Pekka Valkama

Recent changes in service environments have changed the preconditions of their production and consumption. These changes include unbundling services from production processes, growth of the information-rich economy and society, the search for creativity in service production and consumption and continuing growth of digital technologies. These contextual changes affect city governments because they provide a range of infrastructure and welfare services to citizens. Concepts such as ‘smart city’, ‘intelligent city’ and ‘knowledge city’ build new horizons for cities in undertaking their challenging service functions in an increasingly cost-conscious, competitive and environmentally oriented setting. What is essential in practically all of them is that they paint a picture of cities with smooth information processes, facilitation of creativity and innovativeness, and smart and sustainable solutions promoted through service platforms. This article discusses this topic, starting from the nature of services and the new service economy as the context of smart local public services. On this basis, we build an overall framework for understanding the basic forms and dimensions of smart public services. The focus is on conceptual systematisation of the key dimensions of smart services and the conceptual modelling of smart service platforms through which digital technology is increasingly embedded in social creativity. We provide examples of real-life smart service applications within the European context.

Many European metropolises started to introduce market based models in the provision of urban bus  services  in  the  early  part  of  the  1990s.  The  aims  of  these  reforms  have  been  to  increase  economic efficiency and implement the policy goals of the European Single Market. This is a case study of market creation of metropolitan bus service in the Helsinki region in Finland. The aim of  the  study  is  to  analyze  the  central  events  of  the  market  creation  and  demonstrate  the  economic consequences of the introduction of competitive tendering. According  to  previous  studies  on  competitive  tendering,  procurement  agencies  have  been  able  to  generate remarkable  savings.  The  research  findings  of  this  case  study  are  in  line  with  the  previous  findings  as  the analyses  demonstrated  substantial  savings  on  municipal  expenditures.  For  example,  in  the  first  round  of competing bids, the price levels of delivery costs of the regional bus services fell 33-34 percent. Competitive tendering has delivered savings many years, but as its ramification the operators of bus services have faced severe  financial  difficulties. Furthermore, the  study also proves  many unintended consequences such as the privatization  and  corporatization  of  municipal  bus  enterprises,  distorted  market  structures,  and  strikes
undertaken by labor unions.

ABSTRACT This paper argues that justifying lack of productivity improvements in public services by referring to Baumol’s Cost Disease (BCD) is conceptually confused, theoretically misspecified and empirically blind. BCD misconceptualizes public services as categorically distinct from manufactured goods and is based on a theory of productivity not directly applicable to many public services, therefore failing to recognize evidence of substantial scope for improving public services’ productivity. Analysis of the structural and behavioural unbundling of value creation and decomposition of professional skills in service provision leads this paper to conclude that public services are not as technologically non-progressive as BCD asserts.

This paper analyses the partnership-based outsourcing model of service transformation in USA local government, focusing on the city of Sandy Springs which became widely known for its large-scale ‘turnkey’ outsourcing of provision of its services in the mid-2000s. This city has been referred to in the literature as a special case not applicable to other countries, such as the UK, because of their very different contexts. However, there is now a public sector austerity context within which to reassess Sandy Springs’ use of turnkey outsourcing to achieve significant cost savings and improve services. The paper reports empirical research which it uses to derive insights for municipalities considering outsourcing. Those insights can help improve both policy and professional practice by outlining key issues for consideration when trying to ‘do more with less’ money.

This paper discusses NPM-inspired public sector reforms in Finland and analyses bus services as an example. It seems that most of the reforms in OECD countries are framed by loosely defined NPM doctrine, thus emphasising such institutional arrangements and measures as downsizing, privatisation, corporatisation, outsourcing and competitive tendering. Nordic countries are not exceptions to this trend, even if they seem to adopt a kind of mixed strategy of traditional and NPM-inspired reforms. In this paper Finland is used as ...

Innovaatiojärjestelmän yksipuolinen kehittäminen muutamaa kasvukeskusta silmälläpitäen ei ole pitkällä aikavälillä kestävä ratkaisu. Meillä onkin alettu keskustella alueellisen innovaatiopolitiikan tarpeellisuudesta. Esimerkiksi Talousneuvoston sihteeristön (2006: 178) laatimassa globalisaatioselvityksessä, jossa esitetään Suomen globalisaatiostrategian kehittämissuosituksia, pidetään erityisen tärkeänä, että innovaatioketju tavoittaa korkeakoulupaikkakuntien ulkopuolella sijaitsevat verraten pienetkin yritykset ja niistä ...

In this book we discuss innovations in public governance in Asian countries. Our approach is contextual, innovations being discussed in their societal, political and administrative contexts with a special focus on both conditions for innovativeness and innovations actually introduced in various Asian countries. The purpose of these innovations is to bring about radical governance improvements, promote citizen participation and utilize private sector organizations in the provision of public services. Innovativeness in Asian ...

Good governance has become a prominent topic in the development agendas of national governments, regional institutions and international organisations. ere is a common understanding that democratic and good governance is an imperative for development. e absence of good governance has generally been perceived as a major cause of slow economic and social development wherever it occurs. us, it is only natural that good governance is seen as one of the key issues in promoting economic, political and social ...