Public Service Innovation Using Smart Governance

Abstract

Purpose: This study determines the possibility of public service innovation to meet the rapid changes in information technology (IT) and the need for new governance by analyzing three cases in South Korea.
 Methodology: The Smart Governance-Decision Support Systems (SG-DSS) in this study is a new form that guarantees the voluntary participation of citizens by applying IT to governance. SG-DSS supports the demand response that fulfills universal values and decisions about priorities by collecting citizens’ needs. It also encourages citizens or stakeholders to participate in establishing implementation plans that are more specific and fit for reality, giving legitimacy to public service policies and developing them into a driving force.
 Findings: The three case studies on Korean public policies show how public opinions reflect public service policies. Therefore, the findings of this study could lay the foundation for customized public services based on intelligent citizen participation by overcoming the current limitations.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: SG-DSS supports the demand response that fulfills universal values and decisions about priorities by collecting citizens’ needs. It also encourages citizens or stakeholders to participate in establishing implementation plans that are more specific and fit for reality, giving legitimacy to public service policies and developing them into a driving force. The core value of smart governance is to apply IT innovations such as big data and AI to public services. Furthermore, advanced technology enables the collection and application of actual public opinions, thereby improving public to be more objective and efficient.

Development of a citizen participation public service innovation model based on smart governance

“…The evolution to smart governance causes significant changes in the public service sector. For example, Eom and Lee ( 2022 ) pointed out that the new intelligent technologies made possible for governments “provide citizens with more tailored public services, forecast with greater accuracy, and simulate complex systems ranging from military operations to the private sector of entire countries.” Ryu et al ( 2022 ) also addressed that public services need to reflect the opinions and needs of the general public. In addition, they emphasized that introducing intelligent technology is necessary to avoid any distortion of citizen opinions due to limited survey samples or arbitrary survey methods, even when data collection is done through commercial polling agencies.…”

“…In particular, the pandemic has accelerated the use of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate various innovative contact free service delivery models (Lee and Lee 2021 ). During the pandemic, governments became agile organizations supported by advanced ICTs for public service delivery with citizen collaboration and participation (Ryu et al 2022 ; Hartley 2023 ). The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that citizens' participation is essential for the implementation of the smart governance model (Hong et al 2020 ; Ryu et al 2022 ; Hartley 2023 ).…”

“…During the pandemic, governments became agile organizations supported by advanced ICTs for public service delivery with citizen collaboration and participation (Ryu et al 2022 ; Hartley 2023 ). The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that citizens' participation is essential for the implementation of the smart governance model (Hong et al 2020 ; Ryu et al 2022 ; Hartley 2023 ). However, there is a paucity of practical, academic, and/or empirical research.…”