Research colloquium: Agile and Digital Governance

In the summer semester 2024, Prof. Mergel will offer an online research colloquium together with other international researchers: Agile and Digital Governance. The colloquium will take place every Monday at 12:30 - 2:00 pm via Zoom. Registration for the colloquium is not required.

Zusammenfassung Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced as one of the most prominent technological innovations to push the conversation about the digital transformation of the public sector forward. This special issue focuses on actual implementation approaches or challenges that public managers are facing while they fulfil new policy that asks for the implementation of AI in public administrations. In addition to assessing the contributions of papers in this issue, we also provide a research agenda on how future research can fill some of the methodological, theoretical, and application gaps in the public management literature.

New Publication: Implementing AI in the public sector.

New publication from  Mergel, I., Dickinson, H., Stenvall, J., & Gasco, M. (2023). Implementing AI in the public sector. Public Management Review, in press, 1-13.

The publication can be found here.

Zusammenfassung Digital transformation has become a buzzword that is permeating multiple fields, including public administration and management. However, it is unclear what is transformational and how incremental and transformational change processes are linked. Using the PRISMA method, we conduct a systematic literature review to structure this growing body of evidence. We identified 164 studies on digitally-induced change and provide evidence for their drivers, implementation processes, and outcomes. We derive a theoretical framework that shows which incremental changes happen in public administrations that are implementing digital technologies and what their cumulative, transformative effects are on society as a whole.

New publication: Digitally-induced change in the public sector: a systematic review and research agenda

New publication from Haug, Nathalie, Dan, Sorin, & Mergel, Ines (2023): Digitally-induced change in the public sector: a systematic review and research agenda, Public Management Review, 1-25. The publication can be found here.

New publication: Implementing successful innovation fellowships in the administration

The new publication by Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel, Nathalie Haug, Valerie Albrecht,
Almire Brahimi, Dr. Noella Edelmann, Dr. Nassrin Hajinejad, Ines Hölscher, Jana Plomindes: "Erfolgreiche Innovationsfellowships in der Verwaltung umsetzen" by Kompetenzzentrums Öffentliche IT (ÖFIT) is available online.

Welcome to the pages of
Digital Governance Labs at the University of Konstanz

Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel is Professor of Public Administration - Digital Governance at the University of Konstanz. Prof. Mergel's research focuses in particular on management and technology processes in innovative public management practices. Current projects include digital transformation, open innovation, big data and the use of in-house social networking technologies in the public sector.

Innovative Verwaltung. Change Leadership macht den Unterschied.

New publication: Agile competencies for the
Digitalization of public administration

What skills do civil servants need for the digitalization of public administration? Prof. Dr. Ines Mergel, Almire Brahimi & Stefanie Hecht have identified the necessary skills and ideas for implementation in the new issue of the specialist publication Innovative Verwaltung.

To the article.

Open Public Administration
Scholarship

Research-based teaching content from the Mergel working group is published on OPAS.

Agile: A New Way of Governing

A new article by Prof. Dr. Mergel, Prof. Dr. Ganapati and Prof. Dr. Andrew B. Whitford has been published in the Public Administration Review. This paper presents potential applications of modern agility in public administration and discusses possible challenges that may arise when implementing agility in public administration.

A new international project to teach digital skills in public administration has been launched:

Digital specialist Professor Ines Mergel from the University of Konstanz is a founding member. Experts from ten institutions - including the universities of Cambridge and Harvard - are developing an open access curriculum to support current and future administrators and managers

Neues Buchkapitel im Sammelband des Fraunhofer Fokus' ÖFIT zu Big Data erschienen

Professor Mergel steuert das Open-Access-Buchkapitel dem Kompetenzzentrum Öffentliche IT des Fraunhofer Fokus bei


Buchkapitel: Big Data und Data-Science-Ansätze in der öffentlichen Verwaltung


Das ÖFIT hat einen Sammelband mit dem Titel: (Un)berechenbar? Algorithmen und Automatisierung in Staat und Gesellschaft herausgegeben in dem ein Beitrag von mir erschienen ist zum Thema “Big Data und Data-Science-Ansätze in der öffentlichen Verwaltung” enthalten ist.

Zusammenfassung: 
Big Data und Data-Science-Ansätze finden Einzug in die öffentliche Verwaltung. Dieses Kapitel bietet zunächst eine Definition von Big Data in der öffentlichen Verwaltung an und leitet die unterschiedlichen Datenquellen für historische, Echtzeit- und prädiktive Big-Data-Analysen ab. Danach werden Beispiele für organisationale Einheiten in der öffentlichen Verwaltung erläutert, die Big-Data-Analysen durchführen. Anhand der folgenden drei ausgewählten Beispiele wird das Potenzial von Big Data aufgezeigt: USGS »Did you feel it?«-Twitter-Karten, prädiktive Analysen in Finanzbehörden und Vorhersagen von Grippewellen mit Hilfe von Google Flu Trends. Aus diesen und weiteren Beispielen werden dann die Herausforderungen für die Verwendung von Big Data und Data-Science-Ansätzen in der öffentlichen Verwaltung erläutert sowie offene Forschungsfragen für die Verwaltungswissenschaft abgeleitet.

Referenz:
Mergel, I. (2018): Big Data und Data-Science-Ansätze in der öffentlichen Verwaltung, in: (Un)berechenbar? Algorithmen und Automatisierung in Staat und Gesellschaft, edited by: Resa Mohabbat Kar, Basanta Thapa, Peter Parycek, pp. 76-96