Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Esta publicación cientíca en formato digital es continuidad de la revista impresa
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ISSN 0798- 1406 ~ De pó si to le gal pp 198502ZU132
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cul tad de Cien cias Ju rí di cas y Po lí ti cas de la Uni ver si dad del Zu lia.
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Vol. 40, Nº 73 (2022), 172-191
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Building Legal Mechanisms for
Electronic Governance Development
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4073.08
Valeriy Dovhan *
Iryna Yunyk **
Oleh Kurchyn ***
Vasyl Zhupnyk ****
Serhii Moskalenko *****
Abstract
The aim of the study was to identify the legal mechanisms
for the establishment of e-government and the development
of e-governance from the perspective of international law and
national legislation of countries where the level of e-governance
is very high. Empirical and theoretical methods of scientic
knowledge, as well as the comparative analysis were used for
a comprehensive coverage of the research topic. It is found
that the community-oriented principles are the basis for the functioning
of e-government with a view to the digital transformation values. The
establishment of digital government in dierent countries with a very high
level of e-governance has its own peculiarities related to the status of the
national legal framework, institutional capacity and economic development,
information policy and information security. It was established that the
e-governance should be improved by eliminating the digital gap, raising
the level of digital literacy, creating a single competent authority to regulate
public e-governance policy, introducing a network system of access to
e-government services, and establishing a system for training civil servants
on the provision of electronic services. Further research on e-governance
may be focused on follow-up study and argumentation in order to determine
eective legal tools of its regulation.
* Scientic-Research Institute, National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine named
after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5435-5451
** Candidate of рublic аdministration, Associate professor of Department of Public Administration,
Faculty of Law, Public Administration and Administration, Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State
Pedagogical University. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0985-1800
*** Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor of Academic Department of Civil and Legal Disciplines,
Faculty of Law and Linguistics, Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University. ORCID ID: https://orcid.
org/0000-0002-8133-4293
**** PhD in Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of Department of Law, King Danylo University. ORCID
ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1417-3394
***** Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity Management, National
Aviation University. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2396-9570
173
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 172-191
Keywords: e-government; digital government; information and
communication technologies; information society; public
service.
Construcción de Mecanismos Legales para el
Desarrollo de la Gobernanza Electrónica
Resumen
El objetivo del estudio fue identicar los mecanismos legales para
el establecimiento del gobierno electrónico y el desarrollo del gobierno
digital desde la perspectiva del derecho internacional y la legislación
nacional de países donde el nivel de gobierno electrónico es muy alto. Se
utilizaron métodos empíricos y teóricos del conocimiento cientíco, así
como el análisis comparativo para una cobertura integral del tema de
investigación. Se encuentra que los principios orientados a la comunidad
son la base para el funcionamiento del gobierno electrónico con miras a
los valores de transformación digital. El establecimiento del gobierno
digital en diferentes países con un nivel muy alto de gobierno electrónico
tiene sus propias peculiaridades relacionadas con el estado del marco legal
nacional, la capacidad institucional y el desarrollo económico, la política
de información y la seguridad de la información. Se concluye que se debe
mejorar el gobierno electrónico eliminando la brecha digital, elevando el
nivel de alfabetización digital, creando una autoridad única competente
para regular la política pública de gobierno electrónico, introduciendo
un sistema de red de acceso a los servicios de gobierno electrónico, para
establecer un sistema de capacitación de los servidores públicos en la
prestación de servicios.
Palabras clave: gobierno electrónico; gobierno digital; tecnologías
de la información y la comunicación; sociedad de
información; servicio público.
Introduction
Digital technologies have become a driving force for socio-economic
development and economic recovery in many countries. Information
and communication technologies are becoming the foundation for
sustainable development in almost all spheres of life, including e-economy,
e-governance, e-democracy, e-commerce, e-education, e-medicine,
e-research and e-innovation. They do not change activities, but the
technological capability to use the latest knowledge.
174
Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
The modern conditions of the Information Age require not only a
radical modernization of society itself, but also the power vertical, which
reects this society and the inevitability of its administrative reform.
Digital technologies are implemented in the public administration through
the establishment of e-governance. In this context, the management
and activities of national governments are determined by the usage of
information and communication technologies with a focus on the citizens’
need to use information networks. This public administration model allows
the citizen to receive public information or administrative service online
and thus make governance more ecient and transparent by establishing
public control over it. The United Nations (2000) Millennium Declaration
adopted by the General Assembly on September 8, 2000 enshrines
access to the benets of new technologies, especially information and
communication technologies, through which e-government services are
provided. Therefore, establishing legal mechanisms for the development of
e-governance is currently a topical issue.
The aim of this research is to determine the legal tools for implementing
and developing e-governance through the prism of international standards
and provisions of national legislation of countries with a very high level of
e-governance. The aim involved the following research objectives:
- determine and describe international standards for the establishment
and development of e-governance;
- consider the fundamental principles of e-governance in the context
of international standards;
- analyse the legal provisions of countries with a very high level of
e-governance and determine the legal tools that they use in the
implementation of e-government services;
- identify the main problems in the legal regulation of e-governance
and suggest ways to solve them.
1. Literature Review
Many scholars dealt with the issues of legal support of e-governance and
the introduction of eective legal mechanisms regulation. Elbahnasawy
(2021) examined conceptual approaches to the development of future
e-governance and identied economic growth and political stability as the
basis for its development. Ma and Zheng (2019) studied the development of
e-government in European countries in the context of the developing legal
awareness, trust and digital capabilities of the people of these countries.
Glyptis et al. (2020) considered the status of e-governance in the EU through
the prism of the peculiarities of the legal provision of public administration
175
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 172-191
in dierent EU member states. Bharosa et al. (2020) studied e-governance
in Estonia and the Netherlands and found that combination of institutions,
information and communication technologies, legal tools and public
administration help to achieve the eectiveness of e-government services.
Tangi et al. (2021) examined e-governance at the local level in Italy in the
context of e-maturity of Italians.
Roux et al. (2020) studied the eectiveness of e-governance in the exercise
of electoral rights in the United States, and noted that the use of information
and communication technologies is relevant in view of the current
globalization trends in establishing e-democracy and the general form of
public will expression — voting. Lee and Porumbescu (2019) and Sangki
(2018) examined e-government services in South Korea and established its
rapid growth due to the rapid development of information technology in this
country and the transition of its society from industrial to highly developed
information society. Liu et al. (2020) dealt with e-governance in China
and identied three aspects that aect its development: the environment
(political institutions); process (introduction of information technologies,
public relations and their interaction); productivity.
Kurfalı et al. (2017) explored the sector of e-government services in
Turkey in terms of promoting Turkish e-government services by identifying
the needs and priorities of citizens for those services. Lallmahomed et al.
(2017) studied the preconditions for establishing e-government services in
Mauritius in the context of building trust, legal awareness and improving
privacy protection in using e-government services. Lumbanraja (2020)
dealt with the urgency of public administration reform and the provision of
e-government services in Indonesia to promote synergies and harmonization
between public authorities by eliminating duplication of functions between
them to provide the same services. Almotawkel and Qureshi (2021) reviewed
the status of e-governance in the Middle East and distinguished the main
factors of its development: communication infrastructure, human resource
eciency, annual costs and legal awareness of society.
Park and Kim (2020) and considered e-government as an anti-
corruption tool. Chen et al. (2019) analysed the factors that contribute
to the e-government eectiveness, where they included technical, legal,
managerial, inter-organizational factors. Wijatmoko (2020) examined
the competence of public authorities to provide electronic administrative
services to society, in particular: correctional, migration services,
intellectual property services, information and communication protection,
general legal administration services and others. Reviewing the evolution
of e-government, Alcaide–Muñoz et al. (2017) recognize the prospects
for its development by building a system of e-government services, the
introduction of public e-government policy and the introduction of
technological tools.
176
Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
Nevertheless, the application of legal tools to regulate e-government,
the reasons for ineciency of e-government services and ways to overcome
them are only partially covered despite the wide range of studies on this
issue, which determines the topicality of this research.
2. Methods and Materials
This research was conducted in three stages. The rst stage involved
the search and study of scientic literature on information, scientic works
on the legal problems of implementation of e-government, the provisions
of international treaties on information society development, national
legislation of countries with very high levels of e-government, the practice
of applying legal tools of digital government. The topic, aim and objectives
of the study were determined on the basis of the analysis of this literature.
In the second stage involved a theoretical and experimental study of the
chosen topic through comparing their results and analysing the dierences.
The content of e-governance from the perspective of international standards
and legal mechanisms for its implementation was determined through
theoretical research. The objectives were fullled and the legal background
for e-government, principles and ways to improve legal e-government
regulation were determined through the experimental research based on
international standards, the legal framework of European information policy
and the generalization of their practical application, as well as doctrinal
analysis of scientic papers on problematic issues of e-government.
The third stage provided for the nal analysis to achieve the aim, as
well as for the presentation of research results by writing an article on a
computer.
The empirical and theoretical methods of scientic knowledge were used
in the study of research topic. Empirical knowledge reects the content
of the object of study — the legal regulation of e-government — from the
perspective of international legal support and legal relations in the eld of
information society development. Scientic, legal and practical information
on e-governance and its e-services system was analysed through comparative
analysis. Theoretical knowledge of the legal background of e-governance
reveals the subject of research in terms of the universal internal essential
connections and patterns covered by the rational processing of empirical
data. The empirical and theoretical methods were combined to provide
an empirical interpretation of the theory and theoretical interpretation of
empirical data, as well as to reveal the principles of digital government.
The research sample included the following objects: the legal background
for the development of the information society and e-governance,
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 172-191
international standards of digital government, the e-government principles
and obstacles to its development. The legal background for the introduction
of e-governance, e-government resources and a list of public e-services were
determined through dispositions of the legislation of Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Norway, Canada in the eld of information
society development, generalization of practical application of international
and European legislation on e-government and statistics United Nations
E-Government Survey 2020. The combination of these objects helped to
reveal the problems of establishing the legal mechanisms of e-governance.
The research was based on information retrieval using a computer, the
global computer network and scientometric databases.
The research was based on the following international legal acts: UN
Millennium Declaration, Okinawa Charter for the Global Information
Society, UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures, Digital Single
Market Strategy for Europe, Digital Europe 2025, Recommendation Rec
(2004) 15 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on
e-Governance, Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC, Declaration on
a European Policy for New Information Technologies, Berlin Declaration
on Digital Society and Value-Based Digital Government, and public law in
countries with a very high level of e-governance, according to the UNE-
Government Survey 2020.
3. Results
The provisions of international agreements are the foundation for the
development of the information society and the provision of e-government
services through the use of information and communication technologies.
The United Nations (2000) Millennium Declaration proclaimed the
main goals of developing the information society of the 21st century and
the reduction of the digital gap. The Declaration provides that one of the
directions of development of the information society shall be implemented
through the measures taken by the member States to provide access to
information and digital technologies to all population segments, including
access to those information and communication technologies which are
used to provide e-government services.
The Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society adopted in
2000 enshrines the principle of accessibility of people to the benets of
digital technologies without restrictions and discrimination (Ministry
of Foreign Aairs of Japan, 2020). This is essentially one of the rst
international legal acts, which reects the general principles and directions
of establishment and development of the information society. Paragraph 1
of the Charter states that the revolutionary development of information and
178 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
communication technologies aects the course of this millennium, people’s
way of life, their education and work, as well as the interaction between
government and civil society.
The Charter appeals to the world community to create a favorable legal
environment for the digital technologies to become a tool for economic
growth, welfare, enhancing social cohesion, developing cultural diversity
and the full exercise of human rights and their potential for strengthening
the democracy and public administration. In order to achieve these
goals, the Charter identies the active introduction of information and
communication technologies in the public sector to provide online services
required to increase the availability of authorities to all citizens as one of the
areas of implementation of these goals. E-government needs to introduce
a number of e-services in almost all spheres of life for the full functioning
of the information society, including telecommunications, transport, parcel
delivery, social activities, customs and freight forwarding procedures, etc.
The Charter appeals to the States parties to support developing countries by
providing them with nancial, technical and political assistance in order to
create a favourable climate for the use of information technology worldwide.
As regards reducing the digital gap, the Charter focuses on cooperation
with international organizations, developing countries and other actors in
order to promote international cooperation to build political, regulatory
and network support, as well as improve technical compatibility, expand
access, reduce costs and strengthen human capacity, as well as encouraging
participation in global e-commerce networks. Therefore, this international
instrument not only declares the introduction of e-government for
transparency of government through the provision of e-services, but also
reduces the digital gap in society by providing assistance to developing
countries.
The adoption of the Model Law On Electronic Signatures by the UN
Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in 2000 and
setting up of electronic document management in the 90’s of the 20th
century played an important role in creating the legal framework for the
establishment of e-government (United Nations, 2001). The provisions of
this Law apply not only to the regulation of the use of electronic signatures
in trade, but also in the public sector.
The provisions of Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC
determine the use of electronic signatures and certain certication services
for the proper functioning of the internal European market (EurLex, 1999).
The provisions of Directive 1999/93/EC apply to almost all spheres of life,
including the public sector. Paragraph 19 of the Preamble stipulates that
public sector executive bodies may use electronic signatures in relation to
citizens, economic operators, for example, in public procurement, taxation,
the social security system, the health care system and the justice system.
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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According to Part 7 of Article 3 of Directive 1999/93/EC, member States
may impose additional requirements before the use of electronic signatures
in the eld of public administration. Such requirements must be objective,
transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and relate only to
specic characteristics. They cannot create obstacles to the provision of
cross-border services to citizens.
The following framework and strategic documents provide the legal
framework for digital transformation by extending the capability and
engaging every citizen, empowering every business, building e-government
and addressing global challenges within the EU: Digital Single Market
Strategy for Europe (European Commission, 2015), Digital Europe (2019),
European Standards for Telecommunications and Digital Technologies
Development Programme, Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society,
etc. The aim of the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe (European
Commission, 2015) is to create a single digital space within the EU for the
proper functioning of the economy, industry and public administration.
Introducing e-government is a necessary prerequisite for building
an ecient digital economy and a single EU digital market. Introducing
common digital e-governance standards in the EU contributes to reducing
the digital gap of Europeans in obtaining e-government services in the
public sector and introducing common e-government information systems.
The Declaration on a European Policy for new Information Technologies
proclaims the implementation of a single information policy in the EU
(Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 1999). This information policy implemented
in the legal systems of the member States can facilitate the use of the latest
information technologies at the national, regional and local governance
levels, as well as in administrations and executive bodies.
The leading role in the legal support of e-government is played by
Recommendation Rec (2004)15 of the Committee of Ministers to Member
States on Electronic Governance (Council of Europe, 2004; OECD, 2020),
which establishes the basic legal framework for the implementation of
e-government. The Recommendation recognizes that the member States
need to review their e-government policies, legislation and to develop
common e-government requirements based on respect for human rights,
e-democracy and the rule of law. Uniform e-government requirements
should be established through:
- strengthening democratic institutions at all levels by making them
more accessible, transparent, accountable and ecient;
- creating conditions for everyone to participate in the decision-
making process on public administration;
- improving public administration and services by making them more
accessible, user-oriented, transparent, ecient and cost-eective.
180 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
Upon assessment of the role of governance for national, regional and
local authorities, the European community considers it reasonable to
build e-governance by implementing comprehensive strategies for its
development. Those e-governance strategies should be developed through
the principles of respect for human rights, in particular the right of everyone
to express, seek, receive and impart information, knowledge and ideas.
Typical national e-governance development strategies should include:
- basic principles of e-democracy and its processes;
- expanding the system of access points to information and
communication channels to enable the user access to e-government
services;
- developing a coordinated model of public administration of executive
bodies functioning in dierent spheres and having dierent
competencies;
- establishing cooperation between public authorities, the private
sector and other civil society organizations;
- enshrining eective mechanisms for personal data protection at
the legislative level in strict compliance with the Convention for the
Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of
Personal Data and Protection of Information Security;
- introducing quality management systems in government bodies and
providing constant monitoring of e-government management risks;
- implementing information and communication technology policy
based on technological neutrality, open standards and evaluation of
the possibility to choose from a variety of available software models,
including open source models;
- setting up an education and training system for citizens and civil
servants in order to improve their e-literacy (Council of Europe,
2004).
The Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-based Digital
Government was adopted in 2020, as the innovative role of public authorities
in promoting e-governance based on the values of digital transformation of
European society was recognized (European Commission, 2020). The Berlin
Declaration is the continuation of the key principles of digital public services
enshrined in the Tallinn E-Government Declaration and E-Government
Action Plan for 2016-2020. The Berlin Declaration denes the public sector
as an important element of the European single market and a driving force
for new and innovative technological solutions to administrative services
and social problems. This Declaration provides for e-governance which
is based on user-oriented principles, taking into account the values of the
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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digital transformation of the European community. Figure 1 shows the
European principles of e-governance.
Figure 1. The system of e-governance principles in the EU.
Source: European Commission (2020).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2020)
has also contributed to the development of e-government principles for
society by enshrining them in the Good Practice Principles for Data Ethics in
the Public Sector adopted in 2020. Good Practice reects the mechanism of
ethical use of e-government data, its results and services, which guarantees
a higher level of public trust. Unlike European e-governance principles,
which are based on the values of the digital transformation of the European
community, e-governance principles enshrined in the Good Practice make
human rights the focus of e-government policy and data. Such principles
include, in particular:
• integrated data management;
• national measures to ensure reliable access to e-government
services, their use and information security;
• introduction of ethical norms of information policy in the public
sector;
• monitoring and control of e-governance input data and its results,
including data on the development and learning of articial
intelligence systems;
• provision of e-government services with a view to the purpose of
using the public information received;
182 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
• establishment of boundaries for access to e-governance data and
their shared use;
• adherence to openness, clarity, inclusiveness and quality in the
provision of electronic services to the public sector;
• disclosure of e-governance open data and their source code;
• expansion of control over receiving of personal data;
• monitoring and responsibility for controlling the risk management
of e-government.
The United Nations (2020) E-Government Survey evidenced that all
regions of the world are progressing in the implementation of e-government.
Europe is this year’s leader with the greatest share of countries with a very
high level of e-governance (58%), followed by Asia (26%), America (12%)
and Oceania (4%). In 2020, Denmark, South Korea, Estonia, Finland,
Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom became the countries with a
very high level of e-governance. Outsiders include Sudan, Eritrea and the
Central African Republic. The EU countries have, on average, the highest
rates of countries with a very high level of e-governance — 93% of European
countries provide public services using information and communication
technologies. The EU countries have high rates because of the fruitful work
of the Community in building digital policy and the information society. The
legal framework for the development of digital government in dierent EU
countries and other leading countries with a very high level of e-governance
has its own peculiarities (Table 1).
Table 1. Legal support of e-government of countries with a very
high level of e-governance
Country Legislation E-governance
resource E-government
services
Denmark Digitization Strate-
gy of Denmark; State
Strategy of Articial
Intelligence
Dierent specialized
e-government por-
tals for individuals
and legal entities, in-
cluding the national
health portal
Services in the eld
of social protection,
health care, taxation,
education, etc.
Estonia Civil society devel-
opment strategy; Es-
tonian Information
Strategy 2013; Digital
Signature Act 2004,
Public Information
Act 2004, Informa-
tion Services Act, Da-
tabase Act
The X-road system is
a multi-channel com-
munication protocol,
and Eesti.ee is sin-
gle-window govern-
ment and electronic
services
Services relating to
digital identication,
electronic voting,
electronic taxation,
electronic com-
merce, etc., exclud-
ing marriage and di-
vorce, purchase and
sale of real estate
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
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Finland Digitization Pro-
gramme of Finland Centralized sin-
gle-window multi-
channel portal
Services in the eld
of social protection,
health care, com-
merce, taxation, ed-
ucation, etc.
Sweden Freedom of the Press
Act 1949, Personal
Data Act 1998, Elec-
tronic Signature Act
2000, Electronic
Communications Act
2003
Government.se –
state e-government
portal, National Pub-
lic Procurement Of-
ce
Services in the eld
of social protection,
health care, com-
merce, taxation, ed-
ucation, etc.
England Government Trans-
formation Strategy
for 2017-2020, In-
formation Protection
Act 2018, EU General
Data Protection Reg-
ulations, Strategy for
technological innova-
tion, Electronic Com-
munication Act 2000,
Communications Act
2003, Electronic Sig-
nature Act 2002
gov.uk – state e-gov-
ernment portal Services in the eld
of social protection,
health care, com-
merce, taxation, ed-
ucation, etc.
Norway Digitization Pro-
gramme of Norway Norge.no and Gov-
ernment.no, Altinn.
no, Data.norge.no,
Anskaelser.no –
government portals
Services for citizens
and legal entities
Canada Government On-Line
(GOL) Programme,
Shared Views and
Feelings on Internet
Use Programme
GOL – government
portal Services for citizens
and legal entities
Source: United Nations (2020).
The eective e-governance should be implemented by eliminating
the digital gap, creating a competent regulatory body for public policy
on e-governance, introducing a system of access points to e-government
services and training of civil servants to provide e-services (Figure 2).
184 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
Figure 2. Ways to develop e-governance
Source: Council of Europe (2004).
The areas of e-governance development should be enshrined at the
legislative level with a clear plan for their implementation. The digital gap
reduced by raising e-literacy among all population segments through lifelong
education on innovation. The media, social networks, government forums
and other information can make an eective contribution to the promotion
of e-literacy. Improving the e-literacy of civil servants will help improve the
quality of e-government services. Digital awareness of government ocials
can be raised through the introduction of a system of training and advanced
training of civil servants in higher educational institutions on the basics of
e-governance and the legal framework for its implementation.
The introduction of a system of access points to e-government services
will help to overcome barriers among dierent population categories related
to income, health, age, gender, etc. These measures should be reected in
national concepts together with the development of e-government and
the information society as a whole. The newly established competent
state body should deal with the implementation of not only the above-
185
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 40 Nº 73 (2022): 172-191
mentioned directions of e-government development, but also the control
over the implementation of the state e-governance development policy. The
activities of this body will reect the real indicators of the eectiveness of
legal, organizational and technical means.
4. Discussion
The development of e-governance and the proper functioning of the
e-government service system depends on the implementation of eective
legal tools to eliminate the digital gap of the population, raise public
condence by providing quality electronic public services, introducing
a system of e-government access points and train civil servants on basic
principles of digital governance and improving knowledge in the eld of
electronic services.
According to Elbahnasawy (2021) and Malodia et al. (2021) the success
of e-government projects depends on the needs of citizens, communication
channels and the state of information and communication technologies.
According to Ma and Zheng (2019), enhancing the use of e-government
services by the public is possible through increased investment in
e-government, successful public information policy aimed at building
public condence in the use of e-government services, expanding digital
opportunities and raising awareness of society through increasing incomes
and obtaining education. The established trust and legal awareness will
balance the level of supply and demand of e-government.
According to researchers, the level of public knowledge about the latest
technologies and the diversity of e-government services promote the
participation of citizens in public education on IT, which has a positive
eect on the interest in using e-government services regardless of age, as
well as by people with disabilities (Lee & Porumbescu, 2019).
As Kurfalı et al. (2017) state that the increasing demand for electronic
public services results from the expected productivity of governance policy,
eective legal tools for keeping e-government services condential, as well
as for proper protection of Internet content and social position. According
to Lallmahomed et al. (2017) — the level of protection of condentiality
of e-government results and the quality of public information resources
promote the increase in the demand for the use of electronic services in
the public sector. Tangi et al. (2021) believe that the electronic maturity of
society increases the demand for electronic administrative services, thus
reducing the costs of executive bodies at the state and local levels. According
to Almotawkel and Qureshi (2021) communicative infrastructure, human
resources, annual costs and the legal consciousness of society are the main
factors in the development of e-governance.
186 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
Park and Kim (2020) state that e-governance is an eective anti-
corruption tool, as open data portals introduced at the legislative level and
discussion forums of public authorities on the Internet reduce corruption
in the provision of administrative services. Liu, Yang and Zheng (2020)
include the environment (political institutions), process (implementation
of information technology, public relations and strategic interaction) and
productivity in the factors inuencing the implementation of e-governance
projects. Chen et al. (2019) believe that special attention should be paid
to the implementation of an eective system of legal tools to regulate
e-government services along with technical, managerial and inter-
organizational indicators of the eectiveness of e-governance.
Studying the evolution of e-governance, Alcaide–Muñoz et al. (2017)
determine its further growth through the development of its components:
smart city (public services), e-participation (political sphere) and the use
of information and communication technologies by citizens (technological
tools).
Sangki (2018) considers that the future model of modern e-governance
should include the level of social maturity which is based on e-democracy,
and healthy civil society which is based on the statistical model. According
to Lumbanraja (2016), the reform of public administration in the eld of
e-government services should be based on harmonization of the structure
of public authorities and their functions by eliminating duplication of their
powers when providing the same administrative services to citizens. Roux,
Fusi and Brown (2020) note that current globalization trends urge the use
of information and communication technologies in the establishment of
e-democracy through the exercise of the right to vote through online voting
on public servers.
Eciency of the system of electronic administrative services provided
to society (correctional, migration services, intellectual property services,
information and communication protection, general legal administration
services, etc.) is based on the principles of the rule of law, e-democracy,
quality, timeliness and reasonability (Wijatmoko, 2020, p. 213-214; Kurfali
et al., 2017).
According to Glyptis et al. (2020), the key factors inuencing the
e-governance level include: the nancial situation of society and the level
of its readiness for e-government; state of infrastructure and technological
innovations for eective knowledge and communication management;
political and legal framework. Morozova and Kurochkin (2020) believe
that the study of e-governance is topical because of the need to improve
the system of government agencies and its sectors in terms of technological
development, informatization and digitalization
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We can note based on the results of the doctrinal analysis of the problems
of establishing legal mechanisms for e-governance that scientists consider
it reasonable to further study the legal tools of regulating the system of
e-government services, eective recommendations for their practical
implementation. This will adjust the content and directions of development
of legal support for public administration.
Conclusion
The legal mechanism to regulate the development of e-governance is a
system of legal tools, principles, methods and forms, which it to convert
the rule of law into orderly public relations in the eld of e-governance, as
well as to establish and provide an appropriate system of electronic public
services to meet the needs of citizens and legal entities.
The e-governance is based on the citizen-oriented principles, while
taking into account the values of digital transformation. Such principles
include: the validity and respect for fundamental rights and democratic
values in the digital sphere; social participation and digital integration to
shape the digital world; expanding rights and opportunities, improving
digital literacy that enable all citizens to participate in the digital sphere;
trust and security in interaction with e-government; digital sovereignty
and interoperability as key to enabling citizens and public administrations
to make decisions and act independently in the digital world; systems of
innovative technologies in the public sector to strengthen their role in
providing information security; a sustainable digital society that preserves
the natural foundations of life and uses digital technologies to make health
systems more resilient
The introduction of e-governance, the creation of e-government and
the establishment of e-democracy promote the modernization of the
form of public administration and the model of interaction of public
authorities with citizens and organizations. The main current principles of
e-government development include: improving the regulatory framework
for digital government; consistency of the legal regulation of the archival
storage of electronic documents; improving the quality and inclusiveness of
e-public services provided to the public and businesses by building citizens’
trust and improving their e-literacy; introduction of a system of training
and advanced training for civil servants, local ocials and citizens on the
e-governance implementation issues.
The prospect of further research is working out legal mechanisms for
the development of e-governance. Therefore, we consider the empirical
research, as well as theoretical and methodological justication of the legal
background for the development of the information society, including
188 Valeriy Dovhan, Iryna Yunyk, Oleh Kurchyn, Vasyl Zhupnyk y Serhii Moskalenko
Building Legal Mechanisms for Electronic Governance Development
the introduction of e-government and its services, as further prospects of
research.
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