LPSA’s Expert Working Group (EWG) on Europe & Central Asia (ECA) aims to bring together government officials, policy practitioners, scholars, civil society organizations, and citizens who share an interest and expertise on decentralization, multilevel governance, intergovernmental relations, local governance and local development in ECA.
The next public meeting of the ECA Expert Working Group is scheduled to take place on December 11, 2024 (10:00 EST/ 15:00 GMT/ 16:00 CET/ 20:00 UZT). Registration is required for this meeting.
The focus of the upcoming meeting will be on: E-Governance and Digital Transformation in Delivery of Local Public Services.
One of the most significant developments and impacts to the delivery of local public services has been the application of e-governance and digital tools over the past two decades. The application of these tools has enabled citizens to access these services more easily and feel more connected to their local governments. There are many applications in which these tools have been applied related to the obtaining of important personal documents and the ability to provide input to the local government budget decisions. The trend is even to more fully develop these tools and to incorporate artificial intelligence to local government decisions. It is important to understand the terminology of the key terms that are applied to these tools. The following provides some short definitions of these key terms.
The World Bank defines e-government as “the use of information and communications technologies by governments to enhance the range and quality of information and services provided to citizens, businesses, civil society organizations, and other government agencies in an efficient, cost-effective and convenient manner, making government processes more transparent and accountable and strengthening democracy.”
The new terms of digitization and digitalization are often used to describe the latest developments. They are different aspects of the same technology application – digitization refers to the process of converting analog data into a digital format, while digitalization involves the integration of digital technologies into business operations to optimize processes, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.
This webinar provides an overview of these technology innovations and their use and application in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Examples are drawn from countries of the region to highlight the development of e-governance and digitization/digitalization opportunities and challenges of these new methods to providing local public services.
| Agenda Item | Contributor |
| 1. Welcome and Introduction | Glen Wright ECA Working Group Co-Chair Dr. Nicolae Urs Vice Dean, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania & Co-Chair of NISPAcee Working Group on E-Governance |
| 2. The Most Advanced Digital Government in the World (Video presentation) | Glen Wright ECA Working Group Co-Chair |
| 3. Digital transformation challenges in Romanian cities: it is not about technology | Dr. Nicolae Urs |
| 4. E-Governance (Video presentation) | Glen Wright |
| 5. Moving beyond the potential of a great idea on paper – Challenges with the design and use of AI-based tools in public sector in Estonia | Dr. Steven Nommik Researcher – Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance, TalTech, Estonia |
| 6. Disinformation in public policy – the case of Slovakia | Silvia Rucinska University Professor, Faculty of Public Administration, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia |
| 7. Closing Remarks & Next Steps for the Working Group | Glen Wright |
We need your help to make this meeting a success: If you have any updates about decentralization or local governance reforms in your country; updates about new research; or information about local government projects that you would like mentioned during the open meeting, please email the Working Group co-chairs at eca@decentralization.net so that a brief announcement can be made at the beginning of the meeting.
Reminder: You can join any LPSA Expert Working Group free of cost and receive reminders and updates by opting-in to one or more working groups as part of your LPSA Membership registration.
