Author: Ana Waksberg Guerrini
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: English
Supervisor: Dr Eduard Aibar Puentes, Dr Albert Batlle Rubio
Faculty / Institute: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Key words: STS, e-government, public administration, data science, organisational theory
+ Link
Abstract:
The thesis aims to answer whether the intensification of ICT-based interaction between government and citizens related to public services, which generate voluminous quantities of information, are leading to organizational transformations in the public administrations in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Is citizen e-feedback the engine of government transformation? Building upon the social constructivist tradition, the analytical approach considers the differences in technologies-in-practice, the conditions associated with their implementation and use, and their consequences. This research concludes that, albeit having similar interpretive and technological conditions, the institutional conditions of both cases are different and, therefore, affect differently the interest governments have in using the data provided by citizens. It is precisely the use of this information that explains the degree of transformation of organizational dynamics and administrative structures. Second, participation of citizens via ICTs generate data ("big data") that may be of greater than realized political importance in implementing public policies.