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SUMMARY:
Modern cross-cutting technologies, such as blockchain, robotics, virtual and augmented reality technologies offer new exciting opportunities for all public institutions. In the field of E-Government the first thing we need to do is to reorient public services and to create a united digital space for interaction between citizens, businesses and public authorities. The future is with proactive approach to public services, with comprehensive solution to the life situations as opposed to provision of separate public services. With the onset of the «digital era» smart cities and their development become very important. The transition to the «digital economy» and the creation of a «smart city» are the strategic priorities for the development of St. Petersburg.
1. How will new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs impact both the internet and sustainable development, including the digital economy?
Modern technologies offer new exciting opportunities for all public institutions. According to the expert evaluations, the blockchain technologies (smart contracts, in particular) will help to eliminate the ineffective bureaucratic procedures, to eradicate the market of intermediaries between citizens, businesses and public authorities and to decrease the transaction costs significantly.
Virtual and augmented reality technologies are capable to completely transform education process, and Internet of Things will change today’s vision of safe and customized urban environment.
Robotics will make it possible to maintain 24-hour production cycle in manufacturing industry and make work conditions safe for the staff. We will also face the necessity of job cuts because robots will substitute the traditional workplaces, but at the same time the number of job positions in maintenance (programming, repair, control of robots) and project management will increase in the future. This is a global trend in the field of training and requalification of digital transformation human resources.
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for the adoption and growth of the new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs and internet?
There are many promising possibilities in the field of E-Government. To move with the times, we need to remodel public services, to provide a united digital space for citizens, to create an ID-profile of a resident of St. Petersburg (and then an ID-profile of tourist) using all available tools, and foremost the system which controls all processes in the sphere of public services (Interdepartmental Automated Information system providing public and municipal services in electronic form in St. Petersburg).
We are sure that the future is with proactive approach to public services, with comprehensive solution to the life situations as opposed to provision of separate public services. For example, when a child is born a citizen receives an already formed application for a birth certificate, for subsidies, for a place in the queue for kindergarten. All that is left to do is to check and send it. In terms of technologies it is feasible now, but we must finalize the legal framework.
3. How can governments and the other stakeholders harness the benefits of new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs?
With the onset of the «era of digital economics» smart cities and their development become very important. The switch to the «digital» and the creation of a «smart city» is one of the strategic priorities for the development of St. Petersburg now. This process includes digital transformation of economics, financial sphere, industry, social sphere, education, health, public administration and others. Digitalization has acquired the status of a cross-sectoral trend. That is an indispensable condition for any innovation and transformation.
In addition, we have to remember the main goal of all these innovations and Government's work is citizens` well-being, their rights to a comfortable urban environment, simplification of navigation in the digital space. The emerging of new digital services will make citizens' interaction with the polity easier and save their time. Citizens should know more about the opportunities available to them, participate in the solution of the urban problems and in changes of the urban environment, improve their digital literacy.
Digital transformation will provide more information about citizens' needs to the Government: what is relevant for people, what they would like to improve and what problems to solve. It will help to develop new public services, to make right decisions about expanding interaction with business. Current trends require the creation and development of city loyalty programs, active support of social entrepreneurship. As for business, its representatives will have a state resource that has the trust of users (the St. Petersburg Portal of Public Services) in the capacity of a platform for placing their services. Various companies and organizations will be able to obtain reliable information about the citizens` needs and the prospect for the development of certain projects.
4. What are the best practices for promoting human skills, institutional capacity, innovation and investment for new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs?
The E-Government platform has been fully implemented in St. Petersburg: a technical infrastructure has been created, electronic public services are available to the people, cybersecurity is ensured, interagency interaction is carried out online. In some cases applicants may refuse to visit a public authority office even to get a result of a public service. Today 73.6% of applications for public services are carried out electronically.
The digitalization of the interaction between public authorities and citizens and business is the «smart» specialization of St. Petersburg. Elements of proactive provision of public services, all-in-one solution to life situations and automatic interagency interaction are being pursued in the city. The multi-channel approach is also being implemented: when citizens apply for the public services through the St. Petersburg Portal of Public Services or the Multifunctional Centers, the status of application is available in electronic form at all stages. Information about the status of application is communicated in the multi-channel mode: through personal User Account, mobile application, email, texts and telephone depending on user’s choice. The region is also conducting experiments on rejecting the paper workflow in Multifunctional Centers.
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