New Public Analytics: Bringing in the Human

Abstract

In Professor Yeung’s insightful and much-needed article ‘The New Public Analytics as an Emerging Paradigm in Public Sector Administration’, the focus —rightfully so— is on the use of data analytics as a form of computational analysis in the context of public administration. It delves into the question of how the turn to data-driven approaches in order to inform and even automate public sector decision-making, may bring along dangerous anomalies. In this reflection on Yeung’s article, the focus will not directly be on the technological aspects of New Public Analytics (NPA), but it will shift the focus to the human side of this new paradigm. In the end, this reflection will still be about technology, but it will take a —I hope fruitful— detour, by approaching technology through its deep-rooted connection with human life.