Prospects of “digital democracy” in Uzhgorod

Yesterday, the Forum "Digital democracy and reform local government: Uzhgorod prospects" was held in Uzhgorod. The event was organized by the Republic Institute under the All-Ukrainian campaign "Active community". During the event, the participants discussed the status of introduction of digital standards in cities of Ukraine and citizens’ participation in local governance.

In connection with the process of decentralization, the government transfers the responsibility for providing a large number of administrative services to local level. Cities are faced with a large amount of data, the need to harmonize internal procedures, reallocation of tasks between departments, communication with citizens, and so on. Thanks to digital technologies, government, business and community can quickly make effective management decisions and achieve success.

In particular, the head of IT department of Lviv City Council Ivan Korzhov shared the experience of digital transformation of the community. They have already introduced programs of e-government, online education, intelligent transportation, e-medicine, security systems and intelligent energy management.

In Uzhgorod, they are just beginning to develop software systems and infrastructure for the use of digital technologies. According to Vladislav Panin, the director of the MU "Center for Information Technologies", at present, they have introduced digital appeals and petitions, changed configuration of the official website. Also, the program "Office of Uzhgorod citizen" is being prepared for the implementation that will allow residents to pay fines online, participate in the distribution of the city budget (public budget), monitor e-petitions, register in queues, etc. Further, it is planned to provide electronic services subject to proper identification. The position of the city government is quite clear and unambiguous, so digital technologies in Uzhgorod will be implemented.

Following the Forum, the participants supported the need to develop the digital infrastructure, including own servers and networks, to introduce "smart" city standards, to conduct the audit of open data, to set priorities for townspeople, and to establish cooperation with Uzhgorod University in order to develop digital products based on open data.  

Note: The campaign "Active community" is the association of people and social movements for the participation in solving of local problems and support for reforms in Ukraine, in particular in local government. The initiative was created in the framework of the NGO "Republic Institute."