Digital governance

Specialization / Direction

Upon successful completion students will be able to: • possess knowledge and skills relevant to electronic governance, • understand the function of public-sector information systems (e.g. Internal support systems, electronic information providing systems, electronic systems that facilitate exchanges between citizens and the state, e-democracy systems, participation and consultation, social media utilization, open government data, interoperability, etc.). • manage information systems use projects in public sector institutions. • obtain communication, cooperation, and commitment management skills through group projects, group presentations, and other forms of collaborative study and work. • utilize electronic voting and consultation systems and programs

We aim to discuss the utilization of information technology, multimedia technology, social networking platforms, and the world-wide web (in short ICT: Information and Communication Technology) in both governance and democracy. In particular: ICT present a major opportunity for consultative and participatory democracy, providing the body politic the means to express their views and will in a direct, focused manner and participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Increased citizen participation through tools based on the use of new technologies can enrich and further solidify democracy through collaborative production of public policy and collective solutions to collective challenges. In light of the low rate of turn-out in electoral processes, citizen participation is a crucial challenge in most modern democracies. This emerging legitimacy problem, which is also reflected in voter abstention, but also in the relative disregard for parliamentary democracy and the crisis political parties are experiencing in their function, may be addressed to a large extent through the promotion of electronic consultation methods and the recording of citizens’ voices and preferences regarding the implementation of political decisions that directly impact their future -both short-term and long-term. Such initiatives may attract citizen attention, favor transparency in shaping said decisions, increase citizen trust in governance mechanisms, and provide a new vision in politics, strengthening decision-making processes. At the level of governance, ICT are capable of contributing, and indeed have already contributed to the streamlining of certain processes, reshaping public administration and its relation with the body politic. Of course, new challenges are always around the corner, especially as regards the exclusion of the technologically illiterate, in particularly the poor, the elderly etc., and the protection of personal data. Increased citizen participation through tools based on the use of new technologies can enrich and further solidify democracy through collaborative production of public policy and collective solutions to collective challenges.

04-07-2023