Digital Future for Public Administration Discussed at the Presidential Library

On June 21, 2019, the IV International Scientific Forum "Public Administration: the Role of Citizens in Building a Digital State" was opened in the Presidential Library. This year, it gathered many representatives of the executive bodies of state power, expert and academic communities. The conference has been organized by the North-West Institute of Management of the RANEPA.

“According to the computerization of the population, Russia is the first in Europe and the sixth in the world. Perhaps the degree of introduction of digital technologies is even higher than what is needed, for example, in government structures it exists 200 thousand automated systems, and now we need to think about combining them into a single platform. It is also necessary to update of the legislative framework. There is a long way ahead, and it is here, at the forum, that we are discussing how to go this way for us”, - said Vladimir Shamakhov, director of the North-West Institute of Management, RANEPA.

The vice-rector of the RANEPA Dmitry Butashin agrees: “The world does not yet fully understand what digitalization is. It's one thing when services become somewhat better, and quite another when elements of artificial intelligence appear, citizen participation in decision making. Our forum should not so much ascertain the current situation, but also reveal the bottlenecks and those promising areas in which digitalization is manifested”.  

The second part of the plenary session “Citizen’s Participation in State and Municipal Administration: Digital and Online”, concerned the development of civic participation in local government, the implementation of the federal project “Smart City” on the example of the city of Gatchina, Leningrad Region, the role of information departments in promoting the ideas of a digital state.

Dmitry Yalov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Leningrad Region, believes that today there are no infrastructural limitations for the development of digital technologies in the whole country: “The problem of digital inequality remains relevant. Within the trillions that are planned for the implementation of the national project "Digital Economy", 80 percent of the funds go to its elimination, so that even those who live in the smallest villages have access to the Internet, digital services. In Leningrad region, there is now a question about the capacity of data transmission channels so that there is a connection throughout the territory. Nevertheless, we have good coverage of both Rostelecom and mobile operators in terms of access”.

At the forum, the expert community was presented the results of the Open Petersburg Internet project, organized by RANEPA with the support of the Public Chambers of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region.

According to Vladimir Shamakhov, Open Petersburg meets the global task that the country is facing now, demonstrating the successful implementation of digitalization ideas in practice. The goal of the project is to draw public attention to the problems of improvement of the city and region, to involve citizens in the process of creating an electronic state.

“There are times when we heard only complaints and accusations from citizens long gone, and now they are taking a proactive stance! Petersburg residents and residents of the region give concrete suggestions on how to make the city and the region better”, - Vladimir Shamakhov explained.

The International Scientific Forum "Public Administration" lasted until June 23. This year it was attended by representatives of 19 countries such as Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Germany, India, Italy, China, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Uzbekistan, France, Estonia, South Korea.