Background & Rationale
New JRC report on “Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU” published today in conjunction with the closing of the first-ever European Commission’s Interoperability Academy School, organised by the ISA² Programme and KU Leuven Public Governance Institute on 11-13 December 2019.
The report provides an analysis of the state of the art of digital government, based on results of a comprehensive review of literature and of digital government policies in the EU Member States conducted by JRC and an external team of researchers within the framework of the “European Location Interoperability Solutions for eGovernment (ELISE)" Action of the ISA2 Programme on Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens
The report depicts the variety of existing conceptualisations and definitions of the digital government phenomenon, measured and expected effects of the application of more disruptive innovations and emerging technologies in government, as well as key drivers and barriers for transforming the public sector.
The results of the study provides recommendations, especially in terms of new approaches to use data for the design and formulation of policies and the co-creation of public services, helping the Commission in proposing future research directions and policy implications for the EU beyond 2030.
Findings & key messages
Overall, the review of literature shows that many sources appear overly optimistic with regard to the impact of digital government transformation. The authors therefore caution that the phenomenon should be researched empirically and with a due differentiation between evidence and hope.
A digital transformation that implies the redesign of the tools and methods used in the machinery of government requires a significant change in the institutional frameworks that regulate and help coordinate the governance systems in which such changing processes are implemented.
It is urgent to address the way in which governments and governance systems adapt to deal with the social and political tensions that result from the profound changes in regulation and organisational structures of the public sector and to respond to the imbalances and contradictions brought by the digital transformation process itself.
For instance, one of the areas that the report flags is the lack of debate in the digital government literature on several policy challenges that are crucial for the “governance of AI”, such as the effects of AI and machine learning on, for example, reinforcing inequality and discrimination.
Another important element concerns the need of devising a regulatory framework that remove barriers to data flows, creating frameworks and infrastructures for interoperability and data sharing between the public and private sectors so to build a true European data ecosystem.
It is crucial to understand better the dynamics of platformisation in government, in order to reap the benefits while also avoiding monopolistic or oligopolistic outcomes. This entails exploring new ways to address the implications of digital government transformation on the combination of institutional, normative, cultural, and regulatory components that ensure the functioning of the economy and may alter the very social fabric of our societies.
The report is available in the ELISE Joinup Space.