Robots conquering local government services: A case study of eldercare in Denmark

Abstract

The movement of robots from the production line to the service sector provides a potentially radical solution to innovate and transform public service delivery. Although robots are increasingly being adopted in service delivery (e.g., health- and eldercare) to enhance and in some cases substitute l abour-intensive services, the public administration research community is short on knowledge of the impact on the work processes carried out in public organizations and how staff and clients react toward robots. This case study investigates the implementation and use of robot vacuum cleaners in Danish eldercare, demonstrating how robot vacuums have proven to have considerable interpretive flexibility with variation in the perceived nature of technology, technology strategy, and technology use between key stakeholders in eldercare.