Forms of public participation in the context of smart society

Abstract

Contemporary Research on Organization Management and Administration 2016 , 4 (1) ISSN (online) 2335 - 7959 57 Lina Sveklaitė 1 Aušra Šilinskytė 2 FORMS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEXT OF SMART SOCIETY Abstract Purpose – according to literature review to point out forms and main principles of effective public participation in the context of smart society. Design – in this research, theoretical methods are applied. Article consists of three main parts: in the first part, the concepts of public governance and smart society are presented; the second part includes analysis of public participation forms and engagement of citizens and other interest groups; in the third part, the main aspects of effective public participation i n the context of smart society are presented. Finding – according to the literature, effective public participation is not only when citizens and their interest groups (e.g. NGOs) have opportunity for participation and are involved by official bodies, but also when they have resources and skills to participate. Also, when citizens and NGOs see evidence that their views have been considered, they are motivated to participate, that is why sometimes non - formal cooperation and feedback are of the same importan ce to their participation activity, as the chosen forms of their involvement and legal environment. According to analysed principles of smart society (lifelong learning, collaboration, effectiveness, participation, citizenship, technologies usage, etc.), f orms of public participation should be oriented to e - tools and the principles of open data governance. So, one of the goals of public governance bodies should be to strengthen mutual cooperation and to empower citizens and their interest groups, forming th eir abilities to participate through digital technologies (such as social media, interactive websites and others).Practical implications – a smart society is a new area for the scientific research. The identified principles of an effective public participation in the context of smart society can be followed by the public gover nance bodies to create a friendly environment to improve resources and skills of citizens or their interest groups in participating in the procedures of public governance. Originality/Value – in scientific literature, authors usually emphasize the role of citizens and NGOs in the context of co - production. Meanwhile, the principles of effective participation in co - creation or co - governance are described obscurely, only defying main ideas of their participation in public governance. In this article, public pa rticipation is analysed in the context of smart society, seeking to identify principles of effective empowerment of citizens and their interest groups.