The Agency Exerted by Analytic Systems on Public Sector Organisations: The Case of Controlling and Preventing a Life-Threatening Virus (Paper Development)

Big data is driving the expansion of machine-learning into various fields. This development paper explores the impact of analytic systems within the public sector. Specifically, it questions the agency exerted by analytic systems on public sector organisations. To do so, it examines a case study of the use of analytic systems in one of the most populous regions of South Asia, where an effort was undertaken to control and prevent the life-threatening dengue virus. As a theoretical lens, the study adopts concepts from structuration theory (ST), as an open lens for enquiry. The data collection is thus far based on fifteen interviews with different actors including government and health organisation actors. The preliminary analysis identifies the ‘agency’ of the explored analytic system. Moreover, it reveals the emergence of legitimation in how to deal with a large-scale epidemic, due to this agency.