Understanding governance in the digital era: An agenda for public administration research in Canada

Abstract

Digital disruptions and opportunitiesHow are digital technologies affecting democratic governance in Canada, and how might the digital age bolster or undermine our public institutions and collective problem-solving capacity in the coming years? Governments now face new ways to tailor and deliver services to citizens, can use social media to share information and mobilize or corrode support, and have access to collaborative platforms to facilitate crowd-sourcing inside and outside government. Governments can also capitalize on new streams of evidence to guide policy interventions, not only from "big data" generated from internal administrative operations and citizens' and governments' digital activities, but also from innovation labs, hackathons and advances in social science thinking, as we have seen with global interest in "nudging" and behavioural economics.At the same time, as the digital age produces unprecedented amounts of data and information that swirl through our societies, we face new balances in power and control shaped by uneven capacity to interpret and manipulate digital data flows. In addition, Clarke and Francoli (2017) identify a tension between popular enthusiasm for digital-era governance, and observations in Canadian public administration literature, which frame the digital age and the frantic pace of information exchange it facilitates as a driver of short-termism, information control and a politicization of the public service (see Marland, Giasson, and Esselment 2017;Marland 2016;Savoie 2003Savoie , 2013. Recent concerns over "fake news," filter bubbles, echo chambers and political bots also complicate the assumption that the Internet and enriched democracy necessarily move hand in hand (El-Bermawy 2016;

Beyond COVID‐19: Five commentaries on expert knowledge, executive action, and accountability in governance and public administration

“…It helps to provide some parameters around the fluid term “digital government.” This term has evolved since some scholars distinguish between earlier notions of “e‐government” as a more basic and linear extension of the public sector into the Internet era (Roy 2006; Pablo et al 2007; Gasco 2014; OECD 2015; Clarke et al 2017). By contrast, “digital government” offers a more transformative and dynamic prism also deemed “Public Administration 2.0” (Lips 2012; Reddick and Aikins 2012; Roy 2013, 2017, and 2019; Clarke et al 2017; Clarke 2019), which has been adopted by the Canadian government (Government of Canada 2017).…”

“…As the personal computer era evolves into the mobile device era, such a contrast becomes evermore relevant to the inherent tensions facing the public sector (Roy 2013 and 2017). The creation of public value, in turn, becomes more networked, more open, and more participative (Stoker 2006; O’Flynn 2007; Clarke et al 2017; Fountain 2017; Margetts 2017; Pederson 2020).…”

sLa transition numérique dans la recherche et l'enseignement supérieur à l'horizon 2040

“…L'adoption récente par les États européens du Règlement général sur la protection des données (RGPD) indique un effort allant dans le sens d'une régulation étatique. Mais pour commencer, les gouvernements doivent déjà se doter euxmêmes des outils et savoir-faire numériques qui leur permettent de ne pas se retrouver en retard de phase face aux usages du numérique en cours dans le reste de la société (Clarke et al, 2017).…”

“…Aujourd'hui, le développement du numérique favorise d'autres types d'organisation qui prennent une importance croissante (Mallard, 2012 ;Clarke et al, 2017). C'est le cas du fonctionnement en réseau.…”

Administering elections in a digital age: Online voting in Ontario municipalities

“…At the local level in Canada, early studies focused on the development of smart communities (Coe et al ), local wi‐fi initiatives (Powell and Shade ) and the role of knowledge, culture and innovation in local ICT development (Bramwell et al ). Other studies have examined the potential nefarious impacts of increased digitization, such as the government leveraging technology to control communications (see Clarke et al for a recent literature review).…”