Our recent research on blockchain continues to be published on Brookings TechTank. See below for links to recent articles:
Collaborators: Chen Ye, Kiran Kabtta Somvanshi, Xiaofeng Wang
External coverage: ZDNet
Isabelle Fagnot, Chen Ye, and I have a paper in the current issue of Systèmes d'Information et Management.
Mega-scale information technology (IT) projects in the public sector are significant undertakings operating within an ecosystem of stakeholders, resources, and constraints. The track record of these projects is abysmal. Employing an ecosystems lens, we study three failed mega-scale public sector IT projects: the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Virtual Case File (VCF), the U.S.federal government’s HealthCare.gov project, and Great Britain’s National Programme for IT (NPfIT). A forensic analysis of these projects was conducted employing the Qualitative Media Analysis (QMA) methodology. The findings suggest several stakeholders in a public IT project assume roles analogous to different types of species in an ecosystem, with the public agency sponsoring the project as the keystone species. Specifically, the findings show that the public agency is susceptible to failure in hiring key personnel with proper knowledge and experience, and failure in responding to early signals alerting the impending implosion of the project ecosystem. In addition, flawed relationships between the public agency and contractors, and flawed relationship between the legislature and the public agency also contributed significantly to project failure.
Systèmes d'Information et Management (French Journal of Management Information Systems) is the major French language journals addressing information systems intended for organization management.
I am looking forward to visiting Moscow to deliver a keynote at the Startup Village 2018. Hosted by the Skolkovo Foundation in collaboration with the Foundation’s partners, Startup Village is the largest startup conference for technology entrepreneurs in Russia and the CIS countries. Since its launch, Startup Village has proven itself to be a unique platform where startup founders and innovators meet successful entrepreneurs, investors, large technology corporations, and representatives of city administration to discuss technological trends, ideas, and the nurturing of the next generation of Russian entrepreneurs. This global event annually brings together thousands of participants from all over the world, hosting more than 15,000 participants within two days in 2017.
Credit: Salzburg Global Seminar/Ela Grieshaber.
I am looking forward to participating in the Mechanics for the Future: How Can Governments Transform Themselves? session at the Salzburg Global Forum.
Governments worldwide are under pressure to meet complex needs as populations age, countries urbanize, and technology transforms lives and work. They have lead responsibility to prepare their societies for a radically changing world, yet face shrinking budgets and declining trust in the public sector. The machinery of government has changed, requiring governments to transform themselves, both in terms of the methodology they use and the people needed to implement the change. What is the role of government in driving innovation? How can countries and cities learn from each other? How can governments recruit and retain the best people in public service with the right skills? How can governments better harness the market, and strengthen constructive partnerships with civil society and the private sector? What types of public communication work best to rebuild public trust?
See here for a list of attendees.
As part of the meeting, I will be leading a discussion on the potential for advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how we govern. We will employ a case study that I co-authored with Richard T. Watson (Regents Professor and the J. Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy, University of Georgia). The case study takes place in a country, Intelligensia, and is focused on deploying AI systems to modernize the national healthcare system and improve quality of life outcomes.
The Volcker Alliance released their Preparing Tomorrow's Public Service report. I was honored to serve as member of the advisory committee for this important project.
I have accepted a three year appointment as a Distinguished Nonresident Research Fellow at the China Institute for Urban Governance (CIUG) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). I am looking forward to working with colleagues at SJTU to launch new research endeavors that advance urban innovation.
Related:
New article in Cutter Business Technology Journal with Lena Waizenegger (Auckland University of Technology) and Gregory S. Dawson (Arizona State University)
9 Recommendations for Designing, Developing, Deploying, and Refining Cognitive Computing Systems
This article draws your attention to the design, development, deployment, and refinement of cognitive computing systems (CCSs). While CCSs are deployed in a variety of fields yielding benefits exceeding expectations, there are also major failures. Lack of appreciation for the differences inherent in developing a CCS versus a traditional software system is key to these failures. To assist in developing successful CCSs and to derive benefits from them, the authors offer a set of nine key recommendations based on their examination of over two dozen systems. They conclude that CCSs will be a dominant technology that will permeate all business operations for the foreseeable future.
Had a great time in Milan at Università Bocconi. See here for coverage on some of the work done: [Link] [Link]
The IBM Center for the Business of Government released my new report today.
Delivering Artificial Intelligence in Government: Challenges and Opportunities
This report reviews recent progress made in applying artificial intelligence to public sector service provision, drawing on lessons learned from commercial experience as well as burgeoning cognitive computing activity by Federal, State, local, and international governments.
To access the report, please click here.
I will be spending time at the Università Bocconi during March 2018 as a Visiting Professor. I will deliver several lectures as part of the Innovation and Big Data in the Public Sector course taught by my colleague, Prof. Maria Cucciniello. In addition, I will be working on several research projects with colleagues in Milan.