Software Architecture for a Transparency Assessment Platform in E-Government Systems

From Paper to Platform: Digital Procurement as a Tool for Financial Transparency in Public Financial Management

Public procurement is widely recognized as a sensitive and high-risk area for corruption and inefficiency, often affected by opacity and weak accountability. In Nepal, the introduction of the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system signifies a major digital governance reform aimed at enhancing transparency and procedural integrity. This study examines the impact of e GP on transparency in public procurement, focusing on information accessibility, process visibility, fair competition, and stakeholder trust. The analysis is based on survey data from 84 stakeholders, including government officials, bidders, and oversight personnel. Quantitative techniques, including Friedman Chi-square tests and ANOVA, were employed to assess perceived transparency outcomes. The findings indicate that e-GP has improved access to procurement information and strengthened procedural openness; however, challenges persist in traceability and stakeholder engagement, particularly during bidding and contract award stages. The study highlights that technological reforms alone are insufficient without complementary institutional strengthening. 

DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE GOVERNANCE IN U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION: A PRACTITIONER FRAMEWORK FOR SYSTEM SELECTION

U.S. colleges and universities increasingly depend on cloud platforms, identity services, integration layers, data repositories, and administrative applications to conduct admissions, registration, finance, human resources, advising, and student support. Yet technology selection is often organized as a procurement event even though the resulting decision redistributes institutional risk for a decade or more. This survey integrates information-systems research, higher-education studies, and current U.S. standards to identify recurring selection and governance failures and translate them into an auditable practitioner method. The analysis finds that weaknesses commonly arise from fragmented ownership, premature product comparison, opaque lifecycle costs, insufficient interoperability and exit planning, inconsistent vendor assurance, and failure to connect implementation with measurable benefit realization. In response, the article proposes the Digital Infrastructure Governance and Selection (DIGS) framework. DIGS combines seven decision domains with six stage gates spanning problem definition, mandatory assurance, comparative assessment, controlled piloting, contracting and implementation, and lifecycle review. It distinguishes noncompensatory requirements from weighted preferences, records evidence confidence, and treats portability, accessibility, privacy, cybersecurity, and operational resilience as governance obligations rather than optional features. The framework is a transparent decision aid rather than a statistically validated prediction model. Its contribution is a practical bridge between sociotechnical research and institutional artifacts including requirements, scorecards, risk registers, contracts, pilots, and post-implementation reviews.

Digital transformation strategies for enhancing transparency and efficiency in public asset management systems

Digital transformation has become a strategic priority for improving governance, accountability, and operational effectiveness in the public sector. However, evidence on its role in enhancing transparency and efficiency in public asset management remains fragmented. This study aimed to synthesize digital transformation strategies for improving public asset management. A qualitative Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines was conducted using 52 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. The included studies were critically appraised, and thematic coding achieved substantial inter-rater reliability (Cohen's κ = 0.84). The analysis identified five strategic dimensions: digital infrastructure, integrated asset information systems, data governance and interoperability, transparency enhancement, and efficiency enhancement. Integrated asset information systems and data governance emerged as the strongest enablers of transparency and operational efficiency. The proposed Digital Transformation Strategy Framework integrates technological, governance, institutional, transparency, and efficiency dimensions into a unified model for public asset management. These findings provide practical and theoretical guidance for strengthening transparency, efficiency, accountability, and public value creation.

The Role of Open Data Platforms in Public Sector Transparency

Open Data Platforms (ODPs) have become revolutionary tools in the process of improving transparency, accountability, and engagement of citizens to the public sector. In the last ten years, open data initiatives have become more predominant in governments across the world as international governments recognize the need to offer free access to government-held data to promote trust and participatory governance. In this paper, the authors examine the importance of open data platforms in transparency enhancement, specifically with respect to the events before 2018. It looks at conceptual bases, technology infrastructure, and institutional processes on which open data ecosystems are based. The paper will examine the nature of open data in enhancing transparency through the ability of citizens, researchers, and other civil society organizations to access, analyze, and reuse government data. It also examines issues relating to the quality of data, standardization, privacy and digital divides that impair successful implementation. By means of systematic methodological process that involves qualitative analysis and evaluation of secondary data, this paper will assess the effects of open data platform in various governance settings. The results show that open data platforms are effective in enhancing transparency indicators, although this depends on other attributes, including political commitment, legal frameworks, interoperability of data, and the accessibility of data to users. Also, the paper identifies stakeholder cooperation and capacity building as significant in the sustainability of open data efforts. The study is an addition to the emerging data on digital governance through the provision of a holistic framework of learning on the importance of open data platforms on transparency in the public sector. It also gives policy suggestions on how the design and implementation of open data systems can be improved. Finally, the paper highlights the idea that open data is not just a technological phenomenon but a socio-political instrument that transforms the governance system and relations between citizens and the state.

THE SITUATION OF AUDIT AND INTERNAL CONTROL EFFICIENCY THROUGH DIGITIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Developing A Web-Based Application for Enhanced Transparency and Accountability of Financial Management in A School Cooperative Context

Purpose – Previous reports noted issues relating to transparency and accountability in the management of school cooperatives due to system errors, inefficiency, and limited real-time tracking with manual record-keeping of financial transactions. This study presents an application geared to tackle such challenges and lay the groundwork for further development in managing co-op financial needs. Design/methodology/approach – A Design and Development Research (DDR) approach was used along with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) with the Waterfall model. Data collection involved observations, interviews, documentation review, and questionnaires. The system was developed through five phases: analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance, all of which were carried out with the aid of this survey. The evaluation involved two information technology experts who were complemented by two accounting specialists. It included feasibility and user-driven usability assessments through a five-point Likert-scale instrument with five participants. Evaluations of transaction processes and financial reporting times before and after the application’s launch were used to track operational metrics over 30 transactions. Finding/Results – The findings suggest that the application is highly feasible in context and received very positive feedback throughout the limited testing. Feasibility of technology increased from 90% to 97.5%, while financial and accounting feasibility increased from 89.06% to 96.88%. Usefulness and satisfaction reached 98.18%. Operational appraisals also found time-related benefits in processing transactions and decent financial reporting. Originality/Value – This is an original study which optimizes accounting information system, real-time reporting, and inventory management a web-based solution. The researchers address only modest operational performance measures in to complement perception-based assessments in a small-scale environment