And we’re off! The Data in Transit project begins a full year of data collection today, after passing my dissertation proposal at the end of February.

My proposal abstract can be found below, but please note that the framing of my project is bound to evolve as I learn more.

Title: Access, Accountability, and Ownership: The Implications of Outsourcing ‘Smart City’ Data Programs

Abstract:

This research examines the practices by which municipal governments work with private vendors and semi-public service providers to collect, manage, and circulate data in ‘smart cities’ programs, defined as continuous or geospatial data sources used to improve the provision of public services. The aims of this study are twofold; first, it will describe emerging institutional forms in government information collection, and seek to understand their implications for agency access, accountability, and ownership. Second, this work provides a set of recommendations for public agencies to address any unintended outcomes. I will assemble two case studies of current data sharing relationships between the private and public sectors. A third case study involve my participant observation in a novel effort to model data governance practices in public-private data sharing. Case studies will use data from field notes and interviews, as well as documentary evidence such as state and local policies, vendor agreements, and public records. Data analysis will draw on two traditions of the ethnographic method– ethnography of infrastructure, and the extended case method– that together support an analysis of the materiality and political economy of current information system designs, practices, and policies.

Supervisory Committee:

• Megan Finn, Co-Chair
• Adam Moore, Co-Chair
• Ryan Calo, Member
• Jan Whittington, Member
• Sarah Quinn, GSR