Role of Business Intelligence in e-government: A Case Study of Swedish Municipality Contact Centers

Transcription

1 Role of Business Intelligence in e-government: A Case Study of Swedish Municipality Contact Centers Paper within: Master s Thesis in Informatics Author: Olawale Adelakun Supervisor: Kerstin Grundén Trollhattan March 2010

2 Contents 1.1 Introduction Purpose Problem Statement Research Questions Methodology Disposition... 5 References

3 1.1 Introduction Business Intelligence is a tool that is far more prevalent in the private sector enabling executives, managers and decision makers to make fact based decisions based on information and analysis retrieved from data within their organization and its processes. This widespread adoption of BI in the private sector has been necessitated by competition in the market and the need for companies to be able to have crucial insight into their company its processes, how well or badly it s doing - and to use that information as leverage. The ubiquity of the information society is all but inevitable and at the same time the data available is greater than ever. Making meaning out of the available data not only creates better insight for planning, but can also impact resource allocation, quality of service and improve level of understanding of the data. There are relatively far fewer amounts of available literature on the process of implementing Business Intelligence in an e-government context and the role it can play in allowing for easy investigation, analysis of data obtained from the e-services provided. There however potential impacts that can be made to the benefit of both the decision makers attached to the e- government and the citizens within the society it serves. This paper attempts to address those possibilities. e-government The importance for the managers attached to e-government initiatives to be able to gain insight into the data that the services obtain from residents within the community cannot be negligible. Having a more in-depth view of these data sources can help reveal valuable knowledge, patterns and needs of the residents within their municipality in a way that is not overwhelming and can possibly facilitate improved decisions on how to allocate limited resources, improve quality of services and increase awareness of residents within their respective municipalities. Contact Centers Contact Centers are an attempt to a more inclusive e-government that allows citizens of the municipality it is located in access to services they may otherwise have been unable to. Both Järfälla and Jönköping municipalities have contact centers in place in which the municipal population can contact regarding various issues, enquiries and concerns that affect them. Pertinent information regarding residents that contact the center such as nature of issue, enquiry or concern, dates and so on are logged and stored in data sources. As the rate of citizens that utilize the contact center increase, so will the level of data. This study will attempt 3

4 to investigate ways in which this data made available through the e-government services can be leveraged through the use of analytics and Business Intelligence to improve resource utilization, planning and services within the respective municipalities. 1.2 Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role that a Business Intelligence solution can play in e-government by investigating the contact centers at Järfälla and Jönköping municipality. The key focus of this paper will be the process and data that is collected at the contact centers from municipal residents and to examine how it can be leveraged to improve different aspects of the e-government, provision and quality of services, as well as efficiency in utilization of resources. Investigation of the role it plays will be in the context of how it relates to the major stakeholders involved- municipal residents and personnel at the contact center. Investigating and identifying the possible role and impact that business intelligence can play with regards to the e-government services at Järfälla and Jönköping can provide helpful insight in determining whether it is a worthy initiative to invest in. 1.3 Problem Statement Implementation of contact centers can lead to increased accessibility by the citizenry of municipalities. Consequently, this potential increase in accessibility due to the implementation of contact centers can cause an influx of data made available to municipal staff regarding their citizen s needs, requests and concerns. Sifting through and discerning patterns or insight within this data can be potentially beneficial to the contact center, management and municipality as a whole in a myriad of ways. The ways in which this can be possible will be the focus of this paper. Though some studies have been done to cite business value of business intelligence, there has been little geared to the context of the public sector and fewer still at a local government or municipal level. Business intelligence implementations within the government or public sector do not have as much literature and therefore this paper can be useful in identifying the role BI can play in that context through investigating two Swedish municipalities. 4

5 1.4 Research Questions This paper aims to investigate ways in which BI can be used to impact awareness of municipal citizens, affect the provision and quality of services provided and facilitate efficient resource utilization within the municipality. The Following research questions will be answered: 1. How can BI play a role in e-government with regards to planning and effective utilization of resources within the municipalities? 2. How can BI impact provision and quality of services and e-services at the municipalities? 3. How can a BI solution impact citizen s awareness of their municipality s functions and activities? 1.5 Methodology A synthesis of primary and secondary data will be used in order to help identify the role a Business Intelligence solution can play within the municipal contact centers. Qualitative interviews will be the method employed for the collection of primary data and will target municipal personnel and other experts knowledgeable in the area that can provide valuable insight towards helping answer the research questions. 1.6 Disposition Introduction Content in this section will include the general premise of the report and discussion of the overview of the study. Concepts pertinent to business intelligence will be discussed, as well as the contact centers and their current status. Knowledge gaps in the examined literature will be identified and the motivation for pursuing this study will be explained. 5

6 Methodology This section will provide in-depth details of the procedure adopted, justification for its selection as well as additional pertinent information such as the participants, design and materials utilized to accrue data. Literature Research This section will furnish an overview of the body of literature examined that helped provide a better understanding of the pertinent concepts business Intelligence, the contact centers and e-government. Also, the chosen theories that can best achieve useful insight in the investigation and analysis of BI s role in the contact centers will be provided. Justification for and critique of the chosen theories will also be examined. Empirical Findings The data accrued from the municipal personnel and the other targeted experts using the selected methodology as well as the secondary data will be presented within this section. Analysis This section will provide a critical dissection of the data obtained and from that investigate any patterns that are inherent therein. Conclusion The conclusion will aim to reiterate some of the key findings obtained during analysis and provide a culminating overview of how they fit into the context and how they are of value. Future Work This section will aim to explicate the ways in which this study can be further developed. Suggestions and recommendations vis-à-vis how the findings arrived at can be used in other research or applications will be offered. 6

7 References Watson, H., & Wixom, B. (2007), The current state of Business Intelligence. Computer, 40(9), Bernhard, I., Grundén, K., Towards Inclusive e-government: Contact Centers in Swedish Municipalities University West, Sweden. Aberdeen Group (2010), Business Intelligence in the Public Sector: The value of efficient resource utilization. Aberdeen Group Inmon, B. (2010), A Definition of Data Warehousing. Retrieved from 7