Public Management Competencies in a Digital World: Lessons from a Global Frontrunner

In contemporary public administration, mid-level managers play a key role in shaping if and how digital technology is used on every-day basis. But knowledge of the competencies of mid-level managers who increasingly need to manage use of digital technology is rather limited. Seeking to rectify the lack of knowledge, we distil relevant mid-level managerial competencies within thinking on bureaucracies, digital transformation and “digital skills”, and combine this with a multiple case-study of Danish administrative bodies’ use of automated decision-making. Drawing on an understanding of competences as a combination of work-related knowledge, skills and aptitudes held by individuals, we tentatively identify five key competencies for mid-level managers in relation to public administrative bodies’ everyday use of digital technology. The identified competencies can help individual managers and public administrative bodies being more targeted in their efforts to manage increased technology use on an every-day basis. Noteworthy, none of the identified competencies imply managers should become technology specialists today or anytime in the future.