Digitalized Co-production and Volunteerism in Emergency Response: A Literature Review

Abstract

ICT-enabled or digitalized co-production of public services has become increasingly relevant to emergency response and crisis management. This study provides a literature review on this phenomenon, exploring both large-scale crises and frequent emergencies. We found that research in the domain is scarce and focuses mainly on the phenomenon in terms of digital volunteerism. In large-scale crises, they mostly refer to spontaneous forms of volunteering, and in smaller emergencies, to more organized volunteers that collaborate with a response organization over time. Similarities to digitalized co-production in the public sector generally include financial, administrative, ICT, and demographic factors. Differences include, e