Connecting People, Policy, and Bicycles. A look at how digital technologies rewire the dynamics of public sector innovation

Abstract: This study explores how digital technologies affect the dynamics of public sector innovation at city level. While existing research has extensively studied the effects of digitalization on markets and private sector innovation, empirical studies have remained scarce in a public governance context. However, a growing body of Smart City research has started to conceptualize how cities seek to develop data-driven solutions to today's most pressing policy challenges. Examining how the City of Copenhagen is trying to design a traffic data infrastructure for bicycles, this qualitative case study offers an empirical account of the underlying dynamics of data-driven public sector innovation. Based on a descriptive conceptual model, tentative propositions with regard to newly emerging practices, new actors, changing roles, and critical political dimensions are discussed. The findings suggest that digital technologies are driving increasingly flexible and collaborative forms of governance and a new market dynamic for citizen-centric data solutions. Finally, potential strategic implications for decision-makers in both public and private organizations are discussed.