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The political economy of digital government: how Silicon Valley firms drove conversion to data science and artificial intelligence in public management

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  • Margetts, Helen
  • Dunleavy, Patrick

Abstract

Until 2010, Anglosphere digital governments struggled to modernize, dependent on large-scale contract relationships with global systems integrators (SIs) and elderly, custom-built legacy systems. Policy-makers have (belatedly) converted to the value of the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for improving government. Using elite interviews with government officials in three Anglosphere governments, this article traces the origins of this conversion back to Silicon Valley (SV) and platform corporations. These massive firms drove cultural, organizational and technological developments that reduced the influence of SIs. Going forward, SV firms’ practices will now drive public management use of data science and AI, shaping financial systems and practices. Drawing together elements from business studies, organizational change, public management reform, digital government and AI scholarship and practice, the authors show how government’s relationships with SV firms re-shape political economy relationships and bring digital change in government closer to SV ways of working.

Suggested Citation

  • Margetts, Helen & Dunleavy, Patrick, 2024. "The political economy of digital government: how Silicon Valley firms drove conversion to data science and artificial intelligence in public management," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124539, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:124539
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/124539/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helen Margetts & Cosmina Dorobantu, 2019. "Rethink government with AI," Nature, Nature, vol. 568(7751), pages 163-165, April.
    2. Dunleavy, Patrick & Margetts, Helen, 2023. "Data science, artificial intelligence and the third wave of digital era governance," OSF Preprints f3rza, Center for Open Science.
    3. Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel, 2020. "COVID-19 and public-sector capacity," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 256-269.
    4. Jones, Steve, 2015. "Cloud computing procurement and implementation: Lessons learnt from a United Kingdom case study," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 712-716.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    AI (artificial intelligence) ingovernment; cloudcomputing and government; digital era governance; digital government; public management reform; public sector contracting; public sector IT;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

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