Informating Public Governance

Abstract

This treatise explores the possibilities and constraints to informate public governance. Informating as used in this context refers to the ability to technically control / steer the core provision of public governance by means of information technology, rather than steering public governance through political policies. Thus informating governance is about technology-enabled direct control of public service provision, in contrast to electronic or digital governance, which is about technology for government agencies. Well-established disciplinary theories from political sciences, sociology, and jurisprudence on public governance are explored to establish a foundation for understanding governance informatability, and a shared semantic context is established, to align the complex concepts of governance provision, and governance informatization. Based on thus established trans-disciplinary foundation, it is argued that a natural evolution of dedicated technological ecosystems can take place.