Affiliations: School of Law, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland. Tel.: +353 91 495626; Fax: +353 91 494506; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Information and communications technology (ICT) is increasingly used in
bureaucratic and regulatory processes. With the development of the `Internet
of Things', some researchers speak enthusiastically of the birth of the
`Smart State'. However, there are few theoretical or critical perspectives
on the role of ICT in these routine decision-making processes and the
mundane work of government regulation of economic and social activity. This
article therefore makes an important contribution by putting forward a
theoretical perspective on smartness in government and developing a
values-based framework for the use of ICT as a tool in the internal
machinery of government. It critically reviews the protection of the rule of law in digitized
government. As an addition to work on e-government, a new field of study,
`e-regulation' is proposed, defined, and critiqued, with particular attention to the
difficulties raised by the use of models and simulation. The increasing
development of e-regulation could compromise fundamental values by embedding
biases, software errors, and mistaken assumptions deeply into government
procedures. The article therefore discusses the connections between the
`Internet of Things', the development of `Ambient Law', and how the use of
ICT in e-regulation can be a support for or an impediment to the operation
of the rule of law. It concludes that e-government research should give more
attention to the processes of regulation, and that law should be a more
central discipline for those engaged in this activity.
Keywords: E-government, e-regulation, information and communications technology, information infrastructures, regulation, rule of law, smart government
