Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating User-centered and Citizen-centered E-government

This article examines the impact of electronic government (e-government) development on China's administrative reform. The article begins with a review of major management and policy issues about the E-government development. The article then introduces some problems of China's old cadre system and major strategies of China's recent administrative reforms. Based on the E-government development issues and the Chinese administrative problems, the article analyzes important opportunities and challenges associated with the E-government development.

Technological innovation in the hospital context is always knowledge-related. It concerns the know-why, when based on theoretical foundations (competencies), and the know-how when related to practical skills. New medical devices, technologies and techniques originate from the new know-why and require new know-how to be exploited fully and effectively. Given the continuous and increasing development of innovations in the healthcare sector, modern hospitals face the complex task of mastering internally and externally-created innovation. The capacity to envision, stimulate, recognise, evaluate and manage both lines of innovation (know-why and know-how) is key to supporting large and leading hospitals (notably the teaching ones) in their quest to fulfil their mission and gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Such hospitals are required to position themselves as close as possible to the leading edge of innovation. In this light, the paper tackles the strategic, organisational and managerial issues of how to build a work environment focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship (the strategic issue); define and consolidate roles and responsibilities related to envisioning and managing innovation (the organisational issue); and strengthen the operating mechanisms (planning, budgeting and control, human resources management, information systems, etc) and focus on stimulating entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and innovation creation (the managerial issue).

Scientific data volumes have been growing exponentially. This has resulted in the need for new tools that enable users to operate on and analyze data. Cyber infrastructure tools, including workflow tools, that have been developed in the last few years has often fallen short if user needs and suffered from lack of wider adoption. User-centered Design (UCD) process has been used as an effective approach to develop usable software with high adoption rates. However, UCD has largely been applied for user-interfaces and there has been limited work in applying UCD to application program interfaces and cyber infrastructure tools. We use an adapted version of UCD that we refer to as Scientist-Centered Design (SCD) to engage with users in the design and development of Tigres, a workflow application programming interface. Tigres provides a simple set of programming templates (e.g., sequence, parallel, split, merge) that can be can used to compose and execute computational and data transformation pipelines. In this paper, we describe Tigres and discuss our experiences with the use of UCD for the initial development of Tigres. Our experience-to-date is that the UCD process not only resulted in better requirements gathering but also heavily influenced the architecture design and implementation details. User engagement during the development of tools such as Tigres is critical to ensure usability and increase adoption.

As a new mode of governance, e-government raise challenge to the traditional government management. From a global point of view, the development of e-government and government management model has always been linked to changes in its outstanding performance in the government power system reconstruction, restructuring of government organizations, government management of change and so on. E-government construction and promotion of the realization of the pattern of administration for the service provided an important material foundation and technical support. Electronic public services, thereby becoming e-government and service-oriented government point.

BackgroundInternet-based treatments for child anxiety may help to increase access to evidence-based therapies; however, user engagement, uptake, and adherence within routine clinical practice remain as challenges. Involving the intended end users in the development process through user-centered design and usability testing is crucial for maximizing user engagement and adoption of internet-based treatments, but so far this has been lacking for internet-based treatments for child anxiety.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to develop an internet-based treatment for child anxiety through a process of user-centered design (phase 1) and usability testing (phase 2), based on an existing evidence-based, face-to-face, therapist-supported, parent-led cognitive behavioral therapy intervention. It is intended that the internet-based version of this treatment would consist of a parent website, case management system for clinicians, and mobile game app for children.MethodsParents, children, and clinicians who were familiar with the face-to-face version of the treatment were recruited from 2 National Health Service clinics. In phase 1, participants participated in 3 workshops to gain feedback on the overall concept, explore their wants and needs for the websites and game, generate ideas on how the treatment may look, and gain feedback on initial mock-ups of the websites and game. In phase 2, participants attended 3 individual usability testing sessions where they were presented with working prototypes of the website or game and asked to perform a series of tasks on the website (parents and clinicians) or play the game (children). The frequency and details on usability errors were recorded. Participants were asked for their feedback on the website and game using a standardized usability questionnaire and semistructured interviews. The websites and game were iterated after each round of usability testing in response to this feedback.ResultsIn phase 1, participants approved the general concept and rated the initial mock-ups of the website and game positively. In phase 2, working prototypes were rated positively and usability errors declined across the iterations and were mainly cosmetic or minor issues relating to esthetic preference, with few issues regarding ability to navigate the website or technical issues affecting functionality. Feedback from the semistructured interviews further supported the positive response of participants to the website and game, and helped identify areas for improvement during the iteration process. The final iteration of the website and game are presented.ConclusionsTaking an iterative approach to development through user-centered design and usability testing has resulted in an internet-based treatment for child anxiety (Online Support and Intervention for child anxiety) that appears to meet the needs and expectations of the intended users (parents, children, and clinicians) and is easy and enjoyable to use.

Digital governance or e-governance is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of ICT between government and people. The government services are made available to the citizens in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner through e-governance. The purpose of this study is to highlight digital governance in Nepal during and after international pandemic COVID-19. This paper emphasizes review of different studies on development of e-government and e-governance in Nepal as well as in developing countries. The outcome of the study will be helpful for policy makers and leaders to formulate effective e-government policies and standard during crisis.

Maturity Assessment of Local E-government Websites in the Philippines

The aim of this paper is twofold: (a) to review briefly the main policy implications of Kirzner's work (and to show that Kirzner has always been careful to draw policy implications from his analysis) and (b) to contrast these with the approach that is generally used in public policy. The following issues are discussed in the paper: taxation and entrepreneurial incentives; the effects of regulation on the entrepreneurial process and economic growth; monopoly and monopoly pricing; anti-trust laws and their impact on the market process; the coordination criterion of efficiency; and the notion of economic justice. I argue that the standard criteria of efficiency are often not useful to policy-making and should be replaced by Kirzner's "coordination criterion", which states that the institutions of the market economy must be geared toward allowing the capture of profit (i.e. fostering entrepreneurial incentives) in order to promote the speed and responsiveness of the market process. One of the main lessons of Kirzner's work for policy making is that the market process is always competitive and takes place over time.Cet article a deux objectifs : a) passer brièvement en revue les principales implications politiques des contributions de Kirzner (et monter que Kirzner a toujours pris le soin de tirer les implications politiques de ses analyses) et b) distinguer ces implications kirzneriennes de l'approche généralement retenue dans l'élaboration des politiques publiques. Dans ce qui suit, nous discutons des questions suivantes : les impôts et les incitations entrepreneuriales ; les effets de la réglementation sur le processus entrepreneurial et la croissance économique ; les monopoles et leurs modes de fixation des prix ; les lois anti-monopole et leurs conséquences sur le processus marchand ; l'efficience en tant que critère de coordination ; et la notion de justice économique. Le papier soutient que le critère standard d'efficience est rarement utile au niveau politique et devrait être remplacé par le "critère de coordination" de Kirzner qui énonce que les institutions de marché doivent avoir comme point de repère la réalisation de profits (c'est-à-dire l'encouragement des incitations entrepreneuriales) de manière à promouvoir la vitesse de capacité d'ajustement du processus marchand. Une des principales leçons des contributions kirzneriennes pour les décisions politiques est que le processus marchand est toujours concurrentiel et s'inscrit dans le temps.

This paper presents the development of a Chatbot Music Recommendation System that utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance user engagement through personalized music suggestions. The system operates on two primary mechanisms: passive recommendations based on contextual factors such as time of day and weather conditions, and interactive suggestions during user engagement. By integrating real-time data from external APIs, the chatbot can provide relevant song recommendations tailored to the user's environment, such as upbeat tracks for sunny days or calming melodies for rainy weather. Additionally, the system employs natural language processing techniques to understand user preferences and emotions, allowing it to refine its recommendations over time. A comprehensive evaluation of the system's performance is conducted through user feedback and interaction metrics, demonstrating its effectiveness in improving the music discovery experience. The findings indicate that the chatbot not only enhances user satisfaction but also fosters a deeper emotional connection with music. This research contributes to the field of music recommendation systems by merging technology with user-centric design, ultimately transforming how individuals interact with music in their daily lives

To create tailored tools and solutions that improve our ability to mitigate and respond to environmental challenges, we need to understand how to efficiently communicate complex information to the intended audience.  One of the core aims of the UK’s Environmental Data Service is to better engage with users and ensure their needs are central to everything we do.   How we design, maintain and share our services hasn’t traditionally been prioritised with user feedback in mind. Many of our teams and systems are now having to change the way we work and learn new skills. There was no central location to share good practice about user-centred design of tools/services specifically for environmental sciences. We wanted to create guidance for our staff and others who develop and maintain data services for environmental science.   We have created a ‘user-centred design toolkit for environmental services’ with the aim of supporting data, software and design experts to create user-friendly and effective environmental data services. This toolkit provides a range of resources, case studies and guidance needed to collaborate with users, gather insights, and co-design solutions that work. The toolkit has been shaped by collaborations across all environmental science domains, with a range of experts in user design, data management, communications and engagement, and software engineering.   The toolkit is still in early development. We are looking to share our progress so far, understand if this is something the wider community would like to contribute to or partake in a community of practice.  

The web has transformed the ways by which people search, find, use and communicate information. Integrating the use of web 2.0 technology into libraries has become the subject of interest among library professionals. Web 2.0 technologies facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user centered design, dynamic content openness and user participation. Here an attempt has made to assess the Web 2.0 technology skills among library professionals in the University of Kerala. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Frequency count and simple percentage was used to analyze the questionnaire. The study reveals that email has an important impact on the level of web 2.0 use among library professionals. The majority of the library professionals do not have much idea about, RSS feeds, content management, social bookmarking, podcast, wikis, etc. The paper concludes that Kerala university library is in a developing stage in its infrastructure and use of ICT. Lack of proper planning and supervision and frequent change in infrastructure are the basic hurdles in successful development of ICT in university library. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.14429/djlit.34.6784

The purpose of this chapter is three-fold. First, it proposes a novel E-Government Service Index (ESI) that is a citizen-centric maturity model. Second, the model uses Egypt's E-Government services as an experimental arena to spot the maturity of the provided services and highlights e-government development in Egypt. Finally, the chapter explores the impediments of citizen-centric e-government implementation within the Egyptian context and recommends specific interventions within the frame of the proposed model.

Understanding participation on video sharing communities: The role of self-construal and community interactivity

The problems of data leakage and unreliable information transfer in the management process make sustainability management an inevitable need for future development. Globally, there is increasing attention paid to blockchain technology and particularly its application in addressing sustainable management issues, both from academia and industry. Aiming to deepen the understanding of how blockchain technology could deal with sustainable management issues across different disciplines, this paper investigates the latest research on the application of blockchain technology in sustainable management published from 2017 to 2021. It is found that there is a drastic surge of publications in the recent 2 years. The analysis focuses on authors’ origins, the collaboration network of the keywords, countries, and research topics covered. The application of blockchain technology in five key sectors of sustainable management, encompassing energy management, construction management, supply chain management, environmental management, and e-government management, is selected for further analysis detail. Also, a general framework for applying blockchain technology is proposed for broadening its use and dealing with sustainable management issues. The findings show that the identified 108 publications are distributed in 75 different journals, and scholars from China, the UK, and the USA have been working closely in BT-based sustainable management research. Blockchain technology is just emerging in sustainable management, and there is a great potential for applying blockchain technology to improve sustainable management performance and, more importantly, to provide solutions to quite a few long-lasting problems in these sectors. Opportunities for future research are also presented and discussed.

Improvements in movement quality (ie, how well an individual moves) facilitate increases in movement quantity, subsequently improving general health and quality of life. Wearable technology offers a convenient, affordable means of measuring and assessing movement quality for the general population, while technology more broadly can provide constructive feedback through various modalities. Considering the perspectives of professionals involved in the development and implementation of technology helps translate user needs into effective strategies for the optimal application of consumer technologies to enhance movement quality. This study aimed to obtain the opinions of wearable technology experts regarding the use of wearable devices to measure movement quality and provide feedback. A secondary objective was to determine potential strategies for integrating preferred assessment and feedback characteristics into a technology-based movement quality intervention for the general, recreationally active population. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 participants (age: mean 42, SD 9 years; 5 males) between August and September 2022 using a predetermined interview schedule. Participants were categorized based on their professional roles: commercial (n=4) and research and development (R&D; n=8). All participants had experience in the development or application of wearable technology for sports, exercise, and wellness. The verbatim interview transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis in QSR NVivo (release 1.7), resulting in the identification of overarching themes and subthemes. Three main themes were generated as follows: (1) "Grab and Go," (2) "Adjust and Adapt," and (3) "Visualize and Feedback." Participants emphasized the importance of convenience to enhance user engagement when using wearables to collect movement data. However, it was suggested that users would tolerate minor inconveniences if the benefits were perceived as valuable. Simple, easily interpretable feedback was recommended to accommodate diverse audiences and aid understanding of their movement quality, while avoiding excessive detail was advised to prevent overload, which could deter users. Adaptability was endorsed to accommodate progressions in user movement quality, and customizable systems were advocated to offer variety, thereby increasing user interest and engagement. The findings indicate that visual feedback representative of the user (ie, an avatar) should be used, supplemented with concise text or audible instructions to form a comprehensive, multimodal feedback system. The study provides insights from wearable technology experts on the use of consumer technologies for enhancing movement quality. The findings recommend the prioritization of user convenience and simplistic, multimodal feedback centered around visualizations, and an adaptable system suitable for a diverse audience. Emphasizing individualized feedback and user-centric design, this study provides valuable findings around the use of wearables and other consumer technologies to enhance movement quality among the general population. These findings, in conjunction with those of future research into user perspectives, should be applied in practical settings to evaluate their effectiveness in enhancing movement quality.