An exploration of the literature on the use of 'swarm intelligence-based techniques' for public service problems

The importance of studying public service systems and finding robust solutions to the problems encountered in public service management has increased considerably over the past decade. One of the main objectives is to find acceptable solutions to Public Service Problems (PSPs) within an affordable period of time. However, many PSPs remain difficult to solve within a reasonable time due to their complexity and dynamic nature. This requires solving PSPs with techniques which provide efficient algorithmic solutions. There has been increasing attention in the literature to solving PSPs through the use of Swarm Intelligence-Based Techniques (SIBTs) like ant colony optimisation, particle swarm optimisation, Bee(s) Algorithm (BA), etc. This paper presents a review of Swarm Intelligence (SI) applications in public services (including PSPs in specific application areas), as well as the models and SI algorithms that have been reported in the literature. [Received 30 January 2008; Revised 4 December 2008; Revised 17 March 2009; Accepted 23 March 2009]