Digital Government and the Data Deluge

Abstract

Internet-based platforms enable new forms of production, firm-client engagement, and data-driven decision-making, particularly through the generation and analysis of 'big data', drawing on non-traditional data sources. Typically tied into broader 'open government' and 'digital by default' agendas, governments around the world are attempting to capitalise on this potential, employing social media, releasing government data, and experimenting with big data and web-based co-production to improve services and policy making. While a number of highly enthusiastic, normative accounts describe these developments, we lack empirical data describing the drivers, processes, and outcomes of this latest wave of digital government in practice or the development of methods to study the structure of government or citizen-government interactions in these new contexts. Similarly, researchers have yet to explore the possible tensions between 'open data' and 'big data' agendas, or flesh out the implications that these initiatives have for models of public administration, government-citizen relations, and the shape and size of the public sector. This panel invites papers that address these empirical, methodological and theoretical gaps, providing much-needed attention to this emerging phase of digital era government.

Title	Details
The Politics of Big Data – A Three-Level Analysis	View Paper Details
Mind the Gap: The Role of Open Data and Big Data in Public Management Reform	View Paper Details