{"title":"Virtual state, where are you? A literature review, framework and agenda for failed digital transformation","authors":"Shirley Kempeneer, Frederik Heylen","doi":"10.1177/20539517231160528","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The users, sensors and networks of the Internet of Things generate huge amounts of data. Given the sophisticated (artificially intelligent) algorithms, computing power and software available, we would expect governments to have successfully completed their digital transformation into Jane Fountain's (2001) ‘Virtual State’. In practice, despite heavy investments, governments often fail to enact new digital technologies in an efficient, appropriate or fair way. This article provides an overview of techno-rational and socio-political failures and solutions at the macro-, meso- and micro-level to support digital transformation. The reviewed articles suggest a modest approach to digital transformation, with an emphasis on high-quality in-house IT infrastructure and expertise, but also better collaborative networks and strong leadership ensuring human oversight.","PeriodicalId":47834,"journal":{"name":"Big Data & Society","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Big Data & Society","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231160528","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
The users, sensors and networks of the Internet of Things generate huge amounts of data. Given the sophisticated (artificially intelligent) algorithms, computing power and software available, we would expect governments to have successfully completed their digital transformation into Jane Fountain's (2001) ‘Virtual State’. In practice, despite heavy investments, governments often fail to enact new digital technologies in an efficient, appropriate or fair way. This article provides an overview of techno-rational and socio-political failures and solutions at the macro-, meso- and micro-level to support digital transformation. The reviewed articles suggest a modest approach to digital transformation, with an emphasis on high-quality in-house IT infrastructure and expertise, but also better collaborative networks and strong leadership ensuring human oversight.
期刊介绍:
Big Data & Society (BD&S) is an open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes interdisciplinary work principally in the social sciences, humanities, and computing and their intersections with the arts and natural sciences. The journal focuses on the implications of Big Data for societies and aims to connect debates about Big Data practices and their effects on various sectors such as academia, social life, industry, business, and government.
BD&S considers Big Data as an emerging field of practices, not solely defined by but generative of unique data qualities such as high volume, granularity, data linking, and mining. The journal pays attention to digital content generated both online and offline, encompassing social media, search engines, closed networks (e.g., commercial or government transactions), and open networks like digital archives, open government, and crowdsourced data. Rather than providing a fixed definition of Big Data, BD&S encourages interdisciplinary inquiries, debates, and studies on various topics and themes related to Big Data practices.
BD&S seeks contributions that analyze Big Data practices, involve empirical engagements and experiments with innovative methods, and reflect on the consequences of these practices for the representation, realization, and governance of societies. As a digital-only journal, BD&S's platform can accommodate multimedia formats such as complex images, dynamic visualizations, videos, and audio content. The contents of the journal encompass peer-reviewed research articles, colloquia, bookcasts, think pieces, state-of-the-art methods, and work by early career researchers.