Les technologies de production automatisée de données comme instruments d’action publique : de la production des données aux effets sur les fonctionnaires intermédiaires

Adopting a theoretical and meta-analytic perspective, this article discusses the transformations of policy-making triggered by the various types of data available in the "big data" era (statistics, probative, homogenized, etc.). It argues that the tools used to produce these data constitute genuine policy instruments, which convey a specific representation of the problems to be dealt with and of the relationship between the rulers and the citizens. Questioning the concrete transformations that the implementation and use of such data and technologies entail for intermediate bureaucrats, the article highlights several effects they produce on public policy, such as the automation of data production and administrative work, which transforms the nature of human intervention. From a critical perspective, it addresses the future of these officials’ discretionary power, the meaning and content of their work, as well as the cognitive mutations at work. To sum up, the paper provides a framework for future research on the digitalization of policy-making currently at play.