The impact of technological innovation on service delivery: social media and smartphone integration in a 311 system

ABSTRACT

Coproduction and digital service delivery are innovative strategies public managers use to improve service delivery. This article analyzes whether technological changes to coproduction systems improve effectiveness, and whether improvements come at the expense of equity. Survival analysis is used to assess how integrating Open311 and Twitter affect the time required to resolve reports in San Francisco’s 311 system. The effects vary by technology: Open311 reports are resolved faster, while Twitter reports take longer. Effectiveness gains associated with Open311, however, diminish over time. Both technologies offer improvements over traditional reporting methods for resolution of service issues in historically disadvantaged communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• coproduction
• 311
• service delivery
• ICT

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. At the time of this study; Twitter has since doubled the limit to 280 characters.

2. See, e.g.: https://sfgov.org/scorecards/livability/street-sidewalk-cleaning-response

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew M. Young

Matthew M. Young is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. His research interests include public management, innovation and technology adoption and use by the public sector, and service delivery. Dr. Young’s work on in the public sector technological innovation has been published in top public administration and management journals, including Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, and Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, among others. He earned his PhD in Public Policy and Management as well as a Master of Public Policy at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley. Before joining the academy, Dr. Young worked for more than a decade in Silicon Valley in software engineering, product management, and consulting.