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Public Technologies Transforming Work of the Public and the Public Sector

Authors:

Willa Yunqi Yang,

John Zimmerman,

Motahhare EslamiAuthors Info & Claims

CHIWORK '24: Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work

Article No.: 20, Pages 1 - 12

https://doi.org/10.1145/3663384.3663407

Published: 25 June 2024 Publication History

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Abstract

Technologies adopted by the public sector have transformed the work practices of employees in public agencies by creating different means of communication and decision-making. Although much of the recent research in the future of work domain has concentrated on the effects of technological advancements on public sector employees, the influence on work practices of external stakeholders engaging with this sector remains under-explored. In this paper, we focus on a digital platform called OneStop which is deployed by several building departments across the U.S. and aims to integrate various steps and services into a single point of online contact between public sector employees and the public. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 22 stakeholders, including local business owners, experts involved in the construction process, community representatives, and building department employees, we investigate how this technology transition has impacted the work of these different stakeholders. We observe a multifaceted perspective and experience caused by the adoption of OneStop. OneStop exacerbated inequitable practices for local business owners due to a lack of face-to-face interactions with the department employees. For the public sector employees, OneStop standardized the work practices, representing the building department’s priorities and values. Based on our findings, we discuss tensions around standardization, equality, and equity in technology transition, as well as design implications for equitable practices in the public sector.

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Cited By

Kim SHo JLi YFan BYang WRamey JFox SZhu HZimmerman JEslami M(2024)Integrating Equity in Public Sector Data-Driven Decision Making: Exploring the Desired Futures of Underserved StakeholdersProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869058:CSCW2(1-39)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686905

Index Terms

Public Technologies Transforming Work of the Public and the Public Sector
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. Field studies

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CHIWORK '24: Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work

June 2024

297 pages

ISBN:9798400710179

DOI:10.1145/3663384

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Published: 25 June 2024

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CHIWORK 2024: Annual Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work

June 25 - 27, 2024

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

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Kim SHo JLi YFan BYang WRamey JFox SZhu HZimmerman JEslami M(2024)Integrating Equity in Public Sector Data-Driven Decision Making: Exploring the Desired Futures of Underserved StakeholdersProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869058:CSCW2(1-39)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686905

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