eGovernment - Social Enterprises and Socio-Technical Perspectives

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The research is located with the eGovernment domain and comprises of two inter-related aspects that combine the expertise of the mentors and the nominated fellow. First, exploring in depth the role of social enterprises in the design and delivery of eGovernment services. Whilst secondly, developing a complementary systems-level perspective exploring the potential roles of social enterprises in the eGovernment in the medium to long-term. Each aspect is described further below.1. The role of social enterprises in the design and delivery of eGovernment servicesThe restructuring of the public sector and the role of ICT has been a consistent feature of debates in the advanced economies since the early 1990s. The experience of the OU Business School, EC funded, project eGovernment for You (eGOV4U) that evaluated the access to eGovernment Services in a number of locales in Europe, showed that digital inclusion has beneficial effects on socially excluded groups (the elderly, unemployed women, disabled and immigrants). Among these effects are greater social inclusion leading to the development of new and associated economic activities. Social enterprises and other Third Sector organisations (charities, etc) have shown that they are important intermediaries in delivering the means for digital inclusion and the development of multi-channel networks. By combining these networks with ICT networks, the basis of new models of the digital social economy can be demonstrated. Our research will further explore, in a UK context, how social enterprises organisations can contribute to combating social exclusion throughout the design and delivery of eGovernment services.To explore the role of social enterprises in eGovernment Services we will develop 3 comparative case studies. These will be identified through existing contacts from the EGOV4U project, national bodies representing social enterprises (e.g. Social Enterprise UK), and networking at appropriate practitioner events. These case studies will be interrogated by applying the EGOV4U Impact Evaluation Framework to examine: what value is added to service users, across multi-channel networks and in the wider societal context; and how such value is added. A combination of methods will be used to undertake this investigation including existing knowledge and data based upon previous research; surveys; and focus groups.2. Socio-technical transition pathways for social enterprises and eGovernment servicesOur second area of research derives from the nominated fellow's expertise in Web Science including the application of socio-technical perspectives on eGovernment, open data and transparency. Multi-level theoretical frameworks have been used to identify and develop transition long-term pathways, for a diverse range of socio-technical systems - e.g. transport, water and energy systems. In our work we will apply socio-technical transitions theory in a novel context, to identify possible pathways for the role of social enterprises in eGovernment services. Seeking to address questions including: to what extent, and how, can different actors influence pathways? And what might be the key technological, organisational and institutional changes involved in each pathway?To develop transition pathways exploring the potential role of social enterprises in eGovernment services we will follow an approach including: refinement of the definition of the boundaries of the socio-technical system of interest; analysis of historical transitions in the eGovernment system to develop insight on how future transitions might unfold and be shaped; identification of diverse perspectives and visions for open government data; and analysis and integration of these perspectives to form a credible set of pathways. Interviews and focus groups with eGovernment practitioners (from across the public, private and third sectors) will be employed as appropriate at each stage of the research.