Affordances of e-reporting on a supranational level: the case of Reportnet

Abstract

An increasing emphasis on data driven and evidence-based policy making gives information and information systems a key role in governance processes. It is also argued that digital governance can support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A number of grand challenges, such as climate change, need to be addressed at an international level. In climate governance, reporting has a central role to monitor progress, both under the Paris Agreement at a global level, and within the European Union (EU). Within the EU, reporting is also used to assess implementation and compliance with EU regulations. This paper is based on an interpretive study of the e-reporting platform, Reportnet, which is used to manage climate reporting within the EU. Affordance theory is applied as an analytical lens to uncover the possibilities of e-reporting in a supranational context. Our study identified six key affordances in the areas of submission of reports, quality controls, compliance, monitoring, transparency and communication and visualization. The study also suggests that an important area for improvement is to make the reported information more usable, particularly in further policy processes.