eGovernment - Social Enterprises and Socio-Technical Perspectives
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Open University Business School
Abstract
The research is located with the eGovernment domain and comprises of two inter-related aspects that combine the expertise of the mentors and the nominated fellow. First, exploring in depth the role of social enterprises in the design and delivery of eGovernment services. Whilst secondly, developing a complementary systems-level perspective exploring the potential roles of social enterprises in the eGovernment in the medium to long-term. Each aspect is described further below.
1. The role of social enterprises in the design and delivery of eGovernment services
The restructuring of the public sector and the role of ICT has been a consistent feature of debates in the advanced economies since the early 1990s. The experience of the OU Business School, EC funded, project eGovernment for You (eGOV4U) that evaluated the access to eGovernment Services in a number of locales in Europe, showed that digital inclusion has beneficial effects on socially excluded groups (the elderly, unemployed women, disabled and immigrants). Among these effects are greater social inclusion leading to the development of new and associated economic activities. Social enterprises and other Third Sector organisations (charities, etc) have shown that they are important intermediaries in delivering the means for digital inclusion and the development of multi-channel networks. By combining these networks with ICT networks, the basis of new models of the digital social economy can be demonstrated. Our research will further explore, in a UK context, how social enterprises organisations can contribute to combating social exclusion throughout the design and delivery of eGovernment services.
To explore the role of social enterprises in eGovernment Services we will develop 3 comparative case studies. These will be identified through existing contacts from the EGOV4U project, national bodies representing social enterprises (e.g. Social Enterprise UK), and networking at appropriate practitioner events. These case studies will be interrogated by applying the EGOV4U Impact Evaluation Framework to examine: what value is added to service users, across multi-channel networks and in the wider societal context; and how such value is added. A combination of methods will be used to undertake this investigation including existing knowledge and data based upon previous research; surveys; and focus groups.
2. Socio-technical transition pathways for social enterprises and eGovernment services
Our second area of research derives from the nominated fellow's expertise in Web Science including the application of socio-technical perspectives on eGovernment, open data and transparency. Multi-level theoretical frameworks have been used to identify and develop transition long-term pathways, for a diverse range of socio-technical systems - e.g. transport, water and energy systems. In our work we will apply socio-technical transitions theory in a novel context, to identify possible pathways for the role of social enterprises in eGovernment services. Seeking to address questions including: to what extent, and how, can different actors influence pathways? And what might be the key technological, organisational and institutional changes involved in each pathway?
To develop transition pathways exploring the potential role of social enterprises in eGovernment services we will follow an approach including: refinement of the definition of the boundaries of the socio-technical system of interest; analysis of historical transitions in the eGovernment system to develop insight on how future transitions might unfold and be shaped; identification of diverse perspectives and visions for open government data; and analysis and integration of these perspectives to form a credible set of pathways. Interviews and focus groups with eGovernment practitioners (from across the public, private and third sectors) will be employed as appropriate at each stage of the research.
1. The role of social enterprises in the design and delivery of eGovernment services
The restructuring of the public sector and the role of ICT has been a consistent feature of debates in the advanced economies since the early 1990s. The experience of the OU Business School, EC funded, project eGovernment for You (eGOV4U) that evaluated the access to eGovernment Services in a number of locales in Europe, showed that digital inclusion has beneficial effects on socially excluded groups (the elderly, unemployed women, disabled and immigrants). Among these effects are greater social inclusion leading to the development of new and associated economic activities. Social enterprises and other Third Sector organisations (charities, etc) have shown that they are important intermediaries in delivering the means for digital inclusion and the development of multi-channel networks. By combining these networks with ICT networks, the basis of new models of the digital social economy can be demonstrated. Our research will further explore, in a UK context, how social enterprises organisations can contribute to combating social exclusion throughout the design and delivery of eGovernment services.
To explore the role of social enterprises in eGovernment Services we will develop 3 comparative case studies. These will be identified through existing contacts from the EGOV4U project, national bodies representing social enterprises (e.g. Social Enterprise UK), and networking at appropriate practitioner events. These case studies will be interrogated by applying the EGOV4U Impact Evaluation Framework to examine: what value is added to service users, across multi-channel networks and in the wider societal context; and how such value is added. A combination of methods will be used to undertake this investigation including existing knowledge and data based upon previous research; surveys; and focus groups.
2. Socio-technical transition pathways for social enterprises and eGovernment services
Our second area of research derives from the nominated fellow's expertise in Web Science including the application of socio-technical perspectives on eGovernment, open data and transparency. Multi-level theoretical frameworks have been used to identify and develop transition long-term pathways, for a diverse range of socio-technical systems - e.g. transport, water and energy systems. In our work we will apply socio-technical transitions theory in a novel context, to identify possible pathways for the role of social enterprises in eGovernment services. Seeking to address questions including: to what extent, and how, can different actors influence pathways? And what might be the key technological, organisational and institutional changes involved in each pathway?
To develop transition pathways exploring the potential role of social enterprises in eGovernment services we will follow an approach including: refinement of the definition of the boundaries of the socio-technical system of interest; analysis of historical transitions in the eGovernment system to develop insight on how future transitions might unfold and be shaped; identification of diverse perspectives and visions for open government data; and analysis and integration of these perspectives to form a credible set of pathways. Interviews and focus groups with eGovernment practitioners (from across the public, private and third sectors) will be employed as appropriate at each stage of the research.
Planned Impact
In the UK, the re-framing and reforming of the public domain is cutting across organisational and sectoral boundaries. In particular, the increased contribution of Third Sector organisations to government service delivery is both an opportunity and a threat. Investigating the potential value in this space is a central part of this research project, that's fits with public policy imperatives of creating new types of local enterprise and employment. Hence, the potential beneficiaries in respect of impact of this research proposal are varied and include:
* The Charity Commission Charities, social enterprises and other Third Sector organisations;
* Central and local government departments, quasi-governmental agencies at different geographical scales, for example Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs) and other forms of strategic partnerships;
* Private sector companies engaged in social economy development activities, including social computing, community development and local re-generation;
* Learned societies and groups, including social media ones that combine academic, policy and practitioner communities.
This proposal seeks to benefit the range of potential beneficiaries outlined above by enhancing the following capabilities.
* The ability of decision makers in government (central and local) to design and implement eGovernment services that leverage the capabilities of social enterprises to reduce social exclusion.
* The ability of decision makers in government (central and local) to act with an awareness of the potential long term pathways for eGovernment and the potential long term implications of their decisions.
* The ability of social enterprises to identify and realise opportunities to play a key role in the delivery of eGovernment services.
* The ability of the complex network of public, private and third sector actors involved in eGovernment service delivery to adapt to technological, institutional, user and economic change.
Additionally, any peer-reviewed publications arising from this grant will be registered on the Open University's open access institutional repository - Open Research Online (ORO) at http://oro.open.ac.uk. ORO is one of the largest repositories in the UK. The site receives an average of 40,000 visitors per month from over 200 different countries and territories and has received over 2.5 million visitors since 2006. It enables access to research outputs via common search engines including Google, by using the OAI (Open Archives Initiative) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.
* The Charity Commission Charities, social enterprises and other Third Sector organisations;
* Central and local government departments, quasi-governmental agencies at different geographical scales, for example Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs) and other forms of strategic partnerships;
* Private sector companies engaged in social economy development activities, including social computing, community development and local re-generation;
* Learned societies and groups, including social media ones that combine academic, policy and practitioner communities.
This proposal seeks to benefit the range of potential beneficiaries outlined above by enhancing the following capabilities.
* The ability of decision makers in government (central and local) to design and implement eGovernment services that leverage the capabilities of social enterprises to reduce social exclusion.
* The ability of decision makers in government (central and local) to act with an awareness of the potential long term pathways for eGovernment and the potential long term implications of their decisions.
* The ability of social enterprises to identify and realise opportunities to play a key role in the delivery of eGovernment services.
* The ability of the complex network of public, private and third sector actors involved in eGovernment service delivery to adapt to technological, institutional, user and economic change.
Additionally, any peer-reviewed publications arising from this grant will be registered on the Open University's open access institutional repository - Open Research Online (ORO) at http://oro.open.ac.uk. ORO is one of the largest repositories in the UK. The site receives an average of 40,000 visitors per month from over 200 different countries and territories and has received over 2.5 million visitors since 2006. It enables access to research outputs via common search engines including Google, by using the OAI (Open Archives Initiative) Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Chris Martin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications

Martin C
(2016)
Grassroots social innovation and the mobilisation of values in collaborative consumption: a conceptual model
in Journal of Cleaner Production

Martin C
(2017)
Democratising platform governance in the sharing economy: An analytical framework and initial empirical insights
in Journal of Cleaner Production

Martin C
(2015)
Commercial orientation in grassroots social innovation: Insights from the sharing economy
in Ecological Economics

Martin C
(2016)
The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism?
in Ecological Economics

Martin C
(2014)
Barriers to the Open Government Data Agenda: Taking a Multi-Level Perspective
in Policy & Internet
Description | Achievement 1: The research conducted highlighted both the promise and perils of social economy organisations delivering online services to citizens. The in-depth research case study focussed on the development of Freegle - a social economy organisation providing an online waste reduction and prevention service - over a five year period. This research highlighted that the promise of such social economy organisations, within a wider ecosystem of eGovernment, centres on their ability to: combine the logics of commerce, social enterprise and the grassroots (i.e. supporting hybrid organisational forms); build social capital; and, deliver services at a national scale. Such organisations also face considerable challenges in the form of pressures to become more business-like, which in turn erode their distinctive and hybrid characteristics. Furthermore, the process of becoming more business-like is hugely time consuming and can detract from the delivery of online services to citizens. Achievement 2: The research conducted also applied socio-technical transitions theory to a new empirical domain, to develop better understanding of the process of digital innovation within government. In particular, the research focused on the barriers faced by the Open Government Data (OGD) agenda; a high profile innovation in digital governance. The findings of the research emphasised that: barriers to the breakthrough of the OGD agenda are perceived to be widespread and related to both social and technological factors; barriers relating to the demand for and use of OGD are perceived as prevalent; the structures of government and macro-scale institutions are perceived to act as barriers; and, barriers to mobilizing cultural and financial resources are widely perceived. Furthermore, the novel application of socio-technical transitions opened up new digital governance research questions including: how can social economy and citizen use of government data and digital services be increased? Could a strategic approach to fostering social economy and citizen engagement in digital governance innovation transform public service design and delivery? What role might digital innovation in government play in the transition to a more sustainable and equitable society? Achievement 3: The primary objective of the Management and Business Development Fellowship grant award was to enable the Principle Investigator (PI) to make the transition from a background in computer science research to become an established researcher in the field of management and business. Over the course of the grant, thanks to the support and active engagement of mentors within the Open University Business School, the PI has developed a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research skills and expertise spanning business model design, social enterprise, eGovernment, public sector innovation and neo-institutionalism. The PI is now an established academic working at the interface between sustainability, the digital economy and digital government; reflected in a growing portfolio of academic publications and impact activities. Furthermore, based upon this portfolio he has secured a Research Associate position at the University of Manchester, following on from the MBD fellowship, where his research will focus on smart city business models and he will continue his professional development as a management science scholar. |
Exploitation Route | The key findings of the research might be taken forward by various digital innovation practitioners across the public sector and social economy. In particular, I suggest that a strategic approach to fostering social economy and civil society engagement in eGovernment and digital governance is needed to overcome the wide-range of innovation barriers identified. In the case of OGD, as exemplar of innovation in digital governance, this would require increasing investment in the initiatives promoting user engagement across the public and private sectors and civil society (as investment to date has focused on the supply side). This in turn could foster the social learning required to explore and then overcome barriers relating to user practice. Whilst, within the academic community the key research findings might be taken forward in the form of further research: seeking to establish theoretical frameworks for the study of digital innovations span the public sector, and market and social economies; forging productive connections between the study of OGD and science and technology studies; and, developing understanding of the extent to which social economy organisations are participating in the processes of digital governance. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Environment Government Democracy and Justice Other |
Description | The research conducted highlighted both the promise and perils of social economy organisations delivering online services to citizens. A key focus of the research was an in-depth case study of the development of Freegle - a social economy organisation providing an online platform for waste reduction and prevention - over a five year period. The finding of this case study have helped to inform and support Freegle in developing funding bids, which if successful will increase the impact of Freegle across the UK. The research focussed on Freegle was also reported in the Conversation (http://theconversation.com/why-the-sharing-economy-needs-a-democratic-revolution-46788). In this article insights from the Freegle case study for the growing debate over the impacts and nature of the sharing economy were highlighted. In particular, the article notes that the rapidly growing influence of Silicon Valley owners over sharing economy platforms is a troubling development. The growing strength and pervasiveness of these platforms means their owners have significant power to impose their visions of what it means to be a citizen or worker in cities across the globe. Hence, Freegle's unique model of democratic platform governance offer a glimpse of the potential for a fairer, more participative sharing economy. The research also analysed the rapidly emerging sharing economy discourse, identifying key conflicts between policy-makers, entrepreneurs, incumbent business and social movement organisations. This analysis underpinned a blog I wrote in response to Paul Mason's (a prominent economic journalist) claims about the sharing economy. The blog was published by the World Economic Forum (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/how-the-sharing-economy-could-develop/). The academic paper reporting this research has also been prominently cited in the review of the sharing economy literature conducted for EC policy-makers by the Joint Research Centre (http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC101279/jrc101279.pdf). |
First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment |
Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Citation in EC JRC Science for Policy Report on the Sharing Economy |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
URL | https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2793901 |
Description | Citation in systematic review of the grassroots innovation literature |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Citation in systematic reviews |
URL | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652616310368 |
Description | Inclusion of publication from project as a core reading on a module at Oxford University (Transformation towards Sustainability: Sharing Economy as the Lens) |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
URL | http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/msc/downloads/2016-17ElectiveHandbook.pdf |
Description | A second online article reporting key research findings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This online article was published by the Conversation (https://theconversation.com/the-sharing-economy-could-end-capitalism-but-thats-not-all-45203) and the World Economic Forum blog (http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/how-the-sharing-economy-could-develop/). The article draws on preliminary research findings from the project to address the question of what impact the sharing economy might have. The article has 9,247 reads and 29 comments (source: the Conversation). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://theconversation.com/the-sharing-economy-could-end-capitalism-but-thats-not-all-45203 |
Description | Article based on project research findings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An online article published by the Conversation reporting research findings to the general public. Highlighting the possibilities and challenges of creating a more democratic sharing economy. The article was viewed 2,822 (source: the Conversation). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://theconversation.com/why-the-sharing-economy-needs-a-democratic-revolution-46788 |