Making governance agile: Exploring the role of artificial intelligence in China’s local governance

Abstract

As the key to digital transformation, artificial intelligence is believed to help achieve the goal of government as a platform and the agile development of digital services. Yet we know little about its potential role in local governance, especially the advances that AI-supported services for the public sector in local governance have ventured and the public value they have created. Combining the digital transformation concepts and public value theory, we fill the gap by examining artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in the public sector of a pilot city of digital transformation in China. Using a mixed-method approach, we show how AI configurations facilitate public value creation in the digital era and identify four dimensions of AI deployment in the public sector: data integration, policy innovation, smart application, and collaboration. Our case analysis on these four dimensions demonstrates two roles that AI technology plays in local governance—“AI cage” and “AI colleague.” The former builds the technology infrastructure and platform in each stage of service delivery, regulating the behaviors of frontline workers, while the latter helps frontline workers make decisions, thus improving the agility of public service provision.

Artificial intelligence capabilities, dynamic capabilities and organizational creativity: contributing factors to the United Arab Emirates Government’s organizational performance

“…Scholarly research suggests that AI and DC are considered crucial government capabilities that are deliberately chosen and developed with the aim of improving the experiences of residents and stakeholders (Mikalef et al , 2022; Wirtz et al , 2023). Historically, the integration of AI-enabled technologies and applications has played a significant role in reshaping capabilities, thereby enhancing innovation activities and improving government organization performance (Akter et al , 2023; Li et al , 2023). Government organizations acknowledge the significance of AIC to uphold strong relationships with residents and stakeholders, deliver timely responses to diverse public demands and provide personalized services of high quality (Mikalef et al , 2023).…”

Introduction to the special issue ‘Towards a Multi-Level Understanding of Agile in Government: Macro, Meso and Micro Perspectives’

“…Broadly speaking, agile in government can be understood as a dynamic and adaptive approach to governance that draws inspiration from the principles of agile methodologies commonly employed in software development. It is characterized by flexibility, responsiveness, and a collaborative mindset that allows for swift adjustments to changing circumstances (Li et al, 2023;Mergel et al, 2018). Agile is sometimes viewed as a central element of digital government (Fishenden & Thompson, 2013) and of the broader concept of adaptive governance (Janssen & van der Voort, 2016;Soe & Drechsler, 2018).…”

“…As agile management evolved from a focus on software development and technology, also the practical implementation in government is often connected to technology and digital change (see e.g., Dittrich et al (2005) on Denmark, Mantovani Fontana and Marczak (2020) on Brazil, Li et al (2023) on China, Mergel (2019) on several digital service teams worldwide). The articles that are part of this special issue underline that.…”

Assessing the Impact of Digital Transformation on Public Service Delivery in Zimbabwe

“…The study also finds that these technologies have positively influenced employee performance in terms of task, adaptive, and contextual dimensions, but there are also challenges and constraints such as connectivity issues, limited access, inadequate resources and training. (Portion et al, 2023) explores how the integration of technology and innovation into public service delivery has influenced the business landscape in African states, fostering economic growth and inclusivity, while (Li et al, 2023) explore how artificial intelligence affects local governance in China, especially how it creates public value in the digital era. (Sirotkina & Lazarevich, 2023) examines the challenges and implications of digitalization in the Russian public procurement sector.…”