The Emerging Digital Twin Bureaucracy in the 21st Century

Abstract With the expansion of digital transformation based on new technologies, the digital twin bureaucracy (DTB) emerges as a distinct type of 21st-century bureaucracy. The digital twin bureaucracy is defined as a digital replica of the bureaucracy in the physical world. Although the digital twin is formed based on new information and communication technology and physical bureaucracy data, it will control the physical bureaucracy through autonomous decision-making on matters of public affairs. Feedback from the physical world serve as input and update to the digital twin in this cyclical course of interactions. This study explores the technological figures and benefits of the digital twin bureaucracy based on a case analysis of the Sejong City Digital Twin Project in South Korea. It also compares the characteristics of the DTB and those of Max Weber’s “ideal-type” bureaucracy. Based on this theoretical and empirical analysis, the paper presents the challenges and concerns of building the DTB.