Abstract

Digital Transformation (DT) involves processes of technological change to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of organizations. In this paper, we study DT in public welfare agencies, an often-overlooked type of organization. We focus on how DT affects the work and role of caseworkers, public employees who act as counselors and manage citizens who ask for benefits. We draw on an ongoing qualitative case study of the work to assess sick leave cases at a Scandinavian welfare agency. Our findings illustrate that caseworkers’ role as intermediaries between the agency and citizens becomes even more prominent and configures in three main practices. We contribute empirical insights shedding light on how caseworkers navigate the DT to continuously provide services to citizens. Moreover, we show how they exercise discretion by using the technology they have to personalize the pathway of each citizen and scale up their capacity to assess cases in a shorter time. We conclude by discussing the implications of our study for Information Systems research and by characterizing the role of caseworkers as fundamental service providers during DT.

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