The Wireless Readiness Innovation Index: Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Public Sector in New Service Introduction

National and regional public authorities need to align their planned introduction of mobile/wireless innovation with the maturity levels of both their workforce (who will manage and maintain the new applications) and their citizens (who will use them). We draw on the experience of working with local authorities in three Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy and Spain) to develop a method towards the effective introduction and adoption of innovative mobile services by public organizations. Specifically, we discuss the development and pilot implementation of a) the "Wireless Readiness Innovation Index", a tool that aims at measuring the local authority’s and end users’ readiness towards providing and using innovative wireless services and b) the "Wireless Innovation Operational Toolkit", a tool that aims at matching users’ and local authority’s readiness levels with candidate services so as to maximize the likelihood of successful introduction and sustained use.