The provision of public services (PS) is at the heart of public authority operations as it directly affects citizens’ lives and the prosperity of society. Part of PS provision is publishing PS descriptions in an online catalogue to inform citizens and promote transparency. The European Commission has developed Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile (CPSV-AP), as a standard European PS data model to facilitate PS catalogue creation and semantic interoperability. However, CPSV-AP is not sufficient to model complex PS with different versions based on rules and citizens’ circumstances (e.g., getting a passport for a child or for an emergency). As a result, citizens cannot obtain personalized information on PS. The aim of this paper is to enhance CPSV-AP in order to support the modeling of complex PS. We illustrate the use of the proposed model in a real-life case study. Specifically, we use the proposed model to develop a knowledge graph and a chatbot that provides personalized information to citizens of the city of Bjelovar (Croatia) regarding the life-event “having a baby”. We believe our research is of interest to researchers on PS data models and public authorities interested in providing personalized PS information to their citizens using chatbots.

During the last decades, public authorities worldwide have invested heavily in electronic public services (PSs). This includes efforts for publishing information about PSs and for providing online PSs. Each of these efforts is based on an underlying PS Model, i.e. a data model developed for describing and/or developing PSs. Although many PS models exist, none has been universally accepted. This resulted in a fragmented landscape where resources are wasted, economies of scale cannot be achieved, and interoperability is hampered. Recently, the European Union (EU) launched the Core Public Service Vocabulary-Application Profile (CPSV-AP) as a reference PS model. However, CPSV-AP has not been thoroughly evaluated yet for comprehensiveness and compliance with EU policies. The aim of this work is to identify and analyze in a systematic way existing PS models and compare them with CPSV-AP. We conclude that CPSV-AP is comprehensive but can be further enriched with concepts from other PS models. We also provide evidence that the proposed enriched CPSV-AP better supports EU policies. Finally, we present a proof-of-concept pilot of the enriched model using linked data to demonstrate its technical feasibility and added value. Researchers, policy makers and practitioners could use the enriched model for conceptualizing and implementing electronic PSs.

A large number of public authorities worldwide publish descriptions of their administrative procedures (public services) in public service catalogues. These public services descriptions are often based on a national or an ad hoc description template (also referred to as model). Moreover, usually they are not provided in a machine-readable format. At the end of 2016, the European Commission released CPSV-AP 2.0 (Core Public Sector Vocabulary-Application Profile) which is a Core Vocabulary for public service modeling and publishing, incorporating Linked Data technologies. In this paper, we present an approach for using CPSV-AP 2.0 to model and publish, as Linked Data, public services descriptions of a regional public service catalogue. Concequently, we discuss the challenges that we encountered during the modeling and publishing procedure.

The provision of high-quality Public Services (PSs) constitutes a core activity of the public sector. Consequently, PS modeling has received considerable attention. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standard often employed in PS modeling. BPMN diagrams are clear and understandable in the case of simple PSs. However, this is not true when modeling complex PSs i.e., those including a large number of versions. Different versions exist in a complex PS since, for example, different groups of citizens may have to submit different supporting documents with their application based on their financial or civil status. In those cases, the relevant BPMN diagrams often have numerous gateways thus becoming very complex, which hinders their applicability and usefulness. In the last few years, the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) has been introduced and its integration with BPMN is used for modeling complicated business processes in the private sector. However, its effectiveness has not been investigated in the case of complex PSs. The aim of this research is to investigate the benefits and challenges of modeling complex PSs using BPMN and DMN. For this purpose, the Greek PS “Getting a Transportation Card for Disabled” is analyzed and BPMN is used to model the PS in two different ways, one with and one without the use of DMN. The results suggest that DMN models provide useful insights into the different PS versions while BPMN diagrams become simpler and more understandable. On the other hand, the public sector needs to accommodate yet another modeling notation which increases the required human capital needed for PS modeling.

Today, citizens demand personalised and integrated electronic public services that match their exact needs and circumstances regardless of the number of actual public authorities involved. This can be realised by combining research and practice in the fields of integrated public service and service co-creation. The aim of this paper is to understand stakeholders’ views towards providing a co-created, integrated public service in a Greek Region. More specifically, the public service Getting a Transport Card was analysed. This public service is available to low-income, disabled citizens providing them with free or reduced-price transportation. To meet our aim, we conducted structured interviews with citizens, region employees, and policy makers. The results provided us a clearer understanding of stakeholders views regarding system requirements, the role of co-creation, integrated public service governance, interoperability layers (legal, organisational, semantic and technical), and sustainability. These enabled us to formulate a clear usage scenario for a new integrated public service.