Public Value in the Perception of Citizens from the Perspective of Smart Cities.
| Autor | Salmoria, Fernanda Tasso |
| Cargo | Research Article |
INTRODUCTION
In the 21 (st) century, technological and scientific advances in industry have posed several challenges to governments and citizens, the so-called third industrial revolution. Thus, this rapid change with the absence of adaptation interventions, increasing government spending, and large-scale public debt financing have required governments to adopt new strategies for their administrations (Scholl & Scholl, 2014).
In this context, governments in several countries have taken initiatives to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve, reform, and modernize government works, as stated by Shah and Arfeen (2017). In the early 1990s, Brazil began collaborative work with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) adhering to 26 recommendations and other suggested instruments, according to the Ministerio das Relacoes Exteriores (2019). Among the recommendations, in 2017, the highlight was the Brazilian Digital Government Review document based on the OECD Recommendation on digital government Strategies (2017). The Brazilian strategy emphasized the prediction of the use of digital technologies, as an integral part of government modernization strategies, in the creation of public value. This document, in particular, encourages the Brazilian government in the transition from an e-government approach to a digital government, in the search for a sustainable digital transformation of the public sector and the creation of public value (Ministerio da Economia e Governo Digital, 2017).
As a complement to this strategy of governmental modernization, technology, and cities, there is the context of smart cities, which, according to Chourabi et al. (2012), are presented as a requirement in the search for guaranteeing housing conditions in the context of rapid housing growth throughout the world. Despite the definitions of smart cities being on a progressive development trajectory, it can be said that, among the various elements that determine them, some are crucial for the advancement of understanding of what a smart city would be (Harrison et al., 2010; Nam & Pardo, 2011), three of which are contextual conditions, governance models, and the assessment of public value (Meijer, 2017; Meijer, Gil-Garcia, & Bolivar, 2016; Walravens & Ballon, 2013).
However, public value presents itself as a multidimensional construct of significant complexity. It is taken as a reference point that public value is what is 'consumed' by the citizen, which is perceived by him, as it is how he values certain government actions (Moore, 1995). Thus, the understanding and demand of citizens should be equivalent to the partners of a firm, that is, public value is presented as a correlate of private value or shareholder return (Horner & Hazel, 2005). Thus, the citizen should act as a shareholder concerning how his tax is spent.
In the incorporation of public value in this debate, there is a broad perspective of possibilities for knowledge development, from the premise of the idea of a new paradigm of public administration to the perspective of evaluating this value in practical actions and decisions for public management (Jorgensen & Bozeman, 2007; Meijer, 2015; Meijer, 2017; Stoker, 2006). Therefore, when considering the strategic perspective of the OECD recommendations with the objective of generating public value, and also the importance of evaluating this value for the context of smart cities, one questions what is the citizen's perception of the principles of generation of public value, from the perspective of a smart city?
Hartley, Alford, Knies, and Douglas (2017) survey empirical research on public value to inspire and guide further empirical research with a diverse range of research parties. The authors reinforce that the theme lacks a basis in empirical research for it to be challenged and tested. Recognition of the conceptual alongside the practical is also true of those who have developed and debated public value theory of public value (e.g., Alford 2008; Benington & Moore 2011; Bryson, Crosby, & Bloomberg 2014; Hartley 2012).
Therefore, the objective of the research was to propose the validation of a framework from the citizen's perception, the principles of public value generation from the perspective of smart cities.
The concern with public value analysis, production of results, provision of adequate services to the population, and development of trust have been frequent elements in the debates of many governments, in search of legitimacy, based on the need for integration and the relationship of their citizens and the state and the implications for the process of government structures themselves (Al-Hujran, Al-Debei, Chatfield, & Migdadi, 2015; Twizeyimana & Andersson, 2019). However, as Panagiotopoulos, Klievink, and Cordella (2019) point out, there is still a theoretical lack about the meaning and conduct of actions in the measurement of public value, particularly, how technologies can contribute to its development and which ones are predominant in meeting the population's expectations. Thus, this research becomes relevant because it intends to point out and articulate these themes in the Brazilian context, to stimulate the generation of guidelines and, consequently, the advancement of public policies.
THEORETICAL REFERENCE
Smart cities
The concept of smart cities was developed in relation to urban progress and the resulting increase in the needs of local communities, and also in relation to increasing financial and environmental costs. It is very difficult to define clearly and precisely what a smart city is because the term encompasses domains such as technology, communication, ecology, and sociology (Orlowski & Romanowska, 2019).
According to Albino, Berardi, and Dangelico (2015), it was in the 1990s that the term smart cities emerged to name cities that were using new ICTs, making their infrastructure more modern. However, in smart cities technology is only a tool aimed at facilitating the life of city dwellers (Orlowski, Marc, Namiesnik, & Tobiszewski, 2017), that is, technologies should be used as a means and not as the final objective.
For a city to become a smart city, it must improve the intelligence of its fundamental elements. When we talk about city intelligence, we are referring to three essential perspectives, such as effectiveness, consideration for the environment, and innovation (Dameri & Rosenthal-Sabroux, 2014). In the systematic review by Bouzguenda, Alalouch, and Fava (2019), a connection between smart cities and sustainability is evident and emphasizes the significant role of ICT in the movement toward smart sustainable cities.
Ismagilova, Hughes, Dwivedi, and Raman (2019) provide a valuable and relevant synthesis of the literature on the concepts of smart cities. In this study, we can highlight the use of ICTs in urban spaces in order to generate quality of life for citizens, technologically advanced territories that deal with various social, technological, and economic growth aspects, and which are cities that have intelligent inhabitants in terms of education level and quality of their social interactions in relation to integration and public life and openness to the world in general.
Digital government
The discussion on digital government is initiated by the presentation of e-government. Gil-Garcia and Pardo (2005) state that this is a government that makes intensive and widespread use of ICTs, applying them in the provision of public services, seeking to improve managerial effectiveness and promote democratic values and mechanisms. In this sense, the use of information technology (IT) has become one of the central elements of management reform and for the adoption of e-government (Moon, 2002).
In Brazil, the first political projects aimed at e-government started in 2000, with the Information Society Program (Programa Sociedade da Informacao) and the Executive Committee of egovernment (CEGE--Comite Executivo do Governo Eletronico) (Ministerio do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestao, 2016). In 2001, the e-government Portal was created and in subsequent years other portals and decrees were created, with the Transparency Portal being created in 2004 to promote transparency in public management, in addition to equipping society to carry out social control, as the portal page informs us.
As time went by, the discussion on digital government emerged as a complement to the debate on e-government. Chun, Shulman, Sandoval, and Hovy (2010) present three stages that describe the patterns of government interactions through digital mechanisms with the public: 1 (st)--focused on the 'digital presence' with simple websites and basic information; 2 (nd)--simple interaction between governments with citizens, businesses, and other government agencies through email contacts and interactive forms, which can dynamically provide the necessary information; and 3 (rd--) starts to provide online transaction services, such as license renewal, permission requests, and tax payments.
Entering the context of digital government, this is perceived as a global phenomenon where public servants start to adopt new ways to leverage IT to better serve citizens (Marchionini, Samet, & Brandt, 2003).
For 16 years, Brazil has continued to signal, with projects, portals, and decrees, its intention to offer public services through digital transactions for citizens, industries, NGOs, and government agencies in all spheres: federal, state, and municipal; and in the legislative, executive, and judicial spheres. In parallel with these actions, Brazil has carried out over the years bilateral cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to which, based on its experiences over 15 years, with reforms in the public sector, Brazil requested a review of its digital government (Ministerio da Economia e Governo Digital, 2017).
The revision proposed by the OECD...
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