In search of smart public governance: the case of Lithuania
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852317707814 |
| Author | Jurgita Šiugždinienė,Rimantas Rauleckas,Eglė Gaulė |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
In search of smart public
governance: the case of Lithuania
Jurgita S
ˇiugz
ˇdiniene_
Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Egle_Gaule_
Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Rimantas Rauleckas
Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Abstract
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 poten-
tial 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 cen-
tral government and, second, point to those areas of public governance that need to be
strengthened.
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2019, Vol. 85(3) 587–606
!The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852317707814
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Corresponding author:
Jurgita S
ˇiugz
ˇdiniene_, Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities,
A. Mickevic
ˇiaus St. 37, LT-44244 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Email: jurgita.siugzdiniene@ktu.lt
Keywords
collaboration, empowered citizenship, leadership, smart public governance, strategic
dynamics
Introduction
The concept of ‘smart public governance’ (SPG) has only recently appeared in the
scientific literature. Although researchers have been analysing selected facets of the
concept, such as smart systems, smart cities and smart regions, systemic studies are
difficult to find. In most cases, the concept of SPG has been applied to the appli-
cation and development of information and communication technologies (ICT)
in the public sector (Gil-Garcia et al., 2015; Scholl and Scholl, 2014) or as one
component of a smart city/region (Batty et al., 2012; Meijer and Bolı
´var, 2015).
The term ‘smart’ is currently utilized in many strategic documents of different
organizations and governments, for example, the EU strategy ‘Europe 2020’ and
the Lithuanian Progress Strategy ‘Lithuania-2030’ emphasize smart growth and
smart public governance. The modernization of public administration is one of
the cornerstones of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth. The notion of SPG relates to other important topics, such as the ability of
governments to address difficult problems (Termeer et al., 2015), to overcome
existing impediments in coordination, leadership and structure (Head
and Alford, 2015), and to provide integrated service delivery (Kernaghan, 2009).
Thus, the notion of SPG requires more substantive discussion and
conceptualization.
The aim of this article is to present a conceptual framework and suggest an
approach for the assessment of SPG. We also aim to present the results of piloting
this methodology in the central government system of Lithuania.
The first section of this article outlines the conceptual framework for SPG. The
second section presents the results of the pilot survey carried out at the central
government level in Lithuania. This section also presents the survey instrument
used to assess the proliferation of different dimensions and characteristics of SPG.
In the third section, the survey results are discussed. Finally, some conclusions and
future steps are outlined.
Conceptual framework for SPG
The suggested methodological framework for assessing the implementation of SPG
was built on the logic described in the following. First, the definition of SPG and its
dimensions, as well as characteristics, were established by examining the notions of
‘smart’, ‘smart development’ and ‘smart social systems’ (Jucevic
ˇiene_and
Jucevic
ˇius, 2014) and indicating key conceptual similarities and differences with
similar concepts, such as ‘good governance’, ‘public governance’ and so on (Gaule_
et al., 2014). Second, based on an analysis of the scientific literature (among others,
588 International Review of Administrative Sciences 85(3)
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