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This article presents a longitudinal review of CCTV policy in the UK. In particular, it reconsiders the diffusion of CCTV cameras and systems in public places in relation to the current commitment to the development of 'evidence based' public policy and services. In the case of CCTV this evidence is usually assumed to be reductions in crime and the fear of crime as measured by crime statistics. However, for CCTV the evidence base can be disputed with systems not having the impact on crime that many take for granted. This raises important questions about the rationale for, and evidence base behind, CCTV policy and practice. These concerns are examined in this article through the exploration of a series of 'myths', or misconceptions about CCTV. The critical issue is that if CCTV does not work then how can we explain its widespread introduction and ongoing use? Here the article posits that a 'policy perspective' approach to understanding the CCTV revolution is illuminating as it highlights the complex intertwined interactions between government, policy-makers, the media and other stakeholders, and that CCTV does not necessarily have to 'work' if it meets other purposes. The article also presents evidence that CCTV policy is being reviewed, not just in relation to its established evidence base, but also in relation to the emergence of concerns raised about the cost of running systems.

The emergence of Big Data has added a new aspect to conceptualizing the use of digital technologies in the delivery of public services and for realizing digital governance. This article explores, via the 'value-chain' approach, the evolution of digital governance research, and aligns it with current developments associated with data analytics, often referred to as 'Big Data'. In many ways, the current discourse around Big Data reiterates and repeats established commentaries within the eGovernment research community. This body of knowledge provides an opportunity to reflect on the 'promise' of Big Data, both in relation to service delivery and policy formulation. This includes, issues associated with the quality and reliability of data, from mixing public and private sector data, issues associated with the ownership of raw and manip- ulated data, and ethical issues concerning surveillance and privacy. These insights and the issues raised help assess the value of Big Data in government and smart city environments.

Governments around the world are utilizing data and information systems to manage the COVID-19-crisis. To obtain an overview of all these efforts, this global report presents the expert reports of 21 countries regarding the relation between the COVID-19-crisis and the information polity. A comparative analysis of these reports highlights that governments focus on strengthening six functions: management of information for crisis management, publishing public information for citizens, providing digital services to citizens, monitoring citizens in public space, facilitating information exchange between citizens and developing innovative responses to COVID-19. The comparative overview of information responses to the COVID-19-crisis shows that these responses cannot only be studied from a rational perspective on government information strategies but need to be studied as political and symbolic interventions.

The emergence of 'Smart Cities' is a contemporary global phenomenon which is closely aligned to a vision of modern technologically advanced sustainable urban environments. However, public policy and academic discourses differ about what constitutes a city that is either 'smart' or 'sustainable', and assumptions are frequently made about the positive impact of technology and its potential benefit to the environment. Whilst a smart city is not necessarily a sustainable city, the terms 'smart city' and the 'sustainable city' are increasingly being fused together in the concept of the Sustainable Smart City (SSC). This article seeks to explore the conceptual components of the SSC, with a particular focus on the participatory role of the citizen, where this involves the use of new digital technologies. Conventional eGovernment has tended to focus on service delivery rather than engaging citizens in participatory activity, whilst traditional discourses on sustainability focus on environmentalism rather than broader societal sustainability. Sustainability in the context of the SSC is a much wider concept, where the aspiration is also to improve the quality life by engaging citizens in participatory governance, by co-creating sustainability values, and by developing relationships, trust and sustainable mechanisms for ongoing engagement. In this respect, new digital technology is understood according to its transformational potential and the opportunities which it offers to citizens in delivery of services, meaningful participation and of sustainable societal solutions. This article explores the three underlying conceptual pillars of the SCC, namely insights deriving from perspectives associated with (1) sustainability, (2) new technology and (3) participation, where each of these perspectives offers up its own rationale and institutional logic. Here, it is argued, that whilst practice around SSC's differs considerably, the 'real' SSC stands at the nexus of new technology, citizen engagement and sustainable outcomes.

In 2013, Glasgow City Council received significant funding to develop innovative smart city applications, including the delivery of new electronic public services and the co-production of governance. This case study examines the processes that underpin the ways in which the "Future City Glasgow programme" delivered "smart governance", in the context of a regenerating post-industrial city. We assess the contribution of smart city technologies and data collection and monitoring processes designed to facilitate citizen engagement and sustainable governance practices. The Future City Glasgow programme ran from 2013-2015, and included the Open Glasgow project, and "Demonstrator Projects" of: Energy Efficiency; Intelligent Street Lighting; Active Travel; and, Integrated Social Transport. Opportunities arose from these demonstrators for developing co-production and legacy initiatives. The case study provides insight into the ways in which citizens and local communities in Glasgow have been engaged in governance processes. This engagement has taken place via traditional and innovative smart city technologies, and in particular in relation to policy formulation, service design and delivery. It finds that the co-creation of governance is shaped by vested interests, that engagement is fragmented and partial, but at the same time new technologies, social media and shared learning opportunities offer innovative new ways for some citizens to influence local governance.

This article provides an assessment of the recent phenomenon in Scotland and the United Kingdom of selling edited electoral registers to third parties, and reflects on the implications of this practice for privacy, data protection and citizen-state relations. Drawing on the results of the National Survey of Electoral Registration Officers in Scotland, information is presented on the sale of edited registers, the types of organisation purchasing registers, revenues generated and the number of electors 'opting out' of the edited register. This is the first time such information has been collected nationally and therefore represents a unique Scottish 'snapshot'. The article argues that the sale of edited registers is contentious. The collection of personal information contained within the register is critical for the successful functioning of elections and consequently our representative democratic system, yet the subsequent unrestricted sale of this information for commercial gain potentially undermines trust in democratic processes and alters the informational nature of citizen-state relations. This article offers a first opportunity to reflect on some of the consequences of this practice.

Technologies such as the web and email have been seen to offer new capabilities through which traditional representative arrangements can be reinvigorated and renewed. This paper explores the ways in which information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become embedded within the cultural norms and activities of parliamentarians, by examining the experience of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). At the heart of the paper is a discussion of new research data which provides empirical evidence of a significant technological orientation, and an emergent ICT culture that is the outcome of the intertwined relationship between the adoption and use of new communications technologies by parliamentarians, and the established norms and procedures of parliamentary activity. Although there is a body of work which explores the development of the web for parliamentarians and parliaments, this paper avoids the limitations of methodologies based upon an analysis of the characteristics of websites in favour of a grounded approach, focusing on actual uptake and use of a wide range of communications technologies by MSPs, as reported in survey findings. Utilising longitudinal empirical data, the paper sets out to establish how new communications technologies have been approached by MSPs. It explores the extent to which they regard ICTs as having utility for a wide range of their functions as parliamentarians, party actors and representatives, and demonstrates the extent to which new technologies underpin key communications relationships with other actors in the polity. In so doing, it seeks to illustrate that ICTs, rather that having a deterministic 'impact' on practice, have been utilised in specific ways reflecting both parliamentary 'norms' and an appreciation of the distinctive capabilities that they offer. As such, it is evident that there is an emergent ICT culture which is expressed in the working lives and activities of Scottish parliamentarians. Data on uptake and use is further contextualised through an ...