Big data and the measurement of public organizations’ performance and efficiency: The state-of-the-art

Abstract

The increasing availability of statistical data raises opportunities for ‘big’ data and learning analytics. Here, we review the academic literature and research relating to the use of big data analytics in the public sector, and its contribution to public organizations’ performance and efficiency. We outline the advantages as well as the limitations of using big data in public sector organizations and identify research gaps in recent studies and interesting areas for future research.

Improving public services by mining citizen feedback: An application of natural language processing

“…Such deficiencies include the suppression of the less powerful voice of service users within the performance measurement process (Mergel et al 2016) and methods of measuring user satisfaction that quickly lose their relevance, requiring efforts to develop replacements (Gao 2015). Newly available data have the potential to improve public services by enabling dynamic performance monitoring (Rogge et al 2017). For example, network signals and written feedback have been used to improve services in the areas of e-government, traffic control and crime detection (Rogge et al 2017).…”

“…Newly available data have the potential to improve public services by enabling dynamic performance monitoring (Rogge et al 2017). For example, network signals and written feedback have been used to improve services in the areas of e-government, traffic control and crime detection (Rogge et al 2017). New technologies require additional effort to make use of new data within the public policy domain.…”

“…New technologies require additional effort to make use of new data within the public policy domain. As the sheer volume of data may be challenging to handle (Grimmer and Stewart 2013; Anastasopoulos and Whitford 2019) decision-makers may struggle to collect, process, visualize and interpret them (Lavertu 2014;Brenninkmeijer 2016;Rogge et al 2017). Public policy researchers have highlighted ethical issues inherent in handling personal data, from respect for individual privacy and security to concerns around the quality of democratic processes (Mergel et al 2016).…”

Evolving Government Information Processes for Service Delivery: Identifying Types & Impact

“…The government sector has been identified as a sector that can profit from big data use (e.g., (Kim et al 2014;McKinsey Global Institute 2011;OECD 2015;Rogge et al 2017)). Firstly, new sorts of datasets (e.g., social media data, mobile phone data, GPS signals, website clickstream data, sensor data etc.)…”

“…For instance, advanced data processing activities provide, as we showed in the example of improved assistance for unemployed workers, the opportunity to customize services. Segmentation allows governments, often offering the same service to everyone, to deliver more personal advice or benefits for citizens and companies or to profile them concerning risks (McKinsey Global Institute 2011;Wamba et al 2015;Rogge et al 2017). …”