1Volume 12- Issue 72
/ December 2023
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http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.72.12.11
How to Cite:
Storozhenko, L., Krasnykov, Y., Kaganovska, T., Babichev, A., & Rossikhina, H. (2023). Digital competence of society as a
component of modern public administration. Amazonia Investiga, 12(72), 123-134. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.72.12.11
Digital competence of society as a component of modern public
administration
Цифрова компетентність суспільства як складова реалізації сучасного публічного
управління
Received: November 5, 2023 Accepted: December 29, 2023
Written by:
Lina Storozhenko1
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2766-3712
Yevgen Krasnykov2
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6137-9401
Tetyana Kaganovska3
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4427-2038
Anatoliy Babichev4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7587-4824
Halyna Rossikhina5
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8436-049X
Abstract
Today, digital transformation covers all areas of
human activity, including the public
administration sector. At the same time, the
effectiveness of reforms in this area largely
depends on society’s digital competence, which
determines people’s ability to use innovative
products and services. The study aims to analyse
the impact of society’s digital competence on
developing e-government as a component of
digital public administration. The study used
statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and
multivariate regression analysis. It was found
that there is a significant or high correlation
between the level of the population’s digital
competence and the development of
e-government. Assessment of the impact of
separate indicators characterising the citizens’
digital competence on the E-Government
Development Index (EGDI) revealed that
1
PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Management and Administration, Educational and Scientific Institute
of Information Protection, State University of Information and Communication Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine.
WoS Researcher ID: AHI-4585-2022
2
Candidate of Sciences in Public Administration, Deputy head of the 155th military representation of the Ministry of Defense of
Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: IUQ-3347-2023
3
Doctor of Law Sciences, Professor, Rector, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
WoS Researcher ID: Z-4626-2019
4
PhD in Public Administration, Vice-rector, Associate Professor of the Department of Management and Administration Karazin
Business School, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: HZR-5464-2023
5
Doctor of Law Sciences, Professor of the Department of State and Law Disciplines, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University,
Kharkiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: AAK-7882-2020
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approximately 74.54% of the variation in this
indicator can be explained through the used
independent variables, namely, “Digital Skills
among Population”, “Global Science and
Technology Skills” and “E-Participation Index”.
The novelty of the research is to quantify the
impact of citizens’ digital competence on the
level of e-government development in European
countries. Government officials can use the
results to further develop strategies and measures
to improve digital public administration.
Keywords: digital competence, media literacy,
quality of public services, netocracy, information
society.
Introduction
In today's world, digital technologies determine
not only society’s daily life but also public affairs
management (Alvarenga et al., 2020). Public
administration is transforming significantly,
introducing the latest digital developments into
its practice (Kravtsov, 2022; Semchuk, 2022).
This has led to the emergence of the
“e-government” concept (Eom & Lee, 2022),
which has many advantages in the context of
increased transparency (Bisogno et al., 2022),
access to information (Mensah & Mwakapesa,
2023), reduction of information asymmetry (Yan
& Lyu, 2023), and more significant opportunities
for citizens to influence government decision-
making (Anshari & Hamdan, 2022). The
development of e-government is a critical factor
in the effectiveness of public administration in
modern conditions (Doran et al., 2023).
The effectiveness of public administration in the
digital transformation era significantly depends
on society’s digital competence (Kvitka et al.,
2020; Razumei & Razumei, 2020; Peng, 2022).
“Digital competence” is a broader concept than
“digital literacy” (Falloon, 2020) and is defined
as the ability of citizens to effectively use
Internet resources, information and
communication technologies to solve personal
and professional tasks and other goals
(Storozhenko, 2023). As defined in “The Digital
Competence Framework for Citizens”
Vuorikari et al., 2022), digital competence is a
key competence in the context of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution. It covers information and
media literacy, communication and
collaboration, digital content creation, security
and problem-solving, and lifelong learning.
Digital competence is not limited to
technological knowledge but focuses on the
social, cognitive and emotional dimensions of
living and working in a digital environment
(Mokhova & Orlova, 2021). Therefore, digital
competence involves not only the application of
digital skills but also changes the established way
of life, necessitating continuous personal and
professional development.
The level of society’s digital competence largely
determines the effectiveness of public
administration. In turn, public administration can
influence digital competence levels through the
introduction of state programmes for testing and
training in digital and media literacy, preparation
of relevant draft laws in education, labour and
other sectors, control over the security of state
platforms and ensuring their convenience for
different segments of the population, etc. In the
context of these mutual influences, there is an
effective interaction between the state and
society, which creates new forms and
mechanisms of democratic participation
necessary for the further development of public
administration based on netocracy.
The main challenge faced by the development of
e-government in relation to citizens' digital
competence is the insufficient level of digital
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competence of a part of the population, which
may be related to age, education, personal and
other reasons. This can hinder the development
of e-government due to the limitations created
when using e-services for a part of the population
with insufficient digital competence. This
actualises the key research question of the work
- to what extent does the development of
electronic government depend on the digital
competence of the population? In addition, it is
important to determine which measures from the
public administration can contribute to
increasing the population's digital competence
level.
The study aims to analyse the impact of society’s
digital competence on e-government
development as a component of digital public
administration. This aim requires solving several
tasks:
• to determine the relationship between the
citizens’ digital competence and the
development of digital public
administration;
• to identify the impact of citizens’ digital
competence indicators on the development
of e-government;
• to determine the place of the population’s
digital competence in the public
administration system in Ukraine.
Literature review
The digital competence of society has often been
studied in the context of public administration.
The majority of such works relate to aspects of
the development of a digital society, a necessary
prerequisite for which is the development of the
population's digital skills, as well as the
strengthening of digital inclusion. Poliovyi
(2021) explores public administration
modernisation in the context of the development
of the digital society, namely the areas for the
digital economy development (improvement of
the population’s digital skills and digital
competencies in some sectors). This direction
involves the development of citizens’ digital
skills in general. Also, it focuses on the need to
develop digital competencies of education and
science workers, healthcare professionals,
entrepreneurs, and officials and the introduction
of new digital professions. Blažič & Blažič
(2020) dwell on the development of digital
competence in older adults, as this category of
the population has the most difficulty developing
digital skills. The researchers explore how older
people can bridge the digital divide and note that
the problem is particularly acute due to the trend
towards demographic ageing. Tsekeris (2019)
explores ways to deal with different challenges
and existential fears of European citizens by
forming a digital skills ecosystem. Such a system
will allow for the consolidation of liberal
principles and activate people’s joint creativity
through collective evolution, displacing outdated
standards of top-down control. Oberländer et al.
(2020) have clarified the definition and
framework of digital competencies and noted a
gap between the existing digital competence of
citizens and the needs they face in the workplace.
Some studies have emphasised the need to
develop digital competencies for citizens in
general and public administration professionals.
Orlova & Shlyakhtina (2021) claim that modern
transformation processes in public
administration require the development of digital
competencies in civil service leaders. Similar
conclusions are drawn by Wodecka-Hyjek et al.
(2021), who note that developed digital
competencies of employees will contribute to
improving the efficiency of human resource
management in public organisations and public
administration. Fedorova et al. (2019) study the
changes in the requirements for the competencies
of managers in the civil service in the digital
economy. The researchers emphasise the need to
develop so-called “soft skills” (communication,
management, etc.).
Many works empirically reveal the relationship
between the digital skills of the population and
the development of e-government. Chohan & Hu
(2022) explore the possibilities of enhancing
digital inclusion through e-government and
identify the impact of information and
communication technology curricula on
improving digital competence using
e-government services. Scientists empirically
confirm the hypothesis that e-government
educational programs in the field of information
and communication technologies can increase
the level of digital literacy and improve the
formation of an information society. Tai et al.
(2020) investigate whether the rise of
e-participation affects citizens’ mobilisation to
participate in public affairs offline based on an
analysis of a representative sample of citizens in
the United States of America. An empirical study
by Rodríguez-Hevía et al. (2020) argues a close
connection between e-government and the digital
divide. Researchers argue that e-government
policies can both exacerbate the divide and
hinder it. Researchers have found that despite
having access to the Internet, many users have a
significant skills gap. In particular, the work
focuses on increasing attention to the digital
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inclusion of the elderly. Abdulkareem & Ramli
(2021) investigate the prognostic role of digital
literacy in improving e-government
performance. The central assumption in the study
is that citizens with a high level of digital literacy
will be able to use e-government services, which
will lead to higher efficiency of the latter.
The literature review allows us to note that the
problem of civil servants’ digital competence has
been studied extensively. At the same time, a
much smaller number of studies are aimed at
establishing the relationship between the
citizens’ digital competence and public
administration, in particular, e-government.
Most of the works containing empirical studies
reveal the impact of e-government on the digital
divide, while the impact of digital competencies
of the population on e-government is not
sufficiently discussed. Therefore, our study will
seek to fill this gap by applying correlation
analysis and multivariate regression analysis to
indicators characterising the level of
development of e-government and citizens'
digital competence.
Methods
The conducted research is based first on the
epistemological approach to understanding and
obtaining information. The research procedure
involves three interrelated and interdependent
stages. The first stage examines the relationship
between citizens’ digital competence and the
development of digital public administration in
European countries. This is done by determining
the relationship between the following groups of
indicators: on the one hand, indicators that
characterise the citizens’ digital competence –
“E-Government Index” and its sub-indices
“Online Service Index”, “Human Capital Index”
and “Telecommunication Infrastructure Index”;
on the other hand, indicators that demonstrate the
level of e-government development – “Digital
Skills among Population”, “Global science and
technology skills” and “E-Participation Index”.
The second stage of the study reveals the
significance and strength of the impact of
citizens’ digital competence indicators on the
development of e-government.
The third stage reveals the correlation between
digital competence and e-government
development in Ukraine. The analysis includes
indicators such as the “E-Government
Development Index” and “E-Participation
Index” for Ukraine for the period from 2003 to
2022, the level of general digital skills of the
Ukrainian population in % in 2019 and 2021, the
Media Literacy Index of the Ukrainian
population in % for 2020-2022, as well as the
growth rates of digital competence and
e-government development indicators.
Sample
The sample size is equal to 45 European
countries, the data of which was used in the
study. The digital competence and e-government
indicators for Ukraine are disclosed separately
and in more detail. Ukraine is of particular
scientific interest as a developing country with
intentions of European integration. Therefore,
such a vector of development as digital
transformation in all spheres of life and activity
is particularly important.
For data analysis, such software as Excel and
STATISTA were used in the work.
Methods
Statistical analysis was used to assess changes in
the studied indicators over time, and correlation
analysis was used to determine the relationship
between citizens’ digital competence and the
development of digital public administration.
The multivariate regression analysis provides an
opportunity to assess the impact of citizens’
digital competence on the development of
e-government.
Limitations of the study
This study has its limitations. First, the study
assessed the impact of the population’s digital
competence not on public administration in
general but on public administration in the digital
environment (meaning the development of
e-government as a critical component of the
effectiveness of modern public administration).
Hence, the study did not determine the impact of
the population’s digital competence on the
offline aspects of public administration.
Secondly, “digital competence” is a broader
concept than “digital skills” and “media literacy”
and encompasses a large number of
characteristics. The study mainly assessed the
digital competence of the population by their
digital skills.
Third, the years of conducting research used to
define the indices differ. For example, the
E-Government Index and the E-Participation
Index have been defined for quite some time, and
data for the last 20 years are available. At the
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same time, indices such as “Digital Skills among
Population” and “Global Science and
Technology Skills” are component indices of the
Digital Skills Gap Index, and this data is
available only for 2021.
The above limitations are mainly due to the lack
of necessary quantitative data for the relevant
periods. They are also related to the limitations
of the scope of this research paper.
Results
To conduct a correlation analysis, we used
indicators that characterise the population’s
digital competence on the one hand and
indicators of e-government development on the
other. Studying the correlations between these
indicators will allow us to determine the
relationship between the population’s digital
competence and the effectiveness of digital
public administration, expressed through the
level of e-government development. Table 1
shows the results of the correlation analysis
between the studied indicators.
Table 1.
Results of the correlation analysis between the studied indicators
E-Government
Index
Online Service
Index
Human
Capital Index
Telecommunication
Infrastructure Index
Digital Skills among the
Population
0,707864
0,472664
0,610652
0,720944
Global science and
technology skills
0,574072
0,257826
0,526553
0,705004
E-Participation Index
0,681942
0,827953
0,373623
0,408730
Source: calculated by the author based on data from Wiley (2021); United Nations (2022)
As can be seen from the data in Table 1, the
degree of the relationship between many of the
indicators is significant or high. Focusing on the
indicators “Digital Skills among Population” and
“Global Science and Technology Skills”, we can
see that there is a strong correlation with the
“Telecommunication Infrastructure Index”, as
well as with the E-Government Index for “Digital
Skills among Population” indicator. Therefore,
the level of citizens’ digital competence is most
closely related to the level of e-government and
telecommunications infrastructure development.
The E-Participation Index correlates highly with
the Online Service Index, so the more developed
the electronic services for citizens are, the higher
their e-participation is.
Identifying the impact of citizens’ digital
competence indicators on e-government
development
In the context of the study, it is of particular
interest to determine the impact of the
population’s digital competence on
implementing public administration in the digital
environment. Using the multivariate regression
method (Table 2), we assessed the impact of
indicators characterising the population’s digital
competence level on the E-Government Index.
Table 2.
Results of the analysis using the multivariate regression method
BETA
BETA standard
error
B
Standard
error B
t(42)
p-value
Free member
0,449655
0,034395
13,07324
0,000000
Digital Skills among the
Population
0,334765
0,098067
0,015070
0,004415
3,41363
0,001455
Global science and
technology skills
0,319292
0,090937
0,013569
0,003865
3,51112
0,001100
E-Participation Index
0,502226
0,083264
0,275067
0,045603
6,03172
0,000000
Source: calculated by the author
In the multivariate regression analysis, the
variable “E-Government Index” was the
dependent variable, and “Digital Skills among
Population”, “Global Science and Technology
Skills”, and “E-Participation Index” were the
independent variables. In such a way, how each
independent variable influences the
“E-Government Index” variable was assessed.
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The “E-Government Index” is a key indicator for
characterising the development of e-government.
The “Digital Skills among Population”, “Global
Science and Technology Skills”, and
“E-Participation Index” indicate the level of
development of citizens’ digital competence.
The analysis results suggest that given the value
of the coefficient of determination R2, which is
about 0.7454, approximately 74.54% of the
variation in the level of the “E-Government
Index” can be explained by the independent
variables. The F-statistic is F (3, 41) = 43.939,
and the p-value is less than 0.00000, which
indicates a significant impact of the independent
variables on the dependent variable.
The free member has a statistically significant
effect on the “E-Government Index” with a high
t-statistic (t(41) = 13.07324) and a low p-value
(p < 0.000000). This means that, despite other
variables, there is a constant that has a significant
impact on the “E-Government Index”.
The indicators “Digital Skills among Population”
and “Global Science and Technology Skills” also
have a statistically significant impact on the
“E-Government Index”, with high t-statistics
(t(41) = 3.41363 and t(41) = 3.51112,
respectively) and low p-values (p = 0.001455 and
p = 0.001100, respectively). The “E-Participation
Index” has the most considerable positive impact
on the “E-Government Index” with a high t-
statistic (t(41) = 6.03172) and a low p-value
(p < 0.000000).
Hence, all the variables included in the analysis
have a statistically significant impact on the
dependent variable “E-Government Index” and
may be necessary for improving the efficiency of
e-government. The regression model can predict
the “E-Government Index” based on the
independent variables.
From the conducted analysis, it can be concluded
that the correlation between citizens' digital
competence and the development of public
administration in the digital environment is close,
because about 75% of the variation in the level of
development of electronic government can be
explained by the change in indicators related to
the development of digital competences of the
population. This influence of digital skills on the
level of development of e-government can be
explained by the fact that the effectiveness of
e-government depends, first of all, on the ability
of citizens to use it properly. These opportunities,
in turn, depend on the digital competences
available to the population.
The place of the population’s digital competence
in the public administration system in Ukraine
When determining the place of the population’s
digital competence in the public administration
system in Ukraine, it is also worth referring to
statistics first. Figure 1 shows the values of the
“E-Government Development Index” and the
“E-Participation Index” for Ukraine from 2003 to
2022.
Figure 1. Values of the “E-Government Development Index” and “E-Participation Index” for Ukraine for
the period from 2003 to 2022
Source: constructed by the author from United Nations (2022)
0,46 0,53 0,55 0,57 0,52 0,57 0,50
0,61 0,62
0,71
0,80
0,40 0,34 0,37
0,57
0,26
0,16
0,43
0,75 0,69
0,81
0,60
0,00
0,10
0,20
0,30
0,40
0,50
0,60
0,70
0,80
0,90
2003 2004 2005 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
E-Government Development Index value E-Participation Index value
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As can be seen from Figure 1, the
“E-Government Development Index” for
Ukraine has a more stable upward trend than the
“E-Participation Index”, which is characterised
by significant fluctuations. At the same time, the
correlation between the indicators is 0.618450, or
about 61.85%, which is lower than the value
calculated for European countries (0.681942).
However, this may be due to differences in the
calculation methodology – for Ukraine, the
observations were the values of the
“E-Government Development Index” and the
“E-Participation Index” in 2003-2022, while for
European countries, these were the values of the
indices for each country in the last year of the
study. In general, the strength of the connection
between the two indices can be defined as
significant.
In determining the impact of the population’s
digital competence on e-government
development, it is impossible to apply the same
approach to Ukraine as was applied to European
countries in the previous section. This is because
the values of such indices as “Digital Skills
among Population” and “Global Science and
Technology Skills” are available only for 2021.
Therefore, it is impossible to study their changes
over time. At the same time, when the
observations are not periods but individual
countries, using these indices is entirely
appropriate. Hence, in the case of Ukraine, it is
possible to assess the impact of the
“E-Participation Index” alone.
In the course of assessing the impact of the
“E-Participation Index” on the “E-Government
Development Index” using the multivariate
regression method, the following results were
obtained. The coefficient of determination R2 is
approximately 0.3825, which means that about
38.25% of the variation in the dependent variable
“E-Government Development Index” can be
explained using the independent variable
“E-Participation Index” in the regression model.
The value of the F-statistic F(1,9) is
approximately 5.5744, and the p-value is less
than 0.04253. This indicates that the independent
variable “E-Participation Index value” is
statistically significant in predicting the
dependent variable “E-Government
Development Index”. The beta coefficient for the
independent variable “E-Participation
Index” is approximately 0.2901. This means that
for every one unit change in the “E-Participation
Index”, the dependent variable “E-Government
Development Index” changes by about 0.2901
units in the same direction. The standard error of
the estimate for the “E-Participation
Index” is approximately 0.1229, meaning there is
a certain degree of error in the predictions.
The “Digital Skills among Population” and
“Global Science and Technology Skills”
indicators, available only for 2021, are 5.9 and
4.8 for Ukraine, respectively, with a maximum
value of 10. The leader in the “Digital Skills
among Population” index in Europe is Finland
(10), and in “Global Science and Technology
Skills” – Austria (9.6).
In the absence of values for the indicators
“Digital Skills among Population” and “Global
Science and Technology Skills” over time, the
change in the level of digital competence of the
population in Ukraine can also be assessed using
local indicators. Such indicators in the study are
the Population’s Level of General Digital Skills
and the Population’s Media Literacy Index. The
latter index was taken into account in the study,
as the Digital Competence Framework for
Citizens defines media literacy as a component
of digital competence, which “encompasses
concepts such as information and media literacy,
communication and collaboration, digital content
creation (including programming), security
(including personal data protection in the digital
environment and cybersecurity), as well as
problem-solving and lifelong learning”
(Vuorikari et al., 2022). The level of general
digital skills and the Media Literacy Index of the
Ukrainian population are presented in Figures 2
and 3.
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Figure 2. The general level of digital skills of the Ukrainian population (%)
Source: constructed by the author according to Diia. Osvita (2021)
Figure 3. Media literacy index of the Ukrainian population (%)
Source: compiled by the author from Detector Media (2023)
Analysing the data in Figure 2, we can see an
increase in the share of the population with
digital skills above basic by 7.1% (in 2021
compared to 2019). The Media Literacy Index of
the population has grown incredibly significantly
(Figure 3). The proportion of the population with
above-average media literacy increased by 7%,
and the proportion with high media literacy rose
by 23% (in 2022 compared to 2020).
In the context of the study, comparing the growth
rates of the above indicators for Ukraine is
helpful. For such indicators as the General Level
of Digital Skills and the Media Literacy Index,
the sums of the shares of the population with
average and above-average values were
calculated, which allows us to determine the
growth rate of the population with an above-
average level of digital competence. The
calculations are presented in Table 3.
15,1 11,2
37,9 36,6
21,5 19,6
25,5 32,6
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2019 2021
No skills Low skills Basic skills Above basic skills
15 13 6
33 32
13
43 45
50
810
31
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2020 2021 2022
Low Below average Above average High
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Table 3.
Growth rates of the population’s digital competence and e-government development
2022 Ukraine
2019
2020
2021
2022
Growth rate, %.
E-Government Development Index
-
0,7119
-
0,8029
112,78
E-Participation Index
-
0,8095
-
0,6023
74,40
Online Service Index
-
0,6824
-
0,8148
119,40
Telecommunication Infrastructure
Index
-
0,5942
-
0,727
122,35
Human Capital Index
-
0,8591
-
0,8669
100,90
Overall digital skills assessment (Basic
skills + Above basic skills)
47
52,2
-
111,06
Media literacy index (Above average +
High)
-
51
55
81
158,82
As can be seen from Table 3, the Media Literacy
Index has the highest growth rate. The lowest
growth rate (74.4%) is characteristic of the
“E-Participation Index”. The growth rate of the
“E-Government Development Index” reaches
112.78%. Based on the results of the preliminary
analysis for European countries, it can be
assumed that 74.54% of the variation in this
indicator can be explained by changes in the
“Digital Skills among Population”, “Global
Science and Technology Skills”, and
“E-Participation Index”. A comparison of the
indicators’ growth rates also shows that the
growth of the “E-Government Development
Index” is accompanied by an increase in general
digital skills and media literacy. However, the
“E-Participation Index” has declined.
The analysis shows that to improve the efficiency
of public administration, in particular in the
digital sphere, it is necessary to improve the
population’s digital competence. This can be
achieved through introducing special
government programmes, further development
of the Digital Competence Framework and its
adaptation to Ukrainian realities, development of
platforms for testing and training in digital skills,
educational programmes, etc. Forming a proper
ecosystem of digital skills of the population will
contribute to the development of public
administration and public services based on
netocracy.
Among the specific recommendations, it is
possible to propose the implementation of
educational projects to improve the digital
literacy of the elderly, taking as an example the
project launched by the National Bank of
Ukraine in partnership with PrivatBank. This
project is called "Financial Wisdom" and is
aimed at increasing the financial literacy of older
people. Taking this project as a basis, it is
possible to issue a printed publication containing
information about modern public digital services,
the possibilities they provide, recommendations
for use, and advice on data security.
Discussion
The analysis conducted confirms that the
development of e-government significantly
depends on the level of society’s digital
competence. Therefore, developing relevant
skills among citizens is one of the government’s
top priorities in digitalising public
administration.
Poliovyi (2021) emphasises that the
digitalisation of public administration should
become a prerequisite for developing the digital
economy and society. According to the
researcher, the digitalisation process of public
administration can be intensified by introducing
information and communication technologies
using public-private partnership models. At the
same time, the author's research demonstrated
that the efforts to digitalise the public
administration sector should focus primarily on
the human factor and secondarily on
technological aspects. This applies to both the
population and civil servants. The author's
conclusions are confirmed in the research by
Orlova and Shlyakhtina (2021), who, studying
ways to improve the digital competencies of
managers in the civil service, conclude that
mechanisms for assessing acquired digital
competencies are insufficiently developed. In
addition, efforts should be made to create
effective programmes to improve the digital
literacy of officials. Fedorova et al. (2019)
emphasise the development of soft skills in civil
servants and propose to classify such skills into
five categories: communication, self-
organisational, managerial, emotional and
mental. Wodecka-Hyjek et al. (2021) used
correlation analysis to establish a link between
the level of digital competencies of management
personnel and employee engagement and
satisfaction on the one hand and the effectiveness
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of human resource management on the other
hand. These research works confirm the
conclusions drawn in the study and propose
specific areas for developing digital competence.
Chohan & Hu (2022) conclude that
e-government programmes for information and
communication technology training have a
significant impact. Such programmes should be
used in conjunction with measures to improve
digital literacy. This will help reduce the digital
divide in developing countries. Among the
positive effects, it is also worth noting the growth
of the potential population of such states and the
increase in equity in the use of public services.
The author's research further found that the
development of digital skills and media literacy,
communication and creative skills, etc., should
accompany training in information and
communication technologies.
Tai et al. (2020) found that greater electronic
participation of citizens increases their offline
engagement. Citizens’ participation in public
affairs through various forms of electronic
interaction is directly related to their engagement
outside the digital sphere. This conclusion differs
from our study, which is dedicated to the impact
of e-participation on the development of
e-government. Thus, comparing the author's
work with this thesis reveals the main limitation
of the author's research - it did not reveal the
impact of digital skills on offline aspects of
public administration.
Blažič & Blažič (2020) emphasise the
importance of the digital divide for older adults
and the possibility for technologies to facilitate
the lives of this category of citizens by increasing
mobility, communication opportunities, access to
services, etc. The researchers also revealed the
effectiveness of using particular games on a
tablet to develop information and communication
skills in older adults. This topic was not covered
in the article, but further research could continue
through a statistical analysis of the population’s
digital skills by age group.
Tsekeris (2019) suggests that forming a practical
digital skills ecosystem among the population
will contribute to strengthening humanism and
democracy. In addition, it will spur responsible
innovation and improved adaptability, ultimately
leading to economic growth and transforming
existing risks into new opportunities for the
population. While this study focuses on
strengthening democracy, our research
emphasises the development of public
administration based on netocracy, the
importance of digitalising the public sphere for
the free expression of opinions and increased
participation of citizens in public administration
through information and communication
technologies.
Oberländer et al. (2020) point out the lack of
work aimed at studying the digital competence of
the adult population, as well as the neglect of the
context of work (education, politics, media,
communications, and other areas). This work
fills the gap in the study of the adult population’s
digital competence to some extent.
Abdulkareem & Ramli (2021) found that the
level of digital literacy of the population has a
significant impact on the use of e-government
and its benefits (based on the example of
Nigeria). These findings are consistent with the
author’s research, as they prove that increasing
the effectiveness of e-government depends on the
population’s level of digital competence. The
studies differ in the regions used for the analysis,
so the conclusions drawn in the author’s work
may be valid for other countries and require
additional calculations based on local data.
Conclusions
Innovative technologies transform the way
society and public administration develop,
forcing the latter to adapt to new challenges.
Improving citizens’ digital competence is crucial
for ensuring effective e-government and
strengthening democracy in the digital era. The
interconnection between the digital competence
of society and public administration reveals new
opportunities to improve the efficiency and
quality of public services and engage citizens
more actively in shared decision-making.
The study results show a significant relationship
between the population’s digital competence
level and the development of e-government in
European countries. In particular, a high level of
citizens’ digital competence affects the increase
in the “E-Government Index” and its sub-indices,
indicating a more efficient public administration
through information and communication
technologies. The results also indicate the need
to develop telecommunications infrastructure to
increase the level of digital competence and
efficiency of public administration.
The multivariate regression analysis allows for
predicting the level of e-government
development based on indicators of citizens’
digital competence and other factors. Given the
significant impact of these indicators on the
effectiveness of public administration, it is
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possible to develop strategies and measures to
improve public administration in the digital
environment further.
The digital competence of the population in
Ukraine also has a significant impact on the
development of e-government and public
administration. The growth of the “E-
Government Development Index” is
accompanied by an increase in digital skills and
media literacy, demonstrating the importance of
digital competence for modern public
administration.
To improve the effectiveness of public
administration in the information society, it is
necessary to actively develop programmes and
initiatives to increase the digital competence of
the population and adapt them to the needs of
Ukrainian society. For example, the work
proposed the implementation of an educational
program for the elderly, which, in the form of a
printed edition, will increase their awareness in
the field of public digital services - following the
example of the implemented program for
increasing the financial literacy of the elderly
"Financial Wisdom". High digital competence of
the population will contribute to developing
public administration and public services based
on netocracy.
The key limitations of the study are related to the
fact that the analysis does not reveal the impact
of the population's digital skills on offline aspects
of public administration. In addition, further
research should cover a wider range of
characteristics of digital competence of the
population, in addition to existing digital skills.
Further research should be aimed at developing
strategies to improve citizens’ digital
competence, taking into account the results of
this study, as well as by different age groups.
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