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The concept of value co-creation and the service encounter as locus of this value co-creation gained much academic interest, notably in marketing research and service sciences. While the current research discourse mainly follows conceptual perspectives, there has been little research on the practical implications on service agents' enabling co-creation of value in the information technology (IT)-supported service encounters with clients. In this paper, we seek to bridge this gap and first use the example of IT-supported citizen advisory services to show the fundamental deficiencies in current service agents regarding the implementation of value co-creation work practices. We introduce the concept of service encounter thinklets, adapted from collaboration engineering, to overcome these deficiencies and to empower service agents to put value co-creation into practice. We show how service encounter thinklets can complement existing advisory support measures to enable service agents to transform the ITsupported customer service encounter into a collaborative work environment, bringing together themselves, customers and supporting information systems to co-create the advisory's value. A test with employees in a public administration's front office has provided first evidence that service encounter thinklets can effectively empower service agents on the job to adapt their work practices and to bring value co-creation into practice.

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This paper reports on the design of a collaborative system to support citizens' advisory services. Recent research on the adoption of collaborative technologies indicates that: a) successful collaborative technologies diffuse from the private sector to the business sector and not vice versa, b) collaborative processes evolve and therefore cannot be prestructured in detail, and c) creative collaboration can be characterized as creating and sharing mental models. We demonstrate how these insights informed our design of a citizens' advisory system and provide data from an evaluation in a German city. Implications for the design of our collaborative system are offered. Abstract. This paper reports on the design of a collaborative system to support citizens' advisory services. Recent research on the adoption of collaborative technologies indicates that: a) successful collaborative technologies diffuse from the private sector to the business sector and not vice versa, b) collaborative processes evolve and therefore cannot be prestructured in detail, and c) creative collaboration can be characterized as creating and sharing mental models. We demonstrate how these insights informed our design of a citizens' advisory system and provide data from an evaluation in a German city. Implications for the design of our collaborative system are offered.

The need for qualified people to manage the digital transformation in public administration is tremendous. University curricula require adjustments to qualify graduates adequately. Business and engineering departments run practice-oriented university courses to tackle real-world digitalization challenges. In doing so, they shaped digital transformation in many companies. While potentially effective, such approaches remain rare in public administration teaching. It is unclear how to combine a contemporary, practice-oriented training approach towards digitalization with the contents of public administration curricula. The paper outlines the structure and methods employed in a course offered to public administration students at a German University. The preliminary evidence shows that the course was successful among students and practice-partners. Overall, the paper illustrates how public administration universities can contribute towards digital transformation by collaborating with municipalities and by empowering students to manage and drive digital transformation in the public sector.