ABSTRACT
There has been rapid progress in local government websites, especially in terms of services provision and resident engagement. The assessment of local government websites can help to ameliorate effectiveness of municipality services and be used as a mechanism to understand the critical needs of residents. To this end, our research is focused on assessing features of local e-Government development in some of the largest cities worldwide based on their responses to a questionnaire. The findings are discussed suggesting possible ways to improve the level of local e-Government development. An examination of responses for 42 cities reveals that e-Government is prominently practiced. The results indicate that local governments organise their web presence and service provision applying a variety of e-Government strategies based on their needs and priorities. They mainly align with the national legislation covering e-Government regulations. Online services provision, usage and citizens' satisfaction need more systematisation. Social media platforms are tools with an increasing application perspective, especially in residents' engagement in decision-making. COVID-19 initiatives provided a pathway on how to apply technologies, in a relatively short time period, facing critical situations. Emerging technologies provide tools that can be used to solve critical urban problems. Finally, the present study contributes towards an ongoing discussion for the development of a common worldwide assessment scheme that would measure the level and sophistication of local government digital development. © 2022 ACM.
ABSTRACT
Ever since its first rise in the early 2010s, Open Government Data (OGD) has encountered fluctuating waves of momentum, but is now soaring again in relevance and popularity, propelled by the global megatrends in light of sustainable development and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Holding numerous socio-economic and political imperatives, as well as the practical objectives of enhancing people engagement and boosting government transparency and accountability, among others, OGD has found itself again as a potential means towards the accelerated implementation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in this Decade of Action. Nonetheless, there is an ongoing need to assess the actual sustainable public value of OGD. To this end, this paper continues the assessment of OGD development trends using the second pilot of the Open Government Data Index (OGDI), riding on the widely recognised and updated methodology of the United Nations E-Government Development Index. Through its three-pillar framework consisting of Policy, Platform and Impact, empirical analysis of the OGDI offered various global and regional trends and insights on the provision of key OGD features across all 193 Member States of the United Nations, while discussing OGD's potential impact in delivering sustainable outcomes. Acknowledging the limitations of the OGDI, however, this paper calls for further developing this index to better inform OGD policies and encourages other initiatives to further explore enhancements and develop research to enable richer, demand-driven, and outcome-oriented OGD assessments. © 2022 ACM.