Reinforcing accountability in public services: an ICT enabled framework

Purpose – Although accountability has been one of the founding pillars of public services, many countries face situations of lack of accountability of service providers. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for accountability in public services by strengthening traditional accountability relationships among citizens, political authority and service provider, with the use of information and communication technology (ICT).Design/methodology/approach – The research analyses a case of public grievance redressal system in India that is entirely facilitated by ICT. It documents the key processes followed by the system and also examines the performance of the system using quantitative data.Findings – The research identifies key technical and business characteristics of ICT applications that are intended to improve accountability. The traditional accountability relationship is then placed within an ICT framework to suggest how accountability can be reinforced in public services.Research limitations...

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