TY - JOUR A1 - Fleischer, Julia A1 - Carstens, Nora T1 - Policy labs as arenas for boundary spanning BT - inside the digital transformation in Germany JF - Public Management Review N2 - The recently adopted German Online Access Act triggered the creation of digitalization labs for designing digital services, bringing together federal, state, and local authorities; end-users; and private-sector actors. These labs provide opportunities for boundary spanning due to organizational field and lab features. Our comparative case studies on three digitalization labs show variations in boundary spanning and reveal lab members de-coupling from their parent organizations to a varying extent. We have concluded labs offer boundary spanning that supports safeguarding the legitimacy of innovative policy designs but also raise concerns over public accountability. KW - boundary spanning KW - collaboration KW - digitalization KW - inter-governmental relations Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.1893803 SN - 1470-1065 SN - 1461-667X VL - 24 IS - 8 SP - 1208 EP - 1225 PB - Routledge CY - London ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Franzke, Jochen A1 - Dumas, Benoît Paul A1 - Heine, Moreen T1 - Daten als Grundlage für wissenschaftliche Politikberatung N2 - Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass Daten in der Krise eine herausragende Bedeutung für die wissenschaftliche Politikberatung, administrative Entscheidungsvorbereitung und politische Entscheidungsfindung haben. In der Krise gab es jedoch gravierende Kommunikationsprobleme und Unsicherheiten in der wechselseitigen Erwartungshaltung von wissenschaftlichen Datengebern und politisch-administrativen Datennutzern. Die Wissensakkumulation und Entscheidungsabwägung wurde außerdem durch eine unsichere und volatile Datenlage zum Pandemiegeschehen, verbunden mit einer dynamischen Lageentwicklung, erschwert. Nach wie vor sind das Bewusstsein und wechselseitige Verständnis für die spezifischen Rollenprofile der am wissenschaftlichen Politikberatungsprozess beteiligten Akteure sowie insbesondere deren Abgrenzung als unzureichend einzuschätzen. Die Studie hat darüber hinaus vielfältige Defizite hinsichtlich der Verfügbarkeit, Qualität, Zugänglichkeit, Teilbarkeit und Nutzbarkeit von Daten identifiziert, die Datenproduzenten und -verwender vor erhebliche Herausforderungen stellen und einen umfangreichen Reformbedarf aufzeigen, da zum einen wichtige Datenbestände für eine krisenbezogene Politikberatung fehlen. Zum anderen sind die Tiefenschärfe und Differenziertheit des verfügbaren Datenbestandes teilweise unzureichend. Dies gilt z.B. für sozialstrukturelle Daten zur Schwere der Pandemiebetroffenheit verschiedener Gruppen oder für kleinräumige Daten über Belastungs- und Kapazitätsparameter, etwa zur Personalabdeckung auf Intensivstationen, in Gesundheitsämtern und Pflegeeinrichtungen. Datendefizite sind ferner im Hinblick auf eine ganzheitliche Pandemiebeurteilung festzustellen, zum Beispiel bezüglich der Gesundheitseffekte im weiteren Sinne, die aufgrund der ergriffenen Maßnahmen entstanden sind (Verschiebung oder Wegfall von Operationen, Behandlungen und Prävention, aber auch häusliche Gewalt und psychische Belastungen). Mangels systematischer Begleitstudien und evaluativer Untersuchungen, u.a. auch zu lokalen Pilotprojekten und Experimenten, bestehen außerdem Datendefizite im Hinblick auf die Wirkungen von Eindämmungsmaßnahmen oder deren Aufhebung auf der gebietskörperschaftlichen Ebene. Insgesamt belegt die Studie, dass es zur Optimierung der datenbasierten Politikberatung und politischen Entscheidungsfindung in und außerhalb von Krisen nicht nur darum gehen kann, ein „Mehr“ an Daten zu produzieren sowie deren Qualität, Verknüpfung und Teilung zu verbessern. Vielmehr müssen auch die Anreizstrukturen und Interessenlagen in Politik, Verwaltung und Wissenschaft sowie die Kompetenzen, Handlungsorientierungen und kognitiv-kulturellen Prägungen der verschiedenen Akteure in den Blick genommen werden. Es müssten also Anreize gesetzt und Strukturen geschaffen werden, um das Interesse, den Willen und das Können (will and skill) zur Datennutzung auf Seiten politisch-administrativer Entscheider und zur Dateneinspeisung auf Seiten von Wissenschaftlern zu stärken. Neben adressatengerechter Informationsaufbereitung geht es dabei auch um die Gestaltung eines normativen und institutionellen Rahmens, innerhalb dessen die Nutzung von Daten für Entscheidungen effektiver, qualifizierter, aber auch transparenter, nachvollziehbarer und damit demokratisch legitimer erfolgen kann. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser empirischen Befunde werden acht Cluster von Optimierungsmaßnahmen vorgeschlagen: (1) Etablierung von Datenstrecken und Datenteams, (2) Schaffung regionaler Datenkompetenzzentren, (3) Stärkung von Data Literacy und Beschleunigung des Kulturwandels in der öffentlichen Verwaltung, (4) Datenstandardisierung, Interoperabilität und Registermodernisierung, (5) Ausbau von Public Data Pools und Open Data Nutzung, (6) Effektivere Verbindung von Datenschutz und Datennutzung, (7) Entwicklung eines hochfrequenten, repräsentativen Datensatzes, (8) Förderung der europäischen Daten-Zusammenarbeit. N2 - This study shows that data is of outstanding importance for scientific policy advice, administrative decision preparation and political decision-making in the crisis. During the crisis, however, there were serious communication problems and uncertainties in the mutual expectations of scientific data providers and political-administrative data users. Knowledge accumulation and decision-making were also hampered by uncertain and volatile data on the pandemic, combined with a dynamic development of the situation. Awareness and mutual understanding of the specific role profiles of the actors involved in the scientific policy advisory process, as well as their demarcation in particular, are still to be assessed as insufficient. The study has also identified a variety of deficits with regard to the availability, quality, accessibility, shareability and usability of data, which represent considerable challenges to data producers and users and reveal a need for extensive reform, since, on the one hand, important data sets for crisis-related policy advice are lacking. On the other hand, the depth of focus and differentiation of the available data stocks are partly insufficient. This applies, for example, to socio-structural data on the severity of the pandemic impact of different groups or to small-scale data on burden and capacity parameters, such as staffing levels in intensive care units, health offices and care facilities. There are also data deficits with regard to a holistic pandemic assessment, for example with regard to the health effects in a broader sense that have arisen as a result of the measures taken (postponement or discontinuation of operations, treatments and prevention, but also domestic violence and psychological stress). In the absence of systematic accompanying studies and evaluative research, there are also data deficits with regard to the effects of containment measures or their removal at the territorial level. Overall, the study shows that optimising data-based policy advice and political decision-making in times of crisis as well as between crises is not just a matter of producing "more" data and improving its quality, linkage and sharing. Rather, the incentive structures and interests in politics, administration and science as well as the competences, action orientations and cognitive-cultural imprints of the various actors must also be taken into account. Incentives must be set and structures have to be created in order to strengthen the interest, the will and the skill to use data. This does not only apply for political and administrative decision-makers, but also for academics who are needed to feed data into the system. In addition to preparing information in a way that is appropriate for the target group, this also involves designing a normative and institutional framework within which the use of data for decision-making can be more effective, more qualified, but also more transparent, more comprehensible and thus more democratically legitimate. Against the background of these empirical findings, eight clusters of optimisation measures are proposed: (1) Establishment of data routes and data teams, (2) Creation of regional data competence centres, (3) Strengthening data literacy and accelerating cultural transformation in public administration, (4) Data standardisation, interoperability and register modernisation, (5) Expanding public data pools and open data use, (6) Linking data protection and data use more effectively, (7) Development of a high-frequency, representative data set, (8) Promoting European data cooperation. KW - Politikberatung KW - Daten KW - Wissenschaft KW - COVID-19 KW - Krise KW - Pandemie KW - Digitalisierung KW - policy advice KW - data KW - science KW - COVID-19 KW - crisis KW - pandemic KW - digitalization Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-519683 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Marienfeldt, Justine ED - Teles, Filipe T1 - Comparing local government systems and reforms in Europe BT - from new public management to digital era governance? T2 - Handbook on local and regional governance N2 - The study of subnational and local government systems and reforms has become an increasingly salient topic in comparative public administration. In many European countries, policy implementation, the execution of public tasks and the delivery of services to citizens are largely carried out by local governments, which, at the same time, have been subjected to multiple reforms and sometimes comprehensive institutional re-organizations. This chapter discusses analytical key concepts and outcomes of the comparative study of local governments and local government reforms. It outlines frameworks and analytical tools to capture the variety of institutional settings and developments at the local level of government. It provides an introduction into crucial comparative dimensions, such as functional, territorial and political profiles of local governments, and analyses current reform approaches and outcomes based on recent empirical findings. Finally, the chapter addresses salient issues to be taken up in future comparative studies about local government. KW - comparative public administration KW - local government systems KW - digitalization KW - territorial reforms KW - decentralization KW - (post) new public management Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-1-80037-119-4 SN - 978-1-80037-120-0 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800371200.00033 SP - 313 EP - 329 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine ED - Goldfinch, Shaun F. T1 - From Weberian bureaucracy to digital government? BT - trajectories of administrative reform in Germany T2 - Handbook of public administration reform N2 - Over the past decades, the traditional profile of the German administrative system has significantly been reshaped and remoulded through reforms and transformations. Manifold modernization efforts have been undertaken to adjust administrative structures and procedures to increasing challenges and pressures. In this chapter, the attempt is made to outline major institutional reform paths in Germany from Weberian bureaucracy to most recent reforms towards a digital transformation of public administration. We will show to what extent the German administrative system has moved away from the classical Weberian bureaucracy to a hybrid system where elements of the ‘old’ model and new reform paradigms such as the NPM and digital government are hybridized, labelled the Neo Weberian State. The question will be addressed as to what extent this shift has taken shape and which hurdles and path-dependencies can be identified to explain partial persistence and continuity over time. KW - neo weberian state KW - digitalization KW - new public management KW - territorial reforms KW - intergovernmental reforms KW - Germany Y1 - 2023 SN - 978-1-80037-674-8 SN - 978-1-80037-673-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800376748.00016 SP - 207 EP - 226 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER -