Research challenges for the use of big data in policy-making
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 4 May 2020
Issue publication date: 23 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present pertinent research challenges in the field of (big) data-informed policy-making based on the research, undertaken within the course of the European Union-funded project Big Policy Canvas. Technological advancements, especially in the past decade, have revolutionised the way that both every day and complex activities are conducted. It is, thus, expected that a particularly important actor such as the public sector, should constitute a successful disruption paradigm through the adoption of novel approaches and state-of-the-art information and communication technologies.
Design
The research challenges stem from a need, trend and asset assessment based on qualitative and quantitative research, as well as from the identification of gaps and external framework factors that hinder the rapid and effective uptake of data-driven policy-making approaches.
Findings
The current paper presents a set of research challenges categorised in six main clusters, namely, public governance framework, privacy, transparency, trust, data acquisition, cleaning and representativeness, data clustering, integration and fusion, modelling and analysis with big data and data visualisation.
Originality/value
The paper provides a holistic overview of the interdisciplinary research challenges in the field of data-informed policy-making at a glance and shall serve as a foundation for the discussion of future research directions in a broader scientific community. It, furthermore, underlines the necessity to overcome isolated scientific views and treatments because of a high complex multi-layered environment.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 769623.
The authors thank their experts Gianluca Misuraca (JRC Seville), Giuseppe Veltri (University of Trento), Vittorio Loreto (Sony Computer Science Laboratories) and Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems) who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research.
Citation
Mureddu, F., Schmeling, J. and Kanellou, E. (2020), "Research challenges for the use of big data in policy-making", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 593-604. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-08-2019-0082
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited