Smart Public Governance: Concept and Dimensions

Abstract

While governments are facing new challenges in wicked issues solving and ensuring sustainable socio-economic development of country the traditional public governance models and techniques become ineffective. The analysis of OECD Public Governance Reviews shows that the main focus in public governance development remains the strategic vision and agility, promoting a whole-of-government approach, leadership and stewardship from the centre, institutional strength and networking, enabled participation, integrity and transparency. Meeting the challenges requires smart mode of governance enabling governments operate fruitfully tackling with the wicked issues by timely and flexible action in fastly changing conditions. Thus the aim of this article is to set the concept of smart public governance. According the results of analysis smart public governance is stakeholder participation and networking based activity when based on timely and integrated information and adequate to the conditions rational decisions are taken and an appropriate its implementation structures and processes, techniques and tools are chosen, capacities and resources are mobilized and developed seeking for sustainable public value creation. The key interconnected dimensions of smartness - empowered citizenship, collaborative interaction, strategic agility, horizontal management – must be integrated into the system of structures and processes and affect the ethos and culture. However the level of manifestation of each of these dimensions depends on the circumstances in each country and its government's capacities.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.13.3.8300