Kristene Unsworth

Choices and challenges in e-government field force automation projects: insights from case studies

Field Force Automation (FFA) has been introduced as the summary term for the redesign of workflows and business processes in the field by means of fully mobile wirelessly connected technologies and applications. In practice, governments around the world have increasingly begun to explore the potential of FFA by equipping field crews with mobile technologies and applications. FFA in government promises substantial gains in crew productivity and information quality in on-site decision making. However, as in the case of other far-reaching technology-enabled changes in the past, FFA requires numerous technical, organizational, and social adjustments to reach the targeted potential. We have studied the case of a US city government that introduced FFA in its public utilities service units a while ago. While FFA lives up to promise in some areas, it does not so in others. Based on the analyses of the work context and the FFA uses, we have developed a set of recommendations for improving both the technical and organizational sides of the FFA approach. While some recommendations might be case-specific, others appear to apply to e-Government FFA in general. In this paper, we detail and discuss the choices that governments may face in FFA projects. The contribution of this paper is that it helps guide other FFA projects. The paper also adds to the academic understanding of the challenges and choices in e-Government FFA.

Social Media and E‐Government: A Case Study Assessing Twitter Use in the Implementation of the Open Government Directive

The first official order of business carried out by President Obama in 2008 was the presentation of a memorandum entitled Transparency and Open Government. Three pillars for Open Government are outlined in the document and consist of transparency, participation and collaboration which form the foundation for the initiative. Here we report on a case study, where the use of social media by the United States Department of Agriculture was assessed in relation to the agencies implementation of goals set by the Open Government Initiative. In the Open Government Initiative, the use of social media features strongly as a means to connect with the public and to promote the three pillars. We question whether use of social actually results in realization of the three pillars, but with a particular focus on dialogue between the USDA and the public. We apply a mixed-methods approach based in grounded theory, social network analysis, content analysis and discourse analysis. Early findings suggest that although the USDA is mentioned there is no clear evidence of discourse, in the sense of exchange of tweets between the USDA and other posters. This is assuming that anyone who may post from the USDA would do so under the auspices of the organization and not as an individual with a unique user name. Our research indicates that traditional definitions of these terms (transparency, collaboration and participation) may need to be expanded to account for the types of interactions occurring via social media. In this paper, we report on our research plan and initial observations.

Fully mobile wirelessly connected technology applications: Organizational communication, social, and information challenges

The City of Seattle is pioneering the utilization of fully mobile wirelessly connected (FMWC) technology applications in fieldwork operations with the aim of significantly improving its operational effectiveness and efficiency as well as its quality of service. Our study analyzes and assesses the efficacy of this prototypical project in local government. Preliminary findings show that beyond the expectable technology hurdles numerous unforeseen challenges in organizational communication and the social context emerge, which when taken together can present staunch obstacles to achieving the intended outcome. Our study uses a work-centered analytical framework for deriving and clarifying the strategic choices in such projects via a formative model. Our (narrative) model captures and brings to the surface the interaction and interdependence between major organizational variables and the work context. In this paper, we report on our early observations and high-level findings.

Transparency, participation, cooperation: a case study evaluating Twitter as a social media interaction tool in the US open government initiative

The first official order of business carried out by US President Obama in 2008 was presenting a memorandum entitled the Open Government Initiative. The three pillars of transparency, participation and collaboration form the foundation for the initiative. Our study analyzed the use of social media as one of the means being employed to achieve these goals by conducting a case-study of one government agency, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). While most of the agencies who are officially participating in the Initiative provide links to some sort of social media on their homepages, we question whether this actually results in increased transparency, participation and collaboration. We used a mixed-methods approach based in grounded theory, content analysis and discourse analysis. Early findings suggest that although the USDA is explicitly mentioned in the tweets there is no clear evidence of discourse, in the sense of exchange of tweets between the USDA and other Twitterers. This is assuming that anyone who may post from the USDA would do so overtly via the auspices of the organization and not as an individual with a unique user name. Our research indicates that traditional definitions of these terms may need to be expanded to account for the types of interactions occurring via social media. In this paper, we report on our research plan and initial observations.

Ethical Concerns of Information Policy and Organization in National Security

Information organization is influenced by ideology; whether it is a personal belief system, organizational practice, or national ideology. The role of classification is dichotomous. In library and information science the goal is to be explicit while its role in national security is much more opaque. This article attempts to disambiguate this distinction in order to better understand the ethical implications of the classification process through examples from three cases related specifically to national security: (1) a dictionary for use by the East German Ministry for State Security, (2) the rules and regulations for the House Committee on un-American Activities, and (3) current requests by the government “to report suspicious activity.”

Chain of Command: Information Sharing, Law Enforcement and Community Participation

Information sharing among law enforcement officers and between law enforcement officers and the public is crucial to creating safe neighborhoods and developing trust between members of society. Since the terrorist attacks on the US in 2001 the US government has implemented a program called the information sharing environment: for both national security agencies and local law enforcement communication and sharing information is a top priority. Human information behavior and human information interaction research has been conducted in a variety of environments yet there is little research related to law enforcement and the public. This note presents early case study research in to this complex information sharing environment. The work builds on the strong tradition of research in information science related to information behavior and hopes to bridge the gap between security and law enforcement conceptions of information sharing and that of information science. This research is being conducted with the collaboration of a major metropolitan police department in the southern United States. The diverse research team brings together an academic, a law enforcement consultant and a constable from Toronto, Canada. While one deliverable of the project is to provide the law enforcement agency with a strategic communication and social media plan; the larger goal is to begin a multiple case research project to develop our understanding of information sharing with these types of unique stakeholders and in these complex environments.

Children, technology and social values: Enabling children's voices in a pluralistic world

The landscape of childhood in the 21st century increasingly involves technology. As information and communication technologies (ICTs) become ubiquitous in homes, schools, libraries, and play spaces, children are plugged-in and online with greater frequency and at a younger age. Concerns regarding new and emerging technologies like the immersive Internet, mobile phones, and social networking sites often lead to highly charged, emotive responses aimed at reducing the risks associated with such technologies. These reactions focus our attention on children in the role of victimized consumer, and privilege the perspective of a single stakeholder, the parent. This desire to protect young technology consumers runs contrary to the participatory techniques intended to give greater voice to users in the design and development of technology. A broader, more enlightened perspective on the role of technology in the lives of children recognizes the multiple roles, stakeholders, and value propositions which affect these interactions with ICTs. Rather than casting children in the limited role of consumer of technology, participatory and value-sensitive design techniques afford children the role of tester, evaluator, appropriator, remediator, co-designer, or co-investigator. Creating and sustaining a pluralistic society means providing sufficient opportunities for the voices of children in the decisions that affect their lives and their futures. This panel will ground this discussion in current empirical research studies where a childs voice is actively sought as part of the design and evaluation of technologies as an opportunity to speculate about the need to go further in ensuring that children are active participants in the decision making process. The panel will invite discussion about ways that the information science community could be taking a far more active role in terms of awareness raising, advocacy and mediation between all the various stakeholders to enable a stronger voice for children in society.

Cultural diversity in LIS research: national and international communities as context for the study of ethics, policy, and education

This panel will showcase current information ethics, information policy, and library and information science (LIS) education projects from around the world to compare and contrast the current state of LIS research in the global information community. The juxtaposition of selected international projects will highlight the roles that national and international cultural contexts can play in LIS research, policy, and practice.

Seeking knowledge in a social world: Epistemological pathways

Epistemology – the study of knowledge and knowing – is of central concern to information science (Budd, 2001; Dick, 2002; Hjorland, 2002). Jesse Shera, who coined the term social epistemology with Margaret Egan, suggested that information science is intimately connected to the “production, flow, integration and consumption of all forms of communicated thought throughout the entire social fabric” (1970: 86). Aiding people in the acquisition of knowledge thus becomes the sine qua non of information services and technologies (Fallis, 2006). As social computing and advances in information and communications technologies (ICTs) change the way we seek and use information personally and professionally, it becomes critical that information scientists understand how social processes influence knowledge acquisition. This panel explores empirically and theoretically how people seek and construct knowledge in a social world.