Michaela Schmidt
Doctoral research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
My name is Michaela and I moved to beautiful Trondheim in 2019 to complete a Masters degree in Urban Ecological Planning. My education had a strong focus on the social aspects of city planning which sparked my interest in understanding more of the complexities that shape our everyday lives. In 2022, I started my Phd at the Computer Science Department at NTNU, focusing on the digitalization of public administrations, which are the soft infrastructures of our built environments. With NAV being the biggest public administration in Norway that has undergone extensive digitalization, it is a great case to explore the role of technology in citizen-state interactions.
Tell us about your project!
My PhD project researches the direct interaction between citizens and public administrations, also known as public encounter. Digitalisation is moving these interaction to websites, platforms and other digital spaces, reducing face-to-face contact between public officials and citizens. This can change the when, where, and how of the encounter, as well as the skills and knowledge required of each actor. Through interviews and observations with citizens as well as frontline employees, I explore how the roles of public officials and citizens are affected, as well as the processes that can support digital public encounters.
“Through interviews and observations with citizens as well as frontline employees, I explore how the roles of public officials and citizens are affected, as well as the processes that can support digital public encounters”
— Michaela Schmidt on her research project “The digital public encounter”