Introduction to Policy Making in the Digital Age

Authors: Marijn Janssen, Delft University of Technology, and Maria A. Wimmer, University of Koblenz-Landau

Abstract

The explosive growth in data, computational power and social media creates new opportunities for innovating governance and policy making. These in formation and communication technologies (ICT) developments affect all parts of the policy-making cycle and result in drastic changes in the way policies are developed. To take advantage of these developments in the digital world, new approaches, concepts, instruments and methods are needed, which are able to deal with societal complexity and uncertainty. This field of research is sometimes depicted as e-government policy, e-policy, policy informatics or data science. Advancing our knowledge demands that different scientific communities collaborate to create practice-driven knowledge. For policy making in the digital age, disciplines like complex systems, social simulation and public administration need to be combined.

Keywords

e-policy, policy making, data science, policy informatics, big data, open data, simulation, gaming

Publisher

Berlin et al: Springer Verlag

Citation

Janssen, M. and Wimmer M.A. (2015). Introduction to Policy Making in the Digital Age. In: M. Janssen, M. A. Wimmer, & A. Deljoo, Policy Practice and Digital Science – Integrating Complex Systems, Social Simulation and Public Administration in Policy Research (Series: Public Administration and Information Technology). Berlin et al: Springer Verlag (to appear)