No / This study explores the progress of social innovation research in a public sector context by systematically analyzing its existing body of knowledge to identify areas of societal impact and reveal areas of limitations and potential further research. The findings revealed that most of the studies on social innovation in the public sector are conceptual in nature. The article presents propositions based on the diagnosed limitations of research in the area.

No / In recent years Government departments and public/private organisations are becoming increasingly transparent with their data to establish the whole new paradigm of big open data. Increasing research interest arises from the claimed usability of big open data in improving public sector reforms, facilitating innovation, improving supplier and distribution networks and creating resilient supply chains that help improve the efficiency of public services. Despite the advantages of big open data for supply chain and operations management, there is severe shortage of empirical analyses in this field, especially with regard to its acceptance. To address this gap, in this paper we use an extended technology acceptance model to empirically examine the factors affecting users’ behavioural intentions towards public sector big open data. We outline the importance of our model for operations and supply chain managers, the limitations of the study, and future research directions.

Yes / The cost performance of a wide range of public sector infrastructure projects completed by a contractor are analysed and discussed. Change-orders after a contract to construct an asset was signed were, on average, found to contribute to a 23.75% increase in project costs. A positive association between an increase in change orders and the contractor’s margin were identified. Taxpayers pay for this additional cost, while those charged with constructing assets are rewarded with an increase in their margins. As the public sector embraces an era of digitisation, there is a need to improve the integration of design and construction activities and engender collaboration to ensure assets can be delivered cost effectively and future-proofed. The research paper provides empirical evidence for the public sector to re-consider the processes that are used to deliver their infrastructure assets so as to reduce the propensity for cost overruns and enable future-proofing to occur.

No / "Enabling Multichannel Participation through ICT Adaptations for Participatory Budgeting ICT-enabled platform” (EMPATIA) is a multi-channel participatory budgeting (PB) platform that represents a significant social innovation process of democratic deliberation and decision-making, involving citizens within complex public-institution structures. EMPATIA was targeted to deliver socio-economic and political benefits, such as enhancing citizen-government engagement, increasing public value through PB process, promoting ‘inclusiveness’ among the marginalized groups of citizens, and impeding political discontent that underpins distrust and skepticism towards the government. The attainment of these benefits will be driven by the EMPATIA's performance. Hence, a performance measurement tools is needed to enable assessment of EMPATIA, empirically. With an aim to propose an integrated performance evaluation metrics, this study presents a set of assessment criteria for multi-channel digitally enabled PB service platforms – especially EMPATIA. Findings from a qualitative, multi-strategies research approach suggest that the metrics should include five key technical and non-technical performance indicators, to be used as basis for the development of future evaluation instruments. Of major signposts, the metrics would inform key performance aspects to be considered during the PB platform development, and evaluated to indicate the PB platform performance.

Yes / With the advancement of disruptive new technologies, there has been a considerable focus on personalisation as an important component in nurturing users' engagement. In the context of smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT) offer a unique opportunity to help empower citizens and improve societies' engagement with their governments at both micro and macro levels. This study aims to examine the role of perceived value of IoT in improving citizens' engagement with public services. A survey of 313 citizens in the UK, engaging in various public services, enabled through IoT, found that the perceived value of IoT is strongly influenced by empowerment, perceived usefulness and privacy related issues resulting in significantly affecting their continuous use intentions. The study offers valuable insights into the importance of perceived value of IoT-enabled services, while at the same time, providing an intersectional perspective of UK citizens towards the use of disruptive new technologies in the public sector.

Yes / Business leaders and policymakers within service economies are placing greater emphasis on well-being, given the role of workers in such settings. Whilst people’s well-being can lead to economic growth, it can also have the opposite effect if overlooked. Therefore, enhancing subjective well-being (SWB) is pertinent for all organisations for the sustainable development of an economy. While health conditions were previously deemed the most reliable predictors, the availability of data on people’s personal lifestyles now offers a new dimension into well-being for organisations. Using open data available from the national Annual Population Survey in the UK, which measures SWB, this research uncovered that among several independent variables to predict varying levels of people's perceived well-being, long-term health conditions, one's marital status, and age played a key role in SWB. The proposed model provides the key indicators of measuring SWB for organisations using big data.

Yes / Purpose – Blockchain is one of the most significant emerging technologies that is set to transform many aspects of industry and society. However, it has several major technical, social, legal, environmental and ethical complexities that offer significant challenges for mainstream use within the public sector. The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled many public sector employees to work remotely, highlighting a number of challenges to blockchain adoption within the Indian context signifying the pertinence of this research topic in the post-pandemic era. This study offers insight to researchers and policymakers alike on how such challenges are interdependent within this important subject. Design/methodology/approach – We explored 16 unique sets of challenges selected from the literature and gathered data from nine experts from government settings, healthcare and education sectors and academia who have significant knowledge and experience of blockchain implementation and use in their respective organisations. The implementation of Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC provided a precise set of driving, linkage and dependent challenges that were used to formulate the framework. Findings – The developed ISM framework is split into six different levels. The results suggest that the bottom level consists of challenges such as ‘Lack of standards (C9)’ and ‘Lack of validation (C10)’ form the foundation of the hierarchical structure of blockchain adoption. However, the topmost level consists of a highly dependent challenge termed ‘adoption of blockchain in the public sector (C16)’. The research filters the selected set of five challenges to develop a parsimonious model and formulated six propositions to examine the impact of ‘lack of standard (C9)’, ‘lack of validation (C10)’ on ‘security issues (C3)’ and ‘privacy concerns (C2)’, which eventually determine individuals’ ‘reluctance to use blockchain technology (C12)’. Originality/Value – This research fills a key gap in exiting research by exploring the key challenges in blockchain adoption within the public sector by developing a valuable framework to model this important topic. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to address these challenges and develop a parsimonious model for challenges of blockchain adoption in the public sector settings.

Yes / Legacy systems have continued to pose a major challenge to digital transformation efforts in public administration. A comprehensive review of literature suggests seven levels of complexity in transforming legacy systems, including, being a stand-alone system, being part of a larger system, and data incompatibility, each depicting unique criteria and challenges. Nonetheless, very little is known as to what degree these complexities implicate the implementation of digital transformation efforts in public administration (PA). To address this gap, this research conducted an analysis on four cases of digital transformation in three European PA settings (i.e., Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK). The findings revealed complexities that pose the key challenges to systems interoperability and integrability, which are crucial in any digital transformation project. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the systems to be transformed, the policies which they are serving, and the broader PA setting in which they are implemented were deemed central to succeeding in digital transformation efforts.

The increased use of automated systems in the public sector has led to two types of processes, fully automated decision making and humans making decisions assisted by automated decision support systems (ADSS). While having a human in the loop is often motivated by having them act as a “safeguard” for imperfect automated systems, humans themselves are not perfect decision makers. Automation bias, a tendency to agree with the recommendations of automated systems even when they are wrong, is one problem facing humans using ADSS. Mainly found in monitoring tasks such as autopilots, it has also been studied in clinical decision support systems. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate whether automation bias poses a risk for ADSS in the public sector, and to identify possible moderators. Thirteen studies were included. By doing a narrative synthesis of the included studies I found mixed results for the existence of automation bias. While there is a lack of strong evidence for automation bias, even low levels could result in consequences for the public sector as these are decisions that impact citizens' everyday life. A number of moderators are identified and suggestions for system designers are made. / En ökning av automatiserade system inom offentlig sektor har lett till två typer av processer, helt automatiserade beslut och människor som tar beslut stödda av automatiserade beslutsstöd. Att ha en människa i processen är ofta motiverat av att använda dem som ett skydd mot bristfälliga automatiserade system, men människor är i sig själva inte perfekta beslutstagare. Automation bias, en tendens att följa rekommendationer från automatiserade system även när de är inkorrekta, är ett problem för människor som använder automatiserade system. Det har främst studerats i autopiloter, men också i kliniska beslutsstöd. Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturöversikt var att undersöka om automation bias är en risk för automatiserade beslutsstöd i offentlig sektor, och att identifiera möjliga moderatorer. Tretton studier inkluderades. Genom att genomföra en narrativ syntes fann jag blandade slutsatser gällande automation bias. Samtidigt som det finns begränsade starka bevis för automation bias, kan även de nivåerna resultera i konsekvenser för offentlig sektor då de tar beslut som påverkar befolkningens vardag. Ett antal moderatorer identifierades och förslag till systemdesigners presenteras.

This thesis explores and reviews extensively previous studies on the economic impact of mass immigration on Sweden with a special interest in the native population, addressing the widespread belief that the inflow of immigrants means a strain on the country's resources and negatively affects the natives. The research distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary migration and examines their respective contributions and challenges to economic growth, educational opportunities, and social mobility. Using literature and data from Statistiska Centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden)(SCB), Migrationsverket (Swedish migration services), and various empirical and theoretical studies, the research conducts an extensive literature review and analyzes whether immigration acts as an economic gain or drain for Sweden. Key aspects analyzed in the literature include but are not limited to employment dynamics, country of origin, age distribution, and education levels of immigrants. The findings uncover a complex interplay between the economic benefits and challenges posed by immigration, highlighting mixed outcomes in terms of labor market integration, wage impacts and public welfare contributions. This comprehensive analysis aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how mass immigration impacts Sweden's economy and the welfare of its native population. Keywords: Immigration, Public sector finance, native impact, fiscal effect