Foundations of Digital Government (PADM20001)

Governments are increasingly functioning in an online world. Many public services are being delivered or administered through online portals, and engagement with citizens is being undertaken via social media. In many cases the default option is for citizens to engage with government services online (e.g. the MyGov portal). Policy makers are also increasingly drawing on big data and predictive algorithms to inform and evaluate policy.

This subject introduces the topic of digital technologies and government, and explores the tools and method of digital government and regulation, and the ethical, legal and policy tensions of government increasingly shifting to the digital realm. More broadly this subject will explore ideas of digital governance, which has applications beyond government, as many private sector organisations implement data governance strategies, and as public-private partnerships on digital projects come under greater scrutiny.