Regional approaches to e-government initiatives in the Caribbean

This paper examines the potential benefits and challenges of regionally managed e-government development initiatives. It examines the current state of e-government in four Caribbean countries – Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago – in order to establish a broader understanding of the challenges that face e-government initiatives in the region. It also reviews a number of e-government initiatives that have been undertaken through projects managed at a regional level. Based on this analysis, it presents a set of best practices that are recommended to agencies engaged in the task of coordinating the implementation of regionally-based e-government initiatives.

Government procurement policy in developing countries: the case of Petrobras

The aim of this article is to discuss whether public procurement policy can promote innovation by firms located in developing countries. The literature on technological learning is used to create a typology for assessing the impact of public procurement in developing countries from the standpoint of innovation. Petrobras, a Brazilian state-owned enterprise, was chosen as a case study. Petrobras is a global leader in the field of deepwater oil production technology and so offers an interesting opportunity to investigate whether government procurement in developing countries is used to promote the capability of domestic firms to develop innovations. The article presents the findings of a field survey on P-51, a platform that was ordered by the Brazilian state-owned enterprise and began producing in 2009. The case study is based on information collected from interviews with managers of Petrobras, EPC contractors and some of the firms subcontracted to work on P-51.

Giro lamo Savonarola and forms of government.

The work presents an analytical study of the theme of the forms of government in the political thought of Girolamo Savonarola, based on his Thatawo circa il regimento e governo dela cimi. di Firenze (1498). Using Bobbio's methodology, the theme is analyzed from three simultaneous perspectives: the systematical, the axiological, and the teleological.

A agenda da regulação da comunicação social no Brasil: da constituinte aos impasses contemporâneos

The paper analyzes the regulatory framework for the Media in Brazil in the Federal Constitution and the nexus between democratization and constitutional process, interpreting relevant actors (government, political parties, civil society) and figured as the themes of communication and institutional political agenda. The obstacles to the regulation of many of the statements remain constitutional (right of communication; seal monopolies / oligopolies; regionalization of cultural production; nationalist character in control of broadcasting; compatibility between segments state, public and commercial; Social Communication Council), that replaces debate on the very principle of the right to communication regulation by analyzing the corresponding decisionmaking processes. This conflictual agenda-setting involves multiple interests, from strictly commercial aspirations of companies operating in this market, going by the increasing share of religious institutions who also want to expand upon practices of proselytizing until the interests of policy makers who also have control over a slice of that business.

Survey of Staff and Organization of Private Secondary School Libraries in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State

The teacher-librarian and organization of private secondary school libraries in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State was the focus of the study. A structured questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Copies of questionnaires were administered to staff of six school libraries surveyed. The study revealed that none of the staff were professionally qualified, which resulted in poor and haphazard organization of the resources in all the schools surveyed. Recommendations were made to improve library services, including pr

Electronic Government Interoperability: Identifying the Barriers for Frameworks Adoption

Interoperability is a crucial issue for electronic government due to the need of agencies' information systems to be totally integrated and able to exchange data in a seamless way. A way to achieve it is by establishing a government interoperability framework (GIF). However, this is a difficult task to be carried out due not only to technological issues but also to other aspects. This research is expected to contribute to the identification of the barriers to the adoption of interoperability standards for electronic government. The article presents the preliminary findings from a case study of the Brazilian Government framework (e-PING), based on the analyses of documents and face-to-face interviews. It points out some aspects that may influence the establishment of these standards, becoming barriers to their adoption.

A Fuzzy Ontology-Driven Approach to Semantic Interoperability in e-Government Big Data

With the increasing production of information from e-government initiatives, there is also the need to transform a large volume of unstructured data into useful information for society. All this information should be easily accessible and made available in a meaningful and effective way in order to achieve semantic interoperability in electronic government services, which is a challenge to be pursued by governments round the world. Our aim is to discuss the context of e-Government Big Data and to present a framework to promote semantic interoperability through automatic generation of ontologies from unstructured information found in the Internet. We propose the use of fuzzy mechanisms to deal with natural language terms and present some related works found in this area. The results achieved in this study are based on the architectural definition and major components and requirements in order to compose the proposed framework. With this, it is possible to take advantage of the large volume of information generated from e-Government initiatives and use it to benefit society.

Herramienta para facilitar el open government en la Administración Central

[ES]Los ayuntamientos cada vez están más interesados en lo que piensan sus ciudadanos y cómo poder entre todos hacer un gobierno con mayor participación de estos en algunas decisiones, mejorando los canales de comunicación. En este sentido, no cabe duda de que los principios del gobierno abierto, es decir, la transparencia, la participación y la colaboración, están siendo, demandados tanto por los organismos públicos como por los ciudadanos. Para conseguir este objetivo se desarrollará un portal web llamado Actívate por Galdar 2.0 en el cual los ciudadanos podrán pertenecer a una comunidad donde dialogarán en foros y propondrán proyectos. Además el portal les administrará una serie de herramientas que serán de utilidad para que participen en la ejecución del mismo.