Abstract
This article looks at the management of the critical intersection of governance and technology. Both the concepts and frameworks that the two invoke are experiencing turbulence in navigating the recent global shifts. Governance, since its inception as a critical conceptual and policy framework encounters stiff academic and policy resistance in moving towards creating global governance architecture. Technology is a broad concept and in the context of utility it is extremely diverse. The article attempts to explore a recent phenomenon as a consequence of the information revolution; the rise of big-data and significant changes it has brought to social life. Big data is not just a corporate tool for extracting profits, but is a techno-resource making governance a complex task. Yet if it is well-handled it will increase the efficiency and accuracy of service delivery platforms in the public sector. Comprehending the importance and deployment of data analysis emerging from big data would be a critical sphere that the public sector has to invest in and engage with. Even in the United States, Google seems to be outdoing every national data and statistical analysis and at the same time working with the federal government to deliver better services to the American citizens. Big data is a result of intense data creation by anyone connected to the Internet. The amount of data in the world is outgrowing not just the machines invented to process them but the human imagination. Thus it would be pragmatic for the Sri Lankan public sector to engage with big-data management through systems of governance. Sri Lanka Journal of Development Administration, Vol. 5, pp. 1-13, 2015
Highlights
This article looks at the management of the critical intersection of governance and technology
The post 1980s era witnessed the reinventing of public sector reforms globally, led by significant changes in Western societies which were influenced by the fall of the Soviet Union, and as many argued, the triumph of the neo-liberal agenda
The German example of a football team partnering with the enterprise resource planning giant SAP to gain an advantage is a very important example of the massive potential of big data that can be deployed in numerous fields for advancement of national goals. When it comes to technology, innovation and information technologies for good governance, counter arguments have been ripe but it is encouraging to see Sri Lanka embracing the need for technological advancement
Summary
Ideas on governance emerged in the late 20th century when functions of governments started losing leverage with the increasing manoeuvrability of mobilised and organised elements in society breaking away from the monolithic control of governments in people’s lives. Such intent was clearly visible with the setup of the Information and Communications and Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka for driving information solutions that target public sector reforms and spearheading digitisation of public services, ranging from making available public service documentation on electronic formats, establishing telephone hotlines to the creation of a government information service web repository in Sri Lanka While such mechanisms were looking at using the information revolution to be channelled through the apparatus of the State, there were vast transformations in the way the Internet based app industry and social media innovations which in the past four years have outpaced institutional adaptation even in the most advanced countries in the world. The most revolutionary factor in this transformation is the fact that the information industries’ largest data creators are the citizens themselves
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