Abstract
During the last years, Big Data attracted considerable attention as a potential source of innovation in public administration. What role Big Data can play in the redefinition of public services, however, has not been clarified yet. This study aims to investigate the views on the use of Big Data in public administration held within a particular policy community of innovators in public administration in Italy. Using Q methodology, the analysis shows three distinctive views on this topic, that can be understood as bearing a “pragmatist”, “sceptical”, and “cautious” stance, respectively. The results of this study suggest that the emergence of Big Data triggers reactionary positions within the policy community of innovators, but it also stimulates some ways to consider how to introduce and experiment with the new source of technological change.
Highlights
During the last decades, innovation gained a prominent status within the discourse on public governance and the delivery of public services (Osborne and Brown, 2011; Borins, 2014)
This study investigated how the emergence of Big Data is understood to have repercussions on the domain of public administration
Based on a sample of individuals draws from a policy community organised around the use of ICT in public administration in Italy (Innovatori PA network), the analysis allowed to identify three viewpoints about Big Data in public administration, namely a pragmatic, sceptical, and cautious perspective
Summary
Innovation gained a prominent status within the discourse on public governance and the delivery of public services (Osborne and Brown, 2011; Borins, 2014). Various studies have been done in order to clarify the origins, diffusion, and effects of innovation on the delivery of public services (Albury, 2005; Borins, 1998; Hartley, 2005; Moore, 2005; Moore and Hartley, 2008; Mulgan and Albury, 2003; Osborne, 1998; Osborne and Gaebler, 1993). Relatively little research has been conducted in order to clarify what happens when a new technology provides sources of potential innovations. The emergence of new technologies can potentially disrupt the present understanding of work practices in public sector organisations. The analysis of how individuals understand a new technology, is important in order to provide better explanations of the process of adaptation to technological change
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