Purpose: This article explores the concept of open government data (OGD)-driven co-creation, which combines the principles of OGD and cocreation to stimulate innovation and create public value. It focuses specifically on the organisational characteristics and capacities that enable public organisations to engage effectively in OGD-based co-creation. Design/Methodology/Approach: Existing literature has primarily examined drivers and barriers from the perspective of data publication capabilities, while less attention has been paid to the capacities required to use OGD co-creatively. This study therefore seeks to identify the organisational features and capacities that enable public organisations to engage in OGD-driven co-creation as constructive partners. To this end, it employs a systematic literature review, synthesising findings from two distinct but related bodies of research: one focusing on OGD implementation and the other on OGD-driven co-creation. Findings: The results suggest that the capacity of public organisations to publish open data is a necessary but not sufficient condition for engaging in OGD-based co-creation. Effective engagement in such practices requires deeper organisational transformation. Specifically, public organisations must adopt co-creation as a strategic orientation, embrace a service-dominant logic, use agile and participatory approaches, and invest in building trust, leadership, and employee capabilities to support collaborative innovation based on OGD. Practical Implications: The study identifies and synthesises organisational factors that serve as preconditions for public organisations to take a constructive and active role in OGD-driven co-creation. It offers insights into the types of internal reform and capacity-building needed to prepare public organisations to co-create within open data ecosystems. Originality/Value: The article represents an initial attempt to systematically synthesise the organisational prerequisites for OGD-driven co-creation. As such, it provides a basis for further research on the development of an integrated framework for organisational readiness for OGD-driven co-creation, as well as practical tools for its assessment.

In the context of digital transformation and open government data initiatives, data have become a key strategic resource of contemporary public administration. Based on an online survey, this paper examines how (open) data stewardship is organised in Slovenian public administration. The findings show that data stewardship is present but weakly institutionalised. It is most often performed as an additional task rather than as a formal organisational role. Respondents primarily carry out operational tasks related to data collection, verification and user support, while more strategic responsibilities remain less developed. The results also reveal considerable training needs, particularly in areas such as legal compliance, data quality standards and mechanisms for opening data. This study provides empirical insights into organisational practices and capacity gaps relating to data stewardship in public administration.

Prispevek predstavlja celovito analizo stanja in trendov na področju odprtih podatkov javnega sektorja (OPJS) v Sloveniji z vključeno mednarodno primerjavo. Analiza zasleduje dva cilja: (1) kronološko opredeliti in slediti trendom ter napredkom znotraj države ter (2) umestiti Slovenijo na globalni oz. regionalni ravni glede stanja na področju OPJS. Prvi vidik omogoča vpogled v dinamiko razvoja politike OPJS skozi čas. Kronološki prikaz trendov implementacije OPJS omogoča boljše razumevanje določenih dosežkov (oz. stagnacije ali celo neuspehov) v luči širše politične, ekonomske in družbene situacije. Strateška prizadevanja in implementacija OPJS se ne izvajajo v vakuumu, ampak so podvrženi vplivu širšega konteksta. Zato vpogled v širšo sliko omogoča boljše razumevanje nacionalnega okolja, bodisi kot (ne)posrednega spodbujevalnega dejavnika bodisi kot ovire pri izvajanju OPJS. Drugi vidik opredeli pozicijo, ki jo je Slovenija dosegla na globalni oz. regionalni ravni v obravnavanem časovnem obdobju. Predstavljene so pomembnejše mednarodne raziskave, ki merijo zrelost OPJS in v te meritve redno vključujejo tudi Slovenijo: (1) indeks EU Open Data Maturity, ki ga spremlja Evropska komisija; (2) indeks OURdata, ki ga spremlja OECD, in (3) ODIN (Open Data Inventory), ki ga pripravlja organizacija Open Data Watch. S tem prispevek zapolnjuje manko usklajene predstavitve sicer kompatibilnih raziskav, ki vse stremijo k istemu cilju – izboljšanju stanja OPJS. Analiza vseh treh raziskav na enem mestu omogoča preglednejšo in celovitejšo sliko o napredku Slovenije in globalnih trendih.

Open government data (OGD) is widely promoted for transparency and innovation, yet reuse remains uneven. Co-creation offers a route to public value by enabling public organisations and external stakeholders to jointly design or improve services and policies using open data. This paper synthesises what the OGD-driven co-creation literature says about internal organisational conditions that support effective participation. We conducted a systematic literature review of English-language studies indexed in the Web of Science database. The analysis focuses on organisational factors, understood as both drivers and barriers, within public organisations rather than ecosystem-level conditions. The findings indicate that readiness depends on more than data release: it also requires strategic commitment to openness, clear procedures and incentives, a learning-oriented culture, leadership that enables cross-boundary collaboration, staff competences in data and participatory methods, and the ability to assure data quality. We discuss implications for strengthening organisational capacities for sustained, data-enabled co-creation and identify priorities for further empirical research.

PurposeThe paper adopts a holistic approach to studying the scale and scope of organisational change resulting from the COVID-19 crisis within the Slovenian public administration. It aims to go beyond the relatively narrow research focus of existing literature, which is confined to short-term responses to the crisis affecting specific organisational aspects of public administration.Design/methodology/approachTheoretically underpinned by Nograšek and Vintar’s (2014) upgrade of Leavitt’s diamond model, the paper employs a multi-case study design to explore the long-term implications of COVID-19-induced changes within the Slovenian public administration.FindingsThe findings reveal an uneven impact of the COVID-19 crisis across Slovenian state administration organisations in terms of the scale and scope of changes, noting that the two key long-term changes – telework and new digital communication channels – have not become equivalent alternatives to traditional work and communication methods. Moreover, the paper identifies changes within the element “people” as the primary disruptors of organisational equilibrium, triggering a ripple effect of changes within other organisational elements.Originality/valueThe paper debunks the myth about the “radical” impact of COVID-19 by concluding that long-term changes have not altered the essence of (Slovenian) public organisations, characterised as traditional public administration. Theoretically, it demonstrates the need for a new adaptation of Leavitt’s diamond model to explain organisational changes in turbulent/crisis times.

Odprti podatki javnega sektorja (OPJS) so javno dobro, katerih vpliv presega okvir javnega sektorja ter lahko prispevajo k razvoju gospodarstva in družbeni blaginji. Vendar podatki sami po sebi ne ustvarjajo vrednosti, saj zgolj objava podatkov ne zagotavlja samodejnih pozitivnih učinkov in vpliva v praksi. Ključno vlogo pri tem imajo javne organizacije, ki morajo zagotavljati kakovostne, dostopne in pravočasno objavljene podatke ter konstruktivno sodelovati v širšem ekosistemu uporabnikov podatkov. Čeprav ima Slovenija ugoden zakonodajni in institucionalni okvir za OPJS, se največji izzivi pojavljajo na organizacijski ravni. Z namenom lažjega razumevanja teh izzivov in načinov, kako jih premagati, prispevek analizira znanstvene članke (iz baz WoS in Scopus) ter prepoznava spodbujevalne in zaviralne dejavnike znotraj javnih organizacij, ki vplivajo na odpiranje podatkov. Sistematični pregled teh »univerzalnih« dejavnikov ponuja osnovo za poglobljeno razumevanje slovenskih posebnosti in premagovanje izzivov pri odpiranju podatkov javnega sektorja.

This article presents a decision support model (DSM) for assessing the quality of co‐creation processes and critically reflects on its applicability in the context of climate change mitigation in urban settings. While cities have become pivotal in addressing climate change, often through co‐creation, tools for evaluating urban climate‐related co‐creation initiatives remain scarce. Rather than advocating for a tool specifically designed for this context, the article seeks to offer a universal DSM developed through a systematic literature review and empirical case studies within the framework of the COGOV Horizon project. The DSM incorporates 19 attributes across three phases of co‐creation: stakeholder identification and mobilisation, the act of co‐creation, and its effects. The model is tested on the Bee Path initiative of the City of Ljubljana, a successful co‐creation project aimed at fostering a bee‐friendly urban environment and promoting self‐sufficiency. The results confirm the DSM’s applicability in assessing the success of co‐creation in the context of climate change policies at the city level of governance. Moreover, this tool offers a foundation model for further integration with emerging technologies to enhance decision‐making and guidance for public organisations. As such, the DSM serves as a practical tool enabling public organisations to critically reflect on their roles in co‐creation initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and enhance their capacity as co‐creators in future urban climate policies and beyond.

Increasing interest in 'co-creation' raises an intriguing question about the role that political leaders can play. This role may have changed as wider models of public governance have evolved from Traditional Public Administration and New Public Management to more collaborative and networked approaches. With growing recognition that local solutions to complex public policy problems are needed, the role of mayors as important political leaders has come into sharp focus, yet few have considered how governance context influences political leadership of co-creation. Drawing on strands of theory on public governance and leadership, we specify how extant governance models can influence political leaders' attempts to inspire co-creation. We illustrate these proposals by showing how mayors performed leadership to inspire co-creation in two contrasting cases drawn from Roskilde, Denmark, and Ljubljana, Slovenia. We demonstrate, counterintuitively, that an embedded form of TPA that coincided with a hierarchical approach to leadership better supported the adoption of co-creation. Thus, we propose that mayors may resourcefully adapt co-creation to local contexts. Political leaders may find these conclusions insightful for understanding how governance context may impact their co-creation efforts.

Purpose This paper aims to develop a model that supports public organisations in making informed strategic decisions as to which public services are most suitable to be improved through co-creation. Thus, it first identifies the features that make public services (un)suitable for co-creation and then applies this knowledge to develop a multi-criteria decision support model for the assessment of their co-creation readiness. Design/methodology/approach The decision support model is the result of design science research. While its structure is determined by a qualitative multi-criteria decision analysis, its substance builds on a content analysis of Web of Science papers and over a dozen empirical case studies. Findings The model is comprised of 13 criteria clustered into two groups: service readiness criteria from the perspective of service users and service readiness criteria from the perspective of a public organisation. Research limitations/implications The model attributes rely on a limited number of empirical cases and references from the literature review. The model was tested by only one public organisation on four of its services. Originality/value The paper shifts the research focus from organisational properties and capacity, as the key co-creation drivers and barriers, to features of public services as additional factors that affect the prospect of co-creation. Thus, it makes a pioneering step towards the conceptualisation of the idea of “service readiness for co-creation” and the development of a practical instrument that supports co-creation in the public sector.

Članek obravnava celosten digitalni pristop k praktični implementaciji soustvarjanja na ravni javnih storitev. V ta namen najprej (1) kritično analizira obstoječa orodja za podporo soustvarjanju, nato pa (2) predstavi orodja Co-Gov, ki jih razvijamo v okviru EU Obzorje 2020 projekta Cogov.. Ključni izsledek kritične analize je, da se obstoječa orodja za podporo soustvarjanju ne osredotočajo na raven storitev; omejena so bodisi na specifična področja javnih politik bodisi na določeno fazo procesa soustvarjanja; predvsem pa pomanjkljivo izkoriščajo potencial digitalnih tehnologij. Namen orodij Co-Gov je nasloviti te pomanjkljivosti s pomočjo štirih digitalnih orodij: 1. orodje Co-Ready, ki omogoča oceno organizacijske pripravljenosti za soustvarjanje; 2. orodje Co-Serve, ki podpira izbiro najprimernejše javne storitve, za prenovo s pomočjo soustvarjanja z uporabniki storitve; 3. orodje Co-Renew, ki podpira proces soustvarjanja med prenovo javnih storitev in 4. orodje Co-Master, ki podpira oceno kakovosti procesa soustvarjanja med prenovo storitve.

The academic contribution to the field is twofold. Firstly, the paper identifies co-creation drivers and barriers from the professionals’ point of view ‒ a largely overlooked perspective in the relevant literature. Secondly, by being placed in the Slovenian administrative context, the paper complements and enriches the debate on co-creation shaped predominantly by the experience of Northern and Western Europe. Purpose: By focusing on the Slovenian public sector, as a traditionally hierarchical administrative context, the paper aims to identify factors that stimulate professionals to implement co-creation in their everyday work, as well as factors that impede their decision and behaviour in this direction. Design/methodology/approach: The paper relies on two Slovenian case studies capturing the experience of professionals from the Ministry of Public Administration and the Municipality of Ljubljana. The key data-gathering methods were qualitative open-ended interviews with ‘lead professionals’ (at managerial positions) and focus groups with professionals who have regular contact with service users/external stakeholders and/or experience with co-creation. Findings: The findings of the paper indicate that professionals implement co-creation even in ‘unfavourable’ hierarchical and centralised settings. A key driver for them to co-create in such a context is strong political support at the highest level. However, a more profound internalisation of co-creation depends on the redefinition of their professional identity, as well as on the (personal or collective/organisational) interest in co-creation. Originality/significance: The paper makes a pioneer step in providing an in-depth look into the drivers and barriers professionals face when implementing co-creation in the Slovenian public sector. As such, it provides valuable input for further comparative analyses of co-creation drivers and barriers faced by professionals across Central and Eastern Europe.

The paper conceptualizes a multi-attribute decision support model for the assessment of organizational maturity for co-creation, specifically for public organizations. This is achieved on the basis of a systematic literature review (i.e. content analysis) and analysis of two European case studies of promising collaborative practices (from UK and Slovenia). The co-creation drivers and barriers elicited from these two sources are integrated in a decision support model, thus setting the layout of a multi-attribute decision support model for the assessment of organizational maturity for co-creation. The final model conceptualized here consists of 25 attributes or criteria grouped into three categories: organization capacity, staff capacity, and a wider political and normative context in which public organizations act.

Co-creation is promoted as a solution to the ‘wicked’ problems of today. Despite its applicability across policy areas and its promising effects, culture is often referred to separately, as a special field of interest and favourable environment for co-creation. Although this tacitly implies that this policy area features rather different conditions for co-creation, there are no solid arguments to justify the fact that culture is treated differently than other policy areas. To address this dilemma, the paper aims to answer whether and to what extent co-creation drivers and barriers in the area of culture are ‘policy specific’. This is achieved with the help of a systematic literature review and a case study of the 2020 Rijeka European Capital of Culture project. On this basis, the paper concludes that there are no ‘culture specific’ drivers and barriers to justify the ‘special treatment’ of culture as a substantially different co-creation arena.2

Abstract Co-creation of public services and policies is considered a promising practice of re-shaping the traditional relationship between the state and its citizens, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Nevertheless, there are also warnings that the implementation of the process of co-creation could fail. A possible reason is that the organization is not ready or sufficiently mature to implement the process of co-creation. This paper addresses co-creation drivers and barriers identified through systematic literature review and analysis of case studies from two Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The aim of this paper is to provide practitioners from CEE countries with a conceptual multi-attribute decision support model for evaluating the organizational readiness for co-creation. The methodological framework consists of three steps. The first two steps, content analysis (i.e. literature review) and case-study analysis, were used to identify and analyze drivers and barriers, which are then used in the last step to develop the conceptual multi-attribute decision support model. The developed model consists of 26 attributes grouped into three categories: capacity of the organization, drivers and barriers related to internal (public organization) co-creators, and context related drivers and barriers. The key points for practitioners are: • Co-creation drivers and barriers affect organizations at the beginning of their co-creation journey (i.e. in identifying the key co-creation success factor at the organizational level); • Co-creation drivers and barriers serve as guidance to organizations that were unsuccessful in co-creation; • The conceptual model supporting the evaluation of co-creation readiness serves as a tool to those that consider implementing co-creation; • The model offers an insight into a possible methodology for evaluation of readiness in different areas; • For practitioners from the CEE region, co-creation drivers and barriers, together with the conceptual multi-attribute decision support model supporting the evaluation of co-creation readiness, offer a roadmap to successful co-creation.

This paper presents the results of the content analysis of 139 Web of Science papers focused on collaborative innovation with external stakeholders of public administration, specifically on co-production and co-creation. The analysis included papers published between 2009 and 2018 and was based on a coding scheme consisting of 12 parameters grouped into four groups: paper descriptors, financial support of the research, methodological framework, and co-creation characteristics. The results reveal a considerable increase in researchers’ interest in co-production and co-creation in the context of public administration in the last few years. This is particularly the case in Northern and Western Europe, where Anglo-Saxon and Nordic administrative traditions dominate. Furthermore, the results show that co-creation is most often placed in the contexts of social policy and welfare, as well as health care. Over the selected period, research seldom addressed companies as a target group in the co-creation of public services—in comparison to citizens and internal users. More than three quarters of the papers observed were empirical and less than 20% were quantitative. In general, a lack of conceptual clarity was often identified through the interchangeable usage of the terms co-creation and co-creation and the low level of international comparison—the majority of the papers focused on case descriptions at a national level, even though collaborative innovation is strongly related to administrative traditions dominating in specific regions.

Activation of apoptosis in cancer cells could stop the development of several cancers.

Structural modification of the marine alkaloid oroidin resulted in improved apoptosis inducing activity in HepG2 and THP-1 cell lines.

On the basis of a comparative analysis of the case studies of the Slovenian Erased and the Latvian Non-citizens, the paper endeavors to identify the reasons for the EU involvement in the latter, but not the former case. These two situations are recognized as similar enough to be compared, and endure the counter-argumentation that the different EU approach is conditioned by the specifics of the local context, not by double standards. Hence, the paper comes to a conclusion that the involvement in Latvia has been conditioned by the fear of the potentially violent conflict, the existence of a proactive kin state, and a minority, significant in number, as well as the explicitly discriminatory legal framework that was in collision with the EU economic acquis. Thus, it has been inferred that double standards occur due to the lack of EU and international interest in these situations of human rights violations, where the powerful kin state and the minority, significant in number, are absent, do not have a potential to develop into a violent conflict, do not derive from explicitly discriminatory legal provision, and do not challenge the fundamental market freedoms of the EU.

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