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About

Agneta Ranerup is a prominent researcher specializing in digital transformation, automated decision-making, and the intersection of technology and public sector governance, with a particular focus on social services. Her work has made significant contributions to understanding how robotic process automation (RPA) and algorithmic systems reshape public administration, professional discretion, and service delivery in welfare contexts. Ranerup's most influential contributions examine how automation challenges traditional notions of civil servant discretion and public values. Her 2019 study on social services in Trelleborg, Sweden, exploring value positions in automated decision-making, has accumulated 165 citations, while her 2020 work on "digital discretion" — analyzing how human and technological agency intertwine in automated systems — has garnered 125 citations, establishing her as a leading voice in this emerging field. A recurring theme across her research is the tension between technological efficiency and human judgment in welfare bureaucracies. By grounding her investigations in Swedish municipal case studies, she provides empirically rich insights into how RPA is implemented, translated, and contested in real-world social work settings. Her scholarship is essential reading for researchers and practitioners navigating the ethical and organizational complexities of public sector digitalization.