Abstract
The theme of the 16th International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2015) - ''Digital Government and Wicked Problems'' - drew attention to the increasingly complex global problems we are facing today. In the late 1960s, the term ''wicked problems'' was coined to refer to societal and public planning problems that had no definitive solutions [1,2]. Many problems, such as those identified in the theme of the conference - climate change, urbanization, and inequality - often exhibit the characteristics of ''wickedness'' in the sense that they are both difficult to define and solve. The selection of this theme for dg.o 2015 reflects the digital government research community's ambition and dedication to achieve a degree of understanding necessary to address some of the most intractable of these problems with the aid of emerging technologies. This special issue includes seven of the best papers from the dg.o 2015 conference. In this editorial, we highlight the characteristics of ''wicked problems'' briefly, and the way in which the term is relevant in digital government research. We then introduce the articles selected for this special issue. Lastly, we provide suggestions to foster future research that addresses the nature of ''wickedness'' in digital government initiatives.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 215-221 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Information Polity |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2016 |
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Keywords
- crisis management
- digital divide
- digital government
- open data
- public health
- smart grid
- social media
- Wicked problems
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Information Systems
- Communication
- Sociology and Political Science
- Public Administration
Cite this
Digital government and wicked problems : Solution or problem? / Zhang, Jing; Kim, Yushim.
In: Information Polity, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2016, p. 215-221.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital government and wicked problems
T2 - Solution or problem?
AU - Zhang, Jing
AU - Kim, Yushim
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The theme of the 16th International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2015) - ''Digital Government and Wicked Problems'' - drew attention to the increasingly complex global problems we are facing today. In the late 1960s, the term ''wicked problems'' was coined to refer to societal and public planning problems that had no definitive solutions [1,2]. Many problems, such as those identified in the theme of the conference - climate change, urbanization, and inequality - often exhibit the characteristics of ''wickedness'' in the sense that they are both difficult to define and solve. The selection of this theme for dg.o 2015 reflects the digital government research community's ambition and dedication to achieve a degree of understanding necessary to address some of the most intractable of these problems with the aid of emerging technologies. This special issue includes seven of the best papers from the dg.o 2015 conference. In this editorial, we highlight the characteristics of ''wicked problems'' briefly, and the way in which the term is relevant in digital government research. We then introduce the articles selected for this special issue. Lastly, we provide suggestions to foster future research that addresses the nature of ''wickedness'' in digital government initiatives.
AB - The theme of the 16th International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2015) - ''Digital Government and Wicked Problems'' - drew attention to the increasingly complex global problems we are facing today. In the late 1960s, the term ''wicked problems'' was coined to refer to societal and public planning problems that had no definitive solutions [1,2]. Many problems, such as those identified in the theme of the conference - climate change, urbanization, and inequality - often exhibit the characteristics of ''wickedness'' in the sense that they are both difficult to define and solve. The selection of this theme for dg.o 2015 reflects the digital government research community's ambition and dedication to achieve a degree of understanding necessary to address some of the most intractable of these problems with the aid of emerging technologies. This special issue includes seven of the best papers from the dg.o 2015 conference. In this editorial, we highlight the characteristics of ''wicked problems'' briefly, and the way in which the term is relevant in digital government research. We then introduce the articles selected for this special issue. Lastly, we provide suggestions to foster future research that addresses the nature of ''wickedness'' in digital government initiatives.
KW - crisis management
KW - digital divide
KW - digital government
KW - open data
KW - public health
KW - smart grid
KW - social media
KW - Wicked problems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994259826&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84994259826&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3233/IP-160395
DO - 10.3233/IP-160395
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84994259826
VL - 21
SP - 215
EP - 221
JO - Information Polity
JF - Information Polity
SN - 1570-1255
IS - 3
ER -