Digitising criminal justice in England and Wales: revisiting information-growth dynamics

摘要

Purpose – The main purpose of this research is to analyse the socio-technical consequences deriving from the digitisation of crown prosecutors' work. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on an in-depth, qualitative case study of the use of technologies by crown prosecutors. It relies on observations, focus groups and semi-structured interviews conducted in London and Humberside over a 15-month time-span. The overarching methodological approach interweaves the empirical data with the theory of information growth which postulates that information is a difference that makes a difference. Findings – The main finding is that the digitisation of prosecutors' work has produced an increasingly-larger, interlocked domain of digital information by triggering the need for new data standards which, in turn, have created the need for new information-handling capabilities, thus prompting a ubiquitous infrastructure of self-propelling differences. Research limitations/implications – The information growth dynamics investigated have broader implications in relation to information privacy, security and data ownership that go beyond the scope of this research. Practical implications – It is suggested that rather than steering the information-growth process, public sector managers should attempt to control the premises of such a process by setting out a structured information quality management procedure both for domain-specific and generic data standards. Originality/value – It is argued that plans are makeshift accomplishments that are bound to succumb to the overarching process of information growing out of information. Once viewed from this vantage point, cross-organisational governance structures are no longer the outcome of pre-defined plans but rather the side effect of a self-reinforcing process of information growth.