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This article explores, in a comparative manner, the state-of-play of digital transformation of public administration in EU Member States. Using a specific methodological toolkit that combines policy and statistical analysis for each EU Member State, this article evaluates the investments in the digitalization of public services, the use of broadband, the access to digital public services, the number of e-government users, the level of digital public services for citizens and businesses and open data. In our analysis, we will argue that the gaps and discrepancies in the field of digitalization of public administration, correlated with the indicators monitored in the Digital Economy and Society Index, have conditioned the EU Member States to design specific actions, measures and investments related to the national context. Points for practitioners The gaps and discrepancies concerning the digitalization of public administration are analyzed and evaluated in relation to the state-of-play of digital transformation of public administration in EU Member States, correlated with the objectives and funding allocated to the digitalization pillar of the NRRP. The digitalization gap is measured by identifying and evaluating quantifiable indicators. Evaluations regarding the pillar of the digital transformation of public administration at national and regional levels are available, allowing comparative analyses to be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to the daily lives of citizens, their interactions with their communities, the nongovernmental sector and the public administration, as well as threatening the continuity of the civic initiatives they had developed. This paper draws on the scientific literature on public participation and uses qualitative methods of inquiry (semi-structured interviews) to explore how external factors, in this case the COVID-19 pandemic, affected the public participation of citizens organised in civic initiative groups in Bucharest, Romania. One key contribution of the study pertains to the interplay between practice and the conceptual level of public participation. In this respect, the results showed that many members of civic group perceive it to be genuinely contradictory in practice in their definitions of public participation. However, their ideal visions of public participation in genuine democratic politics are markedly collaborative. The research showed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on civic groups has been quite limited, adding obstacles to public participation but also enabling opportunities. In particular, it can be concluded that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing challenges. It should also be noted that co-creation of public services can be defined by a certain level of continuity, especially in the case of civic groups that were involved in co-initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the data from an online survey and a focus group, the article explores the public participation of citizens with a focus on participatory planning processes. The exploratory research tackles participatory initiatives and interactions between citizens, public administration, and professionals that aim to improve the well-being of citizens in their cities of residence. The research employed a theoretical view of collaborative public participation, one that is not, however, confined to a dualistic approach, but one in which the citizens value the existence of intermediary actors or structures to guide public participation. Moreover, adversarial potential in participatory planning processes is not excluded, especially as participation involves a diverse network of actors. In the context of a significant consensus regarding the importance of citizen participation in all stages of decision making, the article shows that there is, however, a low level of information regarding participatory planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the involvement of public administration (PA) as a catalyst for economic development, today we are witnessing the need to enhance innovation in PA itself, with a commitment to maximizing efficiency, effectiveness, performance, and to improve quality of public service. In PA, the emerging theory of innovation represents a combined effort between conventional organizational innovation tools such as strategic planning and modern ones such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and e-governance. With regard to this challenging situation, this paper seeks to present a substantial literature concerning the theory of innovation, New Public Management (NPM), ICT, and e-governance. Furthermore, using a qualitative approach based on centered semi-structured interviews, this article illustrates the current activities conducted by the Lebanese government, specifically the Office of Ministry of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR), compared by data gathered from platforms and databases from Romanian PA such as Ministry of Communication and Information Society, OECD, DESI index, and Eurostat on ICT and e-governance at European level. The paper results reveal the significant effect of innovation in Romanian PA paving the road toward facing the challenge to achieve its digital 2020 agenda and contributing to transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, community participation, and development of public service. However, Lebanese PA should join and shake hands to strengthen the adoption of innovation in its public corridors and should cross the notion of "still born" application of ICT to a fruitful implementation contributing to strategic innovation in public services and improved PA efficiency and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early 2000s brought over an intrinsic change in the way businesses operate. Many organizations experienced a fundamental transformation in the way people connect, work and co-create value for the business and the wider scope of stakeholders. This transformation was supported by the rapid development and implementation of collaborative technology, as well as by a major metamorphosis of working styles: remote work (tele-work), alternative employment, dual carriers (double employment) and many others. Corporate Japan has also experienced a major shift from the traditional physical office-based, life-time employment to a wide variety of working agreements and collaboration styles. This paper analyzes how digital technology has eased cross-divisional collaboration and value co-creation at NTT Communications, a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corporation, the largest telecommunications company in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]