Automating social assistance

Topic: Automating social assistance: A client-level study of antecedents and outcomes

When: 30 August 12.00 - 13.00

Where: Online

Spoken language: English

Participators

Presentation: Nora Germundsson, PhD student in Social Work at Stockholm University 

Commentator: Lupita Svensson, Senior lecturer Social work at Lund University 

Moderator: Ellinor Blom Lussi, PhD student in Technology and Society at Lund University

Abstract

Like in many European countries, Swedish authorities have increasingly turned to digital automation to improve their administration of public benefits. Recent surveys show that approximately 10% of Swedish municipalities have introduced or are about to introduce Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in their handling of social assistance (SA). However, there is still a limited understanding of both the utilisation and impact of RPA use on SA distribution. Drawing from a sample of 800 SA applications across four Swedish municipalities, this presentation will focus on: a) the extent of the actual use of RPA, b) the degree to which RPA use relates to the outcomes of decisions, and c) the extent to which both usage and outcomes relate to factors at the client level.The results, which will be published in a forthcoming article, suggest that while RPA can serve as a tool for internally streamlining administrative processes in the SA context, it might simultaneously create unevenly distributed restrictions on citizens' access to the SA benefit.

This lunch seminar is arranged within the scope of the research project The Automated Administration which is financed by Future Challenges in the Nordics