Electronic Ukraine in the digital world

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, e-government has transformed from a separate auxiliary tool in a number of isolated high-income countries into a factor that has forced almost all governments in the world to radically change the way they work through the total introduction of digital solutions, as a result of which government bodies have irrevocably changed both structurally and in working with the citizens they serve. Ukraine has traveled this path together with others, achieving certain results and experiencing failures. Another large-scale study of the level of development of e-government in all countries of the world, conducted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, published in 2022, showed significant progress in Ukraine. In the global ranking of e-governments, our country has almost reached the average European level; it has risen by 23 positions, ahead of a number of geographical neighbors and for the first time entered the elite club of leaders. This was mainly due to the rapid expansion of online services and the development of telecommunications infrastructure. Global trends generally indicate that the digitalization of public administration requires significant capital investments, however, Ukraine, which (according to the UN) is classified as a country with an income level below the world average, with rather limited funding over the past 4 years has been able to improve its indicators in absolute terms by more than 30%. In the field of electronic participation, Ukraine in 2020 for the first time became one of the most developed countries in the world as to the development of active communication services between citizens and the state. However, in 2022 years instead of the expected improvement, there was a significant deterioration in indicators, and as a result, the loss of 11 positions in the world ranking. In this regard, the greatest problems arise in relation to electronic decision-making – the «partnership option», where citizens become people, leading the policy development process. It is here that, in quantitative terms, Ukraine’s indicators are several times lower compared to the leaders. According to the results of the assessment of the most populous city of each of the 193 UN member countries, Kyiv’s indicators over the past 2 years have improved by almost 2.5 times, that allowed it to take 21st place in the world.