Research colloquium: Agile and Digital Governance

In the summer semester 2024, Prof. Mergel will offer an online research colloquium together with other international researchers: Agile and Digital Governance. The colloquium will take place every Monday at 12:30 - 2:00 pm via Zoom. Registration for the colloquium is not required.

Zusammenfassung Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced as one of the most prominent technological innovations to push the conversation about the digital transformation of the public sector forward. This special issue focuses on actual implementation approaches or challenges that public managers are facing while they fulfil new policy that asks for the implementation of AI in public administrations. In addition to assessing the contributions of papers in this issue, we also provide a research agenda on how future research can fill some of the methodological, theoretical, and application gaps in the public management literature.

New Publication: Implementing AI in the public sector.

New publication from  Mergel, I., Dickinson, H., Stenvall, J., & Gasco, M. (2023). Implementing AI in the public sector. Public Management Review, in press, 1-13.

The publication can be found here.

Zusammenfassung Digital transformation has become a buzzword that is permeating multiple fields, including public administration and management. However, it is unclear what is transformational and how incremental and transformational change processes are linked. Using the PRISMA method, we conduct a systematic literature review to structure this growing body of evidence. We identified 164 studies on digitally-induced change and provide evidence for their drivers, implementation processes, and outcomes. We derive a theoretical framework that shows which incremental changes happen in public administrations that are implementing digital technologies and what their cumulative, transformative effects are on society as a whole.

New publication: Digitally-induced change in the public sector: a systematic review and research agenda

New publication from Haug, Nathalie, Dan, Sorin, & Mergel, Ines (2023): Digitally-induced change in the public sector: a systematic review and research agenda, Public Management Review, 1-25. The publication can be found here.

New publication: Implementing successful innovation fellowships in the administration

The new publication by Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel, Nathalie Haug, Valerie Albrecht,
Almire Brahimi, Dr. Noella Edelmann, Dr. Nassrin Hajinejad, Ines Hölscher, Jana Plomindes: "Erfolgreiche Innovationsfellowships in der Verwaltung umsetzen" by Kompetenzzentrums Öffentliche IT (ÖFIT) is available online.

Welcome to the pages of
the research group public administration at the University of Konstanz

Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel is Professor of Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. Prof. Mergel's research focuses on agile governance and the digital transformation of the public sector

Innovative Verwaltung. Change Leadership macht den Unterschied.

New publication: Agile competencies for the
Digitalization of public administration

What skills do civil servants need for the digitalization of public administration? Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel, Almire Brahimi & Stefanie Hecht have identified the necessary skills and ideas for implementation in the new issue of the specialist publication Innovative Verwaltung.

To the article.

Open Public Administration
Scholarship

Research-based teaching content from the Mergel working group is published on OPAS.

Agile: A New Way of Governing

A new article by Prof. Dr. Mergel, Prof. Dr. Ganapati and Prof. Dr. Andrew B. Whitford has been published in the Public Administration Review. This paper presents potential applications of modern agility in public administration and discusses possible challenges that may arise when implementing agility in public administration.

A new international project to teach digital skills in public administration has been launched:

Digital specialist Professor Ines Mergel from the University of Konstanz is a founding member. Experts from ten institutions - including the universities of Cambridge and Harvard - are developing an open access curriculum to support current and future administrators and managers

Neuer Artikel zu Open Data Outcomes

Professor Ines Mergel hat einen Artikel zum Thema Open Data Outcomes in Government Information Quarterly publiziert. Der Artikel ist im Open Access-Format verfügbar.

Abstract

U.S. cities, among the vanguards of open data globally, are investing in renewed efforts to support Open Government with the creation of open data portals that are used to provide machine-readable administratively collected data sets. Transparency of the public sector is still widely seen as the main outcome of these efforts. Such a simplistic view, however, misses the rich variety of innovations resulting from open data use. We conceptualize these innovation outcomes across two dimensions: internal/external and product/process. Interviews with 15 city managers in the U.S. who are responsible for the implementation of open data policies were conducted to compare policy intentions, perceived innovation outcomes as well as actual ones. The findings show that product-centric outcomes are predominant and relate mainly to external innovation, including applications, websites and new services. Process-centric outcomes constitute rather internal innovation, such as procedural changes and the revival of innovation culture in government. We close with a set of recommendations for open data efforts in government that include structural, procedural, as well as cultural changes for successful open data initiatives.

Referenz: Mergel, I., Kleibrink, A., & Sörvik, J. (2018). Open data outcomes: US cities between product and process innovation. Government Information Quarterly