Online Open Innovation (OI) platforms like Challenge.gov are used to post public sector problem statements, collect and evaluate ideas submitted by citizens with the goal to increase government ...innovation. Using quantitative data extracted from contests posted to Challenge.gov and qualitative interviews with thirty-six public managers in fourteen federal departments contribute to the discovery and analysis of intra-, inter, and extra-organizational factors that drive or hinder the implementation of OI in the public sector. The analysis shows that system-inherent barriers hinder public sector organizations to adopt this procedural and technological innovation. However, when the mandate of the innovation policy aligns with the mission of the organization, it opens opportunities for change in innovation acquisition and standard operating procedures.
Network-focused research in public administration has expanded rapidly over the past two decades. This rapid growth has created come confusion about terminology and approaches to research in the ...field. We organize the network literature in public administration using compact citation networks to identify coherent subdomains focused on (1) policy formation, (2) governance and (3) policy implementation. We trace how these domains differ in their approach to defining the role of networks, relationships and actors and to what extent the articles apply formal network analysis techniques. Based on a subsequent content analysis of the sample articles, we identify promising research avenues focused on the wider adoption of methods derived from social network analysis and the conditions under which networks actually deliver improved results.
U.S. cities, among the vanguards of open data globally, are investing in renewed efforts to support Open Government with the creation of open data portals that are used to provide machine-readable ...administratively collected data sets. Transparency of the public sector is still widely seen as the main outcome of these efforts. Such a simplistic view, however, misses the rich variety of innovations resulting from open data use. We conceptualize these innovation outcomes across two dimensions: internal/external and product/process. Interviews with 15 city managers in the U.S. who are responsible for the implementation of open data policies were conducted to compare policy intentions, perceived innovation outcomes as well as actual ones. The findings show that product-centric outcomes are predominant and relate mainly to external innovation, including applications, websites and new services. Process-centric outcomes constitute rather internal innovation, such as procedural changes and the revival of innovation culture in government. We close with a set of recommendations for open data efforts in government that include structural, procedural, as well as cultural changes for successful open data initiatives.
•Open data initiatives trigger various innovation outcomes: internally and outside governments, and through products and processes.•Product and process outcomes are much more varied than just increased transparency.•The main innovation outcomes are improved decision making, economic development, improved collaboration and participation.•Many city administrations engage in product innovations; few seek process innovations.
Social media applications are extending the information and communication technology landscape in the public sector and are used to increase government transparency, participation and collaboration ...in the U.S. federal government. The success, impact and performance of these new forms of bi-directional and networked interactions can provide insights to understand compliance with the mandate of the Open Government Initiative. Many government agencies are experimenting with the use of social media, however very few actively measure the impact of their digital interactions. This article builds on insights from social media directors in the U.S. federal government highlighting their current lack of measurement practices for social media interactions. Based on their articulated needs for measurement, existing rules regulating the extent of measurement practices and technological features of the main social media platforms, a framework is presented that traces online interactions to mission support and the resulting social media tactics. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.
In 2009, the departments in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government received the presidential marching order to “harness new technologies” in order to become more transparent, ...collaborative and participatory. Given this mandate, this article sets out to provide insights from qualitative interviews with social media directors to understand the factors that influence internal adoption decisions to use social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, or blogs. Three distinct factors influence the adoption decisions of social media directors: information about best practices in their informal network of peers, passive observations of perceived best practices in the public and private sector, and “market-driven” citizen behavior. The resulting adoption tactics include: (1) representation, (2) engagement, and (3) networking. The findings point to the need for higher degrees of formalized knowledge sharing when it comes to disruptive technology innovations such as social media use in highly bureaucratic communication environments. Recommendations based on the lessons learned are provided for practitioners and social media researchers to develop social media tactics for different organizational purposes in government.
► The article provides insights from social media directors in the U.S. government about their internal adoption decisions. ► Peers, passive observations of perceived best practices, and “market driven” citizen behavior influence decisions. ► The resulting adoption tactics include: representation, engagement, and networking. ► The study contributes to social media decision making and a better understanding resulting tactics.
Social affordances of agile governance Mergel, Ines
PAR. Public administration review/Public administration review,
September/October 2024, Letnik:
84, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Agile refers to a work management ideology with a set of productivity frameworks that support continuous and iterative progress on work tasks by reviewing one's hypotheses, working in a human‐centric ...way, and encouraging evidence‐based learning. In practice, public administrations have started to use agile principles and methods to plan projects, work in short sprints, iterate after receiving feedback from stakeholders, and apply a human‐centric approach to arrive at prototyped solutions. To understand the opportunities and challenges public servants perceive when they are asked to apply agile work practices, I conducted focus groups to study the social affordances of agile governance that need to be in place for public servants to adopt an agile mindset and its related practices. As a result of the exposure to agile work practices, public servants are either able to perceive its affordances and are willing to adopt agile, they falsely perceive them or they even remain hidden from them leading to a rejection of agile.
This article examines the road that network scholarship has followed in Public Administration. We look at the historical drivers of the use of networks in practice and scholarship in the field and ...discuss how that has shaped the current literature. The body of the article focuses on the current challenges that network scholars face in the discipline, specifically basic theoretical issues, knowledge about formal networks, knowledge about informal networks, and methodological issues. We close the article with a look to the future and some suggestions for the future of network scholarship in Public Administration.
In the digital transformation of public administrations, objectives are no longer simply the implementation of new technology, but the involvement of all stakeholders into the process of ...digitalization. The Digital Roadmap of the Austrian government emphasizes the need of co-production of public services as a key element to public service delivery and, subsequently, innovation of the public sector. To understand how co-production in digital service delivery is implemented in Austria, we conducted interviews with 41 experts from public administrations in order to understand who is involved in such processes, how they are involved, and what outcomes are to be achieved.
Governments are facing an information technology upgrade and legacy problem: outdated systems and acquisition processes are resulting in high-risk technology projects that are either over budget or ...behind schedule. Recent catastrophic technology failures, such as the failed launch of the politically contested online marketplace Healthcare.gov in the U.S. were attributed to an overreliance on external technology contractors and failures to manage large-scale technology contracts in government. As a response, agile software development and modular acquisition approaches, new independent organizational units equipped with fast reacting teams, in combination with a series of policy changes are developed to address the need to innovate digital service delivery in government. This article uses a process tracing approach, as well as initial qualitative interviews with a subset of executives and agency-level digital services members to provide an overview of the existing policies and implementation approaches toward an agile innovation management approach. The article then provides a research framework including research questions that provide guidance for future research on the managerial implementation considerations necessary to scale up the initial efforts and move toward a collaborative and agile innovation management approach in government.
•Agile innovation management is introduced as a comprehensive approach to find solutions for legacy problems in government IT.•Agile innovation management includes modular IT acquisition, agile software development, and leadership.•Acquisition policies need to be expanded by open source, modular, and agile development sprints for quick product delivery.•HR policies need to focus on short term stays in government to attract IT talent from the private sector.•Agile innovation management triggers a cultural change process in government.
Social media adoption changes the existing organizational technology paradigm of public sector organizations. This paper explains the internal decisions that are necessary before new technologies can ...be used to support the strategic mission of a government organization and which behavioral and technological changes are integrated into the organization's standard operating procedures. This is an important theoretical contribution, because social media technologies are developed and hosted by third parties outside of government, with government's role limited to reactively evaluating their internal needs, strategic alignment, and existing routines. Evidence from qualitative interviews with social media directors in the U.S. federal government and a digital ethnography of their online practices expand the existing theory of social media adoption by adding two distinct activities: strategic alignment and routinization which lead to the institutionalization of new technologies.
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