Abstract:

Digital technology drives the operations of bureaucratic organizations. But how? Based on the case of Zhejiang Province’s “Four Platforms of Grassroots Governance” ， this paper uses “territorial operation” to explore the tendency of digital government’s operational logic to allow technology to drive bureaucratic organizations to construct decision-making and action strategies according to modular or systematic thinking， which helps strengthen government’s overall response to real problems. This transformation manifests by changing the action mode from segmentation to integration， changing the organizational relationship from linear connections to an interactive network， changing the value pursuit from departmental performance to overall efficiency， etc. “Territorial operations” transcends the departmentalized operations of traditional bureaucratic organizations， which helps to enhance the government's response to complex social problems. Such modifications are not easily achieved. They face the constraints of bureaucratic inertia， the application of digital technology， and the tension between technology simplicity and reality complexity. The territorial operational logic expands the research perspective of digital government governance as well as provides a new explanatory framework for understanding the transformation of bureaucratic organizations driven by digital technology.

Key words: digital technology, bureaucratic organization, operational logic, territorialization