Policy mobilities, ‘informational infrastructures’ and the ‘digital turn’: Towards a research agenda

Abstract

This paper draws together elements of the academic literature on policy mobilities on the one hand, and on the ‘digital turn’ on the other. It argues that COVID-19 accelerated the digitalization of everyday life asking we think through how those already existing informational infrastructures supporting the mobility of policies are continuing to evolve, as are the methods available for researching them. This has potential consequences for how cities practice policy comparison exchange, and learning and how these processes are studied. This paper sets out a three-pronged schema to take seriously the intersection of policy mobilities and the digital. They are policy mobilities through the digital, policy mobilities produced by the digital and policy mobilities of the digital. It concludes by outlining fruitful areas for a future research agenda.