Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Digital public infrastructures are expanding rapidly across developing contexts, even as their embedded classification systems delimit how states perceive, measure, and govern social realities. Although digital sovereignty debates prioritize data localization and infrastructural ownership, limited attention has been directed to the ontological foundations that organize administrative visibility and define what becomes measurable and actionable. Encoded categories compress complex operational practices into standardized indicators, generating direct consequences for budgeting, prioritization, and strategic planning. To close this gap, this study advances the concept of semantic sovereignty and examines how classification schemes embedded in a national health information platform condition governance autonomy and collective decision-making. Drawing on a qualitative interpretive case design, the analysis identifies four reinforcing mechanisms: representational compression, adaptive stabilization, dashboard authority, and ontological lock-in. Findings reposition digital sovereignty as authority over representational design and call for institutionalized processes of iterative ontological recalibration within digital public infrastructure.
Paper Number
1587
Recommended Citation
Kuika Watat, Josue; Jonathan, Gideon Mekonnen; Zhang, Lidan; and Sheikh, Hassan Mahamed, "Semantic Sovereignty: Who Has the Power to Define the Digital State" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 10.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/egov/sig_egov/10
Semantic Sovereignty: Who Has the Power to Define the Digital State
Digital public infrastructures are expanding rapidly across developing contexts, even as their embedded classification systems delimit how states perceive, measure, and govern social realities. Although digital sovereignty debates prioritize data localization and infrastructural ownership, limited attention has been directed to the ontological foundations that organize administrative visibility and define what becomes measurable and actionable. Encoded categories compress complex operational practices into standardized indicators, generating direct consequences for budgeting, prioritization, and strategic planning. To close this gap, this study advances the concept of semantic sovereignty and examines how classification schemes embedded in a national health information platform condition governance autonomy and collective decision-making. Drawing on a qualitative interpretive case design, the analysis identifies four reinforcing mechanisms: representational compression, adaptive stabilization, dashboard authority, and ontological lock-in. Findings reposition digital sovereignty as authority over representational design and call for institutionalized processes of iterative ontological recalibration within digital public infrastructure.
Comments
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