Is the GaaP wider than we think?: Applying a sociotechnical lens to Government-as-a-Platform

Applying a sociotechnical lens to the Government-as-a-Platform initiative, we suggest that the implementation of it is far from beneficial to the End User - the citizen. Looking at the adoption of the digital platform by governments and using the United Kingdom's deployment of www.gov.uk as an example, we argue that this shift towards digital interaction focuses merely on the transactional arrangement rather than the relational exchanges required of public service. We present that there is a disconnect between the imaginary of the benefits of the digital platform and how, when applied to the public sector, the citizen is missing from the discussion.