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Web2.0 technologies have revolutionized the means of communication for government agencies, initiating the Gov2.0 concept (Bonsón et al., 2012). Gov2.0 denotes the government use of Web2.0 technologies (hereafter Gov2.0) (Bryer &Zavattaro, 2011) by government agencies (G2G) or by the private sector (G2B) or citizens (G2C) (Jaeger, 2003), and the boundaries between these classifications are increasingly blurred (Bryer &Zavattaro, 201; DiMaio, 2009). Gov 2.0 has socialized and commoditized government data, processes and services (DiMaio, 2009). Many benefits of Gov2.0 were expected, such as matching citizens’ preferences with public services, greater utilisation of e-services by citizens, and better control of costs (Janssen & Estevez, 2013).
Motivated by a desire to reach citizens wherever they are, Gov2.0 has been an integral part of most e-governments’ current and future plans (Larsson & Grönlund, 2014). For example, Kavanaugh et al. (2012) have studied the Blacksburg town government use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, as an additional channel through which to communicate with citizens. Sandoval-Almazan et al. (2011) found that there has been an increase in Mexican local government use of Web2.0 tools and applications such as Facebook and Twitter from 2008 and 2011. Gov2.0 was seen as the vehicle to realise the Open Government Initiative core values of e-government: transparency, participation, and collaboration (Linders & Wilson, 2011); however, this was not the case (Millard, 2010). Government agencies that seem to be active in engaging their citizens via Gov2.0 are often using Gov2.0 as another channel for the dissemination of information (Brainard & Derrick-Mills, 2011).
In this paper, we see Gov2.0 as a rich context of capabilities to study the synergistic integration of citizens and governments public value co-creation. Supported by the shift from “need to know” to “need to share” (Dawes et al., 2009), Gov2.0 has transformed the relationship between citizen and the government by offering a platform for public value co-creation. Whilst Gov 2.0 is widely available, its current utilization is largely one-way from the government to citizens (Hand & Ching, 2011). Therefore, there is a need for an integrated approach that allows citizens to co-create substantial and unique public value for each other. In spite of the burgeoning interest in Gov 2.0 and public value, our understanding of their relationship remains limited. Citizen participation can ensure that public value is created efficiently and effectively (Hand & Ching, 2011). Gov 2.0 can enhance citizens’ capabilities for self-organizing and collaboration (Benkler & Nissenbaum, 2006). However, Gov 2.0 has failed to increase citizen participation and has not lived up to expectations (Millard, 2010; Osimo, 2010).
By Web2.0 technologies, we mean a set of technologies (e.g. RSS), applications (e.g. blogs) and concepts (e.g. collective intelligence) that include micro blogs (Twitter), social networking services (Facebook), multimedia sharing (YouTube), and mash-ups (Bertot et al., 2010). We define Gov 2.0 as “The use of social networking platforms, content creation and sharing tools, web logs, and microblogging tools within government organisations and their interactions with citizens” (Mergel, 2012, p. 34). By public value, we mean “a reflection of collectively expressed, politically mediated preferences consumed by citizens, created not only through outcomes but also through a process of achieving trust and commitment” (O'Flynn, 2007, p. 358). By public value co-creation we can understand “enabling citizen participation and satisfaction via Gov 2.0 and improve the ways in which public value can be met” (Aladalah et al., 2016, p.3000).