PROBLEMS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE IN PUBLIC AUTHORITIES OF UKRAINE AND WAYS OF THEIR SOLUTION

Abstract

After Ukraine gained independence and opted for a course of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, it became necessary to develop an information society in the context of the implementation of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part. This means to grant Ukrainian citizens more rights and freedoms to receive information about the work of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Supreme Council of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, central and local executive bodies and their accountable state-owned enterprises, institutions and organizations, system of judges of general jurisdiction, law enforcement agencies and local self-government bodies. As the listed authorities are engaged in activities which, by the principle of transparency, are regularly reported on their websites in the form of laws, decrees, orders, decisions, etc., as well as reports on the performed activities, they were called as public authorities. This is about the development of e-democracy, enabling citizens to interact more closely with the relevant authorities, consult with them properly, participate in discussions on various issues, and receive different services through access to any source of information (e-mail, site registration, etc.). With the approval of the Concept of E-Governance Development in Ukraine in 2017, the next stage of reforming the public authorities, which in most cases related to the optimization of their organizational structure, began. In particular, the management apparatus was expanded, where changes were constantly made to the electronic document management system, and the separate sectoral divisions were reduced, where the specialized electronic systems (eHealth, State Environmental Monitoring System, AIS “E-Reporting”, etc.) began to be introduced. However, it did not contribute to the full fulfillment by the employees of their duties to provide quality services to the population. The lack of budgetary funds for investment support for the private sector engaged in making innovation, and also for training the staff of public authorities to master the information and communication technologies (ICTs) became the reason of the slowdown in the process of implementation of e-democracy into the practical activities of public authorities, due to which the level of credibility of governance remains low. As a result, the current model of e-governance in Ukraine is unsatisfactory, neither in terms of the level of support it has by society, nor in terms of the proper level of performance of its powers by the representatives of public authorities. With the approval of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Concept of E-Governance Development in Ukraine in 2018, the process of implementation of the e-Government system began. It provides for the development of priority electronic public services, open data, electronic participation tools, electronic identification and trust services, electronic interaction, electronic document flow, implementation of specialized electronic systems in the sectoral structural units and support for priority reforms related to the formation of basic information and telecommunication infrastructure in e-governance (ITI) and, therefore, increasing the efficiency of the work of public authorities. However, in most cases, this remains only at the level of the plan, not actual implementation, which requires a significant effort by public authorities to change their attitude to the implementation of the developed strategic plans not for the benefit of themselves, but for the sustainable development of society.