The doctoral thesis defense outlines Ana Waksberg Guerrini's investigation into the effects of new forms of government-citizen interaction through digital technologies on the organizational structure and dynamics of public administrations. The defense provides an overview of the motivation, theoretical background, research questions, analytical framework, methodology, results and analysis of case studies from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and conclusions. Key findings include evidence that increased data collection and information flows between interaction channels and government units in São Paulo led to more networked and dynamic organizational forms by 2013-2015, while Rio de Janeiro exhibited stronger hierarchical and centralized coordination of channels and data through an oversight body established by decrees.
1. c
Citizens as the Engine of Transformations: An Investigation of the Effects of the
New Forms of Government-Citizen Interaction on the Organisational Structure
and Dynamics of Public Administrations
Doctoral Thesis Defense
Ana Waksberg Guerrini
1st February 2016
Supervisors: Eduard Aibar and Albert Batlle
2. OUTLINE
c
• Motivation
• State of the Art/ Theoretical Background
• Research Questions
• Analytical Framework
• Methodology
• Results and Analysis – São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
• Conclusions
• Future Research
3. MOTIVATION
• To understand the relationship between the intensitication of ICT-mediated interaction between
governments and citizens and the backoffice organisation and dynamics of public administrations
• Early-2000s – The Hype Of e-Government and E-
Participation: Positive Tool For Public
Administrations; Research about Front-office.
• Mid-2000s – PhD IN3: Incorporation Of Social
Constructionist Perspectives On Analysis, Showing
The Interplay Between ICTs And Practices
• 2010s – The Rise Of Big Data
• 2005-2006 – IT Assistant Manager @São Paulo
Municipal Government
• 2011-2013 – Citizen Attention Centre Manager
@Rio De Janeiro Municipal Government
• 2013-2015 – Citizen Attention Channels Manager
@São Paulo Municipal Government
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND RESEARCH
OBJECTIVE OF THE THESIS
4. STATE OF THE ART/ THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
THE STUDY OF ICTS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
E-GOV PROMISES – BETTER SERVICES WITH LOWER
COSTS?
• 1970/80s Research – Reinforce hierarchical and
power structures in place (Laudon 1974; Dutton
1975; Danziger et al 1982)
• 1980s research – Decentralization/distribution of
activities (Dedrick 1997; Kraemer et al. 1989)
• 1990s-2000s research – E-Administration, E-
Government, E-Democracy, E-Participation to resolve
problems of contemporary public administration
• 2010s – online presence is an obligation for modern
governance
• Anti-Utopian View – control over citizens
• Lower costs by web-based processing, supplanting
human activities and increasing competition
• Few rigorous and conclusive studies
• Relevance of efficiency concept in the public sector?
• Public Value (eGEP 2006; Dadayan 2006): financial and
intangible benefits, costs and risks – quality, variety,
speed
• Effectiveness, by improving access and quality of public
services; completely new, beneficial services
• “Maturity “ levels of portals and services – neglect call
centers; transformation may not be captured
5. STATE OF THE ART/ THEORETICAL BACKGROUND – CONT.
E-GOV PROMISES – THE INVOLVED CITIZEN? E-GOV PROMISES – NETWORK ADMINISTRATION:
THE END OF A SILO-GOVERNMENT?
• How to ensure citizens’ will?
• Extra-parliamentary participatory mechanisms
during the mandate
• ICTs allow for participation without the burden of
commuting and working time costs (attraction)
• Active E-Government: citizens interact and track live
• Exit or Voice (Hirshman 1970): Citizens do not have
the option to exit. Strong channels, opinions taken
into account, citizens continuosly voice and
participate. Participation as calibration of government
• NPM: To resolve bureaucratic deficiencies through
management by results, market competition,
excellence and efficiency in delivering public services
to the citizen-client
• Management techniques marginalize ethical, political
and social dimensions of policy-making process and
governance
• Network Administration and State: interdepartmental
cooperation, adaptability to changes; out-ward facing
networks, open and horizontal relationship with
citizens
6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Q.: Is the intensification of ICT-based interaction between governments and citizens related
to public services, which generate voluminous quantities of information, leading to
organisational transformations in public administrations?
Q.a.: How are e-Government
applications being enacted by
governments and used by citizens,
taking into account institutional and
socio-technical conditions?
Q.b.: Are the information flows
regarding the use of these interaction
channels changing the organisational
dynamics of public administrations?
H.: Those information flows show a change toward more network forms of organisation,
albeit co-existing with hierarchical structures.
7. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
• Technology as social objects – emphasizes two-way process of interaction between technological innovations and
social contexts (Bijker, Hughes, and Pinch 1987; Bijker and Law 1992; Latour 1991)
• Critique of the lineal model of technological development that have social impacts
• Public administrations’ shared believes, regulations, processes and organisational forms play a role in the configuration
of ICTs and are transformed in the process of incorporating the technology
TECHNOLOGY ENACTMENT FRAMEWORK
• Fountain (2001) – Individuals enact routines and network relationships in the design and use of web-based
information and communication systems, according to social, organisations and institutional conditions. The
unintend consequences lead to subtle modifications of structure to accommodate new technology. Their
accummulation may lead to dramatic shifts in structure and power
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNOLOGY
THE SITUATED TECHNOLOGY
8. c
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
ANALYTICAL MODEL
• TIP (Orlikowski 2000; Schulze and Orlikowski 2004) offers a
lens to examine recursive relationships between
technology, individuals and organisations
• Technology does not “embody” structures
• Empirical-based perspective grounded on the micro-level
ongoing practices of actors with technology
• Technology-in-Practice: structure that emerges out of the
ongoing, situated use of technology
• Technologies-in-Practice: inertia, application, and change
TECHNOLOGY-IN-PRACTICE FRAMEWORK (TIP)
9. ANALYTICAL CATEGORIES
INTERPRETIVE TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONAL
CONDITIONS
• Technological properties• Knowledge about the use of
the technology
• Shared Ideas and Practices
about e-Government
• Political Leadership
• Laws and Regulation
Organizational Forms
CONSEQUENCES
• Information flows among
Interaction Channels,
Departments and Agencies
PROCESSUAL TECHNOLOGICAL STRUCTURAL
• Changes, adjustments,
workarounds in the
technological properties
available to the users
• Technology-in-practice: reinforce
and preserve status quo
(inertia), reinforce and enhance
status quo (application) or
transform status quo (change)
10. METHODOLOGY
SÃO PAULO AND RIO DE JANEIRO
• Megalopolis with similar levels
of political and financial automy
• Administrations that have close
and daily contact with citizens
• Similar available techonologies,
and e-Government
development, which enrich the
analysis
• The researcher had wide access
to both citizen attention centres
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AND
INTERVIEWS
• Participant observation in
Rio de Janeiro’s municipal
government (Sep 2011 – Mar
2013):
+
• 7 Semi-structured interviews
with key actors (2014-2015)
• São Paulo municipal’s
government (Apr 2013 – Jun
2015)
+
• 7 Semi-structured interviews
with key actors (2014-2015)
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Websites
• Legislation
• Internal documentations
• Published and unpublished
reports
• Office memos
• Organizational charts
• Systems user guides
• Samples of database
records
CASE STUDIES FIELD WORK DOCUMENTATION ANALYSIS
11. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS
Phase 1. Enthusiastic about promises
of e-government
Phase 2. Indifferent Political Leadership
Phase 3. Political leadearship focused
on one-time collaborative projects,
based on citizen data
SÃO PAULO
12. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
Phase 1. Enthusiastic about promises
of e-government
Phase 2. Indifferent Political Leadership
Phase 3. Political leadearship focused
on citizen data for one-time
collaborative projects
• Telephone contact center, web
services portal, simple workflow
system
• Partial integration and
standardization of channels
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
Phase 1. Fragmentation of interaction
channels, focused on devolved service
delivery
Phase 2. Failed attempts of channels
coordination/integration
Phase 3. Coordinated attention SLAs; Data
Analysis to Subsidize one-time
collaborative projects
SÃO PAULO
13. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
Phase 1. Enthusiastic about promises
of e-government
Phase 2. Indifferent Political Leadership
Phase 3. Political leadearship focused
on one-time collaborative projects,
based on citizen data
• Telephone contact center, web
services portal, simple workflow
system
• Partial integration and
standardization of channels
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
Phase 1. Fragmentation of interaction
channels, focused on devolved service
delivery
Phase 2. Failed attempts of channels
coordination/integration
Phase 3. Coordinated SLAs; Data Analysis
to Subsidize one-time collaborative
projects
SÃO PAULO
PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES
• Interaction Channels information flows:
Routine between Interaction Channels
and Units; Increasing use of
departmental systems, uncoordinated
• Data Collection: hierarchical/routine;
networked/dynamic (2013-2015)
• Feedback Information Use:
hierarchical/routine (Until 2013);
networked/dynamic(2013-2015)
14. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES
INTERACTION CHANNELS
INFORMATION/SERVICE REQUESTS FLOWS
INTERACTION CHANNELS
ENACTED INFORMATION/SERVICE REQUESTS FLOWS
15. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES – CONT.
Initial Feedback and Service Usage Information Flows
2003-2004
Enacted Feedback and Service Usage Information Flows
2013-2015
16. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
Phase 1. Enthusiastic about promises
of e-government
Phase 2. Indifferent Political Leadership
Phase 3. Political leadearship focused
on one-time collaborative projects,
based on citizen data
• Telephone contact center, web
services portal, simple workflow
system
• Partial integration and
standardization of channels
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
Phase 1. Fragmentation of interaction
channels, focused on devolved service
delivery
Phase 2. Failed attempts of channels
coordination/integration
Phase 3. Coordinated attention SLAs; Data
Analysis to Subsidize one-time
collaborative projects
SÃO PAULO
PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
• Interaction Channels information flows:
horizontal/Routine between Interaction
Channels and Government Units
• Data Collection: hierarchical/routine
(until 2013); networked/dynamic (2013-
2015)
• Feedback Information Use:
hierarchical/routine (Until 2013);
networked/dynamic(2013-2015)
• Simple Performance Reports
• Increasing use of Departmental
Workflow Systems, Portals/Apps
• Failed One-Stop-Shop, Life Events
Portal
• Facebook Profile Role Answering
Citizens – dynamic and informal
17. SÃO PAULO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
Phase 1. Enthusiastic about promises
of e-government
Phase 2. Indifferent Political Leadership
Phase 3. Political leadearship focused
on one-time collaborative projects,
based on citizen data
• Telephone contact center, web
services portal, simple workflow
system
• Partial integration and
standardization of channels
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
Phase 1. Fragmentation of interaction
channels, focused on devolved service
delivery
Phase 2. Failed attempts of channels
coordination/integration
Phase 3. Coordinated attention SLAs; Data
Analysis to Subsidize one-time
collaborative projects
SÃO PAULO
STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCES
Phase 1. Automation and Centralization of
Citizen Attention in a few channels
Phase 2. Fragmentation and
Decentralization of E-Government
Channels and Initiatives
Phase 3. Pockets of Transformation in
Service Delivery; Relational/Networked
Ways of Working Between Public Bodies
PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
• Interaction Channels information flows:
horizontal/Routine between Interaction
Channels and Government Units
• Data Collection: hierarchical/routine
(until 2013); networked/dynamic (2013-
2015)
• Feedback Information Use:
hierarchical/routine (Until 2013);
networked/dynamic(2013-2015)
• Simple Performance Reports
• Increasing use of Departmental
Workflow Systems, Portals/Apps
• Failed One-Stop-Shop, Life Events
Portal
• Facebook Profile Role Answering
Citizens – dynamic and informal
18. Source: CACISP internal report for the Mayor, May 2015
SÉ SUBPREFECTURE: TREE PRUNING PLANNING MAP TREE PRUNING REQUEST DATA: TRANSFORMATION OF SERVICE
DELIVERY
• Data Collected from different channels and
Departments
• Tree pruning plan, with joint action of 32
Subprefectures, Department of Transit and State
Department of Lighting
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCES – CONT.
19. RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
RIO DE JANEIRO
• Favourable view of e-Gov, focused
on efficiency-effectiveness,
Control and the Citizen-Client
• Enthusiastic political leadership;
Coordination to Monitor and
Control to Achieve Better
Performance
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS
20. RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Single Oversight Body. Coordination,
Integration, Monitoring and control of
service delivery as a prerogative of
1746 team, guaranteed by decrees
RIO DE JANEIRO
• Favourable view of e-Gov, focused
on efficiency-effectiveness,
Control and the Citizen-Client
• Enthusiastic political leadership;
Coordination to Monitor and
Control to Achieve Better
Performance
• Telephone Contact Centre, Mobile
Application, Simple Workflow System
• Integration of the Workflow System
with Departmental Systems
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
21. 1746 MATRIX WORKING STRUCTURE
Year Number of Participant
Departments
Total Targets 1746-Related Targets % of 1746-Targets
2010 19 77 -
2011 34 187 4 2,1
2012 38 221 20 9,0
2013 35 208 15 7,2
2014 36 146 14 9,6
RESULTS ORIENTED AGREEMENT TARGETS
Source: Author’s own construction based on interviews, decrees and reports
Decree 34805 2011
1746 VISUAL STANDARDS DECREE• The Power of Decrees: 1746 structure, visual
standards, results oriented agreement targets,
Conformity Special Team
RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
22. RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Single Oversight Body. Coordination,
Integration, Monitoring and control of
service delivery as a prerogative of
1746 team, guaranteed by decrees
RIO DE JANEIRO
• Favourable view of e-Gov, focused
on efficiency-effectiveness,
Control and the Citizen-Client
• Enthusiastic political leadership;
Coordination to Monitor and
Control to Achieve Better
Performance
• Telephone Contact Centre, Mobile
Application, Simple Workflow System
• Integration of the Workflow System
with Departmental Systems
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
• Interaction Channels information
flows: 1746-Department Routine
Flow. Channels added, coordinated
• Data Collection: Centrally Carried
out by 1746 Oversight Body
• Feedback Information Use: 1746-
Department Collaboration for
Results Agreement, Monitoring,
Service Enhancement
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES
23. 1746 CITIZEN ATTENTION CENTER INITIAL INFORMATION/REQUEST
FLOWS
1746 CITIZEN ATTENTION CENTER ENACTED INFORMATION/REQUEST
FLOWS
RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES
24. RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Single Oversight Body. Coordination,
Integration, Monitoring and control of
service delivery as a prerogative of
1746 team, guaranteed by decrees
RIO DE JANEIRO
• SMS and e-mails Alert System
• 1746 Web Application, by 1746 Team,
partially integrated with Workflow
System
• Carioca Digital Customised Citizen
Portal, by IT Team
• Sophisticated Strategic Management
and Operational Reports
• Favourable view of e-Gov, focused
on efficiency-effectiveness,
Control and the Citizen-Client
• Enthusiastic political leadership;
Coordination to Monitor and
Control to Achieve Better
Performance
• Telephone Contact Centre, Mobile
Application, Simple Workflow System
• Integration of the Workflow System
with Departmental Systems
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
PROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
• Interaction Channels information
flows: 1746-Department Routine
Flow. Channels added, coordinated
• Data Collection: Centrally Carried
out by 1746 Oversight Body
• Feedback Information Use: 1746-
Department Collaboration for
Results Agreement, Monitoring,
Service Enhancement
25. Source: Chief of Staff Secretary 1746 Control Panel, July 2015
1746 MANAGER DASHBOARD DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DASHBOARD
RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – TECHNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
26. RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Single Oversight Body. Coordination,
Integration, Monitoring and control of
service delivery as a prerogative of
1746 team, guaranteed by decrees
RIO DE JANEIRO
• SMS and e-mails Alert System
• 1746 Web Application, by 1746 Team,
partially integrated with Workflow
System
• Carioca Digital Customised Citizen
Portal, by IT Team
• Sophisticated Strategic Management
and Operational Reports
• Favourable view of e-Gov, focused
on efficiency-effectiveness,
Control and the Citizen-Client
• Enthusiastic political leadership;
Coordination to Monitor and
Control to Achieve Better
Performance
• Telephone Contact Centre, Mobile
Application, Simple Workflow System
• Integration of the Workflow System
with Departmental Systems
• Poor management and performance
tools
• No social media integration
• Reinforce and Enhance Status Quo: Strong
oversight body. Standardization and
Centralization of Citizen Attention
• Transform Status Quo: Coordinated
Collaborative interdepartmental work
based on citizen data have transformed
Service Delivery; Front Offiice Carioca
Digital Centred Around Citizens’ Needs
INTERPRETIVE CONDITIONS TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS
STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCESPROCESSUAL CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
• Interaction Channels information
flows: 1746-Department Routine
Flow. Channels added, coordinated
• Data Collection: Centrally Carried
out by 1746 Oversight Body
• Feedback Information Use: 1746-
Department Collaboration for
Results Agreement, Monitoring,
Service Enhancement
27. • Noise inspection and sidewalk inspection carried
out by different Departments
• Silo-Government Problem became visible with
implementation of the 1746
• Joint action coordinated by 1746 team to
effectively inspect noise disturbances complaints
NOISE POLLUTION JOIN INSPECTION ROUTINES –
TRANSFORMATION IN SERVICE DELIVERY
Source: Author’s own construction based on interviews, decrees and reports
RIO DE JANEIRO RESULTS AND ANALYSIS – STRUCTURAL CONSEQUENCES – CONT.
NOISE POLLUTION JOINT INSPECTION ROUTINES –
TRANSFORMATION IN SERVICE DELIVERY
28. c
CONCLUSIONS
ICT-MEDIATED INTERACTION DOES NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO LOWER COSTS NOR ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
• Online or app services lessen direct costs of citizen attention, but call centres are costly
• E-Services require more transparency about delivery procedures and times, which may require
the creation of an oversight body – necessary trade-off, but not more cost-effective
• Improvement in the backoffice may mean more resources (HR, IT, etc)
• E-Services are disruptive (e.g. self-awareness about service procedures and average delivery
times), but do not mean necessarily organisational change (automatisation, front office virtual
agencies, etc.)
• Our cases show that only with the active use of citizen voices and patterns of service use data,
mediated by ICTs, some organisational change took place
29. c
CONCLUSIONS
DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS, DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY-ENACTMENTS
Similar
Interpretive Conditions
• Effectiveness, Efficiency, Participation, Monitoring
and Evalution
Technological Conditions
• Call Center-focused, Partial Systems Integration,
Online/web applications, Poor CzRM, Lack of
Georreferenced Data, Simple Dashboards and
Reports
Different
Institutional Conditions
• São Paulo: channels under different Departments’
command; inexistence of active oversight body
• Rio de Janeiro: Mayor’s leadership; Strong oversight
body with prerrogative of monitoring and controlling
Different
Processual Consequences
• São Paulo: routine superficial reports coexist with in depth,
collaborative data analysis (2015)
• Rio de Janeiro: 1746 coordination data-collection to monitor
and subsidise results agreement
Technological Consequences
• São Paulo: failed attempts at services portal; superficial
management reports
• Rio de Janeiro: web application and SMS; detailed
management and operational reports
Structural Consequences
• São Paulo: no oversight body and back office integration
coexist with CACISP data-led fixed term collaborative projects
• Rio de Janeiro: 1746 strong oversight body coordinates
interdepartamental action to monitor, control and enhance
public service delivery based on citizen data
30. c
CONCLUSIONS
• Uncoordinated and Fragmented Action
More Freedom for Innovative, Flexible, Clustered City Solutions and Service
Improvement Projects to arise Coexists with status quo
• Guided and Coordinated Networked Action Effective, Integrated, Constant
Problem Solving and Service Improvement > State Policy
DIFFERENT, BUT PERHAPS COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGIES IN PRACTICE
31. c
CONCLUSIONS
Pockets of Innovation >
Collaborative Projects to
Improve or Transform Service
Delivery
Strategic Management Reports
> Agreement Results, Service
Improvement and Policy
Making
ICT-mediated
Participation
Heavily Based on
Big Citizen Data
CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT? DE-POLITICISED PARTICIPATION
Individualised and De-
politicised Participation
That Guides Public
Policy and Budget
Allocation
Are Citizens Rightly
Interpreted and
Politically Represented?
32. FUTURE RESEARCH
THE DE-POLITICISED ASPECTS OF BIG DATA IN GOVERNMENT
SOCIAL MEDIA AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
CONTINUOUS PARTICIPATION MECHANISMS AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE3
1
2
Notes de l'éditeur
Present a synthesis of my doctoral thesis and its main findings and conclusions
Titled...
The outline of this presentation is as follows
I will briefly talk about my motivation to research on this theme
Then, summarise the State of the Art on ICTs in the Public Sector and more recently the so called promises of e-Government to, generally speaking, make goverment more eficiente, effective and open to citizens participation
I will follow with my research questions
Explain the Analytical Framework and Variables that helped me carry out the research
The methodology
Most importantly, the results and analysis of the two cases I studied, the municipal governments of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
I will then synthese four blocks of conclusions
And, finally, point out toward future research topics
My motivation comes from my both my professional background and academic curiosity. They are knit together.
I worked
in diferent moments of my life, over a 10-year span, in two municipal governments, São Paulo and Rio, I Always somehow, among other things, ended up working with somenthing related to technology, citizen attention, public services and the use of data for analytical purposes and policy making.
In parallel, I was curious about the research on e-Government and its positive and hopeful effects on public administration and citizen participation.
During my time at IN3, I was introduced to social constructionist perspectives. I realised that maybe I shouldn’t look at the impacts of e-government on government but study the practices and interplay between technology and the actors involved.
Therefore, I didnt want to study what it is called the front office of e-government, or what it is online, but the actual changes on the backoffice, in other words, the organizational and dynamics of administrations with the intensification of interationcions between citizens and govenrments mediated by new information and communication Technologies.
So, what does the literature tells about ICTs in the public sector?
There is a body of research from the 70s and early 80s that studied the implementation of mainframe computers and large databases in 1950s and 60s. They basically concluded that technology and its use tend to reinforce the hierarchical and power structures in place. If they are implemented in more centralized and hierarchical structures they reinforce central control, increase administrative efficiency, financial accountability, etc. If those technologies integrate, for instance, more homogenous agencies that have similar objectives, these systems are managed in a more decentralized way.
In the 1980s, with the advent of personal computers and client-server computing, studies showed that there was a tendency to decentralize activities, but not necessarily the decision making.
In 1990s and 2000s, with the popularization of the internet, new applications of ICTS, such as e-administration (ICTs within the administration), e-govenrment, (more related to services online), e-democracy and e-participation, would solve all problems of contemporary public administration, such as the lack of innovation, low participation, ineffiency, poor effectiveness in public service delivery, etc.
Nowadays, the online presence of a government is almost mandatory and seen as essencial for modern governance.
Of course, there has always been an anti-utopian view that the increasing use of technology was a means for the State to have more control over citizens.
So, looking more specifically at e-government, what are those promises? First, the idea that electronic government would help to serve citizens better, with lower costs.
How?
Well, lowering costs just by placing processing and managing documents online, therefore spending less with human activities, or for instance, in the case of public procurement, by expanding competition.
Regarding costs, there are few conclusive studies.
Addionally with should ask ourselves the relevance the efficiency concept in the public sector, or at least what we use in the private sector.
Moving beyond the financial discussion, e-government may bring more intangible benefits, related more to effectiveness or the public value, such as broader access to public services, with more quality and speed, or even the offering of new services.
Research on the quality aspects of e-government has focused on the maturity levels of portals and online services- from informational to transactional. They are interesting but, first, they neglect call centers, which usually offer the same or even more centralized services, and, by focusing on the front office, do not capture the transofomrations in the back office.
1st Computerization and Automation
distributed automation of activities, including service delivery
2nd Informatization and Transformation
Broadest concept of e-government
2010s – online presence is an obligation for “modern governance”: Digital By Default UK.
Efficiency
Cost cutting: paper-based to web-based processing and management of documents and payments and supplanting human activities; in procurement systems, reducing procedure costs and increasing competition.
Developing World: replacing cheap human labour by imported and expensive IT systems (Heeks 2002)
Relevance efficiency concept in the public sector? Service improvement and fullfilment of public goals
Effectiveness – Getting the right things done
Maturity level – from simple information to transactional services
Neglet call centers – part of multi-channel strategies and most often the preferred mode for getting in touch with p. administrations. Gather and process information from citizens in the same systems and databases that are used for other interaction channels.
Another promise of e-government is that would make citizens more easily involved in monitoring government’s activities and participating in decision-making.
With the increasing complexity of governments, which have more functions and responsabilities, and have to deal with more actors, decision making is being taken more often by the technical staff, and not by the elected oficial. In that case, how to ensure citizen’s will on the decision-making process?
E-participation mechanisms are seen as a tool for more participation during the mandate, and not only the elections, as it would reduce costs and time for participation.
When we look at services online, we could talk about a passive form of e-government, where citizens request a service or information and receive them, but we can also talk about an active e-government, where citizens can Interact and track live their requests and monitor the execution of the service.
Well, on those examples the premise was the that participation is importante for citizens. But it is also important for the survival of the organization. Here I took Hirshman’s concepts of Exit or Voice. Citizens most often do not have the option to exit public services, but to voice their discontent, there must be proper channels for listetning and opinions taken into acctount. Why is this importante? Because feedback helps to calibrate the activities and purposes of an organisation.
Finally, another promise of e-governmetnt is that ICTs would facilitate a more network administration, or the end of the silo-government.
New Public Management introduced concepts and practices of the private sector to resolve bureacratic deficencies, practices such as management by results, Market competition among agencies, and the idea that the citizen-cliente should be served wit the same excellence and efficiency of the private sector. E-Govenrment portals may be are example of that.
One of the criticisms is that management techniques dont take into account the ethical, political and social dimensions of the process of policy-making and governance.
Can we have those aspects taken into account together with the more flexibilty, effetiveness and openess?
The idea of the network administrtion and the network State tries to give na answer to that. More cooperation between departments, projetcts with fixed dution, flexibility in reconfiguring teams, more open to innovation and more open and horizontal reationship with citizens.
However, as Castells points out, we must understand there are clear network coordination problems: organizational (each unit wants to protect their own turf), technical, political, ideological (departments may have diferente views on policy) and even geo-politcal, when we talk about states coordination.
So I arrive at the research questions.
I ask whether
I have a soft hypotheses that...
But I want to know the extent of those changes and under which conditions.
Instead of traditional lineal model of social or organisational impact of technology, in this research I subscribe to the social constructionist perspective, that sees technology as social objects. It emphasis the two-way process of interaction between technological innovations and the social contexto where these are designed and used.
Technology can be modified during the period it is being used. because, among other things, of their consequences.
In our case, public administrations shared believes, regulations, processes and organisational structure play a role in how ICTs are desined and used and also transformed in the process of incorporating the technology.
Specifically, I use Jane Fountain’s Technology Enactment Framework, developed in her 2001 book “Building the Virtual State”, which takes elements of new institutaional theory – that at one hand, see rules and structures exogenous variables that shape individual choices – and socialogical and organisational theory – that sees socially accepted nroms and standardized practices as endogenous variables that shape behaviour.
She develops na analytical framework that shwos that individuals enact routines and relationships in the design and use of web-based information and communication systems. The process of design and use lead to modifications of the structure to accomodate the new technology. The accumulation of these changes lead to a shift in power and structure.
I found Fountain’s model ingenious, but difficult to apply empirically.
Even at high degrees, they are never irreversable.
Fountain (2001) – analyses dynamic processes in e-Government, rather than predictive outcomes.
For my analytical framework, I adapted the Technology in Practice Framework of Wanda Orlikowski. It is a tool to analyse the recursive relationship between technology, individuals and organisations.
She focused on technoçogy and organisational change, which helps me even more with the operationalization of my research.
It is empiracally-based, focused on micro-level ongoing practices. . So you’ve seen that I analyse information flows to understand those micro-practices.
Changes emerge out of adaptations and experiments with the new technoolgy-it is the structure that is called te technology in practice.
It is importante to say, therefore, that technology does not embody sructures (culture, for instance). Those variables are seen as endogenous of the micropractices of the individuals.
TIP, as a lens for study, compares conditions – interpretive, technological and institutional - and consequences – processual, technological and structural conditions that enact diferente Technologies in practice.
Technologies-in-Practice: inertia (to retain existing ways of doing things), application (to refine how things are done) and change (alter the way things are done – the structural status quo, ongoing practices or technological artefacts)
TIP (Orlikowski 2000; Schulze and Orlikowski 2004), builds upon structuralist and social constructivist traditions;
Empirical-based perspective grounded on the micro-level ongoing practices of actors with technology: change emerges out of adaptations and experiments with daily contingencies, exceptions and opportunities
Technology is not stable; people can redefine the meaning and use of technology after it has been developed;
Technology does not “embody” structures that represent cultural interpretations, social rules and political interests; not “external” to human action.
Technology-in-Practice: structure that emerges out of the ongoing, situated use of technology – facilities/resource available, norms and interpretive schemes
In my framework, adapted from Orlikowaki, I analyse the interpretive, technological and insitutional conditions in each case and the processual, technological and structural consequences of the interplay between actors and the implementation and use of the Technologies – in our case ICT-mediated interaction channels
For the interpretive conditions I analyse the knowledge about the use of the technology, the shared views and practices about e-Government, and the political leadership regarding their importance on their implementation.
I also analyse the technological properties of the e-government channels and systems used.
The institutional conditions, such as the laws and regulations regarding interaction channels and the organisational forms regarding citizen attention – if they are set up in a more horizontal or vertical structure for instance.
Then, I analyse the information flows between the interaction channels and departments, not only flows about requests of information and services, but also flows of the data collected about the use of those services and citizens opinions
I examine the possible technological changes or adjustments, workarounds in the technological properties through their use
And finally, the technology or Technologies in practice that emerge out of those changes. They can reinforce and preserve the status quo, or preserve but also improve the given situation or they can transform status quo
I carried out a qualitative research to answer my questions, using two cases – São Paulo and Rio municipal governments.
They are both megalopolis, with similar levels of political and financial autonomy, that offer the same types of services, with close and daily contact with citizens.
They also have similar available technologies – call centers, web presence, mobile applications, and a simple citizen relationship manager system. Do not use much social networks for service delivery.
And, I had wide access to both governments, as I worked in both administrations with the theme studied.
Having said that, I carried out participant observation during about 4 years, while I was working there. As I had previously done 80% of the literature review and built the analytical model, I was able to observe and take notes, and write a few articles, on both cases while I was working there.
I carried out semi-structures interviews with key actors.
And did research on websites, legislation, reports, organisational charts, databases, etc…. Which I had wide access to.
Additional data was gathered through secondary sources, including websites, legislation, internal documentations, published and unpublished reports, office memos, organizational charts, systems user guides, samples of database records
So we arrive at the results and and analysis.
In São Paulo, as the first e-Governments strategies appeared in the late 90s and my research went until 2015, I divided the the interpretive conditions in three phases.
When the e-Government Coordination Unit was created, the Mayor and the technical staff were very enthusiastic about the potential benefits of e-Government for widening acess to the information society and democratizing access to public services.
GO TO SLIDE AND BACK
A few years later, the new government was also hopeful that e-Government would improve service delivery through reducing costs, rationalizing activities and focusing on the citizen-client.
GO TO SLIDE AND BACK
Governance: (...) citizen-focused, emphasizing the control of results through monitoring mechanisms, by adopting management principles (...)
Tech Consequences
Development of Simple Performance Reports for Departments to Circumvent SAC’s limitations
Increasing use of Departmental Workflow Systems for Capturing Services Requests
Development of Departmental Services Portals and Mobile Applications to Circumvent SAC’s limitations and The Inexistence of an E-Government Policy in Practice
City Hall Facebook Profile Increasing Role in Answering Citizens about Services, in a More dynamic and Informal way
Noise complaints rarely unaccompanied of other public disturbances – bars, illegaly occupied sidewalks with tables and chairs, etc.
São Paulo: failed to coordinate unique services portal; superficial management reports, based on devolved government logic.