Public Administration System Digitalization In Russian Regions

Abstract

The article identifies the main directions of digitalization of public services. The prerequisites for the emergence of this direction are established based on the comparison of Kondratiev's cycles and the development of the world economy. Despite the fact that the federal project "Digital public administration" involves a number of serious changes to simplify the interaction of citizens with the government bodies, it does not solve many of the current problems of inefficiency of government bodies and does not fully respond to the challenges of digital transformation. Having analyzed the key difficulties in the development of digital public administration in Russia, measures to overcome them have been proposed. The digital transformation should radically change approaches to the work of government bodies using digital technologies and algorithms. It is associated with the processes of adaptation to new conditions, taking into account needs of the modern market and expectations of consumers of services. To be efficient, digitalization requires a systemic transformation of management processes and a radical restructuring of the government bodies.

Keywords: Public services, e-government, digital technologies, digitalization

Introduction

The ambitious tasks of the Digital Economy program approved by the Government of the Russian Federation impose new requirements on the public administration system, organization and structure of the state apparatus. Despite the fact that the federal project "Digital Public Administration" involves a number of serious changes to simplify the interaction of citizens with the government bodies, it does not solve the current problems of inefficiency of government bodies and respond to the challenges of digital transformation (Dmitrieva, 2019). If for business, digitalization is the key to survival in modern markets, a driver for increasing competitiveness and profit, for government agencies the role of digital transformation is not obvious.

Problem Statement

Digitalization intensification in modern society predetermines the need to use new opportunities that will help to process more data. One of the ways to solve this problem is the use of information and communication technologies. The provision of electronic public services is important, since this will increase the efficiency of public services. The provision of electronic public services has its own obstacles; it is necessary to find ways to overcome them which determines the relevance of this study.

Research Questions

The use of digital technologies, the development of the digital economy, innovations in public administration are reflected in the works by Dmitrieva (2019), Kostin (2019), Mylnikova (2019), Rul (2016), Smotritskaya (2018), Khokhlov (2018), etc. However, features of the digital system have not been studied in the context of the digital economy at the stage of innovative development.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of digitalization of modern public administration in the context of innovative development.

Research Methods

This work is based on modern achievements of regional studies. The dialectical approach covers different aspects of the problems in their interconnection. The logical and contextual analysis, the comparative analysis, the statistical analysis, the decomposition and scientific generalization are applied.

Findings

The transition of any state to the information society requires rethinking and new mechanisms for regulating relations between citizens, their associations and the state. All subjects of information relations should be aware of and fulfill their role in this process, but it is the state that influences the qualitative aspect of transformation processes, involves politicians, scientists, practitioners, and the public in cooperation.

This fact is demonstrated by Kondratiev's theory, which studies the cycles of economic development in the world (Fig. 01).

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The correlation between the level of development of innovative activities and the level of economic development is confirmed by the dynamics of the ratio of revenues and expenditures of the federal budget of the Russian Federation.

Since the Russian economy is resource-oriented, in 2008–2009, there was a budget deficit (these are the years of the global crisis).

In 2016, the deficit is explained by the impact of crisis phenomena caused by the imposed sanctions. In 2018, a positive balance was due to the changes in the dependence of the national economy on the exports of resources. These trends are consistent with the dynamics proposed by Kondratiev.

As a result, it can be argued about the need to use digital technologies in public administration, which are the basis of the modern dynamic development of most countries.

The content of the information society is increased attention to the knowledge that society has and the potential for its development. The content of management in the public sector is the search for the best ways to use all resources, including intellectual ones.

In the last decade, there has been a transformation of public administration towards its adaptation to the requirements of the information society and the information age. With information technologies, the decision-making process and their implementation have been accelerated; a mechanism for effective consultation of the public on the state policy is appearing, new channels for providing citizens with information and services are being determined; this process is manifested in changing approaches to governance mechanisms and a gradual reorientation of basic principles with an emphasis on ensuring broad participation of citizens in the discussion and adoption of government decisions (Mylnikova, 2019).

The main directions of public needs and requests of the subjects of electronic government are:

• creation, sending, transfer, receipt, processing, use, control of execution and storage of electronic documents;
• technological integration of components of the electronic interaction system and the integrated information protection system;
• downloading, filling out, submitting applications and other documents in an electronic form, remote payment for the provision of public services, receiving information about applications submitted;
• direct satisfaction of needs and requests of individuals and legal entities in the field of finances (taxes, insurance, financial services), social protection (pension, social security), registration (individual entrepreneurs, legal entities, etc.), notarial activities, citizenship and migration, education and culture, family, security and protection, communications and informatization, foreign economic activities, real estate and construction, agriculture, natural resources and ecology, transport, intellectual property (Kostin, 2019).

The key principles of digital government are:

• digital end-to-end;
• customer-centric services;
• platform independence;
• a data-driven strategy;
• the use of open data;
• openness to innovation and disruptive technologies.

For the successful implementation of e-government and full realization of all the advantages of Russia, it is necessary to bring the public administration system closer to the Russian standards. The young republic needs some time, since the final transition to electronic government requires going through many intermediate stages from declaring this direction at the highest state level as a priority to improving the system of training, retraining and advanced training of civil servants who will directly carry out the relevant functional duties.

Having analyzed the reasons for the low efficiency of digital technologies in public administration, we can conclude that the main problems are:

• formal approach, conservatism and bureaucracy of civil servants;

The following stages of overcoming difficulties can be identified:

Stage I: ensuring the possibility of remote access to complete, relevant and reliable information about the administrative services;

Stage II: ensuring the possibility of remote downloading, filling in and printing electronic applications and other documents necessary for obtaining services using information and communication technologies. The subjects have the opportunity to form a package of documents in advance;

Stage III: providing remote consultations.

The digitalization of administrative services is possible subject to the regulatory, organizational and technological support of this process.

In this regard, the work emphasizes the promising directions for the development of digital technologies in public administration.

1. Following the example of a long-established information resource, in order to improve digital technologies, it is necessary to create a single portal of public services, which can improve the efficiency of digitalization of Russian society. This resource will ensure the information and technological interaction of all information systems that provide electronic government services.

2. Social networks. Social networks are not a full-fledged resource for government activities; there is no opportunity to leave your email address as an official one. In the legislation of the Russian Federation, when applying electronically, the e-mail address is officially indicated where the response must be sent. Therefore, the use of digital technologies by the regional authorities is a promising area that needs methodological and legal support.

3. The dynamic development of digital technologies in the regions can create a system "Electronic government" using the method of providing electronic government services to citizens, businesses and other authorities and minimizing personal interaction (Rul, 2016).

4. Implementation of modern software for working with citizens' appeals in all departments. At this stage, regardless of the method of appeal, all data are registered in the information base "Citizens' Appeals" by the department.

Prospects for the development of an automated information system (AIS) "Citizens' Appeals" are: mobile applications for Android and IOS; terminals for filing in applications in public places; SMS-notification of citizens about their applications; a system of non-material incentives for employees.

5. The use of information management systems for solving problems of forecasting, responding and preventing crises and other emergency situations is one of the promising directions of digitalization of government bodies. They can improve the efficiency of public administration, prevent corruption, create alternative communication channels, increase the level of civil confidence in the authorities.

The most promising areas of digitalization of public administration include: information and management, local area networks, Internet technologies.

6. Given the increased role of information, the Internet, and telecommunications, one of the priorities in the development of digital technologies in public administration is security in the field of information threats.

Conclusion

Thus, the development of digital technologies in public administration of the Russian regions is one of the most promising directions. The main ways of introducing such a system into public administration are: the creation of a single portal of public services; the use of social media; the systematic, phased implementation of the "Electronic Government" system.

The generated information flows are necessary for government bodies and society as a whole. Therefore, the prospects for the use of digital technologies in the public administration should contribute to the qualitative interaction of the managed and control systems.

The avenue for further research is possibilities of implementing foreign experience in creating an effective innovation system in public administration through the use of elements of the digital economy.

References

• Dmitrieva, N. E. (2019). Digital transformation of government: myths and reality problems of economic and social development. House of the Higher School of Economics.

• Glazyev, S. Y. (2012). The modern theory of long waves in the development of the economy. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sovremennaya-teoriya-dlinnyh-voln-v-razvitii-ekonomiki

• Khokhlov, Y. E. (2018). Global Best Practices for the Digital Transformation of the Public Sector in Russia. Competition in the Digital Age: Strategic Challenges for the Russian Federation, 50–65.

• Kostin, K. B. (2019). Modern technologies of the digital economy as a driver of growth in the global market for goods and services. Econ. relat., 9(2), 455–480.

• Mylnikova, L. A. (2019). Innovations and digitalization of the Russian economy. Econ. J., 1, 107–119.

• Rul, L. V. (2016). Internet portals as an element of technology in state and municipal government In Research and development of students (pp. 114–117). Cheboksary.

• Smotritskaya, I. I. (2018). Current trends in the digital transformation of public administration. Bull. of the Inst. of Econ. RAS, 5, 22–36.