Orgware

Typical IT systems basically consist of hardware, software and orgware. The orgware deals with different actors and their different perspectives on their working environment and the organization and forms the link between e.g. management and employees. This function of orgware is the basis for systems to actually contribute to the solution of tasks. As such, hardware and software alone cannot form a system, but only the combination of hardware, software and orgware enables an organization to meet its system requirements. Orgware can be seen as intersection between the hardware, software and manware (i.e. the employees). Orgware consists of all the organizational concepts and regulations that the people who work with the IT system rely on in order to use the IT system.

The orgware also has to be considered when setting up PB processes, since predominantly IT systems are also used to keep PB processes running. This especially refers to the implementation of the proposal and the voting phase, in which a variety of online solutions are possible and available. IT solutions, usability features of PB websites, a validated reference architecture and a method and tool for PB tool selection are shown in Menu 4 of the EmPaci PB-Online Manual.

In the context of PB, the term "orgware" characterizes all organizational measures and specifications related to the introduction and development of the PB process. It is necessary to make administrations able to accommodate with a new PB process or methods to be used. On the one hand, orgware can be described as the processes that trains people to use new systems. This aspect of orgware is particularly dealt with in the Menu 6 of the EmPaci PB-Online Manual, in which training concepts for PB and training materials and lecture recordings are presented.

A case study of how the specific IT implementation in pilot municipalities took place is presented below: The case of the City of Bützow/Germany shows which considerations need to be taken into account when implementing the planned PB process with a given external software provider. Second, material of the Vidzeme Planning Region/Latvia is presented. The English material shows an example of how technical specifications for the online proposal platform and voting platform can be set up.

• Case City of Bützow: Process steps for the IT implementation
• Case Vidzeme Planning Region: Technical specifications for the online proposal platform and voting platform

Basically, orgware also consists of a collection, documentation and development of all existing PB-information, communication methods and materials. We have presented these materials in English language across this online manual. In order to allow for mutual capacity building, immediate use and transnational spread of the materials, a storage of PB related material is presented below in the languages of the EmPaci partner countries, i.e. Finnish, German, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian.

Orgware documents in partner languages: