Digitalisation of local government: key achievements and further prospects

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Digitalisation of local government: key achievements and further prospects

Grynenko Igor Ivanovych, Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas

Introduction

The local and regional levels of government are on the frontline of the introduction of new digital technologies and processes in public services: although central governments play a leading role in the decision to launch and roll out digitalization programmes and initiatives, most public services are delivered at municipal, local, or regional government level. This is where digitalized public services and administrations interact and communicate the most with citizens and users, and where the largest numbers of public service workers are involved or affected by public service digitalization. Local governments are key for development, as they are the institution that is close to the people. Local government is one of the realistic agencies in transforming lives [3].

The use of digital technologies in local governments and the municipal government system is becoming increasingly important in the context of digital transformation of society.

Presentation of the basic material

Digital transformations in local government can seem complex. Are you currently struggling to implement your digital transformation strategy in your local government? Are you struggling to know where to start or make changes? Or maybe you are just interested in how other local authorities are digitally transforming their services?

Digital transformation is more than just using digital tools to streamline a service or save time, it is a culture and a new way of working, and it doesn't just happen overnight. Arguably the most important part when digitally transforming an organisation is understanding your data and the value of it [9].

A digital transformation ensures the right digital foundations are in place to use your data effectively to drive efficiencies and adapt, when necessary, to create a continuous improvement cycle.

Digital innovation in local government refers to the creation and implementation of new ideas, methods and technologies to result in significant improvements or advancements. Often requiring encouragement and collaboration, digital innovation typically indicates clearer steps to ensure an innovation is successful.

Digital transformation and innovation in local governments are equally important because they it aims to use technology to improve the way councils cater and deliver services to accommodate the needs of their residents and other community stakeholders.

Through transforming processes to more sophisticated solutions, digital transformation in local governments mitigates risks, drives efficiencies, and incubates innovation. It facilitates more efficient processes so residents and staff can access the information they need quicker, and at their own convenience [9].

Digital transformations facilitate the «leapfrog» development of society, i.e. the transition not only of an individual organisation or industry, but also of the state as a whole to a higher technological level of development, bypassing its intermediate stages. For Ukraine, digital transformations can contribute to leapfrog development in many areas (technological revolution) and become a real alternative to the «catch-up» development of egovernment. It should be noted that digital technologies enable leapfrog development to significantly accelerate the transition from an outdated to a modern technological environment in developing countries. In advanced economies, new technologies are gradually replacing old ones, complementing them or completely renewing them. Developing countries mostly use outdated technologies, while having a significant potential for rapid development by transitioning to the latest models, several generations of technologies at once. Such states can quickly overcome several stages of technological transition and increase the level of social and economic development (Digital Agenda of Ukraine, 2020).

Digitalization of local self-government is implemented as part of the general process of digital transformation. It is worth highlighting the following elements of local self-government, which require a separate approach to digitalization policy: 1) municipal administration; 2) participation of residents in the implementation of local self-government; 3) direct formation of local self-government bodies by residents.

The benefits of implementing digital transformation tools (GovPilot, 2020):

1. Convenience (digital processes provide community residents with access to programs without leaving home).

2. Transparency (digital processes promote transparency by automatically notifying citizens of the completion of each step of the process of consideration of issues).

3. Effective use of employees' working time.

4. Automation of tasks.

5. Creation of data.

6. Unification of subdivisions.

7. Improving cyber security.

8. Reduces costs.

At the same time, the specified list of advantages is not exclusive and will continue to be explored in the future [5].

The concept of «digital community» is being actively promoted in the theory and practice of public administration by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian-Swiss EGAP project. At the same time, the concept of «digital community» as a scientific term has not yet received the attention and development it deserves. A widespread vision of a «digital community» is one that introduces a certain set of the latest digital technologies into the work of the relevant local governments and municipal structures, along with egovernment, electronic document management, electronic services, and IT systems.

Digital transformation in local self-government consists of a set of actions aimed at improving and modernising processes, including procedures for re-engineering technological and organisational frameworks.

They are based on the introduction and development of digital communications for data generation and transmission in order to interact more closely with citizens in the process of meeting their needs and expectations. In the new digital society, civil servants and local government officials are taking on new roles and responsibilities, and therefore need to have the appropriate digital skills, knowledge, abilities and competencies.

When planning for digital transformation in communities, local governments, and community councils in particular, should take into account The cultural and educational changes they face [6, p. 43].

At EU level, digitalisation is considered as part of a modernising government agenda and playing an integral role in the development of the knowledge economy. The Malmo Declaration (2009) identified four priorities: 1) Empower citizens and businesses; 2) Reinforce mobility in the Single Market; 3) Enable efficiency and effectiveness; 4) Create necessary key enablers and pre-conditions for the above priorities. The development of egovernment is dependent on citizens having access to on-line services, either at home or in the community, a telecommunications infrastructure which covers the whole country and citizens with a level of education and computer literacy that enables them to use new digital services.

Part of the «Europe 2020» strategy, launched in 2010 aimed to stimulate growth as well as implement structural reforms. The «Digital Agenda» was one of the initiatives outlined as part of the implementation of Europe 2020. The 2015 «Digital Single Market Strategy» goals include measures to improve the functioning of the internal market, e.g. cross-border ecommerce, reducing costs of parcel delivery and changes in telecom rules. The three pillars of the Digital Single Market Strategy cover: 1) Removal of digital barriers to improve access for consumers and businesses; 2) Creating rules which match the pace of digital technology and support infrastructure development; 3) Take advantages of digitalisation, through the use of ICT infrastructure and technologies, in relation to the economy, industry and employment, including government at all levels. The third pillar has implications for the way in which government data is shared and stored. A new EU e-government action plan for 2016-2020 is currently being developed, which will provide targets for the expansion of egovernment services [2, p. 4].

The use of digital services for increasing citizen participation has been considered for several years. A 2012 survey found that local government use of social media and Web 2.0 (a more recent version of the world wide web which allows people to collaborate and share information online) was mainly limited to information provision through RSS feeds. However, the use of Web 2.0 to extend dialogue between local and regional governments and their citizens was limited because there was a limited use of podcasts, real time webcasts and specific social networks, all indicators of citizen-to-citizen dialogue. Bonson et al (2012) found that this had some fundamental implications for the future. As citizens were already discussing local policies on-line, local governments should take the opportunity to enter into these discussions as peers rather than experts. This means that the more intense use of Web 2.0 will have to involve a new relationship between local governments and citizens in terms of policy, leadership and governance, which would result in «a more consultative, participatory, collaborative and transparent government».

On 21 November 2018, the European Commission adopted the Digital Strategy, the principles and objectives of which are based on the EU e-Government Action Plan, the European Interoperability Framework and the Tallinn Declaration. These goals include:

- supporting political priorities through the adoption of secure, state-of-the-art digital solutions; providing high-quality, reliable, borderless, digital public services, facilitating the free flow of data and stimulating a single digital market;

- ensuring the security of IT resources, preventing unauthorised access or use of information and protecting against cyber attacks;

- ensuring the security, efficiency and effectiveness of digital infrastructure and digital services.

Achieving Europe's sustainable development in the digital future is based on the following three components: technology that works for people (investing in digital competencies for all Europeans, further protecting people from cyber threats and ensuring the development of artificial intelligence), a fair and competitive digital economy (enabling innovative start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to access and expand financing), and an open, democratic and sustainable society (using technology to ensure the security of the people) [7].

The common features of e-governments in all EU member states are: the formation of a special legislative framework that qualitatively regulates relations in the field of e-government, an increase in the number of electronic services, IT workers, an increase in funding for e-government projects; encouraging citizens to use the benefits of e-government.

Both the EU and the UN highlight the evolution of e-government which covers several stages which moves from provision of information to different degrees of interaction and full integration. The value of this model is that it acknowledges that the incorporation of digital technologies into the operation of government has to be seen as a process of evolution. The four main stages are: 1. Emerging - limited and static information; 2. Enhanced - oneway interaction - regularly updated information on public policy & governance, links provided to documents, forms, reports; 3. Transactional - two way interaction between government to citizen and citizen to government communications, e.g. passport renewal, paying taxes and payment for services transactions; 4. Connected - total integration of all services across administrative and departmental boundaries, back-office integration of departments and cross unit information sharing [2, p. 6].

As digital technologies become more common and entrenched within public utilities, one of the evident consequences is the dependency of responsible public authorities on private suppliers and digital tech companies for the provision, maintenance and update of digital devices and services; and for providing training to utility workers. As the role of private providers becomes essential, they become «gatekeepers» between the public authorities, the utility and the users. This situation can lead to a scenario where public authorities will have to purchase data that would normally belong to them already or will have to pay a high price for routine fixes and maintenance [8, p. 5].

Despite its numerous benefits, digital innovation can also disrupt the way cities are governed and financed. Without an integrated, multi-sectoral, and whole of government perspective at national and local levels, digital innovations can upend legal and regulatory frameworks that safeguard affordability objectives, but also consumer protection, taxation, labour contracts and fair competition. They can jeopardise citizen data, privacy and safety, and shake the decision-making powers and modalities in the era of real-time - and often asymmetric - information. Equally important, they can deepen inequality among digitally marginalised groups unless local governments recognise that techdriven solutions are as important to the marginalised as they are to the affluent. One interesting failed Smart City project is that of Toronto Quayside (Canada), involving Google's Sidewalk Labs. This case illustrates several issues related to the use of digital technologies in local public services: collective data trusts, the use of smart technologies and the surveillance that follows and the changing balance of power between the public and private sector [8, p. 9].

The European Commission report The Future of Cities covers areas such as provision of services, health, social segregation, climate, technology and urban governance. Whilst there seems to be many EU initiatives, they appear scattered across the large European structure. It could be interesting to dig deeper into the real prioritisation of Smart Cities by the Commission. In developing countries in Asia, smart cities are also a tool to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Development Banks play a key role in pushing and shaping smart city ideas. The ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) was established in 2018 as a collaborative platform where up to three cities from each ASEAN member state, including capitals, work towards the common goal of smart and sustainable urban development. The declared goal of the Network is to improve the lives of ASEAN citizens, using technology as an enabler. Specifically, the ASCN officially aims to: facilitate cooperation on smart cities development; catalyse bankable projects with the private sector; secure funding and support from ASEAN's external partners. It remains unclear what role the ASCN plays as brokers of the big investment deals via the Development Banks. Also, given the issues mentioned above with regards to the Toronto Quayside project, unions in the region should follow these action plans and link these to discussions on public service access, quality and trade union rights.

In particular, there will be a convergence of technology trends which create new possibilities, such as growing in processing power, data analytics, faster networks, and the use of algorithms. But public trust must be maintained on this journey, and that will come from transparency, user-control, inclusivity, and equality. Digital trends depend on technology, such as cloud, AI, IoT, 5G networks, and data analytics tools, but it is digital design that will underpin successful IT adoption, more than technology innovation itself [8, p. 9].

Among the main areas of digitalisation of local self-government, the most promising are the following:

- development of digital competences of local self-government officials;

- digitalisation of territorial communities;

- digital transformation of municipal administration;

- development of digital interaction between government and business;

- introduction of digital technologies into the electoral system, in particular in local elections [4, p. 44].

The digital competences of local council officials should include not only basic skills but also more advanced skills in accordance with the Digital Competence Framework developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. This places increased demands on officials who must not only use, access, filter, but also evaluate, create, program and distribute digital content.

They need to be able to manage and protect information, content, data and digital identities, as well as recognise and work effectively with applications, devices, artificial intelligence and robots.

Another important element of the Digital Community is artificial intelligence.

As foreign experience shows, the capabilities of existing artificial intelligence technologies, given the current requirements of digitalisation of public administration, are relevant and in demand for solving a wide range of administrative tasks related to the practice of providing municipal services to citizens and organisations. Moreover, artificial intelligence can be used in the practice of providing many services within any life situation of a citizen, providing timely and relevant answers to citizens' questions, identifying and forecasting the needs of individuals and population groups, as well as in developing plans for the efficient use of of municipal resources [6, p. 45].

Benefits of digital transformation of local self-government.

Taking into account the practice and developed solutions of digitalisation of local self-government in the world, we can identify certain benefits that digitalisation using modern cloud technologies and digital public administration platforms provides to local governments (Benefits of Digital Transformation).

1. Improves convenience. Consumers in modern society are accustomed to the ease of shopping, ordering food, booking travel, and banking. They expect to be able to do business online. Cloud-based processes provide residents of communities with access to applications, information and other services that traditionally require a trip to city hall. By digitising operations, the municipality can more efficiently process claims, requests and suggestions from community residents.

2. Promotes transparency. Digitalised workflows promote transparency by automatically notifying citizens when each step of the process is completed. Placing information in publicly searchable databases also increases the level of transparency of the authorities' actions.

3. Saves time for employees. When documents are stored in the cloud rather than in physical files, employees save time by directly retrieving documents from other departments, avoiding irrelevant reports and physically updating files. Inconveniences such as having to print meeting notes and physically deliver them to colleagues can be eliminated with digital workflows. As an example, when an inspector visits a property, they can view and update property files in real time via a mobile device. This reduces the time needed to enter data later, and because the document is in the cloud, all departments have immediate access to the updated information.

4. Automates tasks. Digitalisation of document management eliminates the need for draft documents to travel through departments, resulting in faster, higher quality results. Digital workflows allow civil servants to track progress on a document, automatically notify stakeholders as soon as a milestone is reached, and create reminders so that the task does not stalled due to interdepartmental errors.

5. Makes data accessible. With cloud storage, files can be found by simple queries, rather than hours spent searching through archives. Employees can access cases and update files from their mobile devices. Property data can be retrieved in real time from the municipal GIS platform, ensuring that every department has access to the most up-to-date information. Reports and analyses can be automatically generated with a few clicks.

6. Unites departments. Thanks to centralised documents, all departments work together with the same information. Employees from all departments can access, manage, and make decisions based on current and accurate data.

7. Improves cybersecurity. The number of cyberattacks on local governments is constantly growing worldwide. Own servers on the ground are expensive to maintain and difficult to protect. They have become an easy target for cybercriminals who use ransomware to extort large sums of money from local governments. By moving to the cloud, records are securely stored and backed up several times a day. Maintenance and security costs are also eliminated as the cloud provider becomes responsible for cyber security.

8. Reduces costs. Digital governance eliminates the cost of printing and mailing documents to citizens. Online payment options also reduce transaction processing costs. Productivity gains from digitisation reduce labour costs. Finally, moving from on-premises server platforms to the cloud can reduce maintenance and security costs [6, p. 110-112].

Digital technologies, like any previous innovative results of scientific and technological revolutions, create potential opportunities or a basis for improving the activities of public authorities. How will state or local government leaders take advantage of this opportunity? This depends entirely on the decision-makers' understanding of the necessity and inevitability of the transition to digital governance.

Therefore, the digital community as a subject of research is imagined as one where community governance corresponds to new forms and mechanisms of digital governance in the organisation of the economy and life of residents of communities and territories. This should change not only the technological support of administration, but also, figuratively speaking, turn the management system upside down. Already today, digital platforms enable citizens to address numerous needs on their own, including those of the authorities. Thus, the role of officials is taking on a new quality and significance [6, p. 47].

There are three important elements of local self-government, each of which requires its own specific approach to digitalisation policy. These are: municipal governance, participation of residents in local selfgovernment, and direct formation of local self-government bodies by residents [1].

1. For municipal governance, it is advisable to digitise as much as possible. Much has already been achieved in this direction and there are many positive practical solutions. Nevertheless, there are significant limitations that should be taken into account when digitalising local government. The main one is the principle of accessibility of municipal services.

The practice of recent years, when digitalisation in local government has «gained momentum», shows that technological innovations can complicate the interaction of people with municipal structures and destroy already established and well-functioning interaction mechanisms. Therefore, when deciding on the implementation of certain elements of e-government in specific communities, especially rural ones, it is necessary to take into account, at a minimum, the level of access to high-speed Internet and the level of their general computer literacy.

2. The second problematic area is the participation of residents in the implementation of local selfgovernment based on e-democracy mechanisms. Such participation is always supplementary to the activities of local self-government bodies, and the decisions made by residents within any form of e-democracy are advisory in nature. The main forms of participation of residents in local self-government include: petitions, appeals to the authorities, polls, local initiatives, residents' meetings, public hearings, social networks, etc. Of course, the degree and scope of digitalisation of residents' participation in local self-government will vary for each of these forms. For example, it is expedient and useful to digitise petitions, citizens' appeals and surveys, while public hearings should continue to be held in person, as there are no available technologies to create the effect of participation of a large number of people in the digital environment.

3. An important problematic area of local self-government is also the direct exercise of local selfgovernment by community residents (i.e., elections, referendums and citizens' meetings), and in this case, digitalisation lags far behind the requirements of the times. It is still widely believed that it is impossible to replace the direct formation of local self-government bodies with digital analogues given the current technical level of electronic voting. The argumentation here is similar to the one that generally opposes the digital transformation of public administration and the implementation of new ways of expressing the will of citizens. The situation is further complicated by the fact that electronic elections and referendums still lack a sufficient regulatory framework and, in the event of failures during their conduct, may raise questions about the reliability and, therefore, the legitimacy of the results. However, even now, the presence of an extensive digital technology infrastructure and the general interest associated with it create conditions for active and direct participation of residents in community life, including political life. The problem of introducing digital technologies into the electoral field is largely related to the reluctance of executive bodies, both at the centre and at the local level, to reduce their control and influence on the voting results using established political technologies [1].

digitalization investment local government

Conclusions

Summarising the above, it should be noted that the implementation of the concept of development of the digital economy and society of Ukraine, namely the component of digital transformation of local self-government bodies, will be carried out provided that the sequence of actions of this process, its features, principles, conditions, methods, processes, models, necessary resources, responsible persons and time parameters are clear, i.e. a clearly developed methodology.

The digital transformation of local government in Ukraine is gradual, but not always consistent. However, of all public administration sectors, local governments can benefit most from investing in digital technologies, namely: moving away from paper-based processes increases efficiency and productivity; documents are stored in the cloud, protected from cyber and physical threats; a wide network of Wi-Fi and mobile devices means that employees can access and update data at any time from anywhere; time previously spent searching for paper files and entering data can be used to solve problems; corruption risks are reduced, etc.

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