My presentation at the American Society for Public Administration's 2016 annual conference in Seattle, WA.

1. S
Resident-Government
Engagement via New
Technologies
Georgette E. Dumont, M.P.A., Ph.D.
University of North Florida

2. Agenda
S Background
S Methodology
S Findings
S Implications

3. Background
S Citizen expectation for responsive technology
S Increases ease of interaction between city and citizen
S Part of the literature to lead to a ‘joined up’ government
S Is this happening?

4. Background, cont.
Case study – Jacksonville, FL
S Consolidated government, 1968
S Largest city in area in contiguous US (885 sq miles)
S 11th most populated city in US (2010: 829,000)
S 2013 3rd place ranking in Center for Digital Government’s
Digital Cities
S Designated Citizen-Engaged Community for 2014-2016
S Recognized for best practices in engaging citizens by the
Public Technology Institute
S 2014: served its 5 millionth customer
S ITD:
S 64 unique customers with over 300 applications
S 138 employees
S 35 employees focused on projects/ Website
S Currently 105 ongoing projects

6. Jacksonville’s Goal
To be a city where it is a pleasure to
work, play, and reside.

7. Research Questions
RQ1: How do residents of Jacksonville access 630-CITY?
RQ2: How do residents of Jacksonville utilize 630-CITY?
RQ3: Is there a socio-demographic divide between those who use 630-CITY?
RQ4: How does 630-CITY report its data?
RQ5: How do Council members view 630-CITY?
RQ6: What is the process for requests entered into the system?
RQ7: What is the level of interoperability between 630-CITY and departments?

8. Methods
S In-depth interviews
S Survey data
S Archival data
S Analytics

9. Findings
RQ1: How do residents of Jacksonville access 630-
CITY?

10. Findings, cont.
RQ2: How do residents of Jacksonville utilize 630-CITY?

11. Findings, cont.
S A Pearson’s correlation was conducted between a zip code’s
median household income and the number of public works
service requests per population.
S Those who reside in zip codes with lower medium household
incomes used the 630-CITY system to request public works
services more than those who live in zip codes with higher
median household incomes (r= -.390, p< .05).
S This contradicts other studies that find less use of e-governance
services among less affluent neighborhoods.
RQ3: Is there a socio-demographic divide between those
who use 630-CITY?

12. Findings, cont.
S JaxScore
S Easy to use
S GIS-based
S Open to public
S Council members and those inside government have access
to more detailed information
RQ4: How does 630-CITY report its data?

13. Findings, cont.
S A Kendal’s Tau correlation was used to test the relationship
between a council member’s level of support for 630-CITY
and the percentage of requests that were completed on
time in his or her district, and a positive correlation was
found (t=.649, p<.05).
S Respondents with higher on-time completion rates of
requests submitted in their districts were more likely to
support or strongly support 630-CITY.
S Perception of the systems were based more on constituent
feedback and the processes involved once a ticket is
issued to a department.
RQ5: How do Council members view 630-CITY?

14. Findings, cont.
RQ6: What is the process for requests entered into the system?
RQ7: What is the level of interoperability between 630-CITY
and departments?

15. Implications
S While new access points are available, telephone still
dominates
S To increase funding and gain political support,
demonstrated value added to city
S Metrics
S Broken down into council districts
S Ticket completion rates connected with departments
S Outside validation
S Mayoral support need to get departments on board