Wednesday 26th June 2013, 11.00am - 1.00pm, STC S421
Panel
Prof. Patrick Dunleavy, Public Policy Group, Department of Government, LSE
Prof. Zahir Irani, Brunel Business School, Brunel University
Dr. Antonio Cordella, Information Systems and Innovation Group, Department of Manage-ment, LSE
ICT is often conceived as a valid tool for the public sector in order to overcome complexity, inefficiency and inefficacy in delivering services. Associated transformations in PA like digitalization, outsourcing, and information infrastructure development have not only transformed the organisational structures but also the value of the delivered services. These phenomena stimulate a host of provocative questions as to: what is the destiny of PA, as of today? Is it deconstructed, distributed, or dissolved? Where are inefficiency and inefficacy going to lie in the arrangements that characterize digital era government? And, are ICTs able to preserve the principles of fairness and equality that are, or should be, targets of administrative rationality?
The question on assessing the nature of digital era government, in the contemporary times, cannot be answered in a simple way. In fact, there are strong grounds for arguing that ICTs, as they affect the public sphere, do not follow a predictable pattern: instead, outcomes of digitalization are often mixed and complex, and highly dependent on specific decisions in design and implementation. Drawing on the mixed picture reflected by public sector digitalization, the session will explore suggestive ideas on the future of government.
Silvia Masiero
For event info: n.tempini@lse.ac.uk