On stakeholder dialectics in digital identity infrastructures

Abstract

This thesis studies change in identity management in the context of digital public service delivery. Identity management involves actors, processes and supporting technologies for the creation, management and use of digital identities—the information about individuals necessary for access to varied services. Software-based systems for identity management are undergoing a considerable change, coupled with the decentralised communication and distributed decision-making for digital identities, which gives individuals greater control over personal information. This brings organisational complexity in system development and calls for consideration of stakeholder relations when specifying system requirements, managing interests and making architectural decisions that influence the scope of change in the digital infrastructures of public services.

The goal of this thesis is to analyse stakeholder relations during system development. The analysis is based on a series of qualitative field studies within a large inter-organisational project in Europe. The project focused on the development of an electronic identification system for online public services and involved software developers, citizens and public administrations in a collaborative design process. The research combined observational and participatory components from the empirical setting and proceeded in three phases. First, the study explored requirements for the system design using co-creation principles. Second, the study investigated architectural assumptions underpinning design decisions during the system development. Third, the study conducted a comprehensive stakeholder analysis to examine the role of symbolic properties and trust in the system adoption.

The results emphasise the need to shift attention in identity management decentralisation from technical designs to the social and organisational factors that influence design during system development. The integration of user-centred identity management systems into the digital infrastructures of public services requires engaging stakeholders in a dialogic exploration of their infrastructural relations. By supporting institutional transparency and inclusivity in the design of digital identity technology, practitioners and policymakers can promote trust in emergent decentralised solutions. Thus, this thesis aims to contribute to knowledge of identity management for public services as socio-technical systems shaped by stakeholders’ infrastructural relations.