Sarah Hartmann

Government and Social Media: A Case Study of 31 Informational World Cities

Social media platforms are increasingly being used by governments to foster user interaction. Particularly in cities with enhanced ICT infrastructures (i.e., Informational World Cities) and high internet penetration rates, social media platforms are valuable tools for reaching high numbers of citizens. This empirical investigation of 31 Informational World Cities will provide an overview of social media services used for governmental purposes, of their popularity among governments, and of their usage intensity in broadcasting information online.

Public Libraries in the Knowledge Society: Core Services of Libraries in Informational World Cities

Abstract Informational Cities are the prototypical spaces of the knowledge society. Public libraries play an important role as parts of the digital, smart, knowledge and creative infrastructures of these Informational Cities. Libraries have economic value as location factors in the two spaces of Informational Cities, the physical and the digital. For this reason, we divided the library services into two main groups, namely the digital library and the physical library. For 31 specified Informational World Cities, we empirically analyzed the core services of their public libraries via content analysis of the libraries’ Web pages. Additionally, we studied these libraries’ social media activities. Many libraries provide free e-resources (above all, e-books, e-journals and bibliographical databases) to their customers. Libraries offer digital reference services, mainly via e-mail and Web forms. Their presence in social media is dominated by posts on Facebook and Twitter. Nearly all public libraries we analyzed represent attractive architectural landmarks in their region. Besides offering spaces for children, the libraries provide rooms for learning and getting together and, to a lesser degree, modular working spaces. Most libraries provide Wi-Fi inside their buildings; more than half of those we investigated work with RFID technology. The prototypical public library in the knowledge society has two core services: (1) to support citizens, companies and administrations in their city and region with digital services, namely e-resources as well as reference services, and to communicate with their customers via social media; and (2) to provide physical spaces for meeting, learning and working, as well as areas for children and other groups, in a building that is a landmark of the city.

Looking for friends and followers: a global investigation of governmental social media use

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify governmental social media use in cities with enhanced information and communications technology infrastructures (i.e. Informational World Cities) and high Internet penetration rates. Social media platforms are increasingly being used by governments to foster user interaction and it was investigated if social media platforms are valuable tools for reaching high numbers of citizens. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an iterative content and Web analysis from November 2012 till January 2013 and offers a comparison of different social media service types and the particular use. Findings – This empirical investigation of 31 Informational World Cities provides an overview of social media services used for governmental purposes, of their popularity among governments and of their usage intensity in broadcasting information online. Even as cities in a globalized world become more similar, a variety in the use of social media by governments was d...

Chitinases are essential for cell separation in Ustilago maydis

ABSTRACT Chitin is an essential component of the fungal cell wall, providing rigidity and stability. Its degradation is mediated by chitinases and supposedly ensures the dynamic plasticity of the cell wall during growth and morphogenesis. Hence, chitinases should be particularly important for fungi with dramatic morphological changes, such as Ustilago maydis. This smut fungus switches from yeast to filamentous growth for plant infection, proliferates as a mycelium in planta, and forms teliospores for spreading. Here, we investigate the contribution of its four chitinolytic enzymes to the different morphological changes during the complete life cycle in a comprehensive study of deletion strains combined with biochemical and cell biological approaches. Interestingly, two chitinases act redundantly in cell separation during yeast growth. They mediate the degradation of remnant chitin in the fragmentation zone between mother and daughter cell. In contrast, even the complete lack of chitinolytic activity does not affect formation of the infectious filament, infection, biotrophic growth, or teliospore germination. Thus, unexpectedly we can exclude a major role for chitinolytic enzymes in morphogenesis or pathogenicity of U. maydis. Nevertheless, redundant activity of even two chitinases is essential for cell separation during saprophytic growth, possibly to improve nutrient access or spreading of yeast cells by wind or rain.

Informational Urbanism. A Conceptual Framework of Smart Cities

Contemporary and future cities are often labeled as “smart cities,” “digital cities” or “ubiquitous cities,” “knowledge cities,” and “creative cities.” Informational urbanism includes all aspects of information and (tacit as well as explicit) knowledge with regard to urban regions. “Informational city” (or “smart city” in a broader sense) is an umbrella term uniting the divergent trends of informationrelated city research. Informational urbanism is an interdisciplinary endeavor incorporating on the one side computer science and information science as well as on the other side urban studies, city planning, architecture, city economics, and city sociology. In this article, we present both, a conceptual framework for research on smart cities as well as results from our empirical studies on smart cities all over the world. The framework consists of seven building blocks, namely information and knowledge related infrastructures, economy, politics (e-governance) and administration (e-government), spaces (spaces of flows and spaces of places), location factors, the people’s information behavior, and problem areas.

Opportunities and Challenges for Civic Engagement: A Global Investigation of Innovation Competitions

The population in many cities all over the world is continuously growing and with this growing number of people infrastructural, health and location-related problems increase. It is assumed that these problems could be addressed by means of open government data which many governments publish on their web portals so that it can be further processed and transformed. Since the citizens themselves know best what they need, governments encourage them to participate in open data innovation competitions and to create value added services for their city. The reuse of open urban government data during hackathons or app competitions is a new trend in knowledge societies of how governments and citizens work together. But have these events still become practice in local governments and are they helpful means to foster government-to-citizen communication and collaboration? The authors analyze innovation competitions in 24 world cities to see how they are applied and whether they have the potential to make the city “smart†.

Open Government: Transforming Data into Value-Added City Services

Open data and open government are topics which are not new, but today we can see initiatives which transform data into value-added services. But are there real world examples where those services make the city “smart?” We are going to define open urban government data in the context of e-Government and m-Government. This chapter reports on an investigation about the open urban government data and hackathon movement on a global scale and takes a deeper look at the real world examples of Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris. It will be discussed which challenges governments are confronted with to make open data available as well as the role of hackathons in the development of mobile applications based on this data.

Citizen Relationship Management in Local Governments: The Potential of 311 for Public Service Delivery

The American citizen relationship management system 311 achieved much success in recent years. It started as a simple hotline and has evolved to a multi-channel communication system which offers a wide range of governmental services, e.g., Web self-service portals, social media, and mobile applications. In many cases, it functions as a single contact point for any issue citizens could have within their neighborhood. It is assumed to allow for quicker and easier access to non-emergency municipal services and information as well as to improve effectiveness and efficiency of governmental service delivery. However, current research on the changes in public service delivery evoked by 311 as well as the importance of different communication channels is missing. Therefore, this chapter introduces 311 systems in three American cities and exposes that the extent to which governmental service provision changed is dependent on the type of request. Considering the strong increase in the number of requests, governmental service delivery has improved in recent years. In addition, the variety of different communication channels can be assumed to be of major importance in order to reach a broad range of citizens. Besides that, the data generated by 311 allow for new opportunities in the provision of governmental information and services and have big potential for improvements in public administrations.

Citizen Relationship Management for Civic Participation: How Smart Cities use 311 to Involve Citizens

The American citizen relationship management (CiRM) system 311 achieved much success in recent years and has primarily been implemented by US cities in order to become more efficient, effective, and citizen-centric. 311 has evolved to a multi-channel CiRM system which offers a wide range of governmental services and in many cases, functions as a single contact point for any issue citizens could have within their neighborhoods. The system has a high potential for smart cities to improve governmental service delivery and offers citizens an opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. Especially mobile applications are assumed to facilitate faster and easier access to city governments. However, current research on the systems’ benefits for smart cities and the extent to which they help to increase civic participation is missing, wherefore the following chapter presents 311 systems from three smart US cities and discusses their potential for improvements in public administration.

Informationswissenschaft in der Urbanistik

Zusammenfassung Zeitgenössische und zukünftige Städte der Wissensgesellschaft werden oft als „smarte Städte“, „digitale Städte“ oder „ubiquitäre Städte“, „Wissensstädte“ und „kreative Städte“ bezeichnet. Die informationelle Urbanistik umfasst alle Aspekte von Information und (implizitem wie explizitem) Wissen in Hinblick auf städtische Regionen. „Informationelle Stadt“ (oder „smarte Stadt“ im weiteren Sinne) ist ein Sammelbegriff, der die unterschiedlichen Trends der informationsbezogenen Stadtforschung vereint. Die informationelle Stadtforschung ist ein interdisziplinäres Unternehmen, das einerseits Informatik und Informationswissenschaft sowie andererseits Stadtforschung, Stadtplanung, Architektur, Stadtökonomie und Stadtsoziologie vereint. In diesem Artikel präsentieren wir einen konzeptionellen Rahmen für die Forschung zu informationellen Städten. Dieses Framework besteht aus sieben Bausteinen, nämlich Informations- und Wissensinfrastrukturen, Wirtschaft, Politik (eGovernance) und Verwaltung (eGovernment), Räume (Räume der Ströme und Räume der Plätze), Standortfaktoren, das Informationsverhalten der Menschen und die Problembereiche.