To do more, better, faster and more cheaply: using big data in public administration
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852316640058 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Author | Mariusz Maciejewski |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2017, Vol. 83(1S) 120–135
!The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852316640058
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
To do more, better, faster and
more cheaply: using big data
in public administration
Mariusz Maciejewski
The Polish Academy of Sciences – The Institute of Legal Studies,
Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
Big data have become a game-changer for modern public administration in those areas
in which they are used. Although their application is still limited in the public sector,
their use develops dynamically in areas where they bring tangible results in terms of
efficiency and efficacy. This article presents the concept of big data, outlines the pos-
sibilities for using big data in the public sector and methods of their utilization, highlights
cases where these have been implemented, along with the results. This article discusses
applications of big data methods in public policy design and implementation and in public
authority internal management. It includes a summary of the benefits, disadvantages and
challenges related to utilization of big data. The article also briefly addresses historical,
current and predictive approaches. Research was carried out using internet-based case
analysis and is limited by the confidentiality of details relating to big data methods.
Although the research has had to be limited to publicly available descriptions, the
findings make it possible to understand the big data phenomenon in public administra-
tion and to draw general lessons from their use.
Points for practitioners
Big data is a contemporary phenomenon. Properly utilized it brings astonishingly posi-
tive outcomes for public administration in terms of its efficacy, efficiency, and overall
client satisfaction. These benefits are a result of significant increase in the accuracy of
decision-making, a significant acceleration of performance of internal the ‘information
task’ and a significant reduction in operating costs related to the decision-making pro-
cess. This is possible thanks to the digitization of human life and IT developments
applied in a specific way for public administration – the way of big data methods
where huge amounts of data are processed in a form of reasoning by powerful IT
technology to present information that helps public administration to better perform
its task.
Corresponding author:
Mariusz Maciejewski, The Polish Academy of Sciences – The Institute of Legal Studies Ul, Nowy Swiat 72,
Warszawa 00-330 Poland.
Email: m.maciejewski2@wp.pl
Keywords
administrative supervision, big data, public management, public policy, public services,
regulation
Introduction
More and more electronic data are being generated in the world, and there will be
even more in the future as people’s lives become more digital. Smartphones, video
recording devices with image recognition and analytics software, sensors that turn
real-world phenomena into data, smart home appliances and other ‘internet of
things’ systems, as well as the computer systems used for work – all these devices,
permanently connected to the internet, produce and stream huge amounts of
different types of electronic data. The next game-changers are on their way too –
devices that communicate directly with other devices to create more or less
autonomous systems.
The development of big data sets, created by the systems mentioned above, is
paralleled by new ways of collecting, storing and processing information to
increase its availability and usability. Furthermore, new methods of analysis and
reasoning are also being intensively developed. Progress in information technology,
in terms of both hardware and software, has raised the capability of data analysis
and reasoning to unprecedented levels. The digitization of information and related
data flexibility, progress in artificial intelligence and computer thinking, computer-
ization, the automation of these processes and the increase in computing power –
all these factors create powerful possibilities for accessing and using information in
new ways that would have been impossible with traditional methods.
The public and private sectors have now become more and more aware of the
fact that the data availability and new methods of its use may be utilized for the
public benefit. Public administrations in several countries have adopted big data
strategies or policies (Australian Government Information Management Office,
2013; UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2013; US Executive
Office of the President, 2014). Big data, and methods for their use, are an emerging
phenomenon in the management landscape that brings very good (and sometimes
surprisingly good) results in terms of efficiency and efficacy. One private sector
example is that of insurance company Aviva, which developed a big data applica-
tion for mobile phones that tracks precisely its clients’ driving habits. These data
are used to more accurately assess a driver’s risk. As a result, careful drivers pay
less for their insurance while more risk-taking drivers pay more.
1
Public administration has similar opportunities to those of private sector organ-
izations. However, unlocking the full potential of big data for the public sector
requires a public authority to develop knowledge and skills named as data science.
This relatively new field encompasses computer programming, modelling, statistics,
data management, data exploration, computerized natural language processing and
analytics, algorithmic machine learning, data product formatting and others.
Maciejewski 121
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