How do e-governance and e-business drive sustainable development goals?

Abstract

Sustainable development policies trigger a shift in the global development paradigm by aligning economic, social, and ecological goals. Concurrently, the rapid surge in digitalization is transforming business processes and communications across all sectors and levels. As a result, the integration of e-business and e-governance becomes a critical component in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, the aim of this article is to analyze the effects of digitalization, specifically e-governance and e-business, on the attainment of SDGs in European Union (EU) countries. The method used is a panel of corrected standard errors and feasible generalized least squares models to identify the impact and significance of e-governance and e-business on SDG achievement. The e-governance indicators considered by this study were found to significantly impact SDG achievement. Moreover, e-business indicators were also found to positively impact the attainment of SDGs, with some exceptions. The findings suggest that EU countries should continue to intensify digitalization across all sectors as it enhances the transparency accountability of all business processes and communications and increases trust in government services, which are the core drivers of achieving SDGs.