The project’s aim is to be operationalized based on five complementary objectives:

1. to establish the theoretical framework for the DTM’s development, encompassing dimensions of administrative and service design, tailored to PA actors’ needs,
2. to conduct a tailored survey, including the assessment of potentially relevant DTM elements,
3. to conduct a tailored survey, including the assessment of potentially relevant DTM elements,
4. to ensure the in-depth validation and optimization of the statistically indicated DTM by means of mixed methods triangulation,
5. to equip the DTM with an original software tool providing different PA stakeholders with referential values for accelerated implementation of the model.

As regards the project’s aims, it must be stressed that, along with establishing a scientific model, the challenge of applying the DTM to administrative practice will also be addressed. We will therefore appropriately consider the division of public institutions into service-oriented and authoritative ones and analyse their current maturity in terms of digitalization and define the referential trajectories needed for the targeted digital governance maturity. Since this requires addressing a range of elements, the implementation feasibility will be supported by the model’s focus on directly controllable elements (digital governance principles, enforcing the digital transformation and thus leading to the desired digital governance maturity) and an openly available innovative software solution which will guide users in the public administration concerning individual elements of the transformation, covering dimensions of the administrative & service design and the role of the network of different actors. Public institutions will be presented with the current state of digital transformation within the institution as well as the referential values based on best-performing institutions. For relevant policymakers and citizens, the aggregate results will be particularly useful, with a focus on raising awareness about the least exploited elements of digital transformation. Further, by monitoring the users' feedback, technological improvements and best practices regarding both the DTM and hence the web-based software solution will also be dynamically adjusted, thereby overcoming limitations of the existing finite-state (Meyerhoff Nielsen, 2017) digital governance models.

The known digital governance models are mainly theoretical and technology-focused, and only helpful for mapping the levels of sophistication of e-service offerings and technologically joining the existing fragmented government (Meyerhoff Nielsen, 2017; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011). A digitally transformed state requires changing the way public institutions organize (the administrative design dimension), produce and deliver services (the service design dimension) by utilizing the great potential of networks and partnerships between governments, business corporations, and civil society associations (the dimension covering the network of actors). In WP2, we will therefore quantitatively identify the ‘ideal’ instance of the DTM, covering all the mentioned dimensions and related elements of digital governance maturity. Based on the comprehensiveness of this approach, we recognize that an adequate model suiting Slovenia’s public administration digital transformation needs to be developed.

Figure: Operationalization of the digital transformation model (DTM): an original and systematic approach based on digital governance principles (P1–P11), guiding improvements in all dimensions (D1–D3) and underlying elements (E1–E4), finally leading to the targeted digital maturity level (ML43). The DTM builds on an advanced methodology and the authors’ critical evaluation of works by Fountain (2001), Layne and Lee (2001), Davison et al. (2005), Iribarren et al. (2008), Heeks (2015), Janowski (2015) and others.

KOVAČ, Polonca. Debureaucratization limits in administrative procedures codification: lessons from Slovenia. Administrative sciences, ISSN 2076-3387, 2021, vol. 11, iss. 1, str. 1-17. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/1/1, doi: 10.3390/admsci11010001. [COBISS.SI-ID 44048899]

HODŽIĆ, Sabina, RAVŠELJ, Dejan, JURLINA-ALIBEGOVIĆ, Dubravka. E-government effectiveness and efficiency in EU-28 and COVID-19. Central European public administration review, ISSN 2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], maj 2021, vol. 19, no. 1, str. 159-180, ilustr. http://cepar.fu.uni-lj.si/index.php/CEPAR/article/view/501, doi: 10.17573/cepar.2021.1.07. [COBISS.SI-ID 65245699]

PEČARIČ, Mirko. Lex ex machina: Reasons for algorithmic regulation. Masaryk University journal of law and technology, ISSN 1802-5943, summer 2021, vol. 15, no. 1, str. 85-117. https://journals.muni.cz/mujlt/article/view/13912, doi: 10.5817/MUJLT2021-1-4. [COBISS.SI-ID 69192963]

HRŽICA, Rok, PLUCHINOTTA, Irene, KOVAČ, Polonca, VRBEK, Sanja, JUKIĆ, Tina. Organizational readiness for co-creation of public services in the Central and Eastern European administrative tradition: Development of the conceptual multi-attribute decision support model. The NISPAcee journal of public administration and policy, ISSN 1337-9038, June 2021, vol. 14, iss. 1, str. 169-214, ilustr., doi: 10.2478/nispa-2021-0007. [COBISS.SI-ID 66455299]

RAVŠELJ, Dejan, HODŽIĆ, Sabina. The role of public governance practices for business R&D activity in the EU. Central European public administration review, ISSN2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], Maj 2020, vol. 18, no. 1, str. 69-88, ilustr., doi: 10.17573/cepar.2020.1.06. [COBISS.SI-ID 12963075]

PEČARIČ, Mirko. Understanding differences between equal public governance models. Central European public administration review, ISSN 2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], Maj2020, vol. 18, no. 1, str. 69-88, ilustr., doi: 17573/cepar.2020.1.04.[COBISS.SI-ID 12957955]

KOTNIK, Žiga, UMEK, Lan, KOVAČ, Polonca, STANIMIROVIĆ, Dalibor, VINTAR, Mirko. Analysis of the key factors for successful public policy implementation: a qualitative study in Slovenia. Danube, ISSN 1804-8285, 2020, vol. 11, issue. 2, str. 113-140, ilustr. https://www.eaco.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/kotnik-umek-kovac-stanimirovic-vintar.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 22190595]

ROPRET, Marko, ARISTOVNIK, Aleksander. Public sector reform from the post-new public management perspective: review and bibliometric analysis. Central European public administration review, ISSN 2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], Nov. 2019, vol. 17, no. 2, str. 89-115, ilustr.http://uprava.fu.uni-lj.si/index.php/CEPAR/article/view/441/467doi:10.17573/cepar.2019.2.05. [COBISS.SI-ID 5364910]

JUKIĆ, Tina, PEVCIN, Primož, BENČINA, Jože, DEČMAN, Mitja, VRBEK, Sanja. Collaborative innovation in public administration: Elektronski vir: theoretical background and research trends of co-production and co-creation. Administrative sciences, ISSN2076-3387, 2019, vol. 9, issue. 4, str. 1-17, ilustr. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/9/4, doi:10.3390/admsci9040090. [COBISS.SI-ID 5373614]

PEČARIČ, Mirko. Multiplication of negative scenarios: the approach public administrations could use at drafting general rules. Central European public administration review, ISSN 2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], Apr. 2019, vol. 17, no. 1, str. 149-164. http://cepar.fu.uni-lj.si/index.php/CEPAR/article/view/417/460, doi: 10.17573/cepar.2019.1.08.[COBISS.SI-ID 5304750]

OTT, Katarina, BRONIĆ, Mihaela, STANIĆ, Branko, KLUN, Maja, BENČINA, Jože. Determinants of online local budget transparency in Croatia and Slovenia. Central European public administration review, ISSN 2591-2240. [Tiskana izd.], Nov. 2019, vol. 17, no. 2, str.167-187, ilustr. http://uprava.fu.uni-lj.si/index.php/CEPAR/article/view/436/470, doi: doi.org/10.17573/cepar.2019.2.08. [COBISS.SI-ID 5365678]

RAVŠELJ, Dejan, OBADIĆ, Alka, ARISTOVNIK, Aleksander. Digital transformation of higher education during covid-19: Croatia and Slovenia in comparative perspective. International scientific symposium Region, entrepreneurship, development. [Online ed.], 2021, str. 234-247, tabele. http://www.efos.unios.hr/red/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/07/RED_2021_Proceedings.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 70836995]

KOVAČ, Polonca. The rule of law in CEE public administration through the content analysis of selected articles. V: VRIES, Michiel S. de (ur.), NEMEC, Juraj (ur.), JUNJAN, Veronica (ur.). The choice-architecture behind policy designs: from policy design to policy practice in the European integration context. Bratislava: NISPAcee. cop. 2020, str. 57-77, ilustr. https://www.nispa.org/files/publications/PRACTIC-monograph-final.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 5409966]

KLUN, Maja, STARE, Janez. Participatory budgeting at local level in Slovenia. V: HINŢEA, Cristina (ur.), RADU, Bianca (ur.), SUCIU, Raluca (ur.). Collaborative governance, trust building and community development: conference proceedings. Cluj-Napoca: Accent. 2020, str. 174-185. https://www.apubb.ro/intconf/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TICPA_Proceedings_2019.pdf.[COBISS.SI-ID 27590915]

ROPRET, Marko, ARISTOVNIK, Aleksander. A conceptual framework for evaluation of principles and models of public administration: some methodological issues and applications. V: EGPA Conference, Belfast, 11-13 September 2019. Belfast: EGPA, 2019, str. 1-15. https://www.egpa-conference2019.org/detailed_en.php.[COBISS.SI-ID 5342638]

PEČARIČ, Mirko. A centre of government -the essential part of systemic performance of government. V: EGPA Conference, Belfast, 11-13 September 2019. Belfast: EGPA, 2019, str. 1-23. https://www.egpa-conference2019.org/detailed_en.php. [COBISS.SI-ID 5342126]

TODOROVSKI, Ljupčo, VINTAR, Mirko. E-uprava in digitalna preobrazba javne uprave. V: STARE, Janez (ur.), PEČARIČ, Mirko (ur.). Znanost o javni upravi, (Zbirka znanstvenih monografij Upravna misel). 1. natis. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za upravo. 2021, str. 477-500. [COBISS.SI-ID 75305731]

TOMAŽEVIČ, Nina, RAVŠELJ, Dejan. Trajnostno naravnana javna uprava v dobi digitalnega upravljanja. V: STARE, Janez (ur.), PEČARIČ, Mirko (ur.). Znanost o javni upravi, (Zbirka znanstvenih monografij Upravna misel). 1. natis. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za upravo. 2021, str. 683-703. [COBISS.SI-ID 75369731]

PEČARIČ, Mirko. Pravni vidiki algoritemskega javnega upravljanja. V: STARE, Janez (ur.), PEČARIČ, Mirko (ur.). Znanost o javni upravi, (Zbirka znanstvenih monografij Upravna misel). 1. natis. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za upravo. 2021, str. 705-720. [COBISS.SI-ID 75371011]

KLUN, Maja. Vrednosti indeksa transparentnosti občinskih proračunov v Sloveniji. V: KUKOVIČ, Simona (ur.), HAČEK, Miro (ur.). Petindvajset let lokalne samouprave v Republiki Sloveniji, (Knjižna zbirka Politične institucije in procesi). Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede. 2020, str. 161-178, ilustr. https://knjigarna.fdv.si/knjige/politologija/i_791_petindvajset-let-lokalne-samouprave-v-republiki-sloveniji. [COBISS.SI-ID 5369518]

KOVAČ, Polonca. Slovenia on the path to proactive transparency. V: DRAGOŞ, Dacian C. (ur.), KOVAČ, Polonca (ur.), MARSEILLE, A. T. (ur.). The laws of transparency in action: a European perspective, (Governance and public management series). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. cop. 2019, str. 295-337. [COBISS.SI-ID 5219502]

DRAGOŞ, Dacian C., KOVAČ, Polonca, MARSEILLE, Bert. Law and public administration and the quest for reconciliation: permanent study group 10: law and public administration. V: ONGARO, Edoardo (ur.). Public administration in Europe: the contribution of EGPA, (Governance and public management, ISSN 2524-728X). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, str. 213-222. [COBISS.SI-ID 5237422]

Prospects for Governance Quality in the Context of Digitalization

Comparative results of our study were presented as an abstract, titled “Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on selected digitalization aspects of local general administrative authorities in Slovenia with some international comparisons” at the International Conference "Prospects for Governance Quality in the Context of Digitalization" organized on December 15-16, 2021, by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). The conference aimed at reviewing the key governance digitalization trends and risks in Russia and beyond, as well as evaluating the possibilities to use various mechanisms and instruments to improve governance quality.

Within the framework of this conference, we were presenting during the international session “Public Administration Digitalization and COVID: Key Lessons”, which was held online. Our survey considered, among other aspects, digitalization as a tool for simplifying the performance of administrative procedures typical of all European countries included in the survey (Slovenia, Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland) before and during the crisis. Public managers were asked to report on the scope, but even more importantly, the consequences of simplified procedures through digitalization relative to public service users. As shown in Figure 1, the number of parties to the procedures using a digitalized mode, above all filing e-applications with or without a qualified e-signature, grew significantly as indicated by the average value of 4.1, where the biggest increase was observed in Slovenia (4.55), then Germany (4.28) and Romania (4.02), and finally the Czech Republic (3.85) and Poland (3.79). Slovenia is, therefore, the smallest of the five countries, with a strongly centralized and unified but also broadly publicized ICT system in its administrative authorities, which is probably responsible for such a result. Moreover, administrative authorities engaged in digitalized activities as well, even though less than parties, we can see a value of 3.8.

The study results show high values for the likelihood of the digital changes remaining in place after the pandemic for all countries that participated. However, all of them score below the EU average according to last year’s data (2020), when it comes to providing digital public services, which highlights the considerable room for improvement compared to the top providers in digital public services (e.g., Estonia, Spain, Finland).

The objective of this session was to identify the key lessons of the coronavirus pandemic for governance digitalization and discuss the ways this experience could be used for the future governance transformation. The session provided an opportunity for Russian and international scholars and practitioners to share best practices and to promote the recent research on the issue.

Figure 1: The scope and consequences of simplified digitalized procedures.

A bibliometric analysis of digital era governance research: An overview over the past two decades

The 29th NISPAcee (Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe) annual conference took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from the 21st to 23rd October at the Faculty of Public Administration in a hybrid form. Conference main theme was “Citizens’ engagement and empowerment – The era of collaborative innovation in governance” and has welcomed papers that invigorated discussion about possible ways of citizens' empowerment in the CEE region, in connection to its developments/tradition, governance practices, regulatory framework, financial capacity, public policy, digitalisation processes, human resource management and public administration itself.

As a part of the E-governance Working Group we have presented our paper, titled: “A bibliometric analysis of digital era governance research: An overview over the past two decades”. Namely, the emergence of digital technologies has profoundly affected and transformed almost every aspect of societal relations. These impacts have also reached public administration, including its governance. Digital technologies’ rise has paved the way for the surfacing of a new public governance model called Digital Era Governance (DEG) model, in which digital technologies play a central role. Therefore, the main aim of the paper was to provide a comprehensive and in-depth examination of DEG research over the past two decades. Bibliometric analysis was based on the Scopus database that contains 3,917 documents published between 2000 and 2019. In this context, several established and innovative bibliometric approaches were applied.

The results of the paper reveal the apparent growth of DEG research in the last 20 years, as accelerated by several of the most relevant documents published in reputable journals like Government Information Quarterly. Most DEG research has been conducted in Anglo-Saxon countries, as confirmed while examining authors’ affiliations and collaborations. With respect to the biggest discussion topics in DEG research, the results show that in recent years e-government has been replaced by emerging alternative concepts like digital, open and smart government (Figure 1). The findings add to the existing scientific knowledge and facilitate evidence-based policymaking.

Figure 1: Mapping of changes in authors’ keywords in DEG research by sub-periods.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the digital transformation of public administration: The case of Slovenian administrative units

The 29th NISPAcee (Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe) annual conference took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from the 21st to 23rd October at the Faculty of Public Administration in a hybrid form. Conference main theme was “Citizens’ engagement and empowerment – The era of collaborative innovation in governance” and has welcomed papers that invigorated discussion about possible ways of citizens' empowerment in the CEE region, in connection to its developments/tradition, governance practices, regulatory framework, financial capacity, public policy, digitalisation processes, human resource management and public administration itself.

As a part of the E-governance Working Group we have presented our paper, titled: “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the digital transformation of public administration: The case of Slovenian administrative units”. In an unexpected circumstance, such as the Covid-19 crisis, public service delivery cannot be suspended, but must be delivered online, relying on the available digital technology. Accordingly, public administration has faced the urgent need to assess its current digital technological capabilities while facing sudden processes of technological adoption and implementing solutions. In other words, the Covid-19 pandemic can be considered as an accelerator for digital transformation in public service delivery. Therefore, the main aim of the paper was to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the digital transformation of public administration in Slovenia

The results of the paper (Table 1) suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on the operation of the Slovenian administrative units, especially concerning digitalization. Despite the lack of personal contacts emphasized by the civil servants, it is very likely that the administrative units in Slovenia will continue to use digital-based solutions even after the Covid-19 crisis.

With increased efficiency orientation, the use of digital communication channels of administrative units will remain towards the parties as well as towards the employees also after the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, whether overall digitalization of work processes and simplified digitalized procedures in administrative units will continue to develop, this would lead to accelerated use of web portals and digital communication channels with parties after the Covid-19 pandemic. The use of digital communication channels would remain in use if they proved to be efficient for the meetings in current circumstances. Even so, this will likely not be the case, despite the efficiency, if the employees are missing formal personal contacts with their co-workers.

We were also able to identify two external factors relevant to administrative units’ operations that are important for explaining the variation in accelerated digitalization of processes and use of web portals and digital communication channels with parties. Firstly, the rise in population with higher education increases the likelihood of being on a higher level of accelerated digitalization after the Covid-19 pandemic. And secondly, the administrative units with more employees per 1000 inhabitants, these are typically smaller and rural units, will be more likely prone to digitalisation in the future, as digital solutions were previously rare and also possibly due to population being more dispersed throughout the villages, hence the distance from people's homes to the offices of administrative units generally increases the level of use of e-communication, even more during a pandemic.

Table 1: Ordinal logistic regression for factors influencing accelerated digitalization after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The impact of digitalized communication on the effectiveness of local public administrations – Findings from central European countries in the Covid-19 crisis

The European Group for Public Administration has organized an annual conference. The EGPA conference is the annual meeting of a community of public administration academics, young researchers, and practitioners in Europe and key EGPA/IIAS partners. The conference took place in Brussels, Belgium from 7 to 10 September 2021. The conference was organised in hybrid form. As participants’ safety is organizers’ top priority, they also enabled the possibility of on-line participation for all those authors who could not attend the conference in person.

Our research team has presented a paper on the topic of Covid-19 in public administration, with the title “The impact of digitalized communication on the effectiveness of local public administrations – Findings from central European countries in the covid-19 crisis”. The Covid-19 pandemic brought big and unforeseen challenges not only to societies at large but also to public administrations. Consequently, public administrations have been forced to provide public services to their citizens in an effective way while protecting the safety and health of their employees and their citizens.

The main aim of the paper was to analyse the impact of digitalized communication on the effectiveness of service provision by various European local public administrations in the Covid-19 pandemic by considering the Covid-19 driven changes of the legal competence of the institutional unit, and the public administration’s orientation to good governance as mediators of this relationship (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Research model

By applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) on survey data (N=610) from five central European countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovenia), the results show that a Covid-19 accelerated use of digitalized communication tools has a positive effect on the effectiveness of local public administrations. The results also indicate that Covid 19-driven new laws and instructions and good governance - based on the mostly convergent administrative traditions and European trends – partially mediate the relationship of the use of digital communication tools and the administrative effectiveness. These findings do not significantly differ between the participating countries and their bureaucratic traditions. Consequently, the Covid-19 crisis proved to be a joint facilitator of responsive public governance yet complaint to the rule of law, regardless of traditionally more legalistically or managerially oriented national administrative systems.

The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on cost management in general administrative authorities at local level in Slovenia

Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb (FEB Zagreb), Croatia has organized the 12th International Odyssey Conference, this time in a hybrid form. The conference took place in Amadria Park Hotel Ivan in Šibenik, Croatia from 9 to 12 June. As participants’ safety is organizers’ top priority, they also enabled the possibility of on-line participation for all those authors who could not attend the conference in person. The conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to present their research and discuss recent challenges in business and economics.

Our research team has presented an abstract on the topic of Covid-19 in public administration, with the title: »The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on cost management in general administrative authorities at local level in Slovenia«. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped almost all aspects of societal relations, including administrative ones, and revealed that the public administration is facing turbulent problems. New circumstances have changed work tasks and demands at work within public administration and thus affected the structure of material and financial resources utilization.

The main aim of the paper was to: (i) identify the key factors and consequences of the operation of the general administrative authorities during the (first wave) of the Covid-19 pandemic; (ii) examine the impact of the pandemic on utilization of material and financial resources in general administrative authorities and their functioning during the pandemic and beyond; (iii) identify differences between general administrative authorities covering urban and rural areas.

Regarding the financial and economic aspect, the empirical results showed that at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, in relation to normal operations, costs or operating expenditure in general administrative authorities are generally lower. Especially, there was a larger decrease in the costs of paid-in printed matter, investments and investment maintenance and other costs (e.g., sale of real estate), while the costs of salaries and material costs decreased the least. Material costs remained almost the same, but the allocation has changed. There was a significant increase in the costs of safety and health at work and costs of security and cleaning of the premises since about 95 % of the employees continue working from the offices. Due to the restricting measures, ICT equipment was also more used among the material resources. On the other hand, part of the material costs decreased, such as the costs of business trips, vehicles, registration fees for employee training, office equipment and small inventory.

We were also able to observe differences between general administrative authorities covering urban and rural areas since the size of the urban general administrative authorities is greater, the need for safety and health at work, security and cleaning of business premises is above average and higher than for the rural ones. Nevertheless, both types required above-average use of ICT equipment (Figure 1).

According to the opinion of public managers, the Covid-19 pandemic also brings lasting changes in the functioning of the general administrative authorities, especially in terms of further digitalisation. On the other hand, they are expecting no major changes compared to the time before the pandemic in the areas of remote work, material cost savings, and work reorganization.

Figure 1: Differences between general administrative authorities covering urban and rural areas during the Covid-19

Digital transformation of general administrative authorities at local level during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond: A comparative study of five European countries

The IRSPM (International research society for public management) conference 2021 theme was »Public management, governance and policy in extraordinary times: challenges and opportunities«. It was held between 20-23 April and was the very first virtual IRSPM conference. With more than 30 panels, 450 accepted abstracts and over 650 registered participants from over 50 countries made the virtual IRSPM conference 2021 a success.

Our research team, working under the Covid-19 Social Science Lab, has presented an abstract on the topic of Covid-19 in public administration, with the title: »Digital transformation of general administrative authorities at local level during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond: A comparative study of five European countries«. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped almost all aspects of societal relations, including administrative ones, and digital transformation of public administration proved to be one of the crucial. The main aim of the paper was to (i) ascertain the impact of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on functioning and digital transformation of general administrative authorities at local level; (ii) its implications for public service delivery and their design during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond; (iii) identify differences between five European countries by using explorative approach. The results on a sample of 926 respondents from Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia showed that the Covid-19 pandemic, besides several negative consequences, is perceived by public managers also as an opportunity to digitalize work processes in public administration, allowing for higher efficiency and responsiveness as a key determinant of good governance. Pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on the functioning and digital transformation of public administrations and high values for probability of digital changes to remain after the epidemic for all countries that participated in this study indicate they will continue to use digital-based solutions even after the Covid-19 crisis (Figure 1).

Identified differences between public administrations of selected European countries reveal that especially German and Romanian administrative authorities will most probably keep digital changes as the two countries rank the lowest (DESI index 2020) in comparison to other countries taking part in this survey, when it comes to providing digital public services, which enhances the need for digitalization.

Figure 1: Probability of duration of changes after the Covid-19 pandemic

Thematic evolution analysis of digital era governance research (2000-2019)

As a part of a comprehensive research on digital era governance (DEG) research over the past two decades, researchers performed a thematic evolution analysis. The thematic evolution analysis is based on an in-depth examination of author’s keywords through a longitudinal framework, which allows to observe the development of DEG research over time. To focus on the core themes, 500 author’s keywords with minimum cluster frequency (per thousand documents) of 50 are included in the analysis.

The results of the analysis are presented in a Figure 1, whereby the rectangle size is proportional to the number of publications for the corresponding theme, and edge is proportional to the inclusion index between two connected themes. The results reveal that e-government is presented in all four sub-periods and evolves in a stable and compact way from the first sub-period (2000-2004) until the last observed sub-period (2015-2019). Moreover, many of the identified themes represent a continuation or permutation of themes that are identified in a previous sub-period, except innovation, which is identified as a newly developed theme in DEG research between 2010 and 2014. Finally, an in-depth examination reveals that: 1) open data has its roots in transparency evolved from e-government and security; 2) e-participation is mainly derived from social media, which has its roots in e-democracy; 3) e-governance is predominantly evolved from e-government, ICT and innovation; 4) social media has its predecessors in e-democracy, which is derived from e-governance and public administration; and 5) government spills over into public sector over time.

Figure 1: Mapping of the changes in author’s keywords in DEG research by sub-periods
Source: Aristovnik et al., 2021 (forthcoming)

Covid-19 and public administration in Slovenia: The rise of digitalization in response to the Covid-19 epidemic

In June 2020, researchers from the ATLAS project group, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA), conducted a survey among Slovenian administrative units (AU) as general territorial administrative districts, namely on the functioning of the AU during and after Covid-19. The aim of the research was to identify the key factors and consequences of the functioning of the AU during the (first wave) epidemic - spring 2020 - both in relation to citizens and other natural persons, companies, non-governmental organizations, etc. as well as to parties to administrative proceedings, as in internal relations between the AU and other administrative authorities, and between employees of the AU. All heads of AU (58) responded to the invitation to participate in the survey. The percentage of completion for the (content and demographic) questions was recorded from 77 % to 100 %. Questions or statements mainly concerned the assessment of the opinions of the heads of the AU regarding the developments in the observed institutions during and after the Covid-19 epidemic in relation to normal functioning. Individual claims, unless otherwise stated, were measured using a 5-point Likert scale: “1 = significantly less”, “2 = less”, “3 = equal”, “4 = more”, “5 = significantly more”.

The results of the survey generally showed that in the period from March to June 2020, regulations and measures were adopted very quickly (compared to normal operations) and there were many of them, which together led to certain non-compliances by departments. However, the simplified e-commerce proved to be positive, as shown in the Figure 1, as the use of e-portals, e-mail communication, e-applications and e-service increased significantly, without major or systemic problems. The Figure 2 shows a marked increase in the digitalization of work during the Covid-19 epidemic, both in relation to customers as well as between authorities and employees. At the same time, this meant a greater burden on the AU due to the necessary testing for possible misuses, but there were not many cases. According to the heads of AU, the Covid-19 epidemic also brings lasting changes in the functioning of the AU, especially in terms of digitalisation. Even after the epidemic, greater use of web portals (eGovernment), digital communication channels, accelerated digitalization of processes and changes in regulations for simplified procedures are expected to be maintained. In conclusion, the results of the research showed key changes or needs for them in the functioning of the AU. The full survey report is available on the CovidSocLab website - Public Administration Survey.

Figure 1: The scope and consequences of simplified e - commerce

Figure 2: The rise of digitalization in the AU in external and internal relations

A preliminary review of the scientific literature in the area of the Digital Era Governance

The project conducted activities that upgrade the existing theoretical starting points. In this context, a preliminary review of the scientific literature in the area of the Digital Era Governance has been prepared. In April, we obtained 3,917 units of scientific literature by searching the terms related to Digital Era Governance for the last two decades (2000-2019), which were then divided into five-year periods. We found that both the number of documents as well as the number of citations in the field of management in the digital age are growing sharply over time. Detailed dynamics of the number of documents and citations in the area of Digital Era Governance can be observed in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Distribution of documents and citations by year (2000-2019; N=3.917)

Bilateral cooperation between Slovenia and Northern Europe countries

Members of the project team were successful in applying for bilateral scientific research projects between Slovenia and Northern Europe for the period 2020 to 2022. Of the six projects applied for each country in Northern Europe, 5 projects were approved by the SRA (Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia). Most of the registered or obtained projects are directly or indirectly related to the research in the context of the TRP ATLAS project, as they cover a wide range of aspects from disruptive technologies in the public sector to the challenges of contemporary/digital governance in public administration.

Covid-19 and public administration: Slovenian and international contest

Members of the project team conducted a survey entitled: “The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the efficiency of public administration: a case of general territorial administrative units”. The survey was lasted from the beginning of June 2020 to the end of August in comparable administrative bodies in a total of 10 foreign countries as part of the activities within the CovidSocLab project. The main goal of this survey was to identify key challenges and opportunities and present an international comparative analysis of selected public administration organizations during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The main purpose was to design the proposals for policy makers and public managers through which public administration would operate compliant to good governance principles. The results of the survey show, among other things, that the turbulent problems exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic especially call for digital-based solutions that are sufficiently adaptable, agile and pragmatic to uphold a particular goal or function in the face of continuous/sudden disruptions. Reports on both surveys (Slovenian and international) are available at: http://www.covidsoclab.org/public-administration-survey/.

A number of activities have been performed on a project that are important in terms of preparing theoretical considerations (WP1):

• Participation in the bilateral meeting from 6 to 9 November 2019 with representatives of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) in Moscow, where a lecture was given to undergraduate and graduate students of RUDN entitled “Public Governance in the Age of Digitalization: From Principles to a Digital Transformation Model”.
• A relevant database of articles is being prepared, which will allow the creation of appropriate scientific and professional starting points for the development of the digital transformation model. Currently, the most high-profile scientific and professional literature is being collected within relevant databases (compilation of WoS, Scopus, Google Scholar) with a focus on governance in the digital era.
• Acquisition of SRA bilateral project with USA.
• Several contributions have been prepared for internationally recognized conferences (NISPAcee, EGPA, etc.), whose presentation is expected in 2020.

The next steps in the project are aimed at carrying out bibliometric and content analyses, which is a good basis for the further envisaged steps.

On June 14, 2019, the Director of the Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARRS) issued a Decision on the selection of applications for (co) financing of research projects based on the Public call for (co) financing of research projects for 2019 (second phase of evaluation) no. 6316-9 / 2018-1147. Based on this decision, the ARRS issued a Notice on the selection of applications for (co) financing of research projects based on the Call for Proposals (co) financing of research projects for 2019. Following this announcement, research project J5-1789 - Transformation of governance and public sevice delivery mechanisms in the digital age will be (co) funded by 1596 hours per year (price class A) for a period of 3 years. The funding start date is July 1, 2019.

• News, 15.12.2021
• News, 01.11.2021
• News, 01.11.2021
• News, 15.09.2021
• News, 15.06.2021
• News, 01.05.2021
• News, 01.04.2021
• News, 01.02.2021
• News, 15.11.2020
• News, 01.11.2020
• News, 01.10.2020
• News, 29.01.2020
• News, 19.06.2019