DIGITALIZATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT: CURRENT CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The article examines the current challenges of digitalization of local self-government, identifies promising ways to overcome them, taking into account the existing capabilities of local self-government bodies (LSGs). The relevance of the study is due to the development of recommendations for the further digitalization of municipal administration. The purpose of this study is to provide practical coverage of the existing challenges of digitalization of municipal administration in Ukraine, and to develop promising ways to overcome them. The study used methods such as comparative analysis, grouping of regions by the degree of digital transformation, case analysis and practice of digitalization of local self-government. The results of the study showed that the digitalization of local self-government is characterized by regional and local differences, differentiating depending on the degree of institutional and economic capacity of local self-government bodies to solve the tasks that arise in connection with the needs of implementing digitalization programs. In general, most regions in Ukraine are characterized by a high or medium level of digitalization, while the digitalization of communities is at a rather low level. The main challenges of the relevant processes remain: shortage of labor resources in digitalization units, lack of digital skills of employees, low digital literacy of the population and participation in educational projects for the development of digital skills, limited funding for digitalization projects in communities. The processes of automation of ASCs need to be improved. The need to develop basic e-services at the regional and local levels, the need to digitize open data registers, etc. have been identified. Promising ways to overcome existing problematic issues include: using various forms and potential of territorial cooperation of communities to pool resources to improve project implementation processes, develop basic e-services, and perform tasks and activities of community digitalization programs. It is advisable to introduce unified standards for collecting, submitting, and publishing open data, and to involve private sector specialists for the effective implementation of digital solutions in communities. The use of an annual audit is necessary to perform the tasks and activities of community digitalization programs. Further research should be directed at developing conceptual principles for the digitalization of local government, taking into account existing problems and challenges of the digital transformation of regions and communities.