Hadi Khanmohammadi; Niloufar Mozafari
Abstract
Despite the transformative role of AI in modernizing governance systems, many government organizations face challenges in successfully implementing this technology due to the lack of an appropriate platform. The main objective of this study is to identify and classify critical infrastructures for improving ...
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Despite the transformative role of AI in modernizing governance systems, many government organizations face challenges in successfully implementing this technology due to the lack of an appropriate platform. The main objective of this study is to identify and classify critical infrastructures for improving the level of readiness and successful deployment of AI in the public sector. The present study adopts a qualitative approach, utilizing McNabb’s process model and the thematic analysis method. For this purpose, scientific articles published in the period 2019 to 2025 in reputable databases (including Google Scholar and Web of Science) were screened, and finally 30 selected articles were analyzed. Data analysis showed that the ecosystem of AI readiness in the public sector is multidimensional in nature and requires balanced development in seven areas: information technology, data, organizational and management, legal and policymaking, cultural and social, economic and investment, and human resources.While these infrastructures operate independently, they also interact and synergize with each other, forming the overall ecosystem required for the adoption, localization, and effective use of AI in public institutions. The findings show that creating interdisciplinary structures, data standardization, human resource training, flexible regulation, and sustainable financing are among the key requirements on the path to smart government.
Afsaneh Dehghanpour-Farashah; Pouyan Pouyanfar; Masoud Banafi
Abstract
Public budgeting is considered a primary tool for fiscal and economic policymaking. The utilization of big data can unlock new capacities for budgeting systems, such as enhancing transparency, improving forecast accuracy, boosting accountability, and streamlining resource allocation processes. Existing ...
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Public budgeting is considered a primary tool for fiscal and economic policymaking. The utilization of big data can unlock new capacities for budgeting systems, such as enhancing transparency, improving forecast accuracy, boosting accountability, and streamlining resource allocation processes. Existing research has indicated general trends in the application of big data within budgeting systems. However, these studies have not comprehensively addressed the obstacles, potentials, and policy guidelines for its implementation in policymaking systems. In this context, the present research aims to identify the challenges, solutions, and opportunities associated with employing big data in Iran’s public budgeting system, employing a qualitative approach and the thematic analysis method. The study population comprised experts in public budgeting, with a snowball and purposive sampling strategy. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, reaching theoretical saturation by the fifteenth interview. The obtained data were organized and analyzed using the stages of thematic analysis. Consequently, 24 main themes were identified, elucidating the various dimensions of challenges, solutions for overcoming these challenges, and opportunities arising from the application of big data in Iran’s public budgeting system. The research findings can serve as a scientific basis for policymakers and public sector managers to reform data-driven budgeting processes and enhance financial transparency and accountability.
Somayeh Ramezani; Shahla Sohrabi; Gholamreza Salimi
Abstract
The establishment of smart governance in human resources, as a framework for guiding data-driven HR decision-making, requires alignment across three levels: individual, organizational, and national–institutional. The research problem addressed in this study is the structural misalignment among ...
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The establishment of smart governance in human resources, as a framework for guiding data-driven HR decision-making, requires alignment across three levels: individual, organizational, and national–institutional. The research problem addressed in this study is the structural misalignment among these levels in organizations, which has hindered the effective establishment of smart governance. The aim was to identify these gaps and explain the strategic requirements necessary to create alignment across levels. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and thematic analysis. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 university faculty members, senior executives, and HR managers from a major national bank. Participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling.The findings indicated that failure to establish smart governance results from misalignment across four dimensions: technological, human capital development, justice-oriented, and cultural. In the technological dimension, a gap exists between individuals’ data literacy, organizational infrastructures, and the absence of national data standards. In the human capital dimension, a substantial gap exists between employees’ analytical capabilities, organizational training systems, and macro-level educational policies. In the justice-oriented dimension, employees lack sufficient understanding of systemic justice, organizational transparency is limited, and mechanisms for monitoring artificial intelligence are inadequately implemented. In the cultural dimension, misalignment is evident in psychological readiness, leadership styles, and institutional discourse on digital transformation. The findings suggest that smart HR governance is a network-based process, and without alignment across individual, organizational, and institutional levels, its establishment will face structural failure.
Reza Maleki
Abstract
AbstractThe management of public libraries in Iran faces numerous issues at the national level. This study aims to identify the system of issues affecting the management of public libraries in the country. Employing a qualitative approach, the research utilized the meta-synthesis method based on Sandelowski ...
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AbstractThe management of public libraries in Iran faces numerous issues at the national level. This study aims to identify the system of issues affecting the management of public libraries in the country. Employing a qualitative approach, the research utilized the meta-synthesis method based on Sandelowski and Barroso's seven-stage model. From an initial pool of 64 nationally focused articles published in Iran between 2011 and 2025, 13 studies were selected after a multi-stage screening process based on criteria such as relevance to the research community, validity, and timeliness. By synthesizing the qualitative findings and results of the selected studies, the extracted themes and concepts were organized into 61 codes and 14 concepts, which were subsequently categorized into four main areas: policymaking, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The findings reveal the most critical issues within each category:Policymaking Issues: ambiguity in institutional roles,.Planning Issues: strategic gap between the current and desired situation, .Implementation Issues: human resource challenges .Evaluation Issues: ineffectiveness of strategic control systems.In conclusion, the management of public libraries in Iran at the national level is confronted with a network of interconnected issues across policymaking, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Resolving these management challenges requires a systematic and holistic mechanism and approach—one that takes into account the continuity of issues and their mutual effects on one another. In this approach, rather than addressing each issue in isolation, the set of issues within the categories of policymaking, planning, implementation, and evaluation is considered as a cycle and a recurring, continuous process.
Rasoul Motazedian
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the challenges in implementing administrative reform programs. To achieve this objective, the research was conducted using a qualitative approach based on grounded theory. Data were collected through interviews with key actors in the field of administrative reform ...
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The aim of this study was to analyze the challenges in implementing administrative reform programs. To achieve this objective, the research was conducted using a qualitative approach based on grounded theory. Data were collected through interviews with key actors in the field of administrative reform using purposive sampling, continuing until theoretical saturation was reached. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through systematic coding. Findings, following Strauss and Corbin’s structured approach, identified the "inactive political arena" as the central phenomenon. Causal conditions included "ambiguity in the governance system" and "ambiguity in the politics-administration dichotomy"; contextual conditions encompassed "macro-environmental effects" and a "culture of non-planning"; and intervening conditions consisted of "weakness in the planning system" and "weakness in the administrative reform planning institution." In response to these conditions, strategies such as "formulating programs merely for the sake of having a program," and "imitating foreign models," were employed. Ultimately, "low implementability" and "weak evaluation mechanisms" were identified as the main consequences of this process. These results not only provide a systematic explanation of the obstacles to administrative reform but also highlight the necessity of strengthening planning institutions and establishing sustainable mechanisms to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of policy implementation in the administrative system.
Reza Vaezi; Hossein Adhami
Abstract
Human development inequalities are one of the main obstacles in today's societies on the path to providing public benefits and achieving social justice. These inequalities are mainly the result of the lack of equal opportunities in acquiring basic capabilities in the fields of education, health, and ...
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Human development inequalities are one of the main obstacles in today's societies on the path to providing public benefits and achieving social justice. These inequalities are mainly the result of the lack of equal opportunities in acquiring basic capabilities in the fields of education, health, and income for all members of society. The importance of these inequalities is that their expansion will increase poverty, weaken internal cohesion, and ultimately lead to the formation of dissatisfaction and social tensions. In the meantime, despite the extensive developments in the media field, mass media, especially radio and television, still have a great capacity to provide public benefits by providing appropriate content to create basic capabilities and reduce human inequalities. The present study aimed to identify the media mechanisms of the IRIB to reduce human development inequalities in Iran. The approach of this research was qualitative and was conducted using the method of Constructivist grounded theory. The research community consisted of academic and executive experts in the fields of media and public administration who also had sufficient knowledge of development issues. The sampling method in this study was theoretical sampling and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The findings of this study identified five mechanisms of trust-building, message production management, message distribution management, organizational resource management, and strengthening institutional cooperation as the main mechanisms of the IRIB to reduce human development inequalities in Iran.
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