The Automated Administration: Governance of ADM in the public sector

Combining theoretical, empirical and legal approaches, this four-year multidisciplinary research programme studies and analyses how good public governance can be achieved despite challenges associated with increased automation and AI systems in public decision-making. The programme focuses on Sweden and Finland, two countries with similar administrative foundations as well as forerunners in digitalisation. Led by the AI-focused socio-legal scholar Stefan Larsson, the programme spans the universities of Lund, Helsinki, Uppsala, and Södertörn, is tightly linked to vibrant Nordic research networks and includes reference group members from key national public authorities in Finland and Sweden.
The project is funded by the Future Challenges in the Nordics Research Programme.

You can find more information on the project here.

Before the code: Digital administration redesigned for everyone (DARE)

In digital public administration, citizen no longer encounters a human administrator. Instead, she encounters a computer interface such as a chatbot or a webpage. As these interfaces are a product of human design, they cannot be neutral. Instead, they often include bias, which may further lead to unequal or even discriminatory practices and structures. This is the problem that DARE aims to resolve: technological interfaces should comply with the law, but we often remain ignorant of that compliance. DARE examines the interconnections between law and technological design. It addresses the problem of law compliance of technology design both descriptively (what is the status quo?) and normatively (what should be done?). To achieve its goals, DARE builds on socio-legal studies, social sciences and computer science. Most importantly, DARE aims at stablishing legal interface design as an interdisciplinary research field.

You can find more information on the project here.