| 1. |
- Bergviken Rensfeldt, Annika, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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The Nordic case of electronic IDs and their implications for digital equality
- 2023
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Ingår i: Paper for The Oxford Internet Policy & Politics Hybrid Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the Nordic countries, there is widespread digitization in the public sector, with the aim of making the sector more cost-effective (Collington 2022) while maintaining efficient services to citizens. The Nordic countries are often reported to be at the forefront in terms of digitization of public services (Digital Economy and Society Index 2022:66), with over 90% of its internet users in the age group 16-74 report using digital public services. However, as argued by Van Deursen and van Dijk (2019), internet connection saturation rates do not solve policy challenges of digital divides and inequalities. As shown from the Nordic context, the ‘digital by default’ and self-service oriented public sector policies established, have implications for digital inequality and tend to exclude already disadvantaged groups (Shou & Pors 2019). It could be argued that the public sector digital services seldom aim at maintaining or strengthening equality (Goedhart et al. 2022). One of the more important technologies in the digitization of citizen related services are electronic IDs (E-IDs), that allow citizens to access digital government services and information. In Europe and globally, several policy efforts are underway to create standards and interoperable digital infrastructures for digital identification (European Commission 2019; The Global Government Forum 2022). In the Nordic countries, the most common solution is a Bank ID. Without a government approved E-ID, access to government services can be very cumbersome and difficult, and not all inhabitants of the Nordic countries can get one. This, we argue, is not so much a result of deliberate decisions of who to include and exclude, as it is a result of systemic blind spots when it comes to marginalized groups in society. Rather than understanding these digital technologies from a narrow technical and legal perspective, it seems relevant to better understand the performative and wider socio-political meanings and implications of digital identification policies and processes (c.f. Whitley & Shoemaker 2022), where digital identities currently receive status as the main means to get access and participate in (the digital) society. In this paper, we therefore focus on three domestic examples of the prescribed uses of bankID in Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden and Norway), and the governing rationalities these rely on. In particular, we aim to examine the implications of intersecting exclusionary aspects for citizens in the encounter with digital public services. Our findings emanate from the research project, Infrastructures for partially digital citizens: Supporting informal welfare work in the digitized state (SOS), funded by Nordforsk. Digital inequality and digital inclusion/exclusion can be viewed from different angles: It can be seen as rooted in individual as well as structural factors (Mervyn et al. 2014, Reisdorf & Rhinesmith 2020). It can be seen as something that derives from a “deficit” in citizens’ skills and resources (Brants & Frissen 2003), or as something created by the way digitalization has been carried out by government (Mervyn et al. 2014, Morris et al. 2020) reinforcing existing social exclusions. We build on theories that see digital inequality in an intersectional perspective focusing on the intersections between digital technologies, structural conditions, and a tendency of “othering” in societies (Yingqin & Walsham 2021), identifying groups as misfitting within the prescribed requirements. In this perspective, inequality and inclusion/exclusion is seen as a result of the positionality of citizens in intersecting social orders. There is a clear link between social exclusion and digital exclusion and digital exclusion often builds on existing social disadvantages and inequalities (Park & Humphrey 2019). In all three Nordic countries, the E-ID services are conditioned by the private sector requirements for citizens, and not the public sector authorities. Unlike Denmark and Norway who set up E-ID services in public-private partnership arrangements between the government and the financial sector, Sweden’s main E-ID services, BankID and Freija E-ID Plus, are privately owned businesses. The BankID service in Sweden, with a usage rate of 94% among smartphone users, requires not only your social security number, you should also be a customer of one of the affiliated banks. The banks do not have a standardised BankID order process, and often require that the applicant has a sufficient mastery of Swedish or English. Freija eID is an alternative, and does not require bank affiliation. It also allows for an internet proxy user, e.g. family member or caregiver access. For the BankID in Norway, a Norwegian social security number is required, and for accessing it, you need either a pin code generator or an app for mobile verification. To be able to use the MitID service in Denmark, you not only need a permanent address, you also need a Civil Personal Registration (CPR) number. MitID has several functionalities and provides access, authentication, and digital signatures in both the public and the private sector, including for verification when using credit cards online. Furthermore, almost all Nordic E-ID services require that you are at least 13 years of age. Our findings show that even if it is not mandatory to get an E-ID in any of the three countries (with Denmark with perhaps the strongest governing demand), for citizens it can be very difficult to access a wide range of services without one, and the number of requirements of getting one can be difficult to fulfill for people in intersecting and disadvantaged situations. Therefore, rather than seeing such exclusion as individual deficits, we see it as the results of sociotechnical arrangements that exclude those who are not able to access them, or chose not to (see also Goedhart et al. 2022: 3). Several examples of intersections between excluding digital technologies, structural conditions and “othering” are made visible. For example, being a registered citizen or inhabitant, that is, having received a social security number or CPR number, having a permanent address, having domestic or English language skills, having a bank account/being a bank customer, being over a certain age, having a smartphone (preferably of a recent model).
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| 2. |
- Moe, Carl Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges in information systems procurement in the public sector
- 2013
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Ingår i: Electronic Journal of e-Government. - 1479-439X. ; 11:1, s. 307-322
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Public procurement constitutes a large part of the market in many countries, and it has the potential of playing an important role in stimulating communities and serving policy goals. With this in mind the governments have set regulations for public procurement. Procurement of Information Systems is especially challenging due to the complexity of procuring unknown technology and the importance an information system has for different stakeholders in an organization. Public procurement of information systems (IS) and services provides several challenges to the stakeholders involved in the procurement processes. However, these are not well established or understood, and there is a knowledge gap that needs to be covered. This paper presents results from a Delphi study, which involved 46 experienced procurement managers, chief information officers, and vendor representatives in the Norwegian public sector. The participants identified 98 challenges related to IS procurement, and subsequently ranked the relative importance of the top issues. The study supports findings from previous research related to diverging stakeholder goals; challenges in balancing between objectives; in requirement specifications; and in too narrow cost focus. In addition to providing empirical confirmation of these previous propositions the study revealed new findings, such as benefits realization in IS procurement; coordinating and standardizing public procurement processes; complex and constraining government regulations; issues of technological integration and compatibility; and inter-municipal cooperation. Developing clear requirements specifications stands out as critical for public sector officials. The results provide a rich overview of IS procurement challenges in the public sector in Norway, and may also give a good picture of challenges in other countries with similar procurement regulations.
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| 3. |
- Moe, Carl Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Dialectics and contradictions in public procurement of information systems
- 2014
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Ingår i: Electronic Government. - Berlin : Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology/Springer Verlag. - 9783662444252 - 9783662444269 ; , s. 289-300
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Public procurement of Information Systems is a highly complex process. Not surprisingly, systems often fail to meet the needs for which they were procured. One of the main causes of this is the contradictions between goals of different stakeholders. Identifying and understanding these conflicts and contradictions are essential to develop strategies to improve the procurement process. In this paper, we present a case study where we examined the procurement process of a system carried out by a public entity in Norway. Using dialectic theory and stakeholder theory as interpreting lenses, we identified a number of conflicts and contradictions. Some of the contradictions resulted from conflicting and divergent goals of the various stakeholders across groups but also within groups, while others resulted from differing goals of policies and regulations.
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| 4. |
- Moe, Carl Erik, et al.
(författare)
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The public procurement of information systems : dialectics in requirements specification
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Journal of Information Systems. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0960-085X .- 1476-9344. ; 26:2, s. 143-163
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When acquiring information systems, public entities face a dilemma. On the one hand, they want to procure the system that best suits their needs, which often requires lengthy dialogues with vendors. At the same time, they are restricted by government regulations that mandate limited dialogue in the interests of transparency and equal opportunities for all vendors. To examine how public entities deal with this, we followed three procurement projects in Norway. We show that this dilemma manifests itself as a dialectic between the thesis of getting the system requirements right and the antithesis of strictly adhering to regulations. Public entities search for a resolution of this dialectic through two syntheses: selecting an appropriate tendering procedure, and learning how to specify requirements through networks of peer public entities. Our findings reveal that the syntheses are possible because the dialectic is actually complimentary, both the thesis and the antithesis are needed to create the joint outcome that satisfies both. The resolution of the dialectic unfolds differently over time. Our study contributes to the relatively neglected stream of IS research on dialectics that explicitly searches for a synthesis while revealing the complementarity of the dialectic. We show how time plays a nuanced role in the resolution of the dialectic situation.
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| 5. |
- Nguyen, Thi Thanh Hai, et al.
(författare)
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A Cross-country Comparison of Success Factor Priorities for Health Information Technology Managers : Evidence of Convergence in the Nordic Countries
- 2015
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Ingår i: 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). - : IEEE. - 9781479973675 ; , s. 2824-2833
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The implementation of Health Information Technology (HIT) can improve the provision of high-quality and efficient healthcare services; however, it has met with significant challenges in many cases. Despite the challenges occurring in many countries, prior research on HIT implementation success factors is, however, mainly from the USA. This research conducted a survey to IT managers in Nordic countries' healthcare organizations and compiled a list of the HIT implementation success factors that these managers considered important in each country. It was found that IT managers in Nordic countries agree highly with each other in their judgment of the importance of these success factors. While Nordic countries' healthcare systems and culture are relatively similar, the results suggest that an internationally applicable set of recommendations for the successful completion of HIT implementations could be within the realm of possibility.
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| 6. |
- Nguyen, Thi Thanh Hai, et al.
(författare)
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Information Technology Managers and Critical Success Factors in Healthcare Organizationsin Nordic countries
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many studies have attempted to identify the success factors for Health Information Technology (HIT) implementation. Unfortunately, such success factor lists are long and unwieldy, and it can be difficult to see which ones should have received more attention than others. Thus, there is a need to examine critical success factors (CSFs) that should be most attended to in the context of competing priorities. IT managers, through their experience, can know best which relevant factors have been crucial for successful implementation of the projects; therefore, it is imperative to understand the perceptions of IT managers regarding relative importance of success factors in HIT implementation. This research aims to reassess and synthesize CSFs influencing HIT implementation, focusing on the question: “What are the CSFs in HIT implementation from IT managers’ point of view?” We surveyed the IT managers in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Swe-den) and discuss the preliminary results regarding IT manager background and the CSFs in this research-in-progress paper.
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| 7. |
- Päivärinta, Tero, et al.
(författare)
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Grounding theory from Delphi studies
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Conference on Information Systems 2011, ICIS 2011. - Atlanta : Association for Information Systems. - 9780615559070 ; , s. 2022-2035
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Delphi method is recommended for exploratory research in emerging research areas. Despite earlier suggestions for using the Delphi method for theory creation, few analytical tools are provided for this purpose. However, Grounded Theory is especially devoted to creating theories from qualitative data. This paper describes an enhanced Delphi method which integrates data analysis techniques from Grounded Theory. The resulting Grounded Delphi Method (GDM) improves Delphi studies by bringing in a data collection technique that focuses explicitly on the identification of the reasons and consequences for issues, ranked by experts. Moreover, the techniques of open and axial coding support the discovery of theoretical concepts from the initial Delphi issues. In turn, the ranking process of the Delphi method provides a rigorous means for selecting core categories for theory development, which decreases researcher interference on this issue.
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| 8. |
- Viborg Andersen, Kim, et al.
(författare)
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E-government in Scandinavia
- 2005
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems. - 0905-0167 .- 1901-0990. ; 17:2, s. 3-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 9. |
- Witrisal, Klaus, et al.
(författare)
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High-accuracy localization for assisted living : 5G systems will turn multipath channels from foe to friend
- 2016
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Ingår i: IEEE Signal Processing Magazine. - 1053-5888. ; 33:2, s. 59-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Asisted living (AL) technologies, enabled by technical advances such as the advent of the Internet of Things, are increasingly gaining importance in our aging society. This article discusses the potential of future high-accuracy localization systems as a key component of AL applications. Accurate location information can be tremendously useful to realize, e.g., behavioral monitoring, fall detection, and real-time assistance. Such services are expected to provide older adults and people with disabilities with more independence and thus to reduce the cost of caretaking. Total cost of ownership and ease of installation are paramount to make sensor systems for AL viable. In case of a radio-based indoor localization system, this implies that a conventional solution is unlikely to gain widespread adoption because of its requirement to install multiple fixed nodes (anchors) in each room. This article therefore places its focus on 1) discussing radiolocalization methods that reduce the required infrastructure by exploiting information from reflected multipath components (MPCs) and 2) showing that knowledge about the propagation environment enables localization with high accuracy and robustness. It is demonstrated that new millimeter-wave (mm-wave) technology, under investigation for 5G communications systems, will be able to provide centimeter (cm)-accuracy indoor localization in a robust manner, ideally suited for AL.
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