Embedding people-centred data governance interventions in cities

Status: Ongoing

Collaborators: Dr. Antonio Calleja-López, Dr. Darren Sharp, Dr. Misita Anwar, Prof. Lyn Bartram, Dr. Sarah Goodwin

Can people-centred interventions in data governance be embedded and anchored in cities? What enables these initiatives to move beyond experimentation? In collaboration with Tecnopolítica, based at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) in Barcelona, we investigated the conditions that enabled and hindered the materialisation of the radical data governance agenda, initiated by the Barcelona city council in 2015. Drawing on expert interviews, municipal policy documents, and ethnographic observations, our analysis traces the evolution of the agenda and progress in implementation from 2015 to 2024. Our findings highlight the influence of the following on the materialisation, embedding, and anchoring of the radical data governance agenda: (1) organisational and administrative adaptation within local government; (2) the translation of political orientation into concrete technological developments; (3) the navigation of power dynamics; and (4) the city council’s ability to shape selection environments and align actors. More information can be found in our submitted manuscript, which is currently under review.