Lisa Schmidthuber

Unleashing Innovation beyond Organizational Boundaries: Exploring Citizensourcing Projects

ABSTRACT By using information and communications technologies, public administration encourages external actors to get involved in governmental activities once performed by civil servants. This article seeks to investigate the open innovation phenomenon beyond the entrepreneurial domain in the context of open government. For this purpose, a multiple case study was conducted to explore the current state of open government in Austria. The study first reveals the role of citizens as an active part of the system, then discusses the impact of citizensourcing projects, and finally concludes with giving implications for research and practice.

Shedding Light on Participation in Open Government Arenas: Determinants of Platform Activity of Web and App Users

This article develops and tests a model to explain web-based and mobile devices usage by citizens to interact with their local government. By employing literature from diverse fields of information systems research, the authors derive an integrated model that investigates citizen participation on a city improvement platform. The model proposes three overall influences on platform activity: technological influences (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness), motivational influences (intrinsic motivation and prosocial motivation), and sociodemographic influences (gender, age, education), and is tested among two groups of users (i.e. web page and mobile app users). Empirical results show that platform activity of both web and mobile users is mainly driven by intrinsic and prosocial motivation. Whereas perceived usefulness is positively associated with platform behavior of web users, TAM variables have not effect on mobile users’ activity. While gender and age play a role regarding web activity, age and education influence mobile participation.

The emergence of local open government: Determinants of citizen participation in online service reporting

Abstract This study contributes to the understanding of citizen-government interaction in open government arenas by investigating why citizens are willing to participate in citizensourcing platforms. We draw on technology acceptance literature, motivation theory, and the theory of planned behavior to explain individual citizensourcing activity, and quantitatively test our hypotheses surveying users of an online reporting platform. Our results indicate that respondents who experience enjoyment when engaged in citizensourcing show a higher activity level. Open government attractiveness and perceived benefit of using citizensourcing platforms further explain high level of platform activity. Besides these factors, respondents who previously reported via traditional channels are significantly more active in online reporting. Offline reporting experience also positively moderates the relationship between perceived ease of use and online reporting. Quantitative analyses show, in addition, that individual motivation for engaging in governmental initiatives varies across proactive, interactive, and passive types of users. We conclude with implications for public managers operating platforms, and discuss future research opportunities.

Aiming for a sustainable future: conceptualizing public open foresight

ABSTRACT Sustainability as a global challenge concerns actors across organizational and national boundaries. Meeting the complexity of the sustainability challenge requires collaboration between various stakeholders and strategies with long-term focus. Various authors propose foresight activities to enhance decisions related to strategies and innovations for a more sustainable future. We follow this call and suggest a new direction to be taken in public management concerning sustainability and investigate ‘public open foresight’: an inter-organizational discussion and analysis process of public sector organizations regarding future developments. This article applies open foresight to the public realm by presenting a process framework and outlining propositions for further research.

Browse or Brush? An Exploration of Citizen-Government Interaction in the Municipal Realm

To gain a better understanding about new forms of citizen-government interaction enabled by modern technology, we conducted a survey among citizens who interact with their local government by using a web-based platform or a mobile application. In our paper, we investigate the patterns of online and mobile communication between citizens and local government. Based on logistic regressions, we study who possesses the characteristics that predict communication via web and mobile application. Empirical findings indicate that socio-demographic factors (gender, age, education) predict individuals’ usage of web over mobile devices. Those with experience in communicating with local government via traditional channels prefer the web interface to get in touch, whereas frequent communicators are more likely to use mobile phone.

Local Open Government: Empirical Evidence from Austrian Municipalities.

Local governments have increasingly been applying an open and collaborative approach towards public management during the last years. Accordingly, they aim at increasing accessibility by releasing public data and providing participative decision-making arenas. ‘Open government’ has also been implemented in Austrian municipalities. This paper takes stock of the current status of open government implementation in Austria by analyzing survey data from city managers. Findings indicate that Austrian municipalities choose releasing public data over involving citizens in decision-making. Although public managers seem to value the principles of an open government, a successful implementation of open government is hampered by resource constraints.

Open Government: Exploring Patterns of Mobile Interaction Between Citizens and Local Government

Public sector organizations increasingly make use of modern technology to interact with citizens. Whereas communication between citizens and public employees was characterized by one-way (e.g., front-desk) or two-way transaction (e.g., e-mail) in previous times, advances in information and communication technology provide new possibilities for citizen-government interaction such as platform-based collaboration. Leveraging innovative channels facilitates many-to-many collaboration, and enables an increased level of government openness in terms of information and citizen integration.

Stages and Determinants of E-Government Development: A Twelve-Year Longitudinal Study of Global Cities

ABSTRACT: Global e-government innovations are at the forefront of municipal efforts to be better organized and more efficient in delivering services and improving outcomes for the public. Scholars have argued that such innovations are embedded in institutional and environmental factors, and municipal e-government growth evolves through stages as a result of the effects of these factors. However, existing studies rarely model the distinct success factors of the different stages. This article addresses that shortcoming with data from the largest cities in the world’s top 100 “most wired” countries from 2003 to 2016. Cluster analysis addresses whether there are any consistent growth trends, and finds that there are four clusters of e-government development. Regression analysis tests whether stages may be driven by specific factors, and findings reveal that e-government stages mostly have uniform drivers. Population size, GDP, and regional competition have a positive association across all stages. However, democracy level appears to have a more ambiguous status, as it influences some higher stages in large countries but has a negative association in small countries.

Open Government Data: Offene Daten in der Stadt Hamburg

Öffentliche Verwaltungen nutzen zunehmend neue technische Möglichkeiten, um Dritten öffentliche Informationen zur Verfügung zu stellen und Aktivitäten von Regierung und Verwaltung transparent zu gestalten. Die Veröffentlichung von Verwaltungsdaten soll dabei das Vertrauen der Bürgerinnen und Bürger stärken sowie neue Partizipationsmöglichkeiten schaffen. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Offenlegung von Verwaltungsdaten und erläutert die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen, Bereitstellung sowie Nutzung von Open Government Data am Beispiel der Stadt Hamburg. Hamburg stützt sich bei der Bereitstellung auf das 2012 beschlossene Hamburgische Transparenzgesetz. Entsprechend der darin festgelegten Veröffentlichungspflicht wurde 2014 das Hamburger Transparenzportal eingerichtet, das den Zugriff auf mehr als 1.700 Datensätze und beinahe 48.000 Dokumente ermöglicht. Die Anzahl der Seitenaufrufe zeigt eine regelmäßige Nutzung der Open Government Data. Die offenen Verwaltungsdaten dienen zudem als Grundlage für die Entwicklung neuer Anwendungen.

Retirement Determinants in Austria: An Aging Society but a Hesitant Policymaker!?

The Austrian welfare system faces substantial challenges from the low labor market participation of those aged 55 plus and from persistent early labor market exit. This is partly due to the low female pension age, but also due to the availability of institutionalized financially attractive early retirement pathways. Reforms in the 2000s aimed at closing off early retirement pathways, boosting labor market participation and delaying retirement transitions. However, even though participation rates have improved since, the effect of these reforms has been moderate, because reforms have mainly created financial disincentives to retire early in a still generous state pension system. Negative perceptions about old age at the firm level and early retirement preferences of individuals additionally contribute to early retirement trends. In summary, already implemented and forthcoming measures might affect the effective retirement age in upcoming years. However, individuals and employers also have to change their attitudes toward late retirement to significantly increase old age employment rates.