Phub Namgay: Complex Dynamics of Data Ecosystems: An Inquiry into the Recurrent Patterns of Action to Manage and Analyse Data

Abstract

The rapid datafication of society has impacted every aspect of our daily lives. However, the literature and discussions thus far on data are largely techno-centric. The agency and effect of individuals in data ecosystems are either reduced to a mere facilitative role or backgrounded in the data discourses. In this dissertation, data-related activities such as those found in data management and analytics processes were problematised as digital phenomena that await critical examination through the lens of Routine Dynamics theory.

Four studies are presented in this dissertation that investigate how people and technologies enact intricate routines for interoperating data in digital infrastructures;  how organisations manage the interplay of humans and technologies for structuring systems and data to implement the single source of truth concept; and how knowledge management models can unpack the intersection of in-house data analytics systems and cloud services in small- and medium-sized organisations to transform raw data into actionable knowledge. The insights from applying Routine Dynamics theory in those first three studies culminated in developing a conceptual model of routines.

The theory-informed problematisation of various data-driven activities in an empirical setting less represented in the scientific literature, such as in the nascent data ecosystem of Bhutan, advances the relevant body of knowledge with fresh perspectives on data management and analytics processes. Similarly, the rich account of data that factors in the role of humans will allow individuals and organisations to reframe narratives on data and enrich their data management and analytics practices in complex data ecosystems.