Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan
Smartphone apps are being used in governments in developing countries for monitoring of frontline officials in delivery of public services. Development literature has expressed doubt about transformative impact of digital technologies on entrenched bureaucracies in developing countries. While smartp...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2025
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/158312 |
| _version_ | 1826203880319352832 |
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| author | Masud, Mohammad Omar |
| author2 | Ferreira, Joseph |
| author_facet | Ferreira, Joseph Masud, Mohammad Omar |
| author_sort | Masud, Mohammad Omar |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Smartphone apps are being used in governments in developing countries for monitoring of frontline officials in delivery of public services. Development literature has expressed doubt about transformative impact of digital technologies on entrenched bureaucracies in developing countries. While smartphone monitoring apps have improved speed and reliability of information from the ground, we do not know how availability of such apps among large number of middle to low level officials affect work and practice in large government bureaucracies in a developing country. The dissertation looks at four in depth cases studies involving use of smartphone apps in Pakistan. The cases involve the anti-Dengue program in the city of Lahore, garbage collection agency in Lahore, crime mapping by Lahore police and school monitoring by the provincial school department in the province of Punjab (which includes Lahore). Using a detailed analytical framework, I trace out the evolution of the smartphone monitoring apps in each case starting from design and implementation and continuing to use of their data among multiple levels of the bureaucracy. Using Zuboff’s concept of informating and literature on accountability and performance in government organizations, I look at how design, implementation and use of smartphone monitoring apps and their data bring about changes in workflows and practices, among lower echelons of the bureaucracy without any major restructuring or reform, leading to greater responsiveness and performance orientation. The research reveals that low level officials are responsive to monitoring data because it gives salience to their work and is an objective performance measure in a challenging work environment. The research also shows that such behavior is contingent upon how effectively the organizations manage viewing and sharing of monitoring data with forums to discuss data with frontline officials. It also points out the importance of effectively managing a smart mobile data infrastructure to sustain emerging workflows and practices. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-10T10:48:57Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/158312 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-10T10:48:57Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1583122025-03-05T15:26:46Z Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan Masud, Mohammad Omar Ferreira, Joseph Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Smartphone apps are being used in governments in developing countries for monitoring of frontline officials in delivery of public services. Development literature has expressed doubt about transformative impact of digital technologies on entrenched bureaucracies in developing countries. While smartphone monitoring apps have improved speed and reliability of information from the ground, we do not know how availability of such apps among large number of middle to low level officials affect work and practice in large government bureaucracies in a developing country. The dissertation looks at four in depth cases studies involving use of smartphone apps in Pakistan. The cases involve the anti-Dengue program in the city of Lahore, garbage collection agency in Lahore, crime mapping by Lahore police and school monitoring by the provincial school department in the province of Punjab (which includes Lahore). Using a detailed analytical framework, I trace out the evolution of the smartphone monitoring apps in each case starting from design and implementation and continuing to use of their data among multiple levels of the bureaucracy. Using Zuboff’s concept of informating and literature on accountability and performance in government organizations, I look at how design, implementation and use of smartphone monitoring apps and their data bring about changes in workflows and practices, among lower echelons of the bureaucracy without any major restructuring or reform, leading to greater responsiveness and performance orientation. The research reveals that low level officials are responsive to monitoring data because it gives salience to their work and is an objective performance measure in a challenging work environment. The research also shows that such behavior is contingent upon how effectively the organizations manage viewing and sharing of monitoring data with forums to discuss data with frontline officials. It also points out the importance of effectively managing a smart mobile data infrastructure to sustain emerging workflows and practices. Ph.D. 2025-03-05T15:26:34Z 2025-03-05T15:26:34Z 2020-05 2025-03-04T16:19:28.197Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/158312 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Masud, Mohammad Omar Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title | Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title_full | Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title_short | Inside the App Bureaucracy: The Use of Smartphone Apps in Public Service Delivery Organizations in Pakistan |
| title_sort | inside the app bureaucracy the use of smartphone apps in public service delivery organizations in pakistan |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/158312 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT masudmohammadomar insidetheappbureaucracytheuseofsmartphoneappsinpublicservicedeliveryorganizationsinpakistan |