Anthony Meehan

Faculty of Mathematics, Computing & Technology
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
UK

a.s.meehan @ open.ac.uk

Current Research Interests (the link is the ecological role of executive attention in the formation of attitudes, behaviour and adaptation – OK, it isn’t completely obvious!)

o Public Sector (eGovernment) Information Systems: Community Development, Public Value, Trust, Social Capital & Information Technology

o Executive Attentional Control of Autonomous Robots

If you would like to study for a PhD then here are some possible PhD research topics

Research & Consultancy Services:

Michael Grimsley and I provide research, consultancy and evaluation services, especially in relation to customer, client and citizen satisfaction with public services. Details of some of the research and consultancy projects we have been involved is provided here. For more information, please email me at the above address.

Evaluative Design of e-Government Information Systems

With my friend and colleague, Mike Grimsley I have been exploring the design and management of information systems that mediate community access to government and community services (e-government services). We are particularly interested in designing systems that deliver public value by promoting trust between users and providers, and enhancing social capital and social inclusion.

We are collaborating with:

o Anna Tan of the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) – formerly Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - on promoting the effectiveness of community advice agencies across five boroughs of North London (CASweb);

o Home Connections on the design and evaluation of e-Government systems which promote community trust and create Public Value;

o Thurrock Choice Homes on the evaluation of citizens’ response to an electronic system to allocate public housing.

o Grainne Collins (Trinity College, Dublin) on papers examining trust and employment;

o James 'Jay' Parker of jp3d Design (jp3d) on trust in design negotiation and design project management.

Here are some of the most recent papers and presentations:

o This presentation on Public Value and Home Connections (ppt) was given at the Barbican Centre in London on 11^th May 2006

o The related paper Evaluative Design of e-Government Projects: a Public Value Perspective (pdf) will appear in Proceedings of the Twelfth Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Acapulco, Mexico August 04th-06th 2006. And here are the associated slides (ppt).

o A complementary paper Evaluative Design of e-Government Projects: a Community Development Perspective (pdf) which is based upon the CASweb project is forthcoming in Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy. It outlines our 4-Capitals model.

o This paper on Trust, Employment and Gender (doc) and the associated slides (ppt) were presented at EGOS 06 in Bergen, July 2006.

o Grimsley, M, Meehan, A, Tan, A (2007) Evaluative design of e-Government projects: a community development perspective. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy. Vol. 1, Issue 2, 174-193.

o There are two related papers on the theme of Public Value in electronic government. The first appeared in the European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS) in 2007; the second in the Electronic Journal of Electronic Government (EJEG) in 2008.

o Most recently (2008), there are two related papers on the impact of electronic government on the change in trust that clients express in relation to council officials, the council as an institution and on elected councilors. The first paper, presented at the 16th European Conference on Information Systems, takes a psychological perspective and the second, presented at the European Conference on Electronic Government , draws upon Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action to explain the effects observed.

Some earlier thinking on trust and social capital appears in this working paper (pdf) and this presentation (pdf).

To date this evolving work has been presented and published at:

o 1^st International Conference on Trust Management, 2003 (Heraklion, Crete)

o Communities & Technologies Workshop on Community Informatics, 2003 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

o European Institute for Studies in Advanced Management, 2003 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

o 2^nd International Conference on Trust Management, 2004 (Oxford, UK)

o BCS-HCI 2004 (Leeds, UK) (preprint)

o European Academy of Management, 2004 (St Andrew's, Scotland)

o eGov05 – EPSRC/eGISE Workshop, 2005 (Brunel University, UK)

o EGOS06 2006 (Bergen, Norway)

o Sheffield Hallam University Research Seminar 14 March 2007 (slides)

o 16th European Conference on Information Systems, 9-11 June 2008, Galway, Eire (slides)

o 8th European Conference on e-Government, 10-11 July 2008, Lausanne, Switzerland

If you are interested in studying for a PhD in this area, I’d be very pleased to hear from you. But do read this document first.

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Executive Attentional Control of Autonomous Robots

This research draws upon the fields of Neural Computation and Cognitive Neuropsychology. It is undertaken with Jason Garforth and in collaboration with Sue McHale (Sheffield Hallam University) and focuses on the problem of deliberative action selection in neurally controlled autonomous robots.

The work is summarised in this preprint (pdf) of the recently published article in Neurocomputing Vol. 69 pages 1923-1945. These slides (pdf) on the work undertaken were presented at an OU research seminar in May 2003.

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Michael Grimsley & Anthony Meehan - Research and Consultancy

Anthony Meehan specializes in evaluation of electronic government initiatives. Michael Grimsley is a statistician, specializing in public health and community well-being. Jointly and severally, we have been contributing authors to local, regional and national evaluations of policy futures, policy interventions and community development initiatives. Some examples of these are listed below.

The New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme is a major UK government initiative to promote neighbourhood renewal in deprived areas characterized by high unemployment and limited job prospects, high levels of crime and fear of crime, poor health, both physical and mental, relative lack of educational attainment, and a ‘run down’ physical environment. The following reports all contributed to the Value for Money evaluation of NDC:

· Housing and the Physical Environment: Will residents stay and reap the benefits? NDC National Evaluation: Data Analysis Paper 28. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University. (pdf)

· Health of NDC Residents: Who has the most to gain? NDC National Evaluation: Data Analysis Paper 29. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University. (pdf)

· Community Involvement and Social Capital. NDC National Evaluation: Data Analysis Paper 30. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University. (pdf)

· Fear of Crime in NDC areas: How do perceptions relate to reality? NDC National Evaluation: Data Analysis Paper 31. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University. (pdf)

In evaluating national and local government projects we adopt a holistic perspective based upon concepts of Public Value and Citizen Trust and Social Capital:

· Our ‘4-Capitals’ evaluative framework for electronic government services was developed with Anna Tan of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG – formerly ODPM). Its focus was CASweb, a ‘portal’ for community and voluntary organizations in the five inner London boroughs of the London Central Partnership. (pdf)

· Our Public Value and Citizen Trust evaluative framework was developed with Home Connections, a Choice-based Lettings (CBL) scheme for public and social housing in Central London. (pdf)

The following reports and publications examine various aspects of Sustainable Neighbourhoods and especially Social Capital:

· The Dynamics of Social Capital, Health and Economy. CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University, 2005.

· Social capital, health and economy in South Yorkshire coalfield communities. CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University, 2000.

· Capital accounting for neighbourhood sustainability. CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University, 2001.

· The Dynamics of Neighbourhood Sustainability York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2005. (pdf)

· Housing investment and health in Liverpool. CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University 2004. (pdf)

For further information about these projects, or about our research and consultancy services, please email me using the address at the top of this page.

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