The influence of Automated Decision-Making systems in the context of street-level bureaucrats' practices

TL;DR

This paper examines how automated decision-making systems impact the roles and practices of street-level bureaucrats in European public administrations, highlighting organizational and capacity-related changes.

Contribution

It provides a qualitative analysis of the effects of ADMS on bureaucrats' work routines and service delivery, focusing on five key dimensions.

Findings

Automation influences bureaucrats' roles and tasks

Organizational settings and capacities affect ADMS implementation

Collaborative work and organizational factors enable or limit service improvements

Abstract

In an era of digital governance, the use of automation for individual and cooperative work is increasing in public administrations (Tangi et al., 2022). Despite the promises of efficiency and cost reduction, automation could bring new challenges to the governance schemes. Regional, national, and local governments are taking measures to regulate and measure the impact of automated decision-making systems (ADMS). This research focuses on the use and adoption of ADMS in European public administrations to understand how these systems have been transforming the roles, tasks, and duties of street-level bureaucrats. We conducted a qualitative study in which we interviewed street-level bureaucrats from three administrations who had used an ADMS for several years, which was embedded in their daily work routines. The outcome of our research is an analysis of five dimensions of how collaborative work, the organizational settings, the capacities of bureaucrats and the implementation of the ADMS enable or limit the capacities for offering better services towards the citizens.