Behind the scenes of a nascent phase of data and artificial intelligence technologies’ integration into public administration and services: the boundary work of public sector professionals

Marta Choroszewicz

Chapter 14 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of the Professions, 2025, pp 204-220 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Internationally, public administrations are undergoing an accelerated digital transformation due to the availability of new data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This chapter combines theories of boundary work to capture new forms of work and boundaries, which emerge for public sector professionals in the processes of integrating emerging technologies. The chapter draws on ethnographic research spanning four years conducted in two leading Finnish public institutions on their data- and AI-driven innovation. The study identifies four forms of work initiated by these organizations’ innovation teams and based on their boundary work: (1) legitimation, (2) repair, (3) coaching and (4) oversight. These forms of work emerge as essential to the current nascent phase of emerging technologies’ integration into public administrations because they support the portrayal of them as seamless and efficient. The study also advances our understanding of challenges related to the boundary of innovation and the frontline of the ongoing transformation of the public sector.

Keywords: Boundary work; Boundaries; Data and AI technologies; Innovation work; Public sector professionals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035323074
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