A business model perspective for ICTs in public engagement

Public institutions, in their efforts to promote meaningful citizen engagement, are increasingly looking at the democratic potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Previous studies suggest that such initiatives seem to be impeded by socio-technical integration barriers such as low sustainability, poor citizen acceptance, coordination difficulties, lack of understanding and failure to assess their impact. Motivated by these shortcomings, the paper develops and applies a business model perspective as an interceding framework for analysis and evaluation. The underlying principle behind this approach is that it is not technology per se which determines success, but rather the way in which the business model of the technological artifact is configured and employed to achieve the strategic goals. The business model perspective is empirically demonstrated with the case of an online petitioning system implemented by a UK local authority. The case illustrates the importance of considering ICTs in public engagement from a holistic view to make them more manageable and assessable.

► ICTs in public engagement need to be based upon manageable institutional mechanisms.
► Business models provide a holistic view of digital initiatives and can be useful as analysis and evaluation frameworks.
► Business models can more systematically prepare public organizations for new ideas and practices.
► The ePetitioning case demonstrates a well-planned and sustainable engagement exercise.