Validating the Rules of Government Automation

Elsa Estevez; Tomasz Janowski; David Benjamin Roseth

doi:10.1145/3543434.3543654

Validating the Rules of Government Automation

Abstract

There is growing evidence on the benefits and risks of government automation, and how should government organizations proceed with automation when the benefits outweigh the risks. This evidence was recently consolidated into the "rules of government automation", part of the project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. The project uncovered that the combined nature of government work and its transformation into digital government create many opportunities for automation. However, such opportunities can be only realized when the right automation technology becomes available and when government organizations are willing, capable, and authorized to introduce it, considering the impact on the organization and its stakeholders and the balance of benefits and risks brought about by this impact. The aim of the workshop is to validate the above “rules of government automation”. To this end, the participants will bring to the workshop their own government automation cases, from practice or research, establish thorough inspection and guided reasoning whether the rules hold for their cases, refine them otherwise, and iteratively agree on the refined rules across all cases. The workshop will also initiate the planning of a special issue of Government Information Quarterly to advance the theory and practice of government automation.