The Digitalization of Public Administration and Born-Digital Functions: a Modern 'Janus Bifrons'?

The digitalization of public administration is a phenomenon that is generally described as an “organizational moment” of the administrative action. Its purpose is to exert, through the ICT, administrative functions, and to provide public services, that previously were used to exerting (or providing) in the analogical and traditional way. However, digitalization is also something else. If we consider the openness data policies, which realized the principle of transparency through ICT and which are directed to enhance the data asset of public administrations, we also can see another side of the digitalization. Like “Janus Bifrons”, the Roman god with two faces, the digitalization is both “organization” to exert current functions (and to provide public services) in a better way, and exerting (and providing) of not pre-existing administrative functions (and public services). This is the case of born-digital functions and born-digital public services. An example of a born-digital function is the data analysis: with data analysis, public administrations do something new that up to a few years ago no one could just think about.