Smart Administration– Really? Why Not? Introduction

The authors of this collective monograph are aware of the effect of their first encounter with the title of the monograph. Intelligence

Intelligence (intelligent) and smartness (smart) are used interchangeably in this article. Both terms are used to express the Polish term “inteligencja” (inteligentny) and the German term “Intelligenz” (intelligent)

“Intelligence” is a term created on the basis of psychology in connection with the study of man's ability to perceive the world around him, the ability to analyse and understand it and, consequently, to learn and the ability to use this knowledge and the acquired skills to cope with the problems encountered and to adapt to the changes in his environment. Research into human intelligence starts at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and is related to the objective of establishing the essence of human mental abilities and the factors that shape them, as well as the differences between people in this light; hence the first attempts to measure the level of intelligence from the early 20th century. According to Francis Galton (1822–1911), intelligence is a fundamental capability of the mind determining the individual's success in the struggle for existence and, although Galton's views were questioned by other representatives of cognitive psychology both during his time and later, the argument about the connection between the success of human activity and human mental abilities probably requires no special justification, regardless of whether this applies to a factor theory, a genetic theory or any other theory referring to the notion of intelligence as well as its development and application.

Jan Strelau, Inteligencja człowieka (Wydawnictwo Żak 1997)

Intelligence was initially attributed only to man, whereas, over time, it also started to be referred to animals

Jeremy Narby, Intelligence in Nature (Penguin 2005)

Hence, only a step to refer intelligence to organized human activities, because a smart man should naturally create smart organizations. Initially, however, ergological sciences emphasized the economic efficiency of organizing human work and, even if they turned to its psychological aspects in the behavioural school, the intention was rather to shape human behaviour. It was only the new economy at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries that drew attention to factors other than the technology of production growth, which, in the endogenous model of growth proposed by Paul Romer, was described as the capital of knowledge for the first time.

Paul Romer, ‘Endogenous Technological Change’ (1990) 98 (5) Journal of Political Economy

Competition between organizations, especially business organizations, naturally makes the phenomenon of a smart organization spread, together with the globalization processes, on the principle that “less smart organizations” lose to “smarter organizations”. According to Richard Florida, this supports the concentration of smarter organizations in certain places, which not only compete, but also cooperate with each other, which attracts a specific category of people with an appropriately high level of intelligence leading to the creation of a so-called “creative class”, while the area itself is transformed into a “learning region”.

Richard Florida, ‘Toward the Learning Region’ (1995) 27 (5) Futures

In an increasingly smarter world, where increasingly more areas of social life are encompassed by “smart solutions”, public administration cannot remain on the outside or in opposition to this process. It should be noted, however, that public administration is only one type of organization, so the application of the concept of smart organization to the organization should have appropriate reference to public administration, as other concepts, which arose on the basis of ergological sciences, had such references. Consequently, the question is arising increasingly frequently in scientific publications on administrative sciences about the possibility of applying smart organization solutions to administration.

Stefan Helm and Uwe Schmidt, ‘“Smart Administraation” – Mit Fünf Fragen Zur Intelligenten Veraltung’ (2014) 1 Fokus Mittlestadt Newsletter

Jan Boć's definition draws attention to reiterating the principle of the administration being bound by the law, which means that, in the considerations regarding smart administration contained in this collective monograph, the legal norm constituting the basis of the operation of authorities and organizational units of public administration will define their appropriateness, the content of the task, the form of its implementation, and its procedure, while undertaking activities characterized as smart must be conducted in accordance with the content of such norms. Just as Jan Boć, we believe that such actions may support the implementation of the norm, improve the quality of performance and enhance efficiency; but they are never an alternative to actions taken on the basis and within the limits of the law. It would be appropriate to reiterate the concept of Franciszek Longchamps, co-founder of the Wrocław school of administration, who, in conducting an overview study of administration, distinguished the factors defining the administrative system (he understood it as a division of labour, which can be understood as the system of administration and simultaneously division of its tasks, encompassing cultural activities in a public position, namely tasks that are: necessary (contained in the norms defining the system and the action of administration arising from external and objective sources with respect to administration), obligatory (contained in the legal norms created by the administration itself, but also in ethical norms and moral principles as social objectives) and optional tasks (leaving the person operating in the public position a certain amount of discretion, the assessment of the expediency of his activities). Longchamps noted that “There is commonly talk of administration that is wise, cunning or flexible or which is stupid, infirm, disjointed, corrupt....”, which applies to the assessment of the whole system or its individual parts.

Franciszek Longchamps, Założenia nauki administracji (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego 1991) 104, 121–126

It would seem that smart administration will not be the subject of necessary factors; after all, it is difficult to imagine a constitutional, material or procedural regulation, the provision of which specifies a smart structure, sets a smart objective, or orders smart action. However, if account is taken of the regulations on employment in official positions in the civil service, in offices of state administration or in working for self-government employers, people who satisfy the qualification requirements set by the level and sometimes also the subject of qualifications, professional experience and specific skills, it can be accepted that the objective is to build the right knowledge capital in the given administrative office, whereas if these regulations force the employees of the administrative offices to improve their qualifications and develop professionally, being subject to periodic qualification appraisals, this is a classic example of a smart organization described by Romer and Florida. Almost certainly, the obligatory factor can serve the preferences of smart action among the less intelligent or completely unintelligent, if only by the application of systems of responsibility and rewarding for the results of work applied in a given administrative office or organizational unit, the ethical codes and others that are introduced, which influence the conduct of officials and employees. Undoubtedly, all the conveniences for the smart conduct of their addressees should become the domain of optional factors, because an intelligent official or employee can easily determine on his own how to better organize his work at his work post in order to improve his efficiency.

Smart administration predicts, as Jan Boć wrote, so it does not take hasty action, while setting the objective of acting in accordance with a legal norm does not release its performer from thinking independently. Smart administration features a high administrative culture and is not just about a kind of administrative savoir vivre, although it is obvious that an intelligent official has personal culture and appropriately relates to other people, including settling their matters at his office, but rather about the organization of the whole office and its individual positions in a manner which is friendly to the people administered.

Jerzy Korczak, ‘Przyjazny urząd jako nowa dyrektywa kultury administrowania. Refleksje nad jakością obsługi interesantów w instytucjach administracji publicznej’ in Jerzy Korczak (ed), Cywilizacja Administracji Publicznej. Księga Jubileuszowa z Okazji 80-lecia Urodzin Prof. Nadzw. UWr dra hab. Jana Jeżewskiego (e-Wydawnictwo. Prawnicza i Ekonomiczna Biblioteka Cyfrowa 2018)

It is precisely for these reasons that the employees and PhD students of the Section of the Public Administration System at the Institute of Administrative Sciences of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics at the University of Wrocław have decided to devote another collective publication to the matter of smart administration, as it constitutes part of the Section's research field – “Social responsibility of public administration” – initiated in the 2017/18 academic year. Social responsibility of public administration is a concept of bodies and organizational units of public administration doing business, the basis of which is the obligation to choose such decisions and actions that contribute not only to the fulfilment of the statutory obligation to perform tasks, but also the social well-being. Other than satisfying the statutory requirements, the bodies and managers of organizational units, voluntarily accept social, ethical and ecological obligations.

The articles comprising this volume present a wealth of topics related to the issue contained within the title of smart administration, as each of the authors has chosen a different area of administrative activity. If a provocative and simultaneously fundamental question arises as to whether the public administration can be smart, then for the authors, the smartness of administration is even a state of affairs, the result of the analysis of its operation (Małgorzata Giełda). As pointed out, the considerations are thematically varied, as they are both classic issues in the area of the performance of tasks, such as education (Renata Raszewska-Skałecka) and solving the problem of homelessness (Dominika Cendrowicz), as well as one of the conditions for the emergence of smart administration, or its computerization (Karina Pilarz), and finally a multi-faceted look at the functioning of smart cities (Agnieszka Chrisidu-Budnik and Justyna Przedańska). The volume contains two articles related to the cooperation of territorial self-government units suggested by Jan Boć (Jerzy Korczak, Renata Kusiak-Winter) as a factor supporting the equalization of the opportunities of these individuals to gaining or increasing their level of smart organization and operation.