Public administration in Russia: The “digital” transformation of the economy in the late XIX – early XX century

The article discusses the issues of public administration (primarily economics) in Russia of the late XIX – early XX century. In the age of digital technologies, it is necessary to recall that S. Y. Witte, being, like I. A. Vyshnegradsky, a mathematician by education, in his memoirs called both himself and his predecessor as Minister of Finance, “digitalists”. This allows us to consider some of the features of the modernization of public administration of the past in a new light. The concept of the “Witte System” has entered scientific circulation. A set of measures to reform the economy can be studied from different sides and from different sciences, analyzing and generalizing both ideas for modernizing public administration “for the common benefit” and the goals and means of the activities of specific government and public figures. “Digitalization”, thanks to logical and mathematical methods and automation, gives the theory and practice of public administration an additional impetus, while simultaneously revealing its limits.