Big data and smart cities: a public sector organizational learning perspective

Public sector organizations (city authorities) have begun to explore ways to exploit big data to provide smarter solutions for cities. The way organizations learn to use new forms of technology has been widely researched. However, many public sector organisations have found themselves in new territory in trying to deploy and integrate this new form of technology (big data) to another fast moving and relatively new concept (smart city). This paper is a cross-sectional scoping study—from two UK smart city initiatives—on the learning processes experienced by elite (top management) stakeholders in the advent and adoption of these two novel concepts. The findings are an experiential narrative account on learning to exploit big data to address issues by developing solutions through smart city initiatives. The findings revealed a set of moves in relation to the exploration and exploitation of big data through smart city initiatives: (a) knowledge finding; (b) knowledge reframing; (c) inter-organization collaborations and (d) ex-post evaluations. Even though this is a time-sensitive scoping study it gives an account on a current state-of-play on the use of big data in public sector organizations for creating smarter cities. This study has implications for practitioners in the smart city domain and contributes to academia by operationalizing and adapting Crossan et al’s (Acad Manag Rev 24(3): 522–537, 1999) 4I model on organizational learning.     

An e-government framework for assessing readiness for public sector e-procurement in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACT

Governments globally are leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) growth towards improving the quality of public procurement services for socio-economic development. However, the extent of its application differs across nations. Notwithstanding the extant theoretical and empirical literature on IT for development, knowledge on how to assess readiness for adopting a full e-procurement system in the public sector of lower and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) begs for understanding. With the narrative of Ghana, we address this gap by drawing on the institutional and economic theory and the United Nations E-Government Development Index towards a holistic framework beyond the dyad of linear website functionalities and internet focus of prior e-government adoption models. Elite interviews gathered from multiple cases from Ghana’s public sector reveals the key readiness determinants for a full public sector e-procurement system. This study has significant implications for shaping the process-oriented management of government e-procurement projects towards socio-economic development in LMICs amid their complex institutional and socio-technical environments.     

Challenges and opportunities in renovating public sector information by enabling linked data and analytics

Linked Data has become the current W3C recommended approach for publishing data on the World Wide Web as it is sharable, extensible, and easily re-usable. An ecosystem of linked data hubs in the Public Sector has the potential to offer significant benefits to its consumers (other public offices and ministries, as well as researchers, citizens and SMEs), such as increased accessibility and re-use value of their data through the use of web-scale identifiers and easy interlinking with datasets of other public data providers. The power and flexibility of the schema-defying Linked Data, however, is counterbalanced by inborn factors that diminish the potential for cost-effective and efficient adoption by the Public Sector. The paper analyzes these challenges in view of the current state-of-the-art in linked data technologies and proposes a technical framework that aims to hide the underlying complexity of linked data while maintaining and promoting the interlinking capabilities enabled by the Linked Data Paradigm. The paper presents the innovations behind our proposed solutions as well as their advantages, especially for the non-expert users.     

It governance in the public sector: a conceptual model

Information technology governance (ITG) has been identified as an organizational ability of great importance for IT strategic alignment and the delivery of business though IT. However, the results and contribution of ITG are poorly understood. This work presents an explanatory model of the effects of IT governance mechanisms on IT and organizational performance of public organizations. To test the model, data was collected from a survey conducted in 146 Brazilian public organizations. Partial least squares analysis was applied to test the proposed model. The results indicate that (i) IT performance is positively correlated with organizational performance, (ii) relational mechanisms between IT and a business are determinant factors for the performance of IT, and also positively correlated with organizational performance, and (iii), decision structure and process maturity are not significantly correlated with IT performance.     

Information resource management in the public sector

In applied informatics, the term information resource management (IRM) is used in many different ways, while in the field of public administration, the term public sector covers many different activities and varies for different levels of government from country to country. Here a classification system which defines these different situations is presented. With its use, one may establish a picture of IRM in the public sector. This classification system is used in the Netherlands to formulate policy on information systems and services (IRM) for central, regional, and local government in a more of less coordinated way. It may also be of practical value for comparative studies of different countries. Our major conclusion is that the structure of a country's public administration has always implicitly been dependent, inter alia, on the information technology available. It follows that, all other things being equal, new information technologies will influence public sector organisation and its relations with society as a whole.     

Simulation in public sector management: a case study

We detail the development and application of a simulation model to aid decision making concerning the procedures followed in the Office of Film and Literature Classification, by forecasting the effects of possible management initiatives. The major variables are — the number of censors, the volume of publications to be classified (with special emphasis on computer technology publications) and the procedures, in particular, the number of censors with decision-making powers. A model of the system was developed using Extend; a simulation software package designed to aid decision support. This model was used to investigate the utilization of "decision-makers", and to identify and locate the bottlenecks, in the system under a number of different scenarios suggested by the client. There is also the flexibility to include additional duties that might be imposed on the Office.     

Information systems in the public sector: The e-Government enactment framework

Despite the burgeoning number of studies of public sector information systems, very few scholars have focussed on the relationship between e-Government policies and information systems choice and design. Drawing on Fountain’s (2001) technology enactment framework, this paper endeavours to conduct an in-depth investigation of the intricacies characterising the choice and design of new technologies in the context of e-Government reforms. By claiming that technologies are carriers of e-Government reform aims, this study investigates the logics embedded in the design of new technology and extant political interests and values inscribed in e-Government policies. The e-Government enactment framework is proposed as a theoretical and analytical approach to understand and study the complexity of these relationships which shape e-Government policies.     

Big data public art design based on multi core processor and computer vision

The amount of data in many large departments is also very large, so the public sector will get some data from these places to explore its value. There are more people in the public sector and more daily activities, so it is more convenient to collect data. Starting from the field of advanced analysis, we can improve the effectiveness of the system and expand the internal transparency. If we start from the perspective of improving the efficiency of personalized service, we can better help people provide services and welfare. Of course, you can also start with the performance programmable gate array of services. There are also many factors in the society that can have a corresponding impact on big data. We should consider these factors. Whether they are favorable or unfavorable, they will have an unpredictable impact on the development of big data. After considering these factors, we will need to show and analyze the conditions, consider what technology to develop, and consider what kind of development solutions and solutions should be built to better complete our research. If our research field is relatively small, we can also expand our research field. Especially in the analysis of data and application of these aspects, because the research has been more thorough, so in order to obtain new research results, we must take the edge. In addition to the issues that must be considered, we also need to consider the sources of data and the integration system of data, as well as how to obtain data from the public sector. Due to the privacy protection of many public sector data, many sensitive data can not be directly obtained, need to be affirmed by the upper level, and we also need to ensure the security of the data obtained.     

New work councils: Expanded cooperation in the public sector in Denmark

This article discusses several pilot projects carried out by Danish state institutions between 1995 and 1998 to extend employee participation through changes in the structure, competencies, and task areas within workplace work councils and safety organizations. In extending these projects, the employers and employees' organizations agreed in 1999 to prolong the existing cooperative agreement as well as a framework agreement that allows for new ways to organize cooperation and safety activities. The article discusses these initiatives and raises a series of questions about the possibilities and difficulties connected with increased employee participation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Collaborative e-Government: impediments and benefits of information-sharing projects in the public sector

Information-sharing projects are becoming increasingly important in both public and private organizations. Generally, organizations base their decision to move forward with an information-sharing project on the project's expected benefits such as better services, operational savings, and increased program effectiveness. Clearly, potential impediments particular to the government environment could limit the attainment of benefits, jeopardizing the project's business case and even the project itself. Yet, we know very little about how users’ perceived impediments affect a project's expected benefits in collaborative digital government initiatives. Using data from six public sector information-sharing projects, this paper reveals how some managerial and cultural impediments (e.g., control-oriented management) limit perceptions of expected benefits. Surprisingly, political impediments were not found to significantly affect the expectations of benefits. Additionally, the paper provides managers with specific advice on how to better understand users’ perceptions and expectations. The paper should be of interest to both academicians and practitioners who are interested in government information technology implementation, in general, and collaborative e-Government, in particular.     

Big data challenge: a data management perspective

There is a trend that, virtually everyone, ranging from big Web companies to traditional enterprisers to physical science researchers to social scientists, is either already experiencing or anticipating unprecedented growth in the amount of data available in their world, as well as new opportunities and great untapped value. This paper reviews big data challenges from a data management respective. In particular, we discuss big data diversity, big data reduction, big data integration and cleaning, big data indexing and query, and finally big data analysis and mining. Our survey gives a brief overview about big-data-oriented research and problems.     

大数据评测基准的研发现状与趋势

工业界、学术界,以及最终用户都急切需要一个大数据的评测基准, 用以评估现有的大数据系统,改进现有技术以及开发新的技术。回顾了近几年来大数据评测基准研发方面的主要工作。 对它们的特点和缺点进行了比较分析。在此基础上, 对研发新的大数据评测基准提出了一系列考虑因素:1)为了对整个大数据平台的不同子工具进行评测, 以及把大数据平台作为一个整体进行评测, 需要研发面向组件的评测基准和面向大数据平台整体的评测基准, 后者是前者的有机组合;2)工作负载除了SQL查询之外, 必须包含大数据分析任务所需要的各种复杂分析功能, 涵盖各类应用需求;3)在评测指标方面,除了性能指标(响应时间和吞吐量)之外, 还需要考虑其他指标的评测, 包括系统的可扩展性、容错性、节能性和安全性等。     

Some capital investment considerations in the public utility sector

This paper presents a method for generating minimum annual revenue requirements (MARR), using the normalizing procedure, for projects with extended construction periods. The method presented includes a provision for allowable funds under construction (AFC). This paper also presents a method for calculating the effect of a project on the rate base and discusses the effects of MARR, rate base, and AFC on consumer rates.     

Assessing safety culture in public sector organisations: A cross-national study

An appropriate safety culture helps in enhancing safety performance in organisations. This study aims to investigate safety culture prevalence, assess individual sociodemographic parameters and accident experience effects on this culture and explore ways to enhance this culture in public sector organisations. A specially designed questionnaire was randomly distributed to 805 public sector employees in Dubai and Kuwait. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement with 24 statements representing seven safety culture dimensions. Student t-test and non-parametric tests were used to analyse the responses. Results revealed that employees in both governments reported experiencing a reasonably strong safety culture in their workplaces with safety attitude and teamwork receiving the highest while safety rules and workload receiving the lowest ranks among the seven safety culture dimensions. Moreover, male employees reported experiencing more accidents and scoring higher on most safety culture dimensions than female employees. Finally, employees who experienced accidents in the last five years reported a higher safety culture score than others. Accordingly, recommendations are put forward to enhance safety culture in public sector organisations.     

Quality management and the work environment: an empirical investigation in a public sector organization

The integration of quality management initiatives, particularly total quality management (TQM), and ergonomics has received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. Above all, the question of how TQM programs relate to ergonomic aspects of organizational design and culture is at the center of this discussion. This study examines how elements of a "typical", Deming-inspired, TQM program in the public sector interact with the work environment. Elements of the TQM program were defined and measured using the Malcom Baldridge Award criteria. The specific elements examined were "Management Support of Quality", "Information and Analysis", "Human Resources", "Processes and Quality Results", and "Customer Focus and Satisfaction". The relationship between these TQM elements and the work environment were defined through five separate hypotheses. The work environment was described by the constructs "Supervisor Support", "Task Clarity", "Task Orientation", and "Innovation". Data were obtained through survey questionnaires administered to employees of four departments in a municipal government organization. Results supported three of the hypotheses, but produced some unanticipated outcomes with regard to the other two. Namely, "Management Support of Quality" was significantly related to "Supervisor Support", "Task Orientation", "Task Clarity" and "Innovation"; "Human Resources" was significantly related to "Supervisor Support"; "Processes and Quality Results" was significantly related to "Task Orientation" and "Innovation". Contrary to predicted "Information and Analysis" was negatively related to "Innovation", and "Customer Focus" was unrelated to any of the outcome variables. The relationships between these TQM elements and work environment dimensions are discussed. Implications for TQM and ergonomic practice are analyzed, and directions for future research proposed.     

The continuity of underperforming ICT projects in the public sector

There is a growing body of research on the successes and failures of information and communications technology (ICT) projects in the public sector. However, this literature has rarely addressed the question of why some projects persist and continue despite functioning poorly in several areas. In this paper, we suggest that the notions of institutional logics and status differences provide useful insights into the structure and trajectory of this type of continuity. We build our arguments through an in-depth qualitative case study of a public information and communications technology (PICT) project in India. From our findings, we develop a process model of PICT project continuity. We explain how the employment of bureaucratic posturing – a manifestation of bureaucratic logic – as a tactic by high status groups could lead to poor performance on several fronts. The paper elaborates on two levels of continuity: policy-level continuity, which in our case was enabled by the logics of decentralization and technocracy, and operational-level continuity, which was achieved when groups with contrasting status-related motivations supported the project.     

Multi-sensor NDVI data continuity: Uncertainties and implications for vegetation monitoring applications

Consistent NDVI time series are paramount in monitoring ecological resources that are being altered by climate and human impacts. An increasing number of natural resource managers use web-based geospatial decision support tools that integrate time series of both historical and current NDVI data derived from multiple sensors to make better informed planning and management decisions. Representative canopy reflectance and NDVI data were simulated for historical, current and future AVHRR, MODIS and VIIRS land surface monitoring satellites to quantify the differences due to sensor-specific characteristics. Cross-sensor NDVI translation equations were developed for surface conditions. The effect of a range of atmospheric conditions (Rayleigh scattering, ozone, aerosol optical thickness, and water vapor content) on the sensor-specific reflectance and NDVI values were evaluated to quantify the uncertainty in the apparent NDVI for each sensor. MODIS and VIIRS NDVI data are minimally affected by the atmospheric water vapor, while AVHRR NDVI data are substantially reduced by water vapor.Although multi-sensor NDVI continuity can be obtained by using the developed cross-sensor translation equations, the interactions between the spectral characteristics of surface vegetation and soil components, sensor-specific spectral band characteristics and atmospheric scattering and absorption windows will introduce uncertainty due to insufficient knowledge about the atmospheric conditions that affect the signal of the Earth's pixels at the time of data acquisitions. Processing strategies and algorithm preferences among data streams are also hindering cross-sensor NDVI continuity.