The objectives of this study are to demonstrate the effect of a function called ‘Chief Digital Office’ as a responsible positioning of digitization at the C-level. This is intended to show both the importance of digitization measures and the effect of change projects with a methodical approach in cross-sectional tasks for strategic work. The previous work shows different functional layouts and individual responsibilities without conceptual foundations in the implementation of digital strategies. To provide the first contribution to a common framework for the work of CDOs, a basic concept for public administration based on the municipalities is to be launched. The results lead to statements about the optimization potentials of the status of the study survey of the digitization of German municipalities: “Digital Vorangehen [Leading the way digitally] (2020)”. In particular, this includes the development of a holistic digital agenda, the use of future technologies and the mindset for the development of innovative implementation solutions in both internal service provision and outward-looking services. The value lies in contributing to the establishment of the framework of ‘Public Digital Transformation Governance’ to transfer the fundamental standardization of the action strands into a functional profile.

The innovation fields of municipalities are based on the creation of added value for the local population by creating a portfolio of digital implementation projects as a "proof of concept". The Objective of the research project is focussed on answers to the questions of Strategies on multi-time acceptable and responsible governance standards in a portfolio of data-based, bureaucracy-reducing and trend-based topics. The Prior work serves the elements of Open Data, Public Value Modeling, Business Process Optimization, Public Corporate Responsibility and Digital Leadership in a holistic orientation question of municipal departments. The Approach are adjusting screws in the interaction of control options from the spectrum of local governance. Between different surveys there are relationships and effects. The Results show that basic prerequisites at the level of values, competencies and management are necessary in order to effectively implement targeted instruments of digital transformation in everyday life. Transparency tools and creativity technology support the introduction of targeted governance. The Implications of this interdisziplinary project should give an impact to academics in the public management and data sciences as well as specialists of leadership and strategic management. For practioneers and leaders of municipalities the possibilities of wise governance should get visual. The Value of the paper lies in the direction of the tension between stable efficiency measures and visionary holisticness of adoption capability of ambiguous requirements in the public sector.

The development of a smart city strategy will take place in 73 selected cities in Germany as the result of a participation competition. The systematics of the requirements of the state as a funding provider and the approach of local actors will be examined in more detail in this study. The Objectives of the work are a supervised process of a model facility, on the basis of which observations for a process model are to be derived. This model is intended to enable various aspects as a starting point for non-subsidized institutions as well. A particular focus lies on the area of social change, which is difficult to quantify, in terms of social aspects. The Prior work shows that there are three different dimensions of strategy elements to be decided on in order to start subsidy-compliant design projects. On one hand, a team must be required that takes care of the smart city projects next to their regular tasks. Their composition and purpose in doing represent the first dimension. Secondly, the question of setting targets and the associated monitoring of results must be determined. Finally, the path of involving citizens and companies lead to the social legitimacy of the project team. The approach is based on a semi-structured participant observation by the authors. Qualitative insights into practical doing and abstracted findings based on an example case serve as practical recommendations for further and thus complementary consolidation and expansion of the findings. The first Results show that defining key performance indicators and objective key results is quite a new system of performance measurement for public institutions. In particular, the social aspects of living together in cities are difficult to put into key figures due to the diverse composition of society. Local differences with incentives and channels in different forms need to be translated into general insights. The Implications include enabling government leaders to initiate and manage transformative approaches to the digitization of public space. Social change as a field of action for the design of digital solutions will be opened up and brought closer by means of best-practice implementations. The value of the work lies in getting an example of steps towards a planning basis for comprehensive smart city agendas. Furthermore, management tools for digital projects are addressed and methods for the participation of service recipients of public authorities are presented. Through the classified experiences of the prime example, challenges, opportunities, risks but also weaknesses of the path to a smart city emerge, which can be a point of orientation for non-subsidized cities in their own roadmap.

This study examines how smart city initiatives and core administration digitalization projects can be integrated in municipalities to promote synergy effects. The focus is on the hypothesis that the success of such integration efforts depends largely on the transfer of knowledge and the formation of networks between the actors involved in digitization projects. Through a quantitative online survey of Chief Digital Officers (CDOs) and other leaders in the digital context from 73 municipalities funded by the Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen (BMWSB) "Model Project Smart Cities" (MPSC), the research aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamic relationships between the different levels of decision-making in the course of implementing digital strategies. The results show that the effective integration of digitalization initiatives is largely determined by a supportive organizational culture, political support and networking activities of digital leadership roles, such as the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). In particular, the interaction between the CDO and political bodies proves to be critical for the transfer of knowledge in the context of the digital transformation of municipal administrations. Additional studies are needed that look in particular at coordination and coordination processes with political bodies in municipalities and the establishment of a conducive organizational framework for knowledge transfer.

The journal is a high quality journal reflecting both scholarly and practice oriented work in the area of the administrative sciences and related fields, with some but not exclusive relation to Switzerland (e.g. author[s], institution[s], content, relevancy, interest etc.).Das Journal ist eine qualitativ hochwertige Publikation, die sowohl akademische wie auch praxisorientierte Beiträge zu den Verwaltungswissenschaften und verwandten Disziplinen, mit einem gewissen, aber nicht exklusiven Bezug zur Schweiz (z.B. Autor[en], Insitution[en], Inhalt, Relevanz, Interesse etc.) publiziert.Ce journal de haute qualité accepte des contributions académique et pratique, des sciences administratives et disciplines connexes, avec une certaine mais pas exclusif référence á la Suisse (p.e. auteur[s], institution[s], contenu, pertinence, intérêt etc.).