Analysis of effectiveness of electronic governance of administrative services provision system

A. T. Obolensky singles out three main problems of the mechanisms of state management of the processes of providing administrative services, which should be solved in the process of implementing the administrative reform: ordering the list, determining the cost and ensuring the convenience of their provision [19].

The newly created Ministry of Digital Transformation has set the following goals until 2024: 100% of public services should be available to citizens and businesses online; 95% of transport infrastructure, settlements and their social facilities should have access to high-speed Internet; 6 million Ukrainians should be involved in the digital skills development program; the share of the IT product in the country's GDP should be at least 10% [20, p. 7].

The first steps included the adoption of a legal framework for basic digital citizen rights, including the right to access broadband Internet and increasing the availability of technology for consumers to reduce the cost of software, computer and other equipment. Prerequisites for promoting the digital agenda of Ukraine include the recently developed legislation on the digital economy and telecommunications, digital infrastructure, achievements in the field of ensuring a cashless economy - the development of electronic trade (e-Trade), electronic protection (e-Trust) and cyber security (Cybersecurity). The "Smart City" initiative, recently initiated by the relevant Ministry of Digital Transformation, testifies to the confidence of the authorities in the existing legislative and institutional framework for the implementation of complex initiatives to build the ICT ecosystem at the regional/local level.

The All-Ukrainian survey "Opinions and views of the population of Ukraine regarding public electronic services" was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in September 2022 as part of the regular "Omnibus" commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). During the study, the opinions and views of adult residents of Ukraine (aged 18 and older) were studied on various issues related to the use of state electronic services.

Most of the respondents (52%) used the "Diya" application or portal, and compared to 2020, the share of "users" increased first from 13% to 30% in 2021, and then to 52% in 2022 (i.e. 4 times). At the same time, for other services in the list, the situation is different - over the last year, the number of subsidies / benefits / social payments has increased slightly: from 13% to 16%. Other services were used by up to 9.5% of all respondents during the last year, and in almost all cases, compared to 2021, there is a tendency to decrease the use (the only exception is the registration of a birth certificate - the use of this service has not changed). Perhaps this is due to lower "demand" in wartime [20, p. 7 ].

The above is confirmed by the answers to the following questions: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year (Fig. 1). From the given figure, it can be seen that rapid growth in the use of public services was achieved by the portal "Diya", the second place in popularity is the issue of personal transport. For other types of public services, the demand decreased in 2022, for some types twice as compared to 2020 (obtaining passports, paid services for obtaining information from state registers or obtaining digital extracts, admission to a higher education institution, issues related to managing affairs firms or companies.

Fig. 1. Answers to the question: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year? Source: compiled by [21]

The absolute majority of respondents (79%) who used government electronic services consider the experience rather or very positive. However, 54% of them indicate a "rather positive" experience, although they clarify that some aspects need to be improved. Only 9% of users talk about a rather or very negative experience [20, p. 7].

The above is confirmed by the answers to the following questions: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year (Fig. 2).

The "Diia" portal is in the greatest demand among consumers of public services in the Eastern region (61.8%), in the Central region only half of the respondents. According to the demand for use, the provision of subsidies is in second place (the largest number of users is the Eastern region - 17.5%, the Central region - 16.4% of respondents).

Compared to 2021, the overall share of those satisfied with electronic services did not change (in 2021, this indicator was 78%), but at the same time, the number of those reporting a "very positive experience" increased from 19% to 25.5%. Also, the share of those who had a negative experience decreased from 16% to 9%. Thus, it is possible to witness an improvement in the perception of the quality of electronic services.

Fig. 2. Answers to the question: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year? Source: compiled by [21].

At the same time, if we evaluate the methods of obtaining services, then 53% consider the online format to be more convenient and effective, and 9% consider visiting a health care center (in 2021, the corresponding indicators were 54% and 11%). Another 28% consider both methods convenient and effective (25% in 2021). Only 3% consider both methods inconvenient and ineffective (5% in 2021) [20, p. 27].

Compared to 2021, there are more people who pay attention to the protection of personal data (16% and 23% in 2022, respectively), online chat (13% and 15%), access only with a qualified electronic signature (10% and 13%), the ability to track status (5% and 9.5%). At the same time, there were fewer people who mentioned short explanations (the share decreased from 17% to 9%) and fewer transitions between pages (from 10% to 6%). 74% of respondents were able to name at least one situation in which they would be interested in having an effective electronic service. At the same time, respondents express various ideas about life situations in which they would gladly use effective electronic services. Relatively most of the respondents spoke about obtaining a passport for traveling abroad (16% of respondents include this situation in the top 3 circumstances in which they are interested in such services), access to a medical card (15%) and an electronic medical record (15%). Among respondents who did not use government electronic services in the last year, 59% named at least one area in which they would like to have an effective electronic service. If we compare with 2021, the interest in the electronic sick leave (from 9% to 15%), access to the data of one's medical card (from 10% to 15%) and processing of documents on land issues (from 7.5%) has increased relatively the most up to 12%) [20, p. 8].

The above is confirmed by the answers to the following questions: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year (Fig. 3) [21].

Fig. 3. Answers to the question: Have you had the opportunity to receive electronic government services in any of the specified areas during the last year? Source: compiled by [21].

By region of Ukraine in 2022, the largest users of electronic public services among those surveyed are the population of the Eastern region (68.9%), the second place is occupied by the population of the Southern region - 68.1%. Interviewees. The largest number of respondents who do not use public services in the Western region is 37.6%.

The development of local development institutions is one of the main tools for revitalizing life in communities, solving common pressing problems, and creating real opportunities for territorial development. For this, it is necessary to apply all elements of the implementation mechanism of the system of local development institutions and the mandatory creation of local economic development agencies, small town development centers, business centers, public organizations, business associations, permit centers, centers for the provision of administrative services, information and advisory centers, investor attraction agencies, entrepreneurship support funds [22, p. 63].

The Ministry of Digital Affairs continues to build the most convenient state in the world from the point of view of receiving state services, he noted Mstislav Banik, Head of Electronic Services Development at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. "During the year, the Ministry of Digital Affairs actively worked on the development of Diia. During this time, 6 million users joined the application. Currently, Diya is used by more than 18.5 million Ukrainians, and the web portal by almost 22 million, he said. - The fact that Ukrainians increasingly use state electronic services, and the absolute majority positively evaluates the services provided, indicates the effective development of the state's system of providing public services [23].

Last year, due to the war, the share of those belonging to vulnerable population groups increased in Ukraine, primarily due to the increase in the number of internally displaced persons. The war highlighted the importance of online interaction with the state. In the conditions when millions of people needed help from the state, but could not physically use these services - because they were forced to be on the road, at a new place of residence, or the national health center in their settlement stopped functioning - the opportunity to receive the necessary state services from their own smartphone or laptop turned out to be critically important.

The main reason for not using state electronic services is the respondents' lack of such a need (this was reported by 71% of such respondents). Next in the list of reasons are lack of skills (47%) and lack of a device with an Internet connection (32%). At the same time, among respondents who reported a lack of skills, 43% do not want to develop skills at all. 30% say they would like to develop them with the help of children / grandchildren, 11% - with the help of short instructional videos [20, p. 30].

Information materials have a greater motivational effect on younger and more educated people (the intersection of these categories should be taken into account).

Thus, by age, the share of those who were encouraged by the materials decreases from 74% among 18-29-year-olds to 20% among people aged 70+. As for education, 70.5% of respondents with higher education felt encouraged, while 20% of respondents with incomplete secondary and lower education felt encouraged [20, p. 48].

The provision of basic administrative and state public services has significantly deteriorated. The ability of local authorities to maintain a minimum level of services is severely limited as workers have left or are unable to access jobs. Even if the population does not suffer directly from hostilities, it faces a reduction in the volume of services, interruptions or complete cessation of their provision. Disruptions and disruptions to essential services create multisectoral needs [24, p. 3].

The results of the community survey on the provision of administrative services (Fig. 4).

The data of the analysis of the satisfaction with public services of the residents of the united territorial communities indicate a high assessment of the quality of the provision of public services by all public institutions (the highest assessment (5 points) was received by the territorial bodies of the State Customs Service, interregional departments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, territorial bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the State Geocadastre and Social Security Administration). However, those surveyed are most dissatisfied (1 point on the scale) with the work of the regional centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Fig. 4. The results of the community survey on the provision of administrative services Source: compiled by [24].

The analysis of scientific and special publications confirms the following problems in the processes of providing public services to the population:

the majority of civil servants "... have no idea about European values, the philosophy of human-friendly management", which motivates the authors to develop and implement a number of measures of the project "New Ukraine - a new government with the participation of civil society";

the concept of "administrative service" today "... is understood not as a category of the service state concept, but primarily as a "business service" within the framework of the development of market economy concepts";

the quality of the services of state bodies, according to researchers and compilers of the rating [76], the results of which were confirmed by the well-known auditing company E&Y, consists in "... the low level of payment of civil servants and their lack of motivation in meeting the needs of citizens-clients";

according to the survey of the "Democratic Initiatives" foundation, "... the majority of the population is not familiar with the activities of local or state authorities in providing administrative services", and only a small proportion knows about "... the creation of official web resources related to administrative services ";

Information terminals for self-service are installed only in 25%, the electronic queue system is implemented only in 22%, and the possibility of prior appointment for a visit is provided for only in 14% of the investigated and evaluated CPASs [25];

only 61% of centers are equipped with ramps, 8% with special toilets, 4% with an appropriately adapted self-service information terminal, 4% with call buttons at the entrance door, 1% with wheelchairs and automatic doors for people with disabilities. assistance is provided by the duty officer;

in the majority of CNAs (68%) they do not provide related services (banking, photocopying, lamination, sales of office supplies, scanning, etc.) [26].

B. Savchenko, K. Melnikova, Yu. Bokovikova also support most of the problems and shortcomings listed and described above, which are emphasized in methodological recommendations for improving the processes of providing public services to the population [26]. However, no supplementing the list of identified shortcomings, errors and omissions in the formation and development of the processes of providing administrative services by state authorities and local selfgovernment bodies, despite the negative evaluations, episodes and results, we should generally positively evaluate the results of the creation and expansion of the CPAS network. After all, the State Service of Ukraine for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship Development, in a study of the quality of the provision of administrative services, revealed a positive dynamic of citizens' satisfaction with the quality of service provision, which was caused by the creation of CPASs. The result of a survey conducted by the State Service of Ukraine on Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship Development showed that 66% of respondents emphasized the improvement of the quality of providing administrative services to the population as a result of the creation of centers [27].

If we compare this figure with 99% of satisfactory and unsatisfactory assessments of the quality of service provision by central executive authorities, given in [2], then positive changes in the assessment of the work of newly created structures are quite obvious, and their authenticity should not be doubted. At the same time, there is no doubt that the elimination of at least a part of the above- mentioned shortcomings in the organization of the work of the Central Administrative Service is potentially capable of significantly changing the provision of administrative services in Ukraine.

Although the improvement of any system should be considered in conjunction with all possible ideas and actions in this direction to improve its components and characteristics (structure, structural elements, connections, mechanisms, processes, technologies, procedures, tools, etc.), in our research, we consider it expedient to concentrate efforts on identification, research, evaluation and proper use of e- government tools.

The definition of criteria for assessing their quality and standards of provision will contribute to the improvement of the quality of administrative service provision processes. Such criteria are performance; timeliness; availability, convenience; the possibility of choosing the method of applying for an administrative service, in particular by mail, e-mail, etc.; introduction of the "single window" principle; establishment by the administrative body of the schedule of admission of individuals and legal entities taking into account their interests; improvement of the payment procedure for administrative services; openness; respect for the person; professionalism [28].

S. Zharaya believes that increasing the social effectiveness of government activity is impossible without a clear vision of directions for improving the procedures for providing administrative services [4, p. 31 - 32]. According to the scientist, the criteria for evaluating the quality of providing administrative services to citizens are tools for determining the effectiveness of the authorities in providing services to the population (determined by the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of citizens with the mechanism of providing administrative services). The scientist singles out the following most acceptable directions for improving the mechanism of providing administrative services to the population: clear definition of standards and criteria for the quality of service provision; emphasis on efficiency and control of the final result; the possibility of real measurement of results [4].

In general, we support the opinion of M. Lakhizha regarding the generalization of the most important aspects of solving problematic issues: overcoming communication barriers, deregulation and harmonization of legislation with the European Union; motivation and training of civil servants; the number of employees in direct customer service bodies; taking into account the results of customer surveys; dissemination of best practices; use of modern technologies; knowledge management of employees working with clients [29].

It should also be noted that the above-mentioned dangerous phenomena for any organizational structure, as a rule, penetrate and begin to act in these inherently innovative structures due to the functioning of an ineffective system of public administration in general and, in particular, some mechanisms for its implementation in various spheres of social life, ineffective the system of motivating employees and their responsibilities, irrational distribution of employee responsibilities, etc.

Thus, the technologies of formation and successful implementation of the servicing of public authorities should be carried out thanks to the development of performance criteria, constant monitoring, audit and decision-making based on the analysis of information on the level of satisfaction of citizens with the public services received, the achievement of the planned results of SUYAPP, as well as indicators of monitoring the success of activities public authorities [27].

Solving problems related to the implementation of the policy of managing the quality of services of public authorities and ensuring control over its quality in the subjects of public administration should take place on the basis of implementation (taking into account the probability of the implementation of the priorities of the modern administrative reform, the implementation of the state development strategy, taking into account the course of the transformation process of Ukrainian society) certain types of policies such as:

the policy of maintaining the status quo, which is carried out with the introduction of the quality management system (QMS) and the "single window system" (SWS) in the existing legislative space;

a policy based on the principles of the introduction of a quality management system based on centrally developed and formalized administrative acts, requirements for the development of standards and a list of public services, the creation of an incentive process for the accelerated introduction of a quality management system;

a policy aimed at creating a regulatory and legal framework that would determine the tasks and specific functions of servicing public authorities aimed at increasing the social efficiency of public administration and introducing quality standards for the provision of public services;

a policy that synchronously determines the effectiveness of the above- mentioned second and third options, which are carried out in parallel and create synergistic effectiveness of the subject orientation of the activities of public authorities.

Therefore, the implementation of the Program will make it possible to: increase the effectiveness and efficiency of state administration, in particular as a result of reducing unjustified costs, including time costs; take into account the needs of consumers in specific services in the activities of self-government bodies and ensure the proper quality of their provision to the rural population; implement clear regulation of the activities of officials authorized to perform state functions; determine the list of services provided by executive authorities; to ensure the transparency of management decision-making and to improve the quality of service; ensure the formation of a positive international image of Ukraine.

Electronic democracy is used both to expand civil rights and freedoms, and to increase the transparency and accountability of public authorities, and citizen participation in decision-making processes. In practical terms, it refers to a variety of online or ICT-enabled government, civic, business or media websites, platforms, embedded features or mobile applications that promote democracy and good governance.

The essence of digital transformation is the integration of digital technologies into the functioning of the public administration system, which leads to fundamental changes in how its subjects provide citizens as clients with high-quality public services, including in electronic format.

Within order to ensure the high-quality provision of electronic public services, at least three stages of the formation of electronic government according to the UN methodology are necessary, which provides a four-stage model of the development of online services, where the first stage corresponds to the emergence of information services, the second - interactive services, the third - transaction services and the fourth - transformational services. Each stage requires an increase in the level of complexity and often a greater allocation of the necessary resources.

It should be noted that the development of online services in Ukraine is currently in the stage of transition from transactional to transformational services. The basis for the above is declared by the President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyi, the concept of "the state in a smartphone", which involves serving the people of Ukraine through the provision of public services to the citizens of the state, ensuring not only the expansion of their spectrum, but also the increase of access channels to them, integration (complexity) and convenience, the need to have high quality public services [30]. The adoption of the following normative legal acts serves as confirmation of this.

The list of active strategies (concepts, programs) that establish the list and order of providing state public services in Ukraine:

The activity program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated June 12, 2020 №. 471;

The National Economic Strategy for the period until 2030, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 3, 2021 № 179;

The state program to stimulate the economy to overcome the negative consequences caused by restrictive measures to prevent the emergence and spread of the acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus for 2020-2022, approved by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated May 27, 2020 № 534;

The National Strategy for the Creation of a Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine for the Period Until 2030, approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 14, 2021 № 366-р;

The State Strategy of Regional Development for 2021-2027, approved by Resolution No. 695 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated August 5, 2020;

State Administration Reform Strategy for 2022-2025, approved by Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 21, 2021 № 831;

Action plan for the implementation of the "Open Government Partnership" Initiative in 2021-2022, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 24, 2021 № 149-р;

Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 17, 2021 No. 365-р "Some issues of digital transformation";

The concept of the development of the system of electronic services in Ukraine, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated November 16, 2016 № 918-р;

The concept of the development of artificial intelligence in Ukraine, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 2, 2020 № 1556;

On the approval of the plan of measures for the development of broadband access to the Internet for 2021 - 2022 dated September 8, 2021 № 1069;

On the approval of the plan of measures for the release of radio frequency bands in the ranges 790-862 MHz, 694-790 MHz from radio-electronic means of the broadcasting service (television) for the introduction of LTE radio technology dated November 18, 2020 №1457-р;

On the approval of the plan of measures for the implementation of the fifth generation mobile (mobile) communication system in Ukraine dated November 11, 2020 № 1409-р;

On the approval of the plan of measures to improve the quality of mobile (mobile) communication services for 2020-2022 dated September 30, 2020 № 1189;

Strategy for the development of the sphere of innovative activity for the period until 2030, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 10, 2019 № 526;

IT education reform road map, approved by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine dated December 23, 2021 No. 1418/181 "On approval of the Action Plan for IT education reform";