Of algorithms, Apps and advice: digital social policy and service delivery

Governments across the world have been developing and adopting new digital technologies for about a half of a century to support policy making and service delivery processes. Yet, until recently minimal critical attention has been given to this phenomenon and how it is transforming government. This paper reviews recent research on new and emerging technologies and the associated transformations they have for government policy and service delivery and the consequences for citizens and service users. The paper focuses on three key uses of digital technologies: automation, apps and advice. With the use of these examples, the paper demonstrates that visions of digital government of greater efficiency, improved quality of service delivery and open and accountable government are often not achieved. The paper concludes by acknowledging the ongoing importance of digital technologies in government, but also a need for a critical awareness of the power context of the adoption of technologies, of how policy and administrative principles may be undermined, and how populations may be increasingly segmented, fragmented and controlled.