Mila Gascó

Special issue on transparency and open data policies: guest editors' introduction

Literature and policy reports suggest that open data can be used as a tool to enhance transparency. However, several researchers have challenged the idea that the release of government data will result in increased transparency and the idea that transparency automatically leads to more trust in the government. Moreover, transparency may have undesired effects. Limited research has been conducted on these sometimes conflicting findings and challenges, and on how open data policies should deal with this. It is not clear what encompasses an effective open data policy and how this influences transparency. The papers in this special issue contribute to this area. In the introduction of this special issue we present the state-of-the-art with regard to definitions, developments, research, challenges and barriers related to open data transparency and open data policies. Finally, a summary of the papers included in this special issue is provided.

Approaching E-Government Interoperability

E-government interoperability is not something new. However, this term has grown in importance as a result of the need to design and offer more sophisticated and complex e-government services that, many times, require the collaboration of two or more public institutions. Meaningful research on this topic could therefore be helpful in providing a basis for more clarity, insight, and understanding of this important topic. This is what this special issue is aimed at: to generate new and relevant scholarly contributions on interoperability that gather the diverse interests of an experienced set of authors, geographically distributed and with different perspectives on this issue.

How Do Southern European Cities Foster Innovation? Lessons from the Experience of the Smart City Approaches of Barcelona and Milan

Innovation, and technological innovation in particular, can help city governments meet the challenges of urban governance, improve urban environments, become more competitive, and address sustainability concerns. To prevent and manage these challenges, cities need to operate in an innovative way. In this context, the smart city approach is emerging as a way of solving tangled and difficult problems. However, there is not a unique and right strategy to develop a smart city. By drawing on a comparison between the experiences of Barcelona (Spain) and Milan (Italy), this chapter aims to explore similarities and differences in the way these two Southern European cities, both being the second largest in their respective countries, are building their smart city agenda. The ultimate aim is to identify the main features of two still developing approaches, which appear to be influenced by the increasing integration of smart dimensions and initiatives in the cities’ strategic agendas and the related opportunities and challenges.

A Knowledge-Based Conceptual Vision of the Smart City

The term smart city is a fuzzy concept, not well defined in theoretical researches nor in empirical projects. Several definitions, different from each other, have been proposed. However, all agree on the fact that a Smart City is an urban space that tends to improve the daily life (work, school,) of its citizens (broadly defined). This is an improvement from different points of view: social, political, economic, governmental,... This paper goes beyond this definition and proposes a knowledge-based conceptual vision of the smart city, centered on peoples information and knowledge of people, in order to improve decision-making processes and enhance the value-added of business processes of the modern city.

Perspectives on the police profession: an international investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify the diversity of professional perspectives on police culture in an international context. Design/methodology/approach – In a first step the authors developed a standardized instrument of 45 occupational features for comparative analysis of police professional views. This set was inductively created from 3,441 descriptors of the police profession from a highly diverse sample of 166 police officers across eight European countries. Using this standardized instrument, Q-methodological interviews with another 100 police officers in six European countries were conducted. Findings – The authors identified five perspectives on the police profession suggesting disparities in officers’ outlooks and understanding of their occupation. Yet, the findings also outline considerable overlaps in specific features considered important or unimportant across perspectives. Research limitations/implications – The study emphasizes that police culture needs to be described beyond ...

What Makes a City Smart? Lessons from Barcelona

Innovation, and technological innovation in particular, can help city governments to meet the challenges of urban governance, to improve urban environments, to become more competitive and to address sustainability concerns. To prevent and manage these challenges, cities need to operate in an innovative way. In this context, the smart city approach is emerging as a way of solving tangled and wicked problems. However, there is no one route to becoming smart and different cities have adopted different approaches that reflect their particular circumstances. The objective of this paper is to assess the strategy adopted by the city of Barcelona, which has been repeatedly considered among the top smart cities in the world, using a comprehensive framework that includes eight variables for the analysis. The ultimate goal is to provide useful insights on the development of a smart city.

Introduction to E-justice and E-law Minitrack

This mini-track aims at discussing trends, challenges, case studies and best practices, theories, and methodologies in the field of e-justice and e-law.

Introduction to the Smart Cities and Smart City Government Minitrack

Mini track introduction.