Government as a PlatformApproach Requirements

Abstract
Information technology development has revolutionized how governments interact with citizens, and in developed countries, the government uses creative methods to provide platform-based public services. The idea of government as a platform, as a relatively new concept, has received more and more attention from governments. Since adopting realistic strategies in  new approach requires the awareness of the necessary infrastructure, this research aims to design a model of government as a platform approach requirements.
This research is based on a qualitative method with a thematic analysis approach, and data is collected by interviewing experts and managers of executive organizations. 16 experts conducted a semi-structured interview through purposive sampling, and three criteria of acceptability, verifiability, and reliability were used to evaluate the quality of the research. Based on the results of this research, the requirements of government as a platform approach include macro architecture, executive arm, data and information, and soft aspects. Realizing management's goals with a new method requires attention to all its requirements.
Introduction
Despite the government's efforts to adopt technological improvements, providing government services fails to satisfy users. How to better deliver public services to citizens and how to design the appropriate services for their needs are the problems facing governments in the digital age. The idea of government as a platform has been noticed more and more by governments. In Iran, due to recent developments, measures have been taken to draft laws, executive structure, and definition of main plans and projects. Although it has appeared relatively well regarding rules and organizational frameworks, it could be better in the e-participation index. In practice, Iran needs to realize the government as a platform, and creating the necessary infrastructure requires further study and investigation in this area.
Therefore, in this research, we want to identify requirements of government as a platform approach. The questions of this research are:
-       What are the requirements of  government as a platform approach?
-       In the government as a platform approach, what should the government do?
Materials and Methods
The current research is classified as qualitative research. Interpretive research and the research approach are inductive because sub-topics are extracted from concepts, and main topics are extracted from sub-topics. In the inductive method, the coding process takes place without considering the predefined framework. The tool of this research is the interview. Interviews are a set of questions based on objectives. The interviews used in this research are semi-structured, and follow-up questions are used to clarify ambiguous answers. In this study, 16 interviews were conducted. Also, no new concept was extracted from the eleventh interview onwards.
Discussion and Results
After identifying the essential points of the interview, 110 concepts were obtained. After categorizing the concepts, 16 sub-themes and four main themes were obtained. Four main themes were identified government as a platform approach requirements with analysis and examination of sub-themes. Macro architecture, the executive arm, data and Information, and the soft dimension are the government as a platform's requirements.
The current research was conducted to identify government as a platform approach requirements. In response to the first research question, the model of the government as a platform includes macro architecture, executive arm, data and Information, and the soft dimension.
Macro-architecture is a comprehensive approach in the field of macro-planning and policy-making, and according to the results of this research, its components include macro-planning, service architecture, process architecture, structure architecture, amending the rules and regulations, expanding cooperation, and a transformative attitude.
Government as a platform requires planning at the national level, a new architecture in services, processes, and structures with an interagency perspective. According to this research, providing the requirements of the government as a platform in terms of services, progress, structure, rules, and regulations all require a change of attitude towards goals and strategies, roadmap, planning, actions, people, data, and information.
Furthermore, without the powerful executive arm, the government as a platform remains in the planning stage and will not be implemented. Determining the executive custodian and defining responsibilities is the first step in strengthening the executive arm.
Since the concept of government as a platform is defined based on the use of information to improve services, citizens' information is a valuable asset for government, and the production of standard and open data requires an inter-organizational approach to data.
The importance of soft aspects in the success of government as a platform approach has been ignored, and in the rush to keep up with the evolution of information technology, the human centrality in all these changes and transformations has been forgotten. Personality traits, knowledge, and experience of people can act as obstacles or drivers. Paying attention to individual attitudes, individual values, organizational views, acceptance or resistance to change, knowledge and expertise, teamwork spirit, and behavioral characteristics of people are necessary for the success of government as a platform approach.
Conclusion
In the first step, government as a platform approach requires adopting a transformational and realistic approach in macro architecture and developing a road map and operational plans with specialists and experts. In the next step, efforts should be made to strengthen the executive arm in the short term by determining the competent executive custodian, its duties, and powers in the law. In the midterm, attention should be paid to providing the necessary infrastructure and empowerment. In the third step, to remove obstacles in the exchange of data and information and to change the attitude of the leaders and managers of the organization towards data ownership, the issue of data governance should be prioritized by the government and deal with data as a national property.
The most essential element affecting the government as a platform's approach success is to pay attention to the human dimension. In the path of transformation, not only should it be addressed, but special attention should be paid to it in all stages, from planning to implementation. Personal and behavioral characteristics of people, attitudes and beliefs, organizational culture, expertise, and capabilities of people are the main engines of the transformation approach, the success of which depends on its performance.