Panos Panagiotopoulos’s research while affiliated with Queen Mary, University of London and other places

Research on digital transformation has focused on organizational aspects with less attention to the impacts on frontline public officials' daily work. Drawing on the coping model of user adaptation, we investigate how public officials cope with digitalization initiatives and the role of discretion in the coping process. The empirical study focuses on policing and the responses of law enforcement officials (n = 292) in the Punjab region of Pakistan following the implementation of an integrated Police Station Record Management System (PSRMS). Police officers adopted diverse problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. We examine the relationship between these user adaptation strategies and officers' perceptions of system outcomes in improving performance. The study extends coping theory in the context of frontline digital government interactions and offers guidance on how to better embed systems like the PSRMS in public officials' daily work. Open access full article available on the link below: 10.1016/j.giq.2024.101977

The article brings together contemporary research on how new forms of data are reshaping policing and police organizations. A systematic review of 192 papers (1970–2022) identifies the developing effects of data in areas like automated decision-making and predictive policing. We synthesize the findings in an integrative framework that links data sources, data-driven processes, and policing outcomes while highlighting the significance of institutional, organizational and individual-level moderators. The acceleration of data in policing raises critical questions for public administration scholars. We discuss the implications on the evolving nature of discretion and decision-making, the training of police officers, and tensions between data professionals and street-level officers. We further unpack the implications for organizational transformation and the changing nature of policing strategies. The free acess to full-text is available here: https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2024.2360586

Developments in data science methods have changed how we design, review and publish social science research. The impact on academic development has been multifaceted: new research opportunities have come with additional demands on training researchers to develop advanced data skills and apply them to research outputs. For early career researchers, meeting existing work demands and investing time in data skills can be a difficult proposition. In this paper, we consider the challenges that doctoral and early career researchers face when it comes to short-and long-term career goals and discuss how to collectively overcome them. Recommendations are organised around the key areas identified by the Learning, Leading, Linking framework. We emphasise that doctoral researchers in social sciences should be supported to develop their skills and pursue meaningful collaborations with other disciplines and external stakeholders as domain specialists.

Smart city projects require complex coordination of resources, but research on how capabilities form at the city-ecosystem level remains scarce. This article develops a multi-level approach to capability development in smart city ecosystems through an empirical study of London’s city data. We analyse the London case to discover how two ecosystem-level capabilities – data provisioning and data insights – developed through global, configural and shared aggregation processes. We find that the emergence process changes as the smart city ecosystem develops, requiring different coordination and resource mobilisation mechanisms at various stages. We contribute to the capability development and smart city literatures by focusing on ecosystem-level capabilities linked to collective city-level outcomes rather than the capabilities of the leading city authority. Insights from the study are of value to city authorities considering how to scale up and organise smart city initiatives in support of urban development goals.

The paper aims to examine how police managers cope with the threats and opportunities associated with the implementation of smart policing applications. Smart policing has reshaped the practices of police managers by offering opportunities to improve decisions with data-driven approaches. These new approaches change the traditional ways in which police managers exercise discretion. Using the theoretical lens of coping theory, we develop the foundations for a research model to explain how smart policing stimulates problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies depending on managers’ perceptions of control and discretion. Future empirical studies using the model can inform more broadly on our understanding of how public sector employees respond to data-driven technologies and automated decision-making.

The article offers a novel conceptualisation of unions’ digital audiences and considers how their characteristics affect the practice of organising. Data were collected from the central Twitter accounts of 33 British unions resulting in 167,658 tweets and information from their 357,687 followers. Using textual and network methods, the analysis shows how unions interact with large, diverse and unexpected audiences including members, other individuals and organisations within their stakeholder groups. The findings support Twitter’s role as a tool for organising in directions like stakeholder engagement and reaching new audiences. The article further discusses how unions can respond to the imagined characteristics of their digital audiences and develop an approach to engagement that builds on the relationship between audiences and content.

Smart policing refers to the application of data-driven approaches by police authorities. Although the concept is not new, the vast availability of potentially relevant data sources in policing calls for a critical and consolidated review of the literature. To synthesise the evidence on smart policing, we present a systematic review of 112 articles across all relevant disciplines. Earlier work has concentrated on social media communications or predictive policing while this review identifies several new applications associated with new forms of data and their corresponding roles to policing. We develop a framework to show the connections between smart use of data and police approaches and strategies. We discuss how smart policing can be an area of increased interest in digital government and public management research.

Abstract The management of complex data initiatives has raised much attention in the research and practice of smart cities. Of particular interest is understanding how city authorities can manage the resource transfer and coordination of activities to successfully underpin initiatives like open data, smart devices, planning analytics and other data-intensive applications. However, research on how capabilities can be developed at the city data level as an aggregated unit of analysis remains scarce. Our paper develops a process study of capability development in smart city data ecosystems by drawing on a case study of London’s city data. The study focuses on two key entities within London’s smart city environment: the London Datastore (2010-2019) and the City Analytics Programme (2016-2019). The analysis discusses the evolutionary phases of each entity characterised by key actors, level of coordination and prominent mechanisms of capability development. Further to extending our theoretical understanding of capability development within an ecosystem context, insights from the paper are of value to city authorities considering how to scale up and integrate local data projects.

On parle de réglementation basée sur l’information (IBR, pour « Information-based regulation ») lorsque les régulateurs utilisent l’information pour susciter des changements de comportement en vue d’atteindre des objectifs de politique publique. L’IBR est apparue comme une autre façon de réglementer les entreprises, par rapport aux instruments stratégiques plus traditionnels de commandement et de conduite des opérations directs et de marché dans l’État régulateur contemporain. Malgré un intérêt international croissant, des difficultés subsistent pour comprendre les rôles des régulateurs dans l’IBR, les fonctions des régulateurs dans la formation et l’exploitation des flux d’information, et les capacités administratives nécessaires pour les assumer. Dans le présent article, nous nous basons sur une méthodologie d’examen systématique pour synthétiser les conclusions de 130 articles évalués par un comité de lecture dans les domaines de la politique environnementale, énergétique et alimentaire. Nous développons une typologie des fonctions que peuvent assumer les régulateurs et décrivons les nouvelles capacités administratives requises dans l’État régulateur contemporain, notamment en matière de normalisation, d’assurance et d’intermédiation, ainsi que de gestion intelligente des données.Remarques à l’intention des praticiensLa réglementation par l’information devient pratique courante dans de nombreuses régions du monde, dépassant ses frontières initiales aux États-Unis et dans d’autres pays développés. La conception et la mise en œuvre de ces systèmes créent de nouveaux défis pour les régulateurs. Notre étude intègre les recherches pertinentes dans trois domaines politiques (environnement, alimentation, énergie) et développe une nouvelle typologie des fonctions exercées par les régulateurs. Notre article est le premier à examiner la manière dont les rôles et les fonctions des régulateurs doivent changer dans l’environnement contemporain de l’information et de la réglementation. Il souligne également le fait qu’il est important que les régulateurs participent à l’IBR, une pratique traditionnellement considérée comme une approche en faveur de la déréglementation.