A research on the use of cloud computing technology in local governments in Turkey Yağmur Can, Elvettin Akman Digital Competency Development for Public Officials Adapting New Technologies in Public Services, 2025 Today, with the rapid progress of digitalization, cloud computing technology is widely used by both the public and private sectors due to the advantages it offers and the potential it has. In addition to governments, it is of critical importance for local governments that provide direct services to citizens to closely follow these technological developments and make their service delivery processes more efficient. In this study, firstly, the conceptual framework of cloud computing technology is drawn; its basic components and the service models it offers are detailed. Then, the applications of cloud computing technology in local governments are discussed worldwide and in the context of Turkey, and successful application examples and encountered difficulties are examined comprehensively. Following this theoretical basis, various public policy recommendations are made so that local governments in Turkey can benefit more effectively from cloud computing technologies and implement this technology in a way that increases operational efficiency.
Digital competencies in disaster and emergency management: The case of Yozgat provincial disaster and emergency directorate Elvettin Akman, Duygu Aksu Digital Competency Development for Public Officials Adapting New Technologies in Public Services, 2025 This study examined the role of digital transformation in disaster and emergency management, focusing on the digital competencies of public officials. The research, conducted in the Yozgat Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate, qualitatively analyzes the use of digital tools and technologies through semi-structured interviews with public officials. The interviews explored participants' daily work processes, the digital skills they required, their adaptation to digital transformation, and the challenges they faced. The findings reveal the digital skill levels of employees, their frequency and methods of using digital tools, and obstacles encountered during the transition to digital practices. By evaluating the digital skill levels and challenges faced by public officials, actionable strategies were proposed to support the effective implementation of digital transformation, contributing to more efficient disaster management practices.
Water Quality and Water Pollution in Time of COVID-19: Positive and Negative Repercussions Valentina-Mariana Manoiu, Katarzyna Kubiak-Wójcicka, Alexandru-Ioan Craciun, Çiğdem Akman, Elvettin Akman Water Switzerland, 2022 On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the new COVID-19 disease a pandemic. Most countries responded with a lockdown to reduce its effects, which brought beneficial consequences to the environment in many regions, but the pandemic also raised a series of challenges. This review proposes an assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic positive and negative impacts on water bodies on different continents. By applying a search protocol on the Web of Science platform, a scientific bank of 35 compatible studies was obtained out of the 62 open-access articles that were initially accessible. Regarding the positive impacts, the SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in sewage waters is a useful mechanism in the promptly exposure of community infections and, during the pandemic, many water bodies all over the world had lower pollution levels. The negative impacts are as follows: SARS-CoV-2 presence in untreated sewage water amplifies the risk to human health; there is a lack of adequate elimination processes of plastics, drugs, and biological pollution in wastewater treatment plants; the amount of municipal and medical waste that pollutes water bodies increased; and waste recycling decreased. Urgent preventive measures need to be taken to implement effective solutions for water protection.
Bibliometrical analysis of postgraduate theses on sustainable development in Turkey Elvettin AKMAN, Çiğdem AKMAN, Duygu AKSU Present Environment and Sustainable Development, 2022 Sustainability has recently been among the frequently repeated concepts upon recognition especially of value of nature and natural resources. Substantial studies have been conducted on the subjects related with sustainability after 1980s. Increasing interest in sustainability concept has also enhanced point of view from every angle. The preliminary studies on the subject were mostly on comprehension of environmental sustainability. Over the time, sustainability has become privileged research domain in every angle from economy to health, from agriculture to management and so on. In Turkey, there have been various researches on sustainability and postgraduate level theses have been published. The objective of the present study is to analyze postgraduate theses on "sustainable development" in Turkey. Thus, it was aimed to determine which dimensions and which angles of sustainable development have been covered so far in Turkey. In this scope, postgraduate theses located in the database of the Higher Education Board National Thesis Center (YKTEZ) were screened through a literature search; then, collected data was classified through content analysis; and finally, bibliometric analysis was conducted. Totally 250 postgraduate theses on sustainable development published in the period of 1992-2021 were collected. The bibliometric analysis was conducted on collected theses with respect to their type, publishing year, language, distribution according to university and institute, titles of thesis advisor, number of pages, references, keywords, research method and data collection method. As a result of our analysis, it was determined that theses on sustainable development were oriented on environment, environmental issues, environmental sustainability, climate change, sustainable development education, renewable energy and sustainable economy subjects. Moreover, theses were predominantly master theses and issued by students registered with postgraduate programs of Social Science Institute. Although number of theses has varied over the time, it increased significantly recently. It was also determined that they were suffering major deficiencies with research method and0 data collection methods.
Public administration undergraduate education during the COVID-19 Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 2022
Analysis of the textbooks utilized in higher education on local government in terms of their physical characteristics and contents Elvettin Akman, Çiğdem Akman, Pelin Babaoğlu Public Affairs Education and Training in the 21st Century, 2021 Education on local government taken into consideration within the scope of the study was from the higher education domain offering in programs/majors in associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees in Turkey. Today, there are a number of textbooks studied in local government program, which contained 43 associate, 3 bachelors, and uncounted non-thesis or thesis master studies and a doctorate program. Therefore, it is crucially important to analyze local governments textbooks taught across these departments. Especially when significance of visual design of textbooks in student success and learning process is considered, materiality of this study could clearly be recognized. In the study, the concerned resources were accessed through library and internet, and then document analysis was carried out on masthead of textbooks and their physical and content characteristics. Also, NVivo 12 Quantitative Data Analysis Software was utilized in analysis of content characteristics.
Public administration education: The case of Kyrgyzstan Nurkhodzha Akbulaev, Elvettin Akman, Ferruh Tuzcuoglu Public Affairs Education and Training in the 21st Century, 2021 Kyrgyzstan is a relatively young state that was previously part of the USSR. As a legacy from this state, Kyrgyzstan received an outdated command-and-control system. Almost immediately, the question of changing the state system became acute. It was necessary to reform the education system for state cadres because earlier employees could be sent from other regions of the USSR. Still, now it became necessary to train qualified personnel for each region completely independently. The subject of the chapter is the training of government personnel in Kyrgyzstan. The work aims to identify all the specific features in the training of government personnel in Kyrgyzstan, compare training with other countries, and highlight the key problems in this area. As a result of the work, the main problems will be summarized, and recommendations for eliminating these difficulties will be proposed. The work will use the following methods: analysis, generalization, description, comparison, synthesis, deduction, induction, and abstraction.
Participation With Social Media: The Case of Turkish Metropolitan Municipalities in Facebook Cenay Babaoglu, Elvettin Akman Research Anthology on Citizen Engagement and Activism for Social Change, 2021 By improving ICT within the scope of administration, new terms like e-government, m-government, e-governance, e-participation appeared in the field of public administration. The concept of e-government affects municipalities—closest service units to the citizens—and with this effect developed the term e-municipality. Municipalities in Turkey began to use the new technologies for the delivery of services, and terms like e-participation and e-governance are widening rapidly. This chapter investigates whether Facebook pages are an effective tool for local participation. The social media-citizen relationship that is claimed to be more effective, especially at the local level, has been evaluated through the Facebook pages of the municipalities. This chapter focuses on the role of social media in participatory administration.
Turkey's open data policy Çiğdem Akman, Elvettin Akman, Murat Okcu Handbook of Research on Global Challenges for Improving Public Services and Government Operations, 2020
