Georgian e-Governance in Local Self-Governments: Challenges and Opportunities

The rapid development of digital technologies and their integration into governance processes has become an irreversible process in modern societies. The effectiveness of the local self-government system significantly depends on its adaptation to modern technologies, which allows municipalities to improve communication with citizens, increase the availability of services and reduce bureaucratic barriers through optimization. This, in turn, led to the concept of e-government. “Communication between the state and society using modern digital technologies” is e-government1 . However, e-government also includes internal communication between the state and business, as well as between state institutions themselves, which is carried out using digital technologies2 . The purpose of the study is to analyze the practice of digital transformation of local self-government in Georgia, assess the main stages of its development, achievements and existing challenges. The Georgian government has taken a number of steps in recent years towards digital governance elements, including within the framework of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, although technological disparities and digital skills shortages among municipalities remain serious challenges. The effectiveness of technological solutions depends on their users, i.e. the local population, who must be ready to receive and use electronic services. According to research, part of the population in Georgia still trusts traditional, paper-based processes and uses online services less. Keywords: local self-government, e-governance, digital skills, Challenges and analysis.