The document discusses the rationale and complexities of digital governance, emphasizing the need to govern people, territories, and administrations with digital technologies. It highlights various enablers of digital governance such as network capabilities, analytics, and public engagement, while addressing challenges like data colonialism and the ethical implications of predictive policing. The importance of integrative thinking and collaboration among multiple stakeholders is advocated to ensure transparent and accountable governance in a digital age.

1. April 4, 2019, 17:30-19:30
IOG's Policy Crunch
Disruptive Innovation and Public Policy in the Digital Age event series
The Global Race in Digital Governance
Good Governance
with Things Digital
Dr. Tracey P. Lauriault
Assistant Professor, Critical Media and Big Data
School of Journalism and Communication
Carleton University
Tracey.Lauriault@Carleton.ca
orcid.org/0000-0003-1847-2738
@TraceyLauriault

2. What is the rationale for digital governance?
1. Is it the governance of things
digital by the administration in
order to govern?
2. Is it governing people and
territory with things digital?
3. Is it governing the administration
with things digital?
4. Is it governing the
administration, territory and
people with digital things?

3. What are the underlying enablers?
▪ Network?
▪ Computational power?
▪ Storage?
▪ Ubiquitous / pervasive
technologies?
▪ Indexicality/UID?
▪ Analytics?
▪ Skill & education?
▪ Public Engagement?

4. If we address the enablers does digital
governance address these issues?
▪Smart Cities &
concerns by
residents
▪Precision
Agriculture &
farmers
▪The GPS and Earth
Observation
unfractured
▪Climate change
models

5. Is it IM/IT?
▪ IP / Trademark / Copyright /
Patents etc.
▪ AI Directives
▪ PIPEDA/EU GDPR
▪ Lifecycle management – Data,
information & technology
▪ Archiving and preservation
▪ Procurement
▪ Open data
▪ DRM / Net Neutrality?

6. If data governances is IM/IT how to address
moral issues and white collar crime?

7. Open Government Summit

8. Does digital governance address these issues?

9. “Predictive policing is the application
of analytical techniques—particularly
quantitative techniques—to identify
likely targets for police intervention
and prevent crime or solve past
crimes by making statistical
predictions”.
And does digital governance address AI /
Predictive Systems

10. Corporate and state surveillance?

11. Predictive policing?
Arrests
Warrants
Parole status
Charges
Prison record
Court cases
Acquaintances
Credit score
Known to a
victim
IoT…
Inputs
Outputs/
Decisions
Heat List
Accountability? Transparency? Standards?

12. Does digital governance address Platform
Concentration & Integration (Snircek 2018)
▪Extract data from natural processes
▪ Weather, agriculture
▪From production processes
▪ Assembly lines, flow manufacturing
▪And from other businesses and users
▪ Web tracking, user data

13. What of Data & Technological Colonialism?
▪Data colonialism
▪ Dispossession of personal & individual data (EULA)
▪ Privatization of those data (by those who create the platform/app)
▪ Commodification of those data (resale of those data)
▪Data are also colonizing lifeworlds
▪Frontier mentality
▪ Utopic digital/data frontier
▪ Manifest destiny of big data systems
Thatcher, O’Sullivan & Mahmoudi, 2016
https://doi-org.proxy.library.carleton.ca/10.1177/0263775816633195

14. Can digital governance make space for
Technological Citizenship?
▪We live in a technological society
▪Decisions about technology are political
▪We should not leave all technological decisions to the
technocrats
▪3 preconditions for technological citizenship
▪ Agency
▪ Capacity to act – power
▪ Knowledge
▪Those who possess those preconditions have the responsibility
to act and intervene in the technological society
Andrew Feenberg, 2011 https://www.sfu.ca/~andrewf/copen5-1.pdf

15. And for doing Citizenship?
▪Technology
▪ assemble to form the setting where citizenship unfolds
▪ is part of what constitutes a good life which makes it part of politics
▪ and technological decisions bring forward moral and ethical issues
▪Technology and citizenship are related in 3 ways:
1. Technology as a means for citizenship
2. Technology as an object
3. Technology as a setting for political judgement
▪Technology ought to be politicized and technological
fundamentalism ought to be scrutinized while questions of what
is just and good should be asked.
Darin Barney, 2007
http://darinbarneyresearch.mcgill.ca/Work/One_Nation_Under_Google.pdf

16. We need Systems & Integrative Thinking
▪to govern and administer people and territory with things digital & we
need to govern the digital things.
▪a model that is integrative, flexible and dynamic, multijurisdictional,
multi-scalar and multi-sectoral
A model where residents, civil society, academics, and the private sector
collaborate with public officials to mobilize data and technologies when
warranted in an ethical, accountable and transparent way to govern the
City? Farm? Food System? Infrastructure? Administration? State? as fair,
viable and liveable commons that balances economic development, social
progress and environmental responsibility.
See the Open Smart Cities Guide
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1528rqTjzKWwk4s2xKuPf7ZJg-tLlRK8WcMZQbicoGTM/edit