THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT: NOTION AND PECULIARITIES

Abstract

Modern digital technologies have an increasing impact on all spheres of public life, including public administration. In most cases, their use improves the efficiency of management processes. At the same time, it is associated with certain risks, which requires a scientific study of the phenomena associated with it.

However, the focus of scholars tends to be on the central government. The same can be said about legal regulation: most policy documents in this area affect the digitalization of public administration. The digital transformation of local government in this regard is an understudied area. Meanwhile, the digital transformation of local government has significant specifics. It requires studying the essence of the digital transformation of local self-government, identifying its features in order to determine how to carry out the legal regulation of these processes in the most optimal way.

Based on the analysis, the article concludes that the features of the digital transformation of local self-government are associated, firstly, with its self-government principles, which find their expression in a much larger number of forms of direct democracy compared to the level of state power; secondly, at the territorial level of local self-government, which is carried out in municipalities that differ significantly in demographic, economic, personnel and other potentials. The first feature allows using modern digital technologies to dramatically increase the ability of the population of municipalities to influence decisions made in the municipality. The second one creates certain risks, also discussed in the article. To eliminate them, on the one hand, the phased introduction of digital technologies in various municipalities is required, taking into account their capabilities. On the other hand, it seems mandatory to consolidate in the legislation on the digitalization of local self-government the general technical requirements for municipal information systems, which ensure the possibility of their integration.