With the growing ease of collecting, transmitting, storing, processing, and analyzing massive amounts of data, evidence-based decision-making has new meanings and implications for public managers and policymakers today.
Based on a report analyzing managerial practices of U.S. large and mid-sized cities as well as the results of a number of engaged research projects with local governments in the Kansas City metropolitan area, this presentation discusses how Big Data development is impacting public management and governance in the U.S. Specifically, the presentation examines how local governments in the U.S. are using various channels, including their websites, social media platforms, mobile phone technologies, sensors, and video cameras to collect data, how they are using or not using data analytics to improve program management and policymaking, and what managerial challenges they are facing. Next, the presentation presents two case studies showing how Big Data has the potential to revolutionize public management practices, but suggesting that abrupt technological change is unlikely to happen due to various institutional and organizational constraints. The presentation concludes by discussing the implications of Big Data for public governance, law, and organizational management, and what major questions public administration scholars should explore carefully in the near future.