Faced with rapidly changing economic and societal pressures and complex public policy problems, governments must respond proactively to new challenges. It is just one of the characteristics of being smart. This article analyses the recently introduced concept of smart public governance, a concept that requires better conceptualization. This article defines the characteristics and criteria of smart public governance and suggests an instrument for its assessment. Piloting of the methodology at the central government level in Lithuania suggests that the Lithuanian system of public governance cannot yet be considered a smart social system. Some characteristics of smartness are already well expressed, and some positive examples do exist. However, smart public governance is not yet a part of Lithuania’s government culture. Points for practitioners: The article advances the concept of smart public governance by discussing and refining key dimensions of this construct and attempts to operationalize these dimensions and various sub-dimensions using empirically testable indicators. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed framework, we present empirical results based on an expert survey of top public executives in Lithuania. These results, first, provide a theoretically grounded assessment of smart public governance within the Lithuanian system of central government and, second, point to those areas of public governance that need to be strengthened.

Success of city development depends not only on its political or economic power, level of infrastructure or favorable geographic location. The key factor of success is people living in the city and their ability to collectively and proactively respond to challenges that 21st century cities are facing. In democratic societies local communities of cities are the most important cells of their structure as they facilitate or impede a sustainable and balanced local development. Although the term of (urban) community vitality is becoming more popular in political agendas and academic research, still there is a lack of consistent and scientifically-based definition of this concept and its research methodology. This article justifies the relevance of the urban community vitality for city development, reviews interpretations of the content of this concept from different sciences perspective and proposes an interdisciplinary definition. This article presents the initial results of a broader research, which aim was to create a methodology for identification and analysis of vitality of urban communities. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.16.1.18010

Smart Public Governance: Concept and Dimensions

Governments worldwide are increasingly focusing on creating customer value in public services and customer experience management to improve public sector performance and increase citizens’ trust in government. Therefore, recently there has been an increase in scientific literature and case studies analysing different aspects of customer value creation and/or customer experience in public services. Still, the interaction between the two is not clearly disclosed and linked. The purpose of this research is to accentuate the insights arising from research in science and practice, to summarise and systematise the knowledge already created and to perform an empirical study. Applying the methods of researching the content of scientific literature and practical reports, the article reveals the interaction between the value of public services to the customer and the customer experience in services. The aim of this study is to reveal the concept of customer value creation by applying customer experience management in public services. After refining the general theoretical insights of service value creation for the customer, the basics of the need and benefits of their application in the provision of public services as well as the application of the method of value creation for the customer in the provision of public services are analysed. The findings of this research positions the customer value in public services as a subjective phenomenon, i. e., the value is created by customers as it is based on their experiences in the process of service provision. In contrast, service providers create a value creation system for customers, which turns them into the co-creators of that value. Value creation for the customer occurs through the co-production and co-design of public services, where the customer is an active participant in different stages of service provision. Customer needs and expectations are evolving, and public service providers need to be able to recognise and track them and respond to these changes by applying a customer journey approach in the value creation system.

The fast changing environment, complex problems and increased expectations for government performance establishes new requirements for the public governance system. A key challenge for the government is to find new ways of operation and collaboration in order to achieve sustainable growth effectively and efficiently ensuring public sector integrity and building trust in government. Consequently, the interest in desired characteristics of the exercise of public authority and management processes i.e. smart public governance has increased considerably. The aim of this article is to identify the main dimensions of smartness in public governance based on the review of recent attempts to improve public governance in developed and developing countries using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Reviews.