THE RISE OF UBIQUITOUS SURVEILLANCE GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS: TOWARDS A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH AGENDA

Abstract:

In recent years, nation states including liberal democracies and authoritarian countries have set out to develop a new class of information systems, which we refer to as Ubiquitous Surveillance Governance systems (USGs). These large-scale systems are fed with data of citizen behaviors and process these data using traditional analytics and modern machine-learning techniques in order to trace, analyze, but also anticipate the behaviors of citizens with the objective to govern and shape the wider society. The (in-)famous Chinese Social Credit system (CSCS) is certainly the most prominent representative of this new class of information systems. In this article, we first position USGs as a new class of information systems that deserves our attention due to the significant impact these systems are expected to have for individuals and societies, as well as the distinct research opportunities they offer for our discipline. Second, our article provides detailed insights of the Chinese SCS. Lastly, we develop a research agenda for IS research that will help IS research o become a relevant voice to study USGs. 

Short bio:

Julien Malaurent (malaurent@essec.edu) is Professor of Information Systems, Academic Director of ESSEC Metalab, and Academic Director of ESSEC Online programs. His research examines how information systems are used and worked around by users across global firms. Recently, his research has focused on the impact of scoring systems on citizens.