Perspectives on the Evaluation of Geo-ICT for Sustainable Urban Governance: Implications for E-Government Policy

INTRODUCTION Geographic information and communication technologies (Geo-ICT) are the end result of the combination of geographic information (including spatial, geologic, geodetic, geometric, etc.) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Geo-ICT includes geographic information systems (GIS), land information systems (LIS), spatial decision support systems (SDSS), spatial data infrastructures (SDI), and spatial information infrastructures (SII). These typically are implemented for their contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization of government, to improve public sector governance, to increase the availability and accessibility of government's services, as well as to improve general planning, coordination, and cooperation (Akingbade, Navarra, and Georgiadou 2009). Geo-ICT thus are becoming an integral part of the study of the evolution of e-government policy initiatives for urban governance across the developed and the developing world to connect government agencies and institutions, to promote the reorganization of government's internal and external information flows, activities, and functions in order to shift government's service delivery over the Internet (Ciborra and Navarra 2005). E-government also is expected to benefit the community by drawing together the public sector, civil society, and international actors, as well as by improving consultation with, and participation by, all spheres of society, and to achieve more participatory processes of governance and decision making (Navarra and Cornford 2007). Urban governance concerns the rules, processes, and structures through which decisions are made about access to urban land and the use of its resources. It is an important element of the many complex challenges the world faces today, including adaptation and mitigation to climate change, rapid urbanization, growing food and energy insecurity, increased natural disasters, etc. (Palmer, Fricskas, and Wehrmann 2009). Nevertheless, no common understanding exists about the way in which the progress and future direction of these projects and initiatives should be evaluated for sustainable urban governance. Therefore, what disciplines and approaches help us to understand the value of Geo-ICT for sustainable urban governance? What are the implications for public sector governance and for e-government policy? The following section outlines the research approach. The next section reviews the interdisciplinary literature on the value of Geo-ICT. Finally, policy implications on the value of Geo-ICT for e-government policy and for public sector governance are outlined. Conclusions about the evaluation of Geo-ICT in e-government for sustainable urban governance follow. RESEARCH APPROACH The paper's research approach is both interdisciplinary and deductive to empirical (Bailey 1994). We started with the conceptualization of the characteristics and dimensions of new interdisciplinary perspectives to be able to provide an overview of the key ideas of the existing literature. We reviewed classified case studies, findings from previous evaluation studies of Geo-ICT in different countries, and exemplary Geo-ICT practices in order to understand Geo-ICT and their value for public sector governance. This approach allowed us to be able to conceptualize new characteristics and dimensions of Geo-ICT emerging from academic literature and studies made both in developed as well as in developing countries. For instance, a recent European Umbrella Organization for Geographic Information (EUROGI) report suggests that virtually in every European country, e-government and Geo-ICT initiatives are proceeding along separate tracks in almost complete isolation from each other (EUROGI 2008). Yet the evolution of e-government initiatives is an important determinant of the value of geoinformation (Longhorn and Blakemore 2008: 12). In the European region, for instance, "Spatial Data Infrastructure is an important part of the e-government initiative of the Bavarian government" (Stoessel 2006); and in countries outside of Europe, "the establishment of an Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure is a vital cog of e-government" (Nairn 2009). …