Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

The digital transformation of public administration should increase the speed of data processing and routine procedures, improve the technologies of intra-departmental and interdepartmental interaction. This creates the conditions for the transition to more effective management based on data. Vyshka.Glavnoe talked about the features of the digitalization of government agencies with the head of the International Laboratory of Digital Transformation in Public Administration IGMU HSE Evgeny Styrin.

— Tell us how the laboratory was created?

— The idea of the laboratory crystallized into an application in 2020. But five years earlier, colleagues at the HSE Institute of Public Administration and Governance, who were actively involved in expert activities, consulting, and solving everyday management problems, came up with the idea of activating scientific work, including participating in high-level conferences, preparing articles for leading journals, and conducting in-depth research in the field of public administration and related disciplines. Public administration as a science is closely related to management, political science, and even psychology. There was a need to create a separate team of highly qualified scientists. We understood that additional research competencies in public administration and giving a scientific impetus to its study were needed.

We discussed the idea with the director of the institute, Andrey Borisovich Zhulin. When the university announced a competition to create international laboratories (the project “HSE Centres of Excellence“), we already had a research plan. In 2021, our application became one of the winners.

— What role does the laboratory’s leading scientist, Professor Eran Vigoda-Gadot, play in its work?

— Since 2021, the laboratory has been operating as an international one. Due to the difficult international situation, its scientific directors have changed. In early 2023, I offered the position of academic director of the laboratory to Eran Vigoda-Gadot, a professor at the University of Haifa. He agreed, and we managed to establish sustainable cooperation. He is an outstanding scholar, the author of several monographs on public administration and publications in leading global journals. And for him, the proposal to develop the topic of digital transformation was a challenge. A lot of work needs to be done to understand practical developments, transfer them to academic research and publish them. In fact, we need to rethink how all concepts and ideas are affected in the academic discipline of public administration. This is partly being done by our team. But there is an ambition to create a map of comparisons of key concepts of public administration and their evolution under the influence of the potential of digital technologies over the past 10-15 years.

— What are the priority areas of transformation? How does improving document flow, interaction within and between institutions affect the quality of management?

— The state and its individual institutions have current tasks, and we were looking for a topic that had not been developed theoretically. When Professor Vigoda-Gadot and I were forming the research program for the laboratory, we found out that a number of issues, for example, the digitalization of government services and even the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies, had been studied from an academic point of view and it was necessary to look for our own scientific niche. And then we turned to a very interesting problem of digital governance based on emotions. From a technological point of view, a lot has been studied. But citizens can reject government products due to emotional or psychophysiological rejection, an inconvenient human-computer interface, difficulties in using online services or, for example, mistrust of digital identification and other digital solutions of the state. We decided to look at the process of digital transformation from the point of view of citizens’ perception. There was a need to develop and understand the phenomenon of citizens’ digital trust in the state.

At the same time, it was important for the laboratory to realize its mission of adequate implementation of state digital solutions, by which we mean compliance with public and civil values, principles of ethics. We want to expand and develop theories of perception and adaptation of digital technologies by citizens, taking into account the dimensions of digital trust and the emotional component. Now this is the main focus of the academic part of our research.

— Doesn’t it happen that digitalization of processes leads to duplication of paper documents in electronic form and an increase in the office workload (which doctors and teachers have complained about)? Can this be avoided?

— We believe that the accumulated experience reflects a fairly high level of digital maturity of government bodies, the ability to create and scale digital solutions. But what the citizen wants has not been fully studied. This is largely due to the technological optimism of digital solution manufacturers on the part of the state, they are confident that their technologies will be in demand by citizens.

We see that this is not always the case. We are developing models of citizens’ perception of digital transformation, what external and value factors influence it, which takes time to create a foundation, if you will, a new theory of digital emotional management. A series of experiments and studies on this issue are being conducted, in practice, how ordinary citizens perceive and adapt various digital solutions for themselves is being studied.

– For example?

— In one of the experiments, we show respondents videos about digital transformation (DT), presenting it in a positive, negative and neutral way, and then ask questions about the perception of DT. We found out during the experiments that if you first evoke negative emotions, then the subsequent perception of digital solutions will be even more negative for a long period, even if the citizen successfully used their results.

If you show the positive role of technology to the subject, the answer will also be positive, but the positive message evokes a relatively weak response compared to the negative one. This seems obvious, but no one has yet conducted such research specifically in the context of public administration. We did this and launched a cross-cultural comparative study in six countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, Israel, the United Kingdom and Russia.

— Please name the key projects.

— The study of emotional state digital governance is a key project that is divided into several areas. It is very important for us, I have given examples of the studies above.

We believe that this is an area where we can say a new word in science. We hope that taking this factor into account by government bodies will allow for more accurate and personalized creation of digital solutions, taking into account the emotional characteristics of a person, increasing their demand and thereby increasing the efficiency of using budget funds for their development.

Separate areas are the impact of digital platforms on the labor market and state regulation of communication and expression of will on platforms. This topic is studied by senior research fellow Evgeny Diskin. We also study the role of the personality of managers – vice-mayors, vice-governors, heads of departments – in the pace and direction of transformation (leading research fellow Anna Sanina, research fellow Aisylu Atayeva).

— What is the laboratory’s work aimed at, when electronic interaction between residents of most cities and various government agencies is already, at first glance, well established?

— We are investigating how digitalization differs from digitalization and digital transformation. The first involves converting paper documents into an electronic image. It does not yet allow a machine to recognize it. This is the first step, the zero stage for accumulating data in digital form, without it it is difficult to engage in digitalization of management.

Then the process affects the internal processes of public administration, its interaction with citizens and business. It became clear that it was easier to organize communication when the state front office became electronic, through it it became possible to make requests, send data, and changes began. Electronic document flow appeared, which improved control over the passage of documents, which does not mean the cancellation of parallel circulation of paper documents, the authorities began to collect the first data in digital form in machine-readable formats.

Digitalization continues, with its different stages occurring in parallel.

— What is digital transformation then?

— This is management based on data accumulated during the digitalization stage, using the digital footprint and profile of a citizen acting in different roles: taxpayer, patient, student or recipient of social benefits. Its success depends on how effectively it is possible to form predictive and recommendation models that use data about citizens to create new, higher quality services.

But digital transformation is innovation and reform in the system of government bodies, often quite abrupt, and the most difficult thing to change is a person in different positions: an official, an elected representative, etc. It is very difficult to form a digital culture, its correct perception by employees, this turned out to be not obvious for the teams themselves within the government bodies, changes require effort and understandable technology.

— Can you explain its benefits using a specific example?

— For example, a person feels ill on the street. If there is a digital patient card, the ambulance that arrives on call will quickly understand what could have happened to him, provide him with effective assistance, which will help to avoid serious harm to health and, possibly, save a life. But this requires complete and consistent data, and well protected from fraudsters.

The state should create not only convenient services, but also, taking into account the needs of citizens, convenient products that accompany different periods of their lives. Then it will be possible to achieve high personalization of the consideration of citizens’ needs and human attitude towards them.

— What is it? How does personalization for citizens differ from customer-centricity in business?

— This means that a person does not need to contact the state with a request; it, knowing his needs, will offer him the services he needs. For example, it will offer him a medical examination. And in difficult times — options for convenient options in ensuring health, social well-being, developing skills in the labor market, etc. This is a proactive approach, possible only thanks to digital transformation and high-quality data on the state side.

— How do you see the practical application of the laboratory’s research?

— Another of our missions, as we see it, is to form a pool of knowledge and competencies that are in demand by civil servants, so that they, for example, understand how to competently collect data, check and analyze it, form channels for exchanging information for quick interaction between different departments and agencies as a whole. That is, the key task of digital transformation for government agencies is to create a complete, cleaned, verified and balanced set of depersonalized data and exchange it safely.

To do this, it is necessary to modernize the authorities themselves, change the attitude of civil servants to working with data, as well as improve the interfaces for interaction with citizens and businesses and, most importantly, monitor new technologies, their potential and emerging new digital solutions. At a certain stage, they will have to adapt and include the capabilities of machine learning and AI technologies in everyday activities. At the same time, it is necessary to protect the rights of citizens, the inviolability of their personal information, thereby forming a system of digital trust between the digital contour of the state and citizens.

We are not only engaged in academic activities; we have a need to implement our ideas and developments in practice in the daily activities of government bodies.

We are running a project on digital maturity of government bodies using the example of the Moscow City Control Complex. It includes five executive bodies engaged in different types of control in the city. We have implemented a digital maturity model that allows us to determine the current level of technology, the readiness of employees to use it, and also to outline roadmaps, according to which the Control Complex can solve the tasks of the digital control, where we highlight strategic management, personnel and process management, development of models and data, ensuring security and creating digital products.

The project combines scientific and practical tasks, and now the control bodies have agreed with the assessments of digital maturity and are showing a willingness to change independently.

— How different is the level of development of digital technologies in public administration in the capital and the regions?

— We are happy with our interaction with Moscow, but it is a well-off, rich region with high-quality infrastructure and management. Many regions cannot afford large projects. They do not have the resources and competencies of civil servants to formulate the goals of future changes, as well as large IT companies with a sufficient number of qualified employees, that is, a developed IT industry.

It is also important to understand that digital transformation is not only an expensive process, but also a complex one. You can spend a lot of money and end up with unclaimed digital products.

Currently, federal authorities are actively promoting a platform approach, whereby regions can use ready-made digital platform solutions and connect to them, introducing components that take into account local specifics.

Achieving digital maturity means, among other things, how successfully it will be possible to scale solutions developed at the federal level and in leading regions to the rest of Russia. Regions have different potential, digital solutions and the quality of human resources are different, so it is impossible to achieve the same results everywhere in the same amount of time.

— What other applied projects could you name?

— Together with Laboratory of human-centeredness and leadership practices HSE, we assessed the human-centricity of bank chatbots by order of the Bank of Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is concerned about protecting the rights and comfort of citizens as consumers in communication with a chatbot. We studied what properties banking solutions should have for this, and we are proud that the result was sent to all employees of the Bank of Russia, including regional offices.

We are also developing a system for evaluating government chatbots for convenience and functionality, and we would like to add an emotional component to it – how citizens perceive this convenience, so that digital products are more adapted to their needs.

— How do you use the results of your research activities in your academic work?

— Part of the laboratory’s mission is to prepare training courses. We turn academic research into courses, complementing them, and then offer the courses to students and other listeners. This is what Yaroslav Ivanovich Kuzminov talks about — when research helps education and creates new partnerships. The laboratory staff teaches a university-wide elective course on the digital transformation of public administration. We are currently developing a business game for civil servants related to the specifics of working during the digital transformation. We will continue to form these courses and invest in continuing education programs to provide access to everyone — students, specialists improving their qualifications, and especially civil servants: how to adapt technologies, in particular AI, how to implement them so that they are convenient for all users.

In 2023, we became the methodologists of a unique program for civil servants in African countries, carried out in collaboration with Center for African Studies HSE University. We developed the program content aimed at transferring Russian experience of digital transformation, supported the training of African students. They received DPO certificates in English.

— What new ideas did you come up with during the implementation of the project?Mirror Laboratories“, jointly with Pskov State University?

— We studied the geography of local communities, how municipal centers and communities of people in places of residence differ, how they perceive digital solutions and digital transformation, how residents of cities and small towns relate to them.

— Can we talk about some kind of digital trust?

— Yes, this is another direction of our research. We are thinking of scaling the project, determining the level of digital trust in the regions and finding out the reasons for the differences. It is important to determine them and understand what influences the different levels of digital trust in neighboring regions or even within the same territory.

For example, the state has a digital solution, and we need to understand why people do not use it and what motivates citizens to come to the portals of departments. Or those registered on “Gosuslugi” use only part of the opportunities. It is not about technology. People often remember their previous, often even pre-digital experience of interaction with the state, often unsuccessful and unpleasant, and we need to work with citizens so that they use digital solutions more actively, trust them.

The state should continue to make efforts to ensure that digital services are significantly more convenient than offline services. For example, a super service for applicants when applying to universities on the federal portal of state services, when the applicant adds the Unified State Exam scores, certificate and other documents to the application. This is so convenient that refusing to use the super service puts the citizen in a clearly disadvantageous situation in relation to those who use it.

But to create such a super service, federal agencies had to organize data exchange, verify applicants’ statuses, and negotiate with universities about their connection to the service and participation in its work.

— Can we say that some digital government projects did not take off in the provinces? Why?

— In the Pskov region, we studied, among other things, how citizens use technologies, taking into account the distribution and geographical autonomy of individual districts and municipalities, and tried to understand the differences on the scale of the region. Wherever the federal center offers a ready-made platform solution, the regions receive an interface and design, technological logic and a mechanism for implementing government services, supplement them with their own data and rules, adjust them taking into account the specifics of regional legislation, and the picture in the regions differs.

In some of them, we see a high level of mistrust in digital solutions, an irrational fear of being “counted”, “chipped”. We have to study this. Sometimes, people who do not want to accept digital products need to be offered unusual solutions and ways of communication. We plan to make a sample and a survey using our methodology and study interregional differences in the context of digital trust.

— How is your interaction with the university’s departments and campuses organized?

— We are at least a dual-campus lab: we have employees in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We also collaborated with Professor Svetlana Golovanova from the campus HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, we have a lot of online interaction, including holding international conferences, which does not exclude face-to-face events.

We are a highly interdisciplinary unit, since public administration involves a combination of many sciences, so we actively interact with Institute of Cognitive Neurosciences, With Faculty of Social Sciences in general. We teach, recruit students, and since the current academic year, we have been working closely with Scientific and educational laboratory of political and psychological research under the leadership of Olga Gulevich. We conduct seminars with ISSEK, we cooperate with colleagues from Institute of Education HSE University. We are open to broad cooperation.

— How is interaction with other universities developing?

— We are developing partnerships with the Faculty of Public Administration of Lomonosov Moscow State University (they participate in our conferences), with the Baltic Federal University named after I. M. Kant, ITMO University, and also with St. Petersburg State University.

— Which foreign universities do you cooperate with?

— We had close contacts with the Center for Management Technologies at the University of Arizona. I hope they will be unfrozen in the near future. Cooperation with China is currently actively developing, in particular with the School of Public Administration at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. There is a common research program, we have applied for joint grants and hope for success with the City University of Hong Kong.

Of course, we must mention the University of Haifa. When Professor Eran Vigoda-Gadot became the academic director, we prepared and extended a comprehensive cooperation program. It continues even under the current conditions.

Finally, in Brazil, we collaborate with a highly ranked university, the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), as well as with the INSPER Institute, which is more of an expert than a scientific center, as well as with universities and expert centers in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. This is important for us to get inside information from experts on how digitalization is happening in other countries.

— The large volume of data accumulated by the state creates the problem of its safety.

— Fraud also occurred in the paper, “tube” world. Much data became available even before measures were taken to combat its leaks. We must collectively — the state, business and the scientific community — try to ensure that less new data leaks. Often the weak link is people, not a low level of technological protection. Even employees of large companies and banks used primitive passwords, and sometimes pasted them near their workplaces to the delight of fraudsters and hackers. Other reasons are a passion for enrichment, a lack of understanding of digital hygiene, and inattention. Therefore, we need to work with people, and from childhood, so that they know that hackers and fraud methods are improving and there are no guarantees against hacking. We must come to terms with this and find benefits in using digital tools, including receiving personalized services from the state at the expense of their data, and in a proactive mode.

— How would you formulate the current goals of the laboratory?

— We are focused on ensuring that the development of technologies and digital transformation in the public administration system are combined with their humanitarian, scientific and ethical understanding, protection of citizens’ rights and personal information.

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