ICT Solutions in the Activities of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) as an E-Administration. Evolution During the COVID-19 Epidemic (Case Study)

Abstract

Purpose: As a case study illustrating the relationship between crisis management capabilities and the use of ICT techniques and technologies in public administration, the following text presents the evolution of selected ICT-based solutions used in the activities of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) as an e-administration and their use in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article describes chronologically the most important projects in this area implemented and developed at ZUS from 2016 to the end of 2020. Methods: To achieve the objective a case study method has been chosen, i.e. a method of a qualitative nature, which, among other things, allows for: an in-depth description of an atypical phenomenon, and also on a broader and individualized analysis of the problem, allowing for its better understanding. The application of the case study method for presenting the impact of the pandemic (global crisis) on the use of information technology – in accordance with the assumption of using this method in the so-called narrow approach – made it possible to reconstruct the course of this relationship and its conditions. The case description was based on the analysis of legal acts, ZUS documents: annual reports on ZUS activities, strategic studies periodically prepared in ZUS, specifying the current objectives, directions and instruments of its planned development, information publications available on the ZUS website and thematic information available in the media. Findings: Using the example of the changes in the use of new techniques and information technologies in the Social Insurance Institution, it was shown how the process of automation and digitization was accelerated under the conditions of the pandemic. As a result, ZUS played the role of the main entity implementing government aid projects under crisis conditions. It is also a leader in e-administration development. Originality/value: The presented case study is an original paper, drawing attention to the potential of public institutions and conditions of its use in the global crisis situation. The added value of the study is the quotation of unpublished figures made available by ZUS. They enable an objective assessment of changes, the scale of described activities, as well as their effectiveness, measured e.g. by the number of activities, instruments and beneficiaries