The political integration of the European Union (EU) is fragile for many reasons, not least the reassertion of nationalism. That said, if we examine specific practices and infrastructures, a more complicated story emerges. We juxtapose the political fragility of the EU in relation to the ongoing formation of data infrastructures in official statistics that take part in postnational enactments of Europe's populations and territories. We develop this argument by analyzing transformations in how European populations are enacted through new technological infrastructures that seek to integrate national census data in "cubes" of cross-tabulated social topics and spatial "grids" of maps. In doing so, these infrastructures give meaning to what "is" Europe in ways that are both old and new. Through standardization and harmonization of social and geographical spaces, "old" geometries of organizing and mapping populations are deployed along with "new" topological arrangements that mix and fold categories of population.
Purpose
Public sector data analytics concerns the process of retrieving data, data analysis, publication of the results as well as re-using the data by government organizations to improve their operations and enhance public policy. This paper aims to explore the use of public sector data analytics in the Netherlands and the opportunities and challenges of this use.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper finds 74 applications of public sector data analytics, identified by a Web search and consultation with policymakers. The applications are categorized by application type, organization(s) involved and application domain, and illustrative examples are used to elaborate opportunities and challenges.
Findings
Public sector data analytics is most frequently used for inspection and enforcement of social services and for criminal investigation. Even though its usage is often experimental, it raises concerns for scope creep, repeated targeting of the same (group of) individuals, personal data use by third parties and the transparency of governmental processes.
Research limitations/implications
Drawing on desk research, it was not always possible to identify which type of data or which technology was used in the applications that were found. Furthermore, the case studies are illustrative rather than providing an in-depth overview of opportunities and challenges of the use of data analytics in government.
Originality/value
Most studies either perform a literature overview or present a single case study; this paper presents a more comprehensive overview of how a public sector uses data analytics.
Abstract. The introduction of technologies that monitor and track individuals to attribute suspicion and guilt has become commonplace in practices of order maintenance in public space. A case study of the introduction of a marker spray in Dutch urban public transport is used to conceptualise the role of technology in everyday resistances against surveillance. The introduction of this technology made available alternative subject positions. The notion of provocation is proposed for the opening up of social spaces by a technology. Through provocation, issues that do not find their expression in commonly accepted protocols and means of evidence are given a voice as a result of defiant, emotional and provisional technology usage. Attending to visible and defiant usages also opens up an agenda for examining the varying intensities at which technology operates.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.