Infrastructuring Internet of Things for Public Governance

Abstract

Networks of smart devices referred to as Internet of Things (IoT) have valuable applications across policy areas in the public sector. However, we lack knowledge on how IoT actually takes part in processes of societal decision making and its social implications. In this paper, we report from research in progress on IoT and big data in the public sector. Empirically, we study three cases of utilization of IoT in three domains where sensors and wireless infrastructures are put in place. Specifically, the case studies are in the contexts of city management (smart city), healthcare and environmental monitoring. Theoretically we make use of the concept of infrastructuring to go beyond the focus on IoT infrastructures as networks of technical objects, and rather foreground IoT as political, value-laden and per-formative configurations. We focus on algorithmic phenomena to examine the processes by which algorithms shape reality. Our preliminary findings show that this is a promising direction for research. This study will contribute to improve the understanding of how IoT arrangements transform processes of governance in the public sector.