Constructing the data economy

Tracing expectations of value creation in policy documents

Bibliographic Data

ID12985010
AuthorsLisa Reutter (0000-0002-4952-0416, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author), Heidrun Åm (0000-0001-5980-0158, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
Year2024
Volume18
Issue4
Pages639-659
Publication date2024-01-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Policy Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1946-0171 • E-ISSN: 1946-018X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19460171.2023.2300436
OpenAlexW4390829430
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited41

Public sector data is increasingly seen as a key resource for value creation in the private sector across a wide range of countries.Situated within studies on technology policies, this paper investigates how the idea of data as a resource has become embedded in public policy through a case study on the Norwegian context.Which policy problem exist for which technological developments seem to provide the best solutions?As documents are an important site of governance, we trace the imaginary of value creation through public data by studying the main datafication policy documents in Norway.By making visible the self-referencing practiced in policy reports, we illustrate how datafication policies are based on fictional calculationbased anticipations.We show how the Norwegian government positions itself as a facilitator, rather than regulator of data markets.Our analysis captures the technological determinism driving public policy.In addition, we show how supranational actors and consultancy agencies play an important role in constructing the Nordic data imaginary.We argue that the act of producing policy papers is in itself an important action keeping the imaginary alive

Collaborative governance · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Economics · Economy · Facilitator · Government (linguistics · Management · Political science · Public policy · Public sector · Public value · Resource (disambiguation · The Imaginary · Value (mathematics · Computer Science · E-Government and Public Services · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Law · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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