patterns on different design properties and quality attributes, such as reusability, flexibility, understandability, functionality, extendibility, and effectiveness. Additionally, we use the MERODE framework, which allows us to automatically transform the models into code, enabling a more comprehensive evaluation of the patterns’ impact through the generated code. To evaluate the patterns we use two IoT use cases: 1) employees’ well-being in a smart factory (Industry 5.0), and 2) the daily behavior of solo residents in a smart home (Society 5.0). The results indicate that the Inheritance model exhibits the highest reusability and functionality in comparison to the other models, making it well-suited for complex projects with significant reuse requirements. This evaluation provides valuable and extensive insights for developers, helping them in understanding the impact of different categorization patterns in the final system
A Compositional Framework for Petri Nets
No full textInternational audienceBisimilarity is a central notion for coalgebras. In recent work,Geuvers and Jacobs suggest to focus on apartness, which they define bydualising coalgebraic bisimulations. This yields the possibility of finiteproofs of distinguishability for a wide variety of state-based systems.We propose behavioural apartness, defined by dualising behaviouralequivalence rather than bisimulations. A motivating example is thesubdistribution functor, where the proof system based on bisimilarityrequires an infinite quantification over couplings, whereas behaviouralapartness instantiates to a finite rule. In addition, we provide optimisedproof rules for behavioural apartness and show their use in several examples
Logical Modelling, Some Recent Methodological Advances Illustrated
No full textPart 1: Invited PapersInternational audienceLogical modelling is a popular mathematical framework forassessing the behaviour of regulatory and signalling networks. Despiteits qualitative nature, it allows disclosing crucial dynamical properties.Here we briefly present the modelling formalism and recent challengesarising when building models and analysing them. We then introduce afew methodological advances for model synthesis and analysis, and illustratetheir effectiveness with two applications.The first deals with a Boolean model explaining the early differentiationof Hematopoietic Stem Cells and biases that appear during ageing.This case study demonstrates a successful procedure for model synthesisfrom biological data as well as a method for model revision. The secondapplication concerns the role of the micro-environment in the Epithelialto Mesenchymal Transition, a process by which epithelial cells losetheir adhesive properties to gain migration ability. This case study illustratesthe capacity of developed methods to handle networks with a fewdozens components and to conclude on relevant dynamical properties.The paper ends with a discussion, pointing to open challenges that needto be tackled to further increase logical modelling applicability to diseasenetworks