Editorial

Citation

Irani, Z. and Kamal, M. (2015), "Editorial", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-06-2015-0025

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Volume 9, Issue 3

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the third issue of the ninth volume of Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy (TGPPP). Over the years, the constant update of the journal’s scope to advocate theoretical, as well as empirical, research has led to an increase in the quality of submissions and citations. The papers in this issue of TGPPP provide a rich contextual background into e-government services, i.e. service-oriented architecture (SOA), e-government and healthcare, government open data, trust and transparency of public organisations, information quality and e-government, government service transformation and e-invoice systems.

This issue commences with a research paper by Konstantinos Koumaditis and Marinos Themistocleous, entitled “Organizational Structures during SOA Implementation: The Case of a Greek Healthcare Organization”. This research highlights several inefficiencies related to e-government healthcare approaches such as:

• a high degree of centralisation in decision-making and administrative processes;

• lack of planning and coordination;

• fragmentation of coverage and an absence of a referral system based on GPs or group practice; and

• absence of incentives to improve efficiency and quality.

The awareness of these issues and the resulting need to improve and modernise the healthcare system, have led to a recurring stream of reforms undertaken by government bodies over the past three decades. However, these reforms have not been fully implemented and healthcare organisations have even diverged from their original objectives. This research therefore aims to investigate SOA organisational structures in the healthcare sector through a rigorous literature review, development and testing in an e-government healthcare setting. To examine the SOA organisational structure (SOA-OS) phenomena in healthcare, the authors use an interpretive, qualitative case study approach to conduct this research. Several data collection methods were used, including conducting face-to-face semi-structured interviews with four professionals during a period of four months. The empirical findings demonstrate that the proposed SOA-OS can be applied as a decision-making tool for forming SOA-OS in healthcare organisations.

Following the above research paper, we have another research paper by Rininta Nugroho, Anneke Zuiderwijk, Marijn Janssen and Martin de Jong, entitled “A Comparison of National Open Data Policies: Lessons Learned”. In this research, the authors report that the field of open data is largely seen as an emerging trend in the world of information and communication technology (ICT) in both private and public sectors. Several researchers advocate that because of significant benefits, many governments around the world (e.g. Australia, Denmark, Spain, UK and USA) are motivated to open their governmental data to public (Janssen et al., 2012; Huijboom and Van den Broek, 2011; Zuiderwijk et al., 2012) – as it has many positive impacts such as:

• transparency and accountability of the government;

• participation and self-empowerment to the citizens;

• economic growth; and

• stimulation of innovation through reuse of data.

However, some countries (e.g. Indonesia and Kenya) have no or less developed open data policies, in this way missing the opportunity to reap the benefits of open data (Schwegmann, 2013). The authors argue that with the uneven progress of open data in different countries, it is possible for countries to learn from each other. The purpose of this paper is therefore to provide a comprehensive cross-national comparative framework to compare open data policies from different countries and to derive lessons for developing open data policies. The comparison of open data policies highlighted several lessons that can be learned, including actions regarding:

• a robust legal framework;

• generic operational policies;

• data providers and data users;

• data quality;

• designated agencies or taskforces; and

• initiatives and incentives for stimulating demand for data.

The authors assert that national policies should also be focused on removing barriers on the operational level and policies for stimulating the release and use of data.

Then we have Cayetano Medina and Ramón Rufín presenting their research entitled “Transparency Policy and Students’ Satisfaction and Trust”. Citizens have lost their faith in the public institutions’ actions – this issue was raised in the mid to late 2000 and reported by Blind (2007). Over the years, this issue has been dealt with and discussed in the literature. For example, Bannister and Connolly (2011) state that restoring citizens’ trust in the public sector is a key element in its reform and modernisation process. According to Bertot et al. (2012), one of the methods identified for increasing trust can be to apply new governmental styles that focus on involving citizens. Nevertheless, Napoli and Karaganis (2010) argue that they may be limited if their design does not include appropriate dialogue and transparency with the stakeholders. In this context, the authors analyse the effectiveness of the transparency policy carried out by a public university in terms of the impact on students’ satisfaction and trust. To carry out the transparency survey among the degree, postgraduate and continuing education students of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (the National Distance Education University [UNED]) data were collected from around 6,180 valid questionnaires. The statistical behaviour of the constructs included in the model was analysed by developing the structural equations model (SEM) with SmartPLS. The empirical findings of this work enabled the authors to verify that transparency is positively linked to building trust in public institutions, i.e. the transparency policy carried out by the UNED is positively related to the trust placed in it by its students. Explicitly, the results are in line with those considered to be traditional and relate the supply of the organisation’s internal information to its stakeholders to greater degrees of trust.

Thereafter, we have Ali Tarhini, Hussain Alenezi and Sujeet Sharma, with their paper entitled “Development of Quantitative Model to Investigate the Strategic Relationship between Information Quality and e-Government Benefits”. This research focuses on information quality and its effects on e-government benefits from the strategic and institutional perspectives, and its subsequent effects on performance. The authors argue that as information quality is a multidimensional measure, it is very crucial to determine what aspects of it are critical to organisations to help them to devise effective information quality improvement strategies. These strategies are potentially capable of changing government organisational structures and business processes. It examines the nature, direction and strength of the connections between information quality and the success of e-government initiatives. As a result, a conceptual model by means of which organisational performance and information quality research can be viewed is proposed and validated in the context of Kuwait. The proposed conceptual model is based on the information quality dimensions of the information quality/product and service performance (IQ/PSP) model (Kahn et al., 2002). The study used a quantitative methodology to investigate the causal paths. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 268 employees positioned in the Kuwait government ministries. The target population for this study was individuals who work for governmental organisations and who regularly use at least one computer-based information system in the course of sharing information with other governmental organisations. Such use was intended to cover the three primary roles of:

1. information provider;

2. information manager; and

3. information user.

The empirical findings demonstrate that the relationships between information quality and strategic benefits along with institutional value were in upright agreement. Moreover, the statistical analysis highlighted that improvement in different aspects of information quality can lead to a better organisational image. Specifically, usability and usefulness attributes of information quality came on the top of the key influencers on both strategic benefits and institutional value.

Nick Letch and Joseph Teo then present their research paper, entitled “Accounting for the Contexts of Government Service Transformation: The Case of Building Approvals in Singapore”. In this research, Nick and Joseph report that although there are a number of models and frameworks of e-government development proposed and examined through empirical research, they do not address the dynamics of transformation and provide little guidance with regards to how and why different stages of maturity can be achieved (as also supported by Klievink and Janssen, 2009). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to extend the perspective provided by stage models and examine the wider contexts in which government service transformation occurs. In doing so, the authors present a conceptual framework to guide their analysis of a highly visible e-government initiative which has resulted in the successful transformation of administrative building approval processes. To illustrate the variety of contextual influences on the transformation of government service delivery, we apply the framework to the experiences of agencies involved in a single revelatory case study of a highly successful and visible transformed service in Singapore – the building approval process of CORENET (Construction and Real Estate Network (CORENET). Application of the framework to the case study illustrates that government service transformation is not a linear progression and is influenced by decisions and factors related to both inner and outer contexts. The authors assert that the proposed framework complements the existing models for examining e-government transformation and brings a theoretically based perspective to government service transformation which is lacking in existing stage models.

Finally, we have a paper by Sheng-Chi Chen, Cheng-Chieh Wu and Scott Miau, entitled “Constructing an Integrated e-Invoice System: The Taiwan Experience”. By using ethnographic research, which is a participant observation-based case study research approach, this study focuses on the evolution process of the e-invoice implementation of the e-invoice system in Taiwan. The aim of this research is to understand the impediments and proposed solutions during the e-invoice implementation and promotion. This research contributes by:

• elucidating the progress of e-invoice policies;

• understanding and describing the evolution of the e-invoice platform; and

• discussing the shift in strategy shift of e-invoice diffusion.

Several lessons can be learned from Taiwan’s experience of developing its e-invoice system:

• adjustments for changes in legislation are needed to streamline the process of implementing the e-invoice system;

• open governance has become a new challenge for developing ICT-enabled public service;

• the development of e-invoice stimulates development of the domestic e-invoice ecosystem; and

• ICT provides needed energy for the government to remove impediments to developing an e-invoice system.

The adoption of an e-invoice system can enhance business transactions and reduce operating costs. Nevertheless, this research argues that a concerted effort is still needed to promote the adoption of the e-invoice system, and further analysis is warranted to determine how the new e-invoice platform will enable the government to become “smarter”.

We hope you will find this issue interesting and thought provoking, and hope to receive your valuable contributions for the forthcoming issue.

Zahir Irani - Editor

Muhammad Kamal - Editorial Assistant

References

Bannister, F. and Connolly, R. (2011), “Trust and transformational government: a proposed framework for research”, Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 137-147.

Bertot, J., Jaeger, P. and Grimes, J. (2012), “Promoting transparency and accountability through ICTs, social media and collaborative e-Government”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 78-91.

Blind, P.K. (2007), “Building trust in government in the twenty-first century: review of literature and emerging issues”, 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government Building Trust in Government, Vienna, 26-29 June.

Huijboom, N. and Van Den Broek, T. (2011), “Open data: an international comparison of strategies”, European Journal of ePractice, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 4-16.

Janssen, M., Charalabidis, Y. and Zuiderwijk, A. (2012), “Benefits, adoption barriers, and myths of open data and open government”, Information Systems Management, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 258-268.

Kahn, B.K., Strong, D.M. and Wang, R.Y. (2002), “Information quality benchmarks: product and service performance”, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 45 No. 4, pp. 184-192.

Klievink, B. and Janssen, M. (2009), “Realizing joined-up government - dynamic capabilities and stage models for transformation”, Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 275-284.

Napoli, P. and Karaganis, J. (2010), “On making public policy with publicly available data: the case of US communications policymaking”, Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 384-391.

Schwegmann, C. (2013), “Open data in developing countries”, Topic Report No. 2013/02, European Public Sector Information Platform.

Zuiderwijk, A., Janssen, M., Meijer, R., Choenni, S., Charalabidis, Y. and Jeffery, K. (2012), “Issues and guiding principles for opening governmental judicial research data”, 11th conference on Electronic Government, Kristiansand, pp. 90-101.