e-Government information systems: Evaluation-led design for public value and client trust

e-Government systems differ from commercial information systems (IS) in that they frequently encompass strategic goals that go beyond efficiency, effectiveness and economy, and include political and social objectives such as trust in government, social inclusion, community regeneration, community well-being and sustainability. Designing e-Government systems that help to meet these objectives is a significant challenge for the future. This paper develops an evaluative design framework for e-Government projects that complements traditional approaches to IS evaluation. The framework is based upon Moor's concept of public value. It focuses upon citizens' and clients' experiences of service provision and service outcomes as contributors to the formation of public trust. Trust is shown to be related to the extent to which people feel that an e-Government service enhances their sense of being well-informed, gives them greater personal control, and provides them with a sense of influence or contingency. The framework's development and validation are founded upon analyses of a two live case studies in south-east England and London, U.K.     

The enactment of significance: a unified conception of information,systems and technology

This paper introduces a new perspective that helps unpack the relationship between information, systems and technology within the nature of human organisation. We argue for an area of interest located at the intersection of signs and systems, which involves the enactment of forma, informa and performa. To demonstrate the utility of this perspective, we deliberately consider a ‘strange’ case from a different time, space and culture. We discuss the nature of human organisation among the Inka Empire and how this organisation was reliant upon the enactment of significance, particularly in relation to an artefact known as the khipu. We conclude with a discussion of the value of our framework in helping us understand the complex entanglement of information, systems and technology within human organisation.     

上海市电子政务试点示范工程综述

随着信息化的迅速推进，世界各国逐渐认识到了信息化在政府工作中的积极作用，我国也在大力实施和推进我国的电子政务建设。该文从总体上介绍了“上海市电子政务试点示范工程”的研发和实施情况，从研究背景、系统设计、实施原则等多个方面对“示范工程”进行了分析和阐述，对国内其他电子政务系统的建设提供了有益的借鉴和帮助。     

A framework for comparing perspectives on privacy and pervasive technologies

Pervasive computing research has evolved, investigating mechanisms for supporting some predefined notion of privacy, typically favoring individual rights over the rights of the community. We offer a framework to consider individual and group rights so that technology developers can more effectively reason about concerns for existing technology as well as generate new technologies that respect a well-defined set of social norms. We outline a framework designed to help developers understand the conflict between privacy and pervasive computing technologies, particularly those technologies that deal with sensing and storage. Pervasive computing technologies, especially those that can automate perception of human activity and then store that information, can provide tremendous benefits. We offer an analytic method to assist developers in asking questions about the systems and applications they are creating. We believe this framework will help developers minimize the gap between design goals and actual effects on privacy.     

Remote electronic voting systems: an exploration of voters' perceptions and intention to use

Coupling telephone and web interfaces with computers for balloting outside the polling place, remote electronic voting systems (REVS) give the voter a choice: polling booth, absentee ballot, or remote voting. Not only does this e-Government technology raises issues such as security, voter participation, and accessibility, REVS technologies themselves differ in features and enabling conditions. How users (voters) perceive REVS's availability, mobility, accuracy, privacy protection, and ease of use, is likely to affect their use intention. Intention to use or not to use a voting technology can translate into a decision to vote or not – and there are no ‘do-overs’. We develop a model and report on a survey of potential voters – people waiting to be impaneled on a jury – in regard to the impact of REVS characteristics on voting intentions and how the two most discussed REVS technologies of telephone- and web-based interfaces are perceived.     

电子政务一站式服务框架

近年来，我国电子政务建设向着网络化、高效化和透明化地方向发展。一站式服务作为对电子政务整体架构的重构，是一个符合电子政务发展方向的框架解决方案。基于消息中间件接口等核心技术，该文阐述了一站式服务框架基本组成和各平台的功能和相互间关联。     

Formal Specification and Enactment of Security Policies through Agent Coordination Contexts

Our research moves from three fundamental considerations that concern the modelling and engineering of complex systems. First, organization, coordination and security are strictly related issues that should be modelled in a uniform and coherent framework. Second, models, technologies and methodologies should come hand in hand, so that abstractions used in the analysis and design stages should be still “alive and kicking” at development and execution time. Third, the general non-formalisability of complex systems should not prevent us from using formal tools whenever useful, such as in proving or ensuring properties of limited but meaningful portions of a system.By focussing on multi-agent systems, we discuss the notion of Agent Coordination Context (ACC) as an abstraction that (i) works as an organization and security abstraction, (ii) integrates well with abstractions provided by coordination infrastructures, and (iii) covers the engineering process from design to deployment. In particular, in this paper we study the syntax and semantics of a language for ACCs specification, exploiting typical process algebra techniques. Accordingly, we show that process algebras are a suitable tool for both specification and enactment of security and coordination policies through ACCs.     

面向3G的运营支撑系统研究

本文面向3G、NGN等网络技术的发展,运用信息技术系统规划的方法,对面向3G的运营支撑系统(BOSS)进行了研究,建立了新系统的功能架构和总体技术架构模型,提出了新的子系统划分方法,并对综合采集子系统进行了需求功能描述及业务流程分析设计,为移动业务运营支撑系统向3G平滑过渡进行了探索和研究。     

Managing e-Government system implementation: a resource enactment perspective

The research presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of an e-Government system implementation. The resource-based view and the enactment concept were leveraged as a theoretical sense-making lens to study the system through its planning, development and operation phases. Consequently, a process model of resource enactment was developed to theorize how organizational resources were mobilized for successful implementation. It was found that the environmental climate at each phase gave rise to a particular focal capability. This was developed through the symbiotic enactment of a focal resource in conjunction with other complementary resources. Specifically, knowledge, social and leadership resources were found to be pertinently enacted in developing the focal capabilities. When observed across the phases, such symbiotic enactment of complementary resources followed a co-evolutionary path. The empirical research was conducted through a qualitative case analysis. This research would therefore be of interest to both academics and practitioners as it contributes to cumulative theoretical development and provides practical grounded insights to inform and advance e-Government system implementation.     

User behaviour towards protective information technologies: the role of national cultural differences

Computer technologies that protect data and systems from viruses, unauthorized access, disruptions, spyware and other threats have become increasingly important in the globally networked economy and society. Yet little is known about user attitudes and behaviour towards this category of information technologies. Comparative studies across different cultures in this context are even rarer. In this study, we examine the cross-cultural differences between South Korea and the United States in user behaviour towards protective information technologies. We develop a theoretical model of user behaviour based on the framework of the theory of planned behaviour and national cultural dimensions and indices. We posit that cultural factors moderate the strength of the relationships in the behavioural model in the context of protective information technologies. The model was then empirically tested using structural equation modelling techniques in conjunction with multi-group analysis. Most of the hypothesized moderating effects of national cultural factors were found to be statistically significant. Our findings suggest that cultural factors should be considered in order to design effective information security policies, practices and technologies in global networks where multiple cultures coexist. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

基于.NET的分布式应用程序框架的设计

.NET框架简化了第三代因特网的高分布式环境下的应用程序开发,其中的Web Service技术和.NET Remoting技术为构建中小型分布式系统提供了典型的解决方案,但是这两种技术适合不同的应用环境并各具特点。本文深入分析这两种技术的优缺点,并结合这两种技术设计出一种新型的分布式应用程序框架,实现分布式系统中信息的高效处理,并解决了以往类似框架下的安全性问题。     

Towards the development of interoperable sensing systems for the future enterprise

Current research efforts in the area of enterprise systems are focusing on the development and standardization of new technologies to sustain the “Future Internet based Enterprise”. In this context, emerging Internet technologies are integrated into enterprise information systems in order to provide sustainable business benefits. These new systems have been included in a broad concept of “Future Internet Based Enterprise Systems”. The present paper proposes a sensing based approach to the design of Future Internet Based Enterprise Systems. To sustain the seamless integration and system interoperability a framework to integrate the sensing ability with enterprise information systems is discussed.     

基于xmI的电子政务系统的数据交换设计

分析了电子政务信息系统的异构性和数据交换的需求,提出建设电子政务数据交换中心的方案及模式,描述了电子政务中的数据交换系统体系结构和功能,然后给出了使用XML定义的包头文件和数据接口文件以及使用的方法．     

Research on e-Government evaluation model based on the principal component analysis

Over the last few years, the area of electronic government (e-Government) has received increasing prominence and attention; people are interacting with e-Government systems to an ever greater extent. It is therefore important to measure the development of e-Government. Adopting principal component analysis (PCA), this study presents, validates and updates an evaluation model with 5 dimensions based on Socio-Technical model and Stakeholder Theory, which captures the multidimensional and interdependent nature of e-Government system. The validity of the model is empirically investigated using a sample of local e-Government of 18 cities in China, all of which have high Internet penetration and mature ICT use. The five dimensions of the evaluation model include project construction, information security management, special construction, transparency of government affairs and informationized ability. K-means clustering is applied in the subspace created by PCA to evaluate the local e-Government stages of growth of these 18 cities. The findings provide several important implications for e-Government research and practice.     

Technology and social relationships as knowledge elements: An insight into the institutional and non-institutional relationships

The objective of this work is to analyse technology and social relationships using the concept of knowledge. Therefore technology is not only a means to produce and social relationships a means to interact, but also the result of a whole of elements. The concept of knowledge aims to analyse these elements both from a structural point of view, highlighting their characteristics, and from a dynamic point of view, which considers how subjects interpret and make sense of them. In this framework technologies and social relationships are reinterpreted according to knowledge that characterises each context, suggesting some clues to design technologies, information technologies and social policies.c/o International House, post n. 454, 199-1 Dong Soong-dong, Chongro-ku, Seoul, South Korea, 110-510.     

An analysis of electronic-mail usage

Advances in information technology have set the pace for tremendous growth in the development of new computer-mediated channels of communication services and technologies. That these recent developments are fueled by technology might misleadingly suggest that the selection of a communication channel is largely based on technological criteria. Communication technologies require multiple users and cannot be used successfully by one person acting alone. Therefore, problems may arise when users fail to consider their self-efficacy and/or fail to consider social factors related to communication channel use.The main purpose of this study was to establish a better measure and model for use in predicting and explaining electronic-mail systems as an example of computer-mediated communication technologies (CMCT) usage and choice. The results indicated that all of the eight hypotheses showed significant correlation between criterion and predictor variates, supported by different canonical functions. The objective of the study was achieved by showing that the proposed research model can explain and predict the individual and combined effects of user self-efficacy, technological characteristics, and social-influence perspectives on CMCT usage and choice.     

The moderating role of customer–technology contact on attitude towards technology-based services

Previous studies in information systems research and service marketing treat customer behaviour towards technology-based services (TBS) homogeneously. However, recent studies recognize that users have different attitude towards different technologies even if these technologies used to support the same service. Drawing on literature from service marketing (i.e. customer contact theory), information systems (unified theory of technology acceptance), and organizational behaviour (task complexity theory), this study proposes a construct that classifies TBS according to the level of customer–technology interaction they require, namely the customer–technology contact (CTC). The moderating effect of this construct on the relationship between individual characteristics – that is technology readiness and attitude towards TBS – is examined through an empirical study. Technology-based retail services scenarios, with different levels of technology contact, are presented to supermarket shoppers (n=600). Results show that CTC, as a unique service attribute, moderates the effect of personality traits to customers’ attitude. The current study introduces this new service attribute that is applicable to ubiquitous computing services, application and design.     

A framework for developing Web information systems plans: illustration with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

Internet technology holds many promises for enterprise information integration. Web information systems are applications that facilitate intra- and inter-firm processes and integration of myriad enterprise information systems. However, these applications require sound planning to really tap into the unique promises of the Internet and the Web technologies and add value to the enterprise. Heavy machinery industry, typified by Samsung Heavy Industries presents a good case in point. Static conventional home pages do not facilitate a manufacturer’s needs of information management in its core production and business functions. Instead, dynamic Web client capabilities must be connected with real-time enterprise databases in a cohesive plan to enhance integration of business processes. Planning of Web information systems needs a proactive review of the capabilities of the Internet technology to serve the particular needs of a firm and its customers. In this paper we describe the application of a generic Web information systems (WIS) planning framework to the construction equipment division of Samsung Heavy Industries of Korea to enhance its core business. The framework is rooted in economic principles that are shown to be the drivers of modern WIS. Further, the framework is applied to the task of developing a strategic plan of WIS for the marketing and service activities of the construction equipment division of the firm. The planning process is shown to cover most of the systems development life cycle from high level information goal setting to design of Internet-based new order managing and service part requisition sub-systems.     

P3 systems: putting the place back into social networks

The availability of technologies enables a new class of location-aware information systems that link people-to-people-to-geographical-places (P3 systems). P3 systems can strengthen the relationship between social networks and physical places. They can also help individuals leverage location information to make new social ties and coordinate interactions that reinforce existing ties. Using the P3 systems framework, we describe the design space for location-aware community systems and important socio-technical challenges and opportunities.     

Information server for highly-connected cross-media publishing

Over the last decade, we have seen a significant increase in the number of projects aiming for integration of different kinds of media(mixed-media integration). However, most existing approaches tend to focus on the media technologies rather than on concepts for information integration and linking that enable users to move freely back and forth between various media information sources. In this paper, we discuss the issues of information semantics and granularity that arise in the design of highly interactive mixed-media information systems and present a general, flexible information server that meets the requirements of publishing information on different output channels (cross-media publishing). Specifically, we introduce the iServer framework as a generic link management and extensible integration platform and digitally augmented paper is presented as one specific application of the iServer technology. A case study shows how cross-media publishers could profit from using more elaborate information systems and some of the authoring issues of mixed-media information environments are discussed.