Abstract
Since the introduction of e-government as a research domain to study digitalization in the public sector, a broad variety of research streams within this domain have elaborated on the potential of digital application for public services. Nevertheless, research findings and practical recommendations have not crystallized yet to a fixed body of knowledge. A main reason for this are the continuous advancements of new technological applications and solutions that allow for new approaches and updated processes in public services, as well as the creation of new services in general. Recent technological developments in the context of artificial intelligence, internet of things, machine learning, robotization, and blockchain have led to an increased debate on how they could be useful in the delivery of public services.
Despite the fact that new technological developments can have a substantial impact on how and which services are delivered, it remains important to continuously question and evaluate how such technical evolutions change how basic public values are affected by it. New technologies can for example also impact - for better or worse - how basic principles are traded-off against each other in society, such as affordable public services, data protection of citizens, transparency towards citizens, ethically responsible and fair, and equal treatment of all citizens. Moreover, these are principles that are relevant for both public as well as for commercial services offered by for-profit companies. However, due to the often inherently different nature and aim of public services - compared to commercial services - these principals might have - or should have - substantially different importance.
Against this background, this study aims at evaluating how citizens expect new technologies to impact public and commercial services. Based on a representative sample of 1,577 respondents in Germany, citizens were asked whether they expect to have recent new technological developments like artificial intelligence, internet of things, machine learning, robotization, and blockchain to have a negative or positive effect on ten different aspects of public and commercial processes. With a between-subjects experimental design, half of the respondents were asked to answer how they assessed the impact of new technologies on public services (Group A), while the other group was asked for the impact on commercial, for profit services (Group B). This design thus allows to evaluate whether citizens have other expectations or concerns with respect to new technologies for public versus private services.
Despite the fact that new technological developments can have a substantial impact on how and which services are delivered, it remains important to continuously question and evaluate how such technical evolutions change how basic public values are affected by it. New technologies can for example also impact - for better or worse - how basic principles are traded-off against each other in society, such as affordable public services, data protection of citizens, transparency towards citizens, ethically responsible and fair, and equal treatment of all citizens. Moreover, these are principles that are relevant for both public as well as for commercial services offered by for-profit companies. However, due to the often inherently different nature and aim of public services - compared to commercial services - these principals might have - or should have - substantially different importance.
Against this background, this study aims at evaluating how citizens expect new technologies to impact public and commercial services. Based on a representative sample of 1,577 respondents in Germany, citizens were asked whether they expect to have recent new technological developments like artificial intelligence, internet of things, machine learning, robotization, and blockchain to have a negative or positive effect on ten different aspects of public and commercial processes. With a between-subjects experimental design, half of the respondents were asked to answer how they assessed the impact of new technologies on public services (Group A), while the other group was asked for the impact on commercial, for profit services (Group B). This design thus allows to evaluate whether citizens have other expectations or concerns with respect to new technologies for public versus private services.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |