1. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Regional e-government research The region of Blekinge in Sweden as an example …as seen through the eyes of a researcher: Sara Eriksén, professor Department of Interaction and System Design School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology More information at www.bth.se/iaw www.bth.se/egov

2. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Overview of this presentation  A bit about the region  A bit about the university  A bit about our regional eGovernment arena  Results so far  Where to from here?  Questions?

3. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Blekinge – a small region in Sweden  150 000 inhabitants  5 municipalities  ”garden of Sweden”  once part of Denmark  before 1960: fishing, farming, forestry, stone quarrying  1960-1985: industry  1989-: software, telecom, R&D

4. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng BLEKINGE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

5. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng A young university  Founded in 1989  One of three independent universities of technology in Sweden  Three campuses

6. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng The university profile  One of the country’s most distinctly profiled universities  Applied IT / IT in use  Sustainable development of society  Strong in research (1/3 of total turnover)  Research and teaching closely interwoven and project-oriented

7. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Not just IT  Spatial planning, the humanities, health sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, social science…  Basic IT expertise is combined with specialist knowledge in all areas  Interdisciplinary cooperation is encouraged in teaching, research and R&D

8. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Interaction leads to development  One of the most successful universities in Sweden when it comes to collaboration with industry and society  The second largest increase of new patents in Sweden  Highest number of employees in ”seed” companies  From stagnation to growth  3000 new jobs in the region

9. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng The triple helix model university businesssociety

10. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng The e-Government arena  Interdisciplinary cooperation in teaching, research and R&D projects in the area of e-Government at Blekinge Institute of Technology  A regional network of public and private e-government stakeholders who meet regularly to exchange ideas and experiences and hear about relevant on-going R&D  A showcase on the Internet for our regional cooperation  A virtual and organizational meeting place  A home base and pooling of resources which enables networking and R&D cooperation on national, European and global levels, even for a small region like Blekinge

11. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng The ”e-Government as on-going working relationships” model systems developers local designers service providers citizens

12. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Results: Interdisciplinary R&D Mobile services nnn Organizational issues Programmin g processes Politics and practices Citizens´ consultations Design in use

13. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Different R&D projects call for different research team constellations

14. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Different R&D projects call for different research team constellations

15. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Different R&D projects call for different research team constellations

16. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Examples of regional R&D projects  Citizens’ consultation on the Internet: a dialog forum concerning municipality’s comprehensive plan (the Ronneby KomInDu project)  Mobile management of teacher – pupil – parent communication in secondary schools (the Karlskrona Sara skolkar project)  Internet support for message management when parent stays home with sick preschool child (the Sölvesborg Kalle kräks project)  Why do successful mobile services sometimes fail? Follow-up of the Karlskrona Smile homecare project  Planning portal – a national R&D project, just starting…

17. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Results: e-gov distance education Netbased higher education to meet the demand  A two-year vocational e-government program  A one-year master level e-government program  The option of studying either of these at half-speed  The option of studying individual courses and enhancing your own professional portfolio of formal competence over time

18. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng The aim: Making e-Government happen  Encouraging and supporting active participation in design and development of e-government and the e- society  Developing processes and infrastructures that support mutual learning and feedback between use and design  Building theory on insight: understanding actual work practice and on-going organizational and technological development in the public sector  Making the regional market for e-government visible for both public and private sector stakeholders

19. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Results from a student’s perspective ”…the education is interesting, also to employers – there are not many people who have this kind of knowledge out in the municipalities. For my part, it has opened up several new opportunities, and that is fun! […] I am now part of a regional work group involved in designing and developing a web site for crisis management […] […] This has given me a good base to stand on and I feel that I am able to get involved in discussions about development in ways that I was not able to do earlier.” Quote from an e-mail from an e-government student who is also a public sector employee and who has recently advanced to a new, more qualified job in her municipality.

20. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Where to from here? Cooperation on a national level (on-going):  E-government distance education: e-society course (15 ECTS) developed together with Swedish educational television and three other universities in Sweden  R&D cooperation in national project The Planning Portal  Swedish E-government research network Cooperation on an international level (on-going/starting up):  Scandinavian e-government research network  Scandinavian e-Democracy/e-Government education network  DEMO-net  Interregional European e-government R&D projects?

21. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng Where to from here re: funding? On-going lobbying on a regional level:  Funding of e-government network – currently via a small annual fee from participants (except researchers) On-going lobbying on a national level:  Funding possibilities for Ph D students employed in the public sector (similar to Swedish Industry Ph D positions, “Industridoktorander”)  Increased funding of both basic and applied research relevant to the e-government area  More long-term R in nationally funded R&D projects Lobbying on the European level: EGOVERNET…

22. Blekinge Institute of Technology SE-371 79 Karlskrona +46 455 38 50 00 www.bth.se/eng And, finally…  Questions?