| 1. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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A diagnosic framework for eGovernment management
- 2008
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on e-Society 2008. - Algarve : IADIS Press. - 9789728924553 ; , s. 3-8
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- As earlier research has shown, the ways that local leaders and managers translate the overarching idea of eGovernment cause significant consequences for the overall implementation process. In our own research it has become obvious that inside both the translation and the enactment process are invaluable clues for the eGovernment management embedded. Our findings indicate that it is important to consider managers as local mediators of mega trends and that it is necessary to create knowledge about the diverse translation processes and, by doing so, emphasize enactment rather than vision. In this article we suggest that a method called A diagnostic framework for eGovernment management could be a useful method for researchers as well as eGovernment managers to increase the understanding of the enactment process.
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| 2. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, 1971-
(författare)
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"e" i retorik och praktik. : Elektronisk förvaltning i översättning.
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion of eGovernment implementation by making the implicit organisational micro dynamic processes involved in the framing and implementation of eGovernment explicit. I want to highlight the important process trough which eGovernment is framed and translated by organisational members and in what way it effects different divisions of practice. To do so, two different analytical aspects of organisational life, the rhetoric of management and the reality of work practices are used as a theoretical context for analysing some implications of eGovernment implementation. These analytical dimensions of organisational life are used to discuss a case study looking at the implementation of eGovernment in a local Swedish municipality. The main contribution of this thesis is a theorisation of how to understand the organisational micro dynamic processes involved in the implementation of eGovernment in public administration. New insights could be gained, for researchers and practioners, by analysing the transformation of practice as an ongoing process characterised by micro-political translation processes involving actors as well as actions and meanings in both rhetoric and practice.
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| 3. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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Leaders as Mediators of Global Megatrends : A Diagnostic Framework
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Electronic Government Research. - : IGI Global. - 1548-3886 .- 1548-3894. ; 5:4, s. 28-42
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of eGovernment is moving rapidly within supra-national and national and local institutions. At every level leaders are interpreting the idea, attempting to grasp either the next step or indeed the very essence of the idea itself. This article outlines a diagnostic framework, resting on three different dimensions; translation, interpretative frames and sensemaking, to create knowledge about the translation processes and by doing so, emphasize enactment rather than vision. The diagnostic framework is then empirically examined to explore its possible contribution to the understanding of the complexity of leader’s translating and mediating the idea of eGovernment in their local context. In conclusion it is noted that the diagnostic framework reveals logic of appropriateness between local mediators, eGovernment, different areas of interest and appropriate organizational practices.
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| 4. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
-
Leaders as mediators of megatrends : a diagnostic framework
- 2009
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Electronic Government Research. - : IGI Global. - 1548-3886 .- 1548-3894. ; 5:4, s. 28-42
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of eGovernment is moving rapidly within supra-national and national and local institutions. At every level leaders are interpreting the idea, attempting to grasp either the next step or indeed the very essence of the idea itself. This article outlines a diagnostic framework, resting on three different dimensions; translation, interpretative frames and sensemaking, to create knowledge about the translation processes and by doing so, emphasize enactment rather than vision. The diagnostic framework is then empirically examined to explore its possible contribution to the understanding of the complexity of leader’s translating and mediating the idea of eGovernment in their local context. In conclusion it is noted that the diagnostic framework reveals logic of appropriateness between local mediators, eGovernment, different areas of interest and appropriate organizational practices.
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| 5. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Leaders as mediators of megatrends: A diagnostic framework in praxis
- 2011. - 1
-
Ingår i: Applied Technology Integration in Governmental organizations. - Hershey New York : IGI Global. - 9781609601621 - 9781609601645 ; , s. 281-297
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of eGovernment is moving rapidly within supra-national and national and local institutions. At every level leaders are interpreting the idea, attempting to grasp either the next step or indeed the very essence of the idea itself. This chapter outlines a diagnostic framework, resting on three different dimensions; translation, interpretative frames and sensemaking, to create knowledge about the translation processes and by doing so, emphasize enactment rather than vision. The diagnostic framework is then empirically examined to explore its possible contribution to the understanding of the complexity of leader’s translating and mediating the idea of eGovernment in their local context. In conclusion it is noted that the diagnostic framework reveals a logic of appropriateness between local mediators, eGovernment, different areas of interest and appropriate organisational practices.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Giritli Nygren, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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The pastoral power of technology. Rethinking alienation in digital culture
- 2012
-
Ingår i: tripleC. - 1726-670X. ; 10:2, s. 509-517
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to rethink alienation in digital culture in the light of Foucault’s "pastoral modalities of power". Pastoral power does not displace other conceptions of power, but provides another level of analysis when considering the forging of reasonable, responsible subjects willing and able to sustain alternative conceptions of power. We will draw particularly on the early writings of Marx and the recent poststructuralist developments concerning hegemony and superstructure in relation to technology. Technology as such is analysed in terms of the repercussions of the "design of the machine" in industrial technological contexts and the "design of digital culture" in digital technological contexts. Pastoral power not only directs our attention to the making of technologies, but also to the making of individuals capable of taking on responsibility for those technologies. This means that it is necessary to acknowledge the fact of the effective power of ideologies and their material realities.
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| 8. |
- Lindblad Gidlund, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
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Diagnosing the techno-relational action space; : Finding institutional and individual dimensions for innovation in transformational government
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Transforming Government. - : Emerald. - 1750-6166 .- 1750-6174. ; 5:4, s. 364-378
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The overall purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion of the IT-related public sector transformation by reintroducing the question of employees’ organisational power and position in technological and technocratic systems. Design/methodology/approach – To examine how formal organisational positions, together with the way in which employees position themselves in relation to technology, affect how employees interpret their accessible action space (position and action strategy) a survey in a local municipality were conducted. Findings – As indicated by our hypothesis, the empirical results verify that the techno-relational action space is two-dimensional, consisting of both a formal position (how the organisational members are positioned) and a certain amount of action space outside a formal position (i.e. how they are position themselves). Elaborating on these dimensions generates rewarding insights into a micro-change perspective where technology-related innovation processes are concerned. Originality/value – The paper combines analysis of how the organisational members position themselves in relation to technology with how they are positioned organisationally in relation to technology and structures of power. Instead, we claim, that he techno-relational space is both a matter of how the organisational members position themselves in relation to technology and a matter of how they are positioned organisationally in relation to technology and structures of power. Practical implications: Identifying and acknowledging employees perceived techno-relational action space is of great importance in understanding organisational members’ participation, cooperation and innovative capability in government transformation.
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| 9. |
- Lindblad Gidlund, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Swedish eGovernment in public use
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Information Society and Globalisation: Transformation of Politics, 22 October 2010, Dubrovnik.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The idea of eGovernment is often put forward as the main principal for public administrations to improve their government activities. One of the most emphasized arguments for eGovernment in the public discourse is the expectation of an increased interaction with and service toward citizens by enhanced e-services and the efforts in improving e-services in number and functionality undergo constant benchmarking tests. These benchmarking results are then often acting as incentives for further investments and action plans. , But we still lack sufficient analyses of actual usage, even though it is a quite natural next step in assessing success of what is supplied in other contexts. In this paper it is argued that Sweden is especially interesting given the high internet penetration, highly developed welfare system and the fact that Swedish authorities’ development of various e-services is rated quite high in these benchmarking efforts. The purpose of this paper is to address the question of how and when Swedish e-services are used by the public as an important issue for understanding the impact of eGovernment on the interactions between citizens and government. Our tentative empirical results indicate an interesting gap in use patterns in relation to supply (number and functionality) of e-services Further on use varies with age and level of education. In conclusion the fact that even though Sweden has so many of the necessary requirements, (iii) there is an incongruity between supply and use and (ii) the use is still very structurally divided calls for a discussion of useworthiness and raise questions of whether eGovernment challenge any structural mechanisms.
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| 10. |
- Lindblad Gidlund, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Swedish eGovernment in Public Use
- 2011. - 1
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Ingår i: Information Society and Globalization. - Zagrep : Political Science Research Centre. - 9789537022242 ; , s. 93-124
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 11. |
- Lindblad Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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The myth of eGovernment
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Handbook of Research on ICT-Enabled Transformational Government: A Global Perspective. - Hershey : Information Science Reference. - 9781605663906 ; , s. 313-328
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The authors of this chapter suggest that e-government is best understood as a mythologised megatrend. They argue that it has become a symbol for the modernised government of today. A symbol which, in some sense has to be demythologized in order to be realised. The authors suggest that by analysing general and specific interpretations, the myth can be partially unravelled, which is illustrated by a large scale study based on 2624 employees in public administration. The authors suggest a loose coupling between the general and the specific level.
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| 12. |
- Zimic, Sheila, 1983-
(författare)
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Internetgenerationen bit för bit : Representationer av IT och ungdom i ett informationssamhälle
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding in relation to the construction of a ‘Net Generation’. With regards to the idea of an information society, technologies and young people are given certain positions, which are not in any sense natural but are socially constructed. This thesis explores these socially given meanings and shows what types of meanings are prioritized and legitimized. The exploration is conducted by examining, both externally and internally, given meanings of a generation identity. The external (nominal identification) in this study is understood as the construction of an abstract user and is studied by means of academic texts concerning the ‘Net Generation’. The internal (virtual identification) involves young people’s construction of their generation identity and is studied by means of collage. The collages are used to understand how the young participants position themselves in contemporary society and how they, as concrete users, articulate their relationship with information technologies. The findings show that the ‘type of behavior’ which is articulated in the signifying practice of the construction of the abstract user, ‘Net Generation’, reduces users and technology to a marketing / economical discourse. In addition the idea of the abstract user implies that all users have the same possibilities to achieve ‘success’ in the information society, by being active ‘prosumers’. The concrete users articulate that they feel stressed and pressured in relation to all the choices that they are expected to make. In this sense, the participants do not articulate the (economical) interests as assumed for the ‘Net Generation’, but, rather articulate interests to play, to have a hobby and be social when using information technologies. What this thesis thus proposes, is to critically explore the ‘taken for granted’ notions of a technological order in society as pertaining to young people. Only if we understand how socially given meaning is constructed can we break loose from the temporarily prioritized values to which the position of technology and users are fixed.
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| 13. |
- Axelsson, Karin, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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E-government in Sweden: New Directions : Editorial
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Public Information Systems. - Sundsvall : MidSweden University. - 1653-4360. ; 5:2, s. 31-35
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In January 2008, the Swedish Government launched a new eGovernment action plan which was formulated to serve as “a new basis for IT-based organisational development in public administration”. The main objective in the plan was formulated as “as simple as possible for as many as possible”. The definition of eGovernment used in the action plan is the one agreed upon by many other European countries: “eGovernment is organisational development in public administrations that takes advantage of information and communication technologies (ICT) combined with organisational changes and new skills”. Behind the suggested course of actions there is a rhetoric that Sweden was now entering a new path regarding eGovernment development. Taken together the declarations in the plan made it and the expressed expectations of profound changes in public administration an interesting target for critical review. Having identified the importance in critically discussing and analysing the action plan, the Swedish Researchers Network in eGovernment (www.egov.nu) arranged a network meeting at the national conference for public sector in Sweden June 2008. The theme for the meeting was “Reflections on the Swedish action plan for eGovernment”. Several researchers and practitioners shared and debated their reflections during this meeting. In order to continue this very interesting discussion after the conference, we then invited authors to submit an article on the same theme, i.e. analysing different aspects of the Swedish action plan for eGovernment. This call for papers was directed both to participants at the network meeting and others, who wanted to contribute to this on-going debate. The call was to encourage authors to communicate and share their insights and opinions regarding the action plan in order to provide knowledge to decision-makers and other practitioners.
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| 14. |
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Förvaltning och medborgarskap i förändring
- 2010
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this book is to contribute to the development of a dialogue between ongoing research and established practice in the area of e-administration. Just as established practice consists of many different established practices within the public sector , researchers who are interested and involved in the area of e-administration also represent a number of different perspectives and academic disciplines. Our ambition has been to present several different perspectives and understandings related to the ongoing process of change, a charting of where Swedish research in the field stands today. The themes dsicussed from a critical perspective are: The Citizen's Space for Action, Space for Design Action, Space for Action Concerning Regulation and Leadership and finally Providing Space for a Multitude of Interpretations and Roles.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Gidlund- Lindblad, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Critical Design and the creation of alternative visions : literally and metaphorically Critical
- 2014
-
Rapport (refereegranskat)abstract
- Critical design methods and thinking is gaining increasing interest during design of artefacts, applied mainly by interaction designers in order to create designs that cause reflections (on roles, norms, values, practices, cultures). It forces reflection among the users of the artefacts, since the artefact is aimed to provoke, and to support visions of alternative realities, other ways of being and living. However, ways to create such provocations, reflections and visions among the professionals (designers, researchers and practitioners) is not explored as much. If considering critical design rather as a position than an approach for design, how can we support reflection among us as professionals? Thereby, enable usage of critical design in our profession? These, and related questions, will be reflected upon and discussed during the workshop.
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| 17. |
- Hallqvist, Carina, 1957-
(författare)
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Passion for Participation : The Importance of Creating Support for Motivation
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis provides a study of an open source software project that focuses on the software development of an e-service in a municipal context. The focus is on environmental factors that either limit or promote the motivation to participate in the open source project, the "Parent-Teacher Meeting" project, a web-based communication and information channel whose purpose is to enhance the contacts between schools and parents. The empirical context is situated at the point where traditional information systems (IS) development meets new perspectives regarding organizational structures and boundaries and, as such, provides example of ongoing cross-organizational activities that break current local organizational standards. The objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of motivational factors for participation and adopts a sociocultural view on the topic motivation to participate.The empirical material was collected through interviews, conversations, and meetings. Being a subproject (i.e. an initiative to develop an open source software application) within a triple helix project I found an extensive number of stakeholders. The choice was made to focus on the application development; thereby a central group of participants within the development project team was found and these became the focus within the study. Moreover, I have, in this thesis, chosen to conduct a contextual description of the participants and the course of events that lead to the start of the project of study. This has been done so as to present the context, which is the focus for this study, to the reader and to be able to use these descriptions within the analysis.I have, methodologically, approached the problem from a descriptive angle with an interpretative character using a qualitative case study design. Within the thesis, the means by which the case study has been conducted is presented; i.e. the decision regarding research focus, design, and my role as researcher. In relation to the data collection, the main source has been semi-structured interviews, which is consistent with an interpretive case study character and in which my intent is to highlight conditions and events that are important to both groups within the development team.To support the investigation of those factors that can explain and assist with the interpretation of my empirical data, my description and interpretations are built on a theoretical framework based on concepts from IS theories and theories relating to human motivation. The framework, self-determination theory (SDT), is used as a lens to direct the focus onto the situated conditions that influence how individuals experience their participation within the software development project. Given the theoretical basis of an analytical comparison of ideal types of software development constructs, together with influences from motivational theories, the analytical framework used for collecting occurrences of motivational behavior and sociocultural conditions has been constructed.After the findings and my interpretation of them with the assistance of my analytical framework have been presented, a discussion and conclusions are then detailed. The conclusions of the study are argued as being relevant as an explanation for the understanding of intrinsic and internalized extrinsic motivation to participate in a hybrid open source projects. The study contributes to our understanding of some of the challenges that are to be considered when putting together and managing systems or software development processes. In this way, the study may provide some basis for improving and meeting new demands regarding how development is adopted in a mixed scenario and this provides valuable knowledge to both practice and IS research.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
- Hylland, O. M., et al.
(författare)
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Pandemic cultural policy. A comparative perspective on Covid-19 measures and their effect on cultural policies in Europe
- 2024
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Ingår i: The International Journal of Cultural Policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1028-6632 .- 1477-2833. ; 30:1, s. 81-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To what extent did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the tools, priorities and organisation of cultural policies? And did the pandemic enhance the digital aspect of these policies? This paper compares pandemic cultural policy measures in seven European countries to answer these questions. The countries all installed a plurality of mitigating measures, combining grants and subsidies, compensation of lost income, income support and financial flexibility, creating a tendency towards cultural policy turning into economic policy, fiscal policy, and labour market policy. Cultural policies have not been fundamentally challenged by the pandemic, in the sense that it has affected the essential political tools, divisions of labour, or core goals. The responses have confirmed an existing policy structure or enhanced existing developments. The importance of a state-centred or a federalist cultural policy system has not been challenged in a substantial way. Secondly there is little evidence to show a general acceleration of national digital cultural policies.
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| 20. |
- Johansson, Stefan, 1963-
(författare)
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Design for Participation and Inclusion will Follow : Disabled People and the Digital Society
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Digitalization is rapidly taking over all aspects of society, but still there are parts of the population who have to struggle for access to, and to be able to use, the digital resources. Design processes and outcomes in the form of artefacts, that takes accessibility into account, is key to participation. This gives the designer a central role in providing for a more equal participation of all, in the digital society. The work in this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the prerequisites for participation in the digital society, and in the design processes to accomplish this, by presenting research done together with three communities: people with cognitive impairments, people with mental health issues and homeless people.The overall question has been How can participation in the digital society be understood? We have investigated the nature of difficulties or enabling factors for people with impairments, people with mental health issues and homeless people, when using the internet. We have also investigated possible digital divides within the groups, and how they can be explained.Ontologically, the work is based on an assumption that knowledge is to be found in a dialectic interplay between the material world and how we interpret what is going on in this world. The underlying epistemological assumption is that data has to be empiric, and critically interpreted in dialogue between members of the communities, which are being researched, and other stakeholders. This work draws on the idea of emancipation and that research can be liberating.The work also takes on a pragmatic stance. We have used adapted versions of Emancipatory Participatory Research, and of Participatory and Value Sensitive Design, thus making them accessible to people with cognitive impairments, people with mental health issues or homeless people. We have tested and adapted methods for sampling of rare populations, to enhance the quality of quantitative studies of how people with impairments and people with mental health issues have access to, and are using, the internet.In our research, we have found fourteen prerequisites, all of which need to be in place to provide for participation. To promote participation, we need a toolbox of methods and accessible tools. Finally, to analyse what is going on we need an analytical model which allows for analysis on multiple levels and from multiple perspectives.As a result, I here propose, define and position a framework for researching and understanding participation in the digital society, based on three parts: Guidelines, Ethics and Statistics. Guidelines can be understood as the theories, the regulations, the standards, etc. that inform our thinking. Ethics guide us in the right direction. Statistics make progress or lack of progress visible.The conclusion is: if we plan for participation - by improved statistic survey sampling methods, a participatory approach to collaborative research and in using research methods in an accessible and emancipatory way – inclusion will follow.
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| 21. |
- Klareld, Ann-Sofie, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Rethinking archives as digital : The consequences of ‘paper minds’ in illustrations and definitions of ‘e-archives’
- 2017
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Ingår i: Archivaria. - : Association of Canadian Archivists. - 1923-6409. ; 83:Spring, s. 81-108
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Culture and discourses affect our understanding of the archive in the digital environment: preconceptions, norms and practices developed in a paper-based administration color and limit perceptions of digital archives. It can be difficult to re-imagine the archive in the context of e-Government, and the networked environment, which increases the complexity of archival issues. This is a global problem, because digital records require other measures than paper records. This takes a foundational approach, focusing on openings and closures of concepts surrounding the idea of archives. Critical theory is used as a lens to study illustrations and descriptions of what an ‘e-archive’ is, and how it should be managed. The analysis is made after three basic principles that the public administration should work towards: (i) a holistic concept of the archive, (ii) a proactive approach to records management, and (iii) striving to integrate the archiving process with the goals and opportunities of e-government. The result indicates that the lack of ‘closings’: commonly understood principles and a shared definition of an e-archive, may restrict the understanding of archives in digital contexts and constrain the development of their full potential. At the same time, the lack of ‘openings’ toward new ways of thinking about and designing e-archives may narrow the scope of possibilities that the digital formats can offer. ‘Paper minds’ may presuppose a ‘stepwise progression’ of records from ‘active’ to ‘archival’ that is unnecessary in the digital context.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Lakew, Nathan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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The equipment nature of ‘the so-called’ IT Artifacts – Holistic ontology based IS design principles
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The topic of Information System (IS) design has ben extensively covered in design science literature.After introducing two main ontological stance of IS design, holism and dualism, this paper develops fourIS design principles that bases a holistic orientation. We first presenthe two underlining IS design coresof dualistic ontology, externality and determinacy, and their influence in the proces of IS design. We thendiscus end-users' holistic IS practice based on Heideger's tol analysis framework. After presentingnew technology apropriation case study, we further discus holistic based IS design principles and theiraplication in diferent IS design activites. Based on the empirical evidence, the paper demonstrates theefect of ontological level stance on the operational level of IS design, the concept of breakdown and itscontribution to the improvement of worksystem. We conclude by highlighting the ned for further study ofholistic IS design principles and its implication for organization.
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| 25. |
- Lakew, Nathan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
Toward Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis – Exploring Technology Adoption And Continuoususe As Lifeworld Experience
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2015 - Proceedings. - : Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- With recent rapid digital evolution and integration of technology into our lifeworld, the suitability of causal based methods to study IT-entangled everyday experiences is becoming dubious. As interpretive research methods emerge as viable alternatives, some has criticized its rigor based on its less critical stance and lack of tools to understand complex historical and environmental influences on individual experiences. Drawing upon phenomenology, we propose Interpretive Phenomenological Analyses (IPA) as potential interpretive method of inquiry to understand how and why we engage with information systems. IPA provides a tool to both critical explore and hermeneutically interpret phenomena of lifeworld experiences based on users’ interpretation of their own experiences. The approach also provides a means to mapping out participants’ object of concern and their experiential claims using hermeneutical and critical questioning, then coherently contextualize participants’ interpretation within their environmental and cultural settings. We illustrate the proposed method with empirical evidence of excerpt from a longitude study of IS usage research. Consideration is given to philosophical assumptions, different IPA approaches, and researchers’ fore-structure presumptions of their field of interest. The paper intends to contribute toward the discussion of interpretive research methods in the field of information systems.
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| 26. |
- Lidén, Gustav, 1983-
(författare)
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Från demokrati till e-demokrati : En jämförande studie av demokratiutveckling i det moderna samhället
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This mainly deductive study examines what factors explain the variation of e-democracy and if, why a causal pathway exists. The deductive feature is carried out through examining the predictions of the modernization theory, testing hypotheses concerning the link between economic development and wealth in relation to e-democracy. Deriving from a theoretical point of departure where e-democracy is conceptualized with the help of democratic theory, this phenomenon is studied in three different but linked empirical parts. A cross-sectional global study did establish a relationship between some of the indicators derived from the theory; however, the magnitude of the explanatory power was lower at the level of e-democracy than at the level of democracy. A cross-sectional national study of all Sweden’s municipalities did show that especially high levels of education were clearly related to high levels of e-democracy. Approaching the questions of causal mechanisms and deviations from the found pattern, case studies did emphasize that the linkage between the structural conditions and actor’s-orientated explanations largely could verify what is deducted from theory. However, the importance of economic possibilities and internal prioritizations inside the political organization was essential for the development of e-democracy and was found through more inductive approaches.The main contribution of this thesis is the results that, both on an aggregated and a micro level, verify the theory but also add other important explanations. Another important conclusion is the creation of a model for e-democracy where a complete e-democracy is linked to democratic theory and not only maintains information, discussion, and decision-making processes through information and communication technology but also does this while strengthening political participation and political equality.
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| 27. |
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| 28. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-
(författare)
-
Chaufför eller passagerare?
- 2010. - 1:1
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Ingår i: Förvaltning och medborgarskap i förändring. - Lund : Studentlitteratur. - 9789144055626 ; , s. 33-46
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- KAPITEL 1 Chaufför eller passagerare 33 Katarina Lindblad-Gidlund Inledning 33 Vad menas med användardriven och användarcentrerad utveckling 34 Teknikutveckling 35 Arbetsplatsdemokrati 35 Vem är chaufför och av vad 36 Är chauffören en kund 37 Service och/eller demokrati som medborgarna driver 39 Den förlorade chauffören och konsten att lyssna på passagerarna 42 Diskussionsfrågor 44 Referenser 45
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| 29. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Communicating vessels for relevant and rigorous eGovernment research
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Collaboration and the Knowledge Economy. - : IOS Press. - 9781586039240 ; , s. 255-261
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several researchers have pointed out that the field of eGovernment suffers from a too short-termed, project oriented, retrospective focus and a naïve technological optimism. Reflexive, critical analysis, cumulative research and altered use of theoretical frames are asked for to increase the practical value. However, in front of fulfilling such expectations the reality is that we get the research we are asking for, and we are asking for the research we know exist, and in this logic lies a lot of communicative challenges (as well as funding mechanisms). This article tries to address this relation and does so by putting forward an initiative to establish a national network of eGovernment researchers and practitioners (from private and public sector).
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| 30. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
Communicating Vessels for Relevant and Rigorous eGovernment Research
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Collaboration and the Knowledge Economy. - Amsterdam : IOS Press. - 9781586039240 ; , s. 255-261
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several researchers have pointed out that the field of eGovernment suffers from a too short-termed, project oriented, retrospective focus and a naïve technological optimism. Reflexive, critical analysis, cumulative research and altered use of theoretical frames are asked for to increase the practical value of eGovernment research. However, in front of fulfilling such expectations the reality is that we get the research we are asking for, and we are asking for the research we know exist, and in this logic lies a lot of communicative challenges (as well as funding mechanisms). This paper tries to address this relation and does so by putting forward an initiative to establish a national network of eGovernment researchers and practitioners (from private and public sector).
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| 31. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
'Demand driven development of public e-services' : Dominant, hidden and contrasting stories
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783642334887 ; , s. 66-77
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The idea of participation and demand driven development is not unique for the applied area of development of public e-services, it has for long been an issue in development stands and has moved relatively unchecked from the margins to the mainstream of development since mid 1980s. The promise of empowerment and transformative development has though been severely questioned during the past decade in development research and practice in lack of sufficient evidence that the idea is living up to the expected standards. However, in eGovernment, demand driven development of public e-service is on the contrary growing. Expectations such as enhanced use, better services and more efficient resource utilization are expressed in different contexts. In this article the idea of demand driven development of public e-services is analyzed discursively in order to gain a deeper understanding of how the narrative is told, retold and challenged. The results show that from a design perspective it is rewarding to acknowledge both the dominant, hidden and contrasting stories in order to understand challenges in development work. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.
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| 32. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
Designing for all and no one - Practitioners understandings of citizen driven development of public e-services
- 2012
-
Ingår i: ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Press. - 9781450308465 ; , s. 11-19
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The notion of citizen driven development of public e-services has been vivid for a number of years in eGovernment research, practice and policies. There are however, less conceptual analyses resting on a critical stance analyzing how this notion is translated in practical settings, leaving a gap in between for practitioners to solve. This paper presents explorative work made in a Swedish authority by using conceptual disentanglement (as in identifying extensions of the concept, noting regularities and reveal relevant features) as a methodology. The results show that besides difficulties in creating systematic work processes, what surfaces is the complex task of estimation. Estimating who should be participating (when designing for almost all citizens), how many citizens are needed as a base for a design decisions, who decides what should be an objective for a design initiation and on what grounds and legitimacy? The picture evolving is that of an overreliance and an uncritical acceptance of the notion of citizen driven development of public e-services on a policy level, that fails both the practitioners and the citizens; highlighting the need for critical analysis in order to deconstruct the taken for grantedness of the notion of user involvement and deal with the ignorance regarding the details and performance in this specific setting. © 2012 ACM.
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| 33. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
Driver or Passenger? An Analysis of Citizen-Driven eGovernment
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Electronic Government, proceedings. - Berlin Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783540852032 ; , s. 267-278
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- eGovernment is often put forward as a transformation supporting empowerment and democracy, building on principles such as ‘citizen-driven’ and ‘citizen-centered’ development. In addition it is often symbolized by a technology-laden and romantic progressivism. In this article this picture is analyzed from the perspective of the ones supposed to put eGovernment into practice. A model to analyze our relation with technology laden governmental development is put forward. The results, resting on a large scale empirical study in a local municipality, show that a remarkably high number of civic servants (acting in their role as citizens) did not see any possibility to change the transformation if they thought it not to serve the citizens. Implying that there is still a long way to go to live up to such beautiful proclamations, and also highlights the question whether ‘citizen-driven eGovernment’ is an accurate framing?
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
Implementing eGovernment : Advancing professionalism
- 2010. - 1:1
-
Ingår i: E-Government. - Wiesbaden : Gabler Verlag/GWV Fachverlage GmbH. - 9783834918765 ; , s. 495-540
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 36. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, et al.
(författare)
-
Redefining Practice and Relevance
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Pre-ICIS 2008 SIG eGovernment Workshop,2008.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several researchers have pointed out that the field of eGovernment suffers from a too short-termed, project oriented, retrospective focus and a naïve technological optimism. Reflexive, critical analysis, cumulative research and altered use of theoretical frames are asked for, in order to increase the practical value. However, in front of fulfilling such expectations, the reality is that we get the research we are asking for, and we are asking for the research we know exist. In this paper we claim that eGovernment research would benefit from redefining practice and relevance. We argue that the relations between researchers and practitioners within the eGovernment field should be focused. In order to conduct eGovernment research that meets the criteria of being both rigorous and relevant, an on-going discussion between academia and practice must be facilitated. This paper addresses this need for joint knowledge arenas by putting forward an initiative to establish a national network of eGovernment researchers and practitioners from private and public sector.
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| 37. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-
(författare)
-
Samverkan för social hållbarhet och öppen innovation
- 2009
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Det ställs idag höga förväntningar på att effektivisering och ökad service inom offentlig förvaltning skall främja såväl tillväxt (bl.a. genom enklare processer) som demokrati (bl.a. genom ökad tillgänglighet). Men det finns också ett flertal problembilder identifierade kring en sådan utveckling såsom dubbelarbete, otydlig nytta, bristande samverkan och oklara förutsättningar. Vilket påverkar såväl ekonomi, arbetssituation för offentliganställda samt uteblivet mervärde för medborgare och företag. En sådan problembeskrivning går givetvis att analysera från ett flertal olika perspektiv men vi hävdar att öppen innovation, samverkan och social hållbarhet illustrerar och fokuserar viktiga processer och kombinationen av dessa tre även innehåller värdefulla bidrag för en ökad förståelse och möjlighet till konstruktivt handlande. Syftet med det presenterade projektet är att det skall leverera kunskap och metoder för hur e-förvaltning kan utvecklas med högre grad av social hållbarhet och inom en kontext av öppen innovation. Denna kunskap och dessa metoder utvecklas i samspel med en konkret e-tjänsteutveckling i kommuner och landsting i Jämtlands och Västernorrlands län. Det vi gör i detta projekt är att vi i) applicerar begreppet öppen innovation specifikt på e-förvaltningens utveckling, ii) relaterar det till ett dokumenterat behov av social hållbarhet i e-tjänsteutvecklingen, och iii) testar aspekter av denna inriktning i en konkret och praktisk utveckling av e-tjänster i berörda kommuner och landsting och iv) dokumenterar och analyserar erfarenheterna för att möjliggöra kunskapsspridning.
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| 38. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
Techno Therapy : a relation with technology
- 2005
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- What is identified as a problematic area in this thesis is our different relations with information technology which creates inequalities between possibilities to enjoy the advantages, or suffer the disadvantages, of the information technological development. The first step in addressing this area is to start with our conceptions of technological development, voluntaristic or deterministic, and the first argument is that it is important to create an awareness of our relation with technology. This thesis presents a perspective (with the help of social constructionism) which holds a possible method to create better conditions for awareness and finally, another relation. The relationistic approach highlights what sometimes is labelled the therapeutic purpose of IS (i.e. to create a mutual understanding between different agents through negotiated arrangements) which prevents some agents to be treated as inanimate objects instead of fellow human beings. And techno therapy not only for the IS researchers but for the change agents at the political level and perhaps most importantly, for the users themselves so that they will be able to formulate, communicate and mediate their needs and wishes. The aim is to come up with tools and instruments for creating opportunities for as many as possible to in an enlightened and equal way make their own choices regarding information technology use.
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| 39. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-
(författare)
-
The reflexive designer : a method for sustainable IT development
- 2010
-
Ingår i: International journal of sustainable society. - : Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. - 1756-2538. ; 2:4, s. 406-419
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An increasing diffusion of IT in almost all aspects of our daily lives in modern western societies raises questions about; how IT is done and what the effects are on social sustainability. In this paper, it is argued that we need to consider these issues during ‘the becoming’, instead of tackling them in retrospect and relate such a view closer to the work practices of IT designers in order to take sustainability aspects into genuine consideration. In addition, it is argued that the link in between is the elements of negotiation, that is, to acknowledge the process of defining the objectives for what is considered to be social sustainability and what is considered to be the desired result of technology development. A practical method of doing this and as such enhance IT design is put forward; reflexive design, where critical reflection and constructive action is framed as design principles.
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| 40. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-
(författare)
-
The Reflexive Designer : A method for sustainable technology development
- 2009
-
Ingår i: SPT 2009: Converging technologies, Changing Societies. - Twente : University of Twente. ; , s. 166-167
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The often considered most evasive part of the frequently used trinity of sustainability (economical, environmental and social), social sustainability, is also the one we tend to leave behind. It might be justified theoretically due to its complexity in order to operationalise and analyse it (which is put forward by Marshall & Toffel, 2005, among others), but is that reason enough and what are the dangers in doing so? In this article the opposite action strategy is chosen i.e. to actually focus on the concept of social sustainability by analysing the relation between social sustainability and development of technology. In doing so, a suggestion is put forward, that design theory could work as framework for further understanding, and that the notion of ‘reflexive design’ (proposed by among others Grin et al. 2004, resting on ‘reflexive modernisation’ by Beck, Giddens & Lash 1994 and ‘the reflective practitioner’ by Schön, 1983) could actually work as a design method to enhance social sustainable technology development. To be more precise, the suggestion here is that what is often forgotten in traditional design methods are (a) the position held by the designer her/himself before even meeting the stake-holders and the claim that technology designers almost act as neutral and (b) therefore could put the major responsibility on the purchaser.
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| 41. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
Three eGovernments living happily ever after : Discursive tensions and conflicting epistemic cultures in the development of public E-services
- 2015
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Electronic Government Research. - 1548-3886 .- 1548-3894. ; 11:3, s. 43-56
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There exists a vast amount of different texts (policy documents, guidelines, action plans etc.) with the aim of stipulating the road forward for digitalisation of public sector, and an often used rationale for digitalisation is that the use of digitalised services will stimulate efficiency, reduce costs and at the same time enhance service quality. This is also often coupled with the idea that guarantee of success can be found participatory practices. This paper aims to disclose some of the underpinnings to the above logic by a closer analysis of 'the who, the why and how' of involving participators in digitalization of public sector. This paper uses a combination of discourse analysis and a Bourdieuan inspired use of the concept of epistemic cultures as an analytical framework to disentangle the notion of a participatory eGovernment development. The empirical case is a text analysis of a national action plan for digitalisation and the results of the analysis unfold two interesting notions; 1) three conflicting notions of for whom, why and how this is done, and 2) the consequences of conflicting epistemic cultures for practitioners to solve in the everyday practice when customer-oriented market logics are naively linked with democratically oriented inclusive participatory decision processes; two not so easily combined ideologies. Copyright © 2015, IGI Global.
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| 42. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
User's knights in shining armour?
- 2006
-
Ingår i: IFIP International Federation for Information Processing. - Boston, MA : Springer. - 0387378758 ; , s. 265-278
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this article is to address the relation between a user-centred objective and social constructionism and the possibility to refine user-centred fundamentals by enhancing the awareness of the relation between humans and the constructed environment. Through social constructionism we could enter a bit deeper into questions like; (1) reality's subjective character especially concerning technology development, (2) the importance of a power analysis while creating technological artefacts, (3) the importance of analysing our own role in technology's construction and (3) we are made aware of the importance of how technology is communicated to others. The article is in a way an extension of an argument put forward by Jacob Nielsen about usability as empiricism and/or ideology.
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| 43. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina, 1967-
(författare)
-
When and how do we become a "User"?
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Reframing human in information systems development. - London : Springer Publishing Company. - 9781849963466 ; , s. 211-226
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 44. |
- Lindblad-Gidlund, Katarina
(författare)
-
When and how do we become a 'user'?
- 2007
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article takes its starting point in the following statement; hos ever brilliant solutions we create we will have to deal with consequences from processes that have taken place before the actual meeting with the specific information system. The RwT-model is an attempt to shed some light on when and how we become what in IS is referred to as a 'user' of an information system. It deals with socialisatoin, action strategies and positions towards technological artefacts and by doing so analyses the relation with technology to enhance understanding about the user.
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| 45. |
- Nilsson, Olof, et al.
(författare)
-
Everyday communication home and school (ECHOES)
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Workshop on E-services in Public Administration. - Boras, Sweden : University College of Borås. - 9163196751 ; , s. 75-84
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This position paper will present the aims and goals for the CITIZYS Research Group at Mid Sweden University. The research in the group is aimed to contribute to produce pro-ductive, democratic and sustainable information systems for the public sector, with a fo-cus on the citizens’ perspective. To prove our point, we will discuss these objectives through a practical example, the on-going ECHOES-project.
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| 46. |
- Sefyrin, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
-
Representational practices in demands driven development of public sector
- 2013
-
Ingår i: ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT (EGOV 2013). - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783642403576 - 9783642403583 ; , s. 200-211
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper concerns representational practices in demands driven development of public sector, and the problems they involve. The term demands driven development refers to a movement in public sector towards a closer cooperation with the citizens, primarily with regards to the development of public e-services. The objective with the paper is to explore representational practices through the analysis of practitioners' talk about demands driven development. There are several interrelated problems with representational practices, in this paper analysed through the discussions of practitioners who work with demands driven development of public sector. The conclusion is that these practitioners work with representational practices in a way which they at the same time seem to consider rather problematic.
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| 47. |
- Sefyrin, Johanna
(författare)
-
Sitting on the Fence – Critical Explorations of Participatory Practices in IT Design
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about participation in IT design. The problem background that I have outlined is that information technologies have far reaching consequences for societies and for individuals, and that the design of information technologies is one among many practices that shape the world in which we live. From a democratic point of view it is crucial that also women should be involved in these reality producing practices. In relation to this there are at least two stories about women’s participation in IT design; one about their absence from IT design, and one about their inclusion therein. Based on this problem background the purpose of my research is to critically explore participatory IT design practices, with a special focus on gender, power and knowledge. In order to fulfil the purpose I have three research questions: Who participated in the IT design practices? How did knowledge come into being in these practices? How was responsibility enacted? My frame of reference is based on two research fields. One is Participatory Design (PD) with its focus on practitioners as co-designers in IT design practices, and the other is feminist technoscience which focuses on theories, methods, approaches, knowledge processes, and gender in technoscience practices. These two frameworks shares an interest in power relations and democratic participation in IT design. My empirical material was gathered with the help of ethnographic methods, and comes from a large IT design project in a Swedish government agency. The project was an eGovernment project, and a central objective was to rationalise the business. My focus was some (women) administrative officers who participated as business process analysts. This material was analysed with the help of feminist technoscience methodologies, foremost agential realism and diffraction. My thesis is based on five research papers, and the results of these are discussed and related to the research questions and the purpose. Based on an expanded notion of IT design and of participation in IT design, I argue that the administrative officers in the IT design project participated as central actors in the project. These administrative officers were able to participate within the context provided by various entangled sociomaterial practices, such as the project method, boundaries between business and IT, gendered divisions of labour, eGovernment, rationalisation, the project objectives, and an innovation practice. I also argue that in the project knowledge did not simply exist, but came into being as a result of entanglements of these sociomaterial practices, foremost the project objectives and the method. As a result of the reconfigured knowledge the administrative officers were removed to the periphery of the project. An additional argument is that with participation comes responsibility, and that responsibility is related to agency. Responsibility was enacted in and as a result of entangled sociomaterial practices. In this project the administrative officers were given and took a lot of responsibility within the boundaries provided by the sociomaterial practices, but they also worked to widen their agency and thus extend their responsibilities in the project. In relation to gender my argument is that the administrative officers in the project – who were women – participated as central actors, but they were also marginalised and made invisible. Thus in this IT design project women were included as central actors. As one of my contributions to PD and to feminist technoscience I want to underscore the importance of sociomaterial practices in IT design, such as IT design methods, and project objectives. These may act to restrict actors’ possibilities to act and to exert influence. Another is that knowledge in IT design practices come into being and are reconfigured as a consequence of intra-acting sociomaterial practices. Reconfigurations of knowledge might shift the power balance among actors in IT design projects and marginalise previously central actors. Responsibility too comes into being, or is enacted, in entangled sociomaterial practices. Furthermore responsibility in IT design is closely related to agency and participation, and widened agency might lead to extended possibilities to take responsibility. Additionally if positions in IT design are understood as fixed, they might make invisible more shifting and intricate professional relations and activities, and once these become visible, more women may become visible as central actors in IT design. A further contribution is that an expanded notion of IT design and participation might make women visible as central participants in IT design and in eGovernment. However, also central participants may become marginalised, as happened in this project.
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| 48. |
- Sundberg, Leif, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
-
Value-Based Decision Making : Decision Theory Meets e-Government
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Electronic Government: Lecture Notes in Computer Science. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319646770 - 9783319646763 ; , s. 351-358
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electronic government, or e-Government, is the use of information and communication technology in the public sector. As a research field, it is characterized as multi-disciplinary with heritage from both the information systems and public administration fields. This diverse background may be beneficial, but it may also result in a fragmented theoretical base and conceptual vagueness. This paper applies decision theory to e-Government to tie a number of theoretical and practical concepts together. In particular, five concepts from decision theory (i.e. objectives, stakeholder inclusion, weighting and resource allocation, risk analysis, and outcomes assessment) are compared with counterparts in e-Government. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. First, they add to and unite e-Government theory. Second, practical methods for operationalizing the theoretical concepts are proposed. This operationalization includes using a holistic approach to e-participation throughout decision processes.
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| 49. |
- Truex, Duane, 1947-, et al.
(författare)
-
Position Statement: Sustainable Information and Information Systems (SIIS)
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Governance and Sustainability in Information Systems. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. ; , s. 306-309
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this position statement we provide our understanding of the relation between the IS field and the notion of sustainability, and present our focus through a characterization of the “sustainability research” construct. By doing so, we hope to contribute to the discourse on a clarification of the construct itself in our research community.
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| 50. |
- Zimic, Sheila, 1983-
(författare)
-
OPENING THE BOX : Exploring the presumptions about the 'Net Generation'
- 2010
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are many names or labels which refer to the generation growing up with digital media and these include labels such as ‘Net Generation’ (Tapscott, 1998), ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001), ‘cyberkids’ (Holloway, 2003) and ‘MySpacegeneration’ (Rosen, 2008). The core idea behind these labels is that young people who have grown up surrounded by digital technology are very different to previous generations in their way of using and even thinking about the new digital technology. This appears to be reinforcing a generational divide and makes the assumption that young people can be categorized into one group in relation to their use of ICTs. The approach in this thesis is to empirically explore, in order to nuance, some of these presumptions about the ‘Net Generation’ (defined according to Tapscott). Thus, the research question is: How can the presumptions about the ‘Net Generation’ be nuanced? The following three presumptions have been explored within the three papers included in the thesis: i) The ‘Net Generation’ diverges from previous generations in relation to the use of internet; ii) The ‘Net Generation’ is techno-savvy or digitally competent; iii) The digitally competent ‘Net Geners’ are also digital participants since there is a causal relationship between digital competence and digital participation. The explorations are conducted by using the theoretical concepts ‘digital skills’, ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘participatory culture’. Several hypotheses,deduced from previous research, have been tested on a national representative sample of people born between the years 1978 and 1997 (categorised as the ‘Net Generation’). The results show that ‘Net Geners’ internet usage is diversified;hence, it is simplified to talk about them as a homogeneous group. Those included in the categorisation have different opportunities to participate in the digital society. Their internet usage differs both in terms of how much time they spend and what they do online. Their digital skills and self-efficacy in the use of computers are also different and so is the perceived feeling of participation in the information society. This implies that the ‘Net Geners’ do not have equal conditions in relation to participation in the digital society. However, what is meant by participation is still an unresolved question which requires further exploration.
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