Public Governance in Digital Transformation: from Electronic Document Exchange to Digital Ecosystems

Abstract

This article explores the changes arising from the introduction of information and communication technologies in public administration using an institutional approach. Practical examples are used to consider transformations in the way government institutions interact with citizens and organizations, as well as new emerging opportunities in the provision of public and socially important services. The author analyses both the retrospective formation of centralised government information systems in countries that have reached digital maturity, the formation of electronic, digital and smart governments, and the emerging trends of the next round of digital transformation - the development of interstate digital ecosystems and regional digital environments of megacities and urban agglomerations. In particular, the article examines the steps taken by the US government in the early 21st century to establish electronic interaction between government agencies and to create a system for delivering public services that excludes personal contact by citizens and companies. It then identifies technologies that have subsequently enabled other countries to make the transition to fully digital governmental information. A significant innovation that, in the author's opinion, determined the further vector of transformation of administrative processes was the integration of payment and government information systems. Such a technological solution, implemented through a closer partnership between government and corporate entities, combined with the spread of individual mobile digital devices – smartphones and tablets – has become the basis for the development of unified digital platforms designed to optimize both the provision and receipt of virtually all socially important services. The article also examines the role of government information systems in the development of the data economy and highlights emerging models of government regulation in this area. The following trends of digitalization in the public sector are analysed as relevant: regulators of digital ecosystems acquiring the ability to provide digital services to extraterritorial communities, scaling digital infrastructure in territories with high population concentration when implementing economic development projects and introducing digital technologies in the social sphere.