Authorities and citizens are looking for a common digital language – Kommersant

In the Moscow City Duma (MGD) on Monday, a round table was held on the problems of interaction between the population and the city authorities. The members of United Russia and the My Moscow association, who organized it, cited statistics on how many problems of citizens were solved through the Our City and Active Citizen portals, as well as how many services were digitized for the last ten years. Opposition deputies, however, believe that, despite all the advantages and convenience of digitalization, Muscovites do not always succeed in “reaching out” to the authorities.

On May 15, MHD deputies from United Russia (ER) and the My Moscow association loyal to it held a round table on the topic of effective interaction between citizens and authorities using digital services. Stepan Orlov, the leader of the United Russia faction and moderator of the round table, noted that all the work of the authorities is based “precisely on interaction with citizens”, and therefore suggested that they not be limited only to the discussion around digital services.

Nevertheless, the first speaker, Alexander Pishchelko, head of the New Management Technologies of Moscow, focused precisely on them. According to him, today more than 400 public services are provided in the capital in electronic form, and just over ten years ago there was only one such service. More than 15 million people are registered on the city portal Mos.ru, that is, almost all residents of Moscow and guests of the city who come for a long stay. One of the successful services for interaction between the public and city authorities, Mr. Pishchelko called the Active Citizen portal, on which almost 6,000 votes have taken place over the nine years of its existence, 3,500 decisions have been implemented. Over time, an independent project “Electronic Home” grew out of this service, which is aimed at services related specifically to living in a house, Alexander Pishchelko continued: more than 7.5 thousand buildings have already connected to it. In addition, the Our City portal operates in Moscow to solve various problems. “In December 2018, 3 million problems were solved thanks to the portal. A little less than five years have passed, and this figure has more than doubled: now (resolved.— “b”) more than seven million problems,” Mr. Pishchelko clarified. In his opinion, this means that “people trust the portal.”

Stepan Orlov reported on the interaction of Muscovites with the legislative authorities and also gave statistics. So, from 2018 to 2022, the MHD deputies held 1,155 receptions of citizens, which were attended by 4.8 thousand people, and in total over this period, the MHD received more than 101 thousand oral and written appeals. Taking into account plenary sessions, committee meetings, round tables and other events, more than 1,400 events were held in the MHD building during this period, Mr. Orlov said.

Moscow State Duma deputy from United Russia Alexander Semennikov, who heads the public reception of party leader Dmitry Medvedev, stressed that such receptions are another platform for communication with residents. According to him, not only supporters of United Russia come to them, but also people with oppositional views. “We do not refuse on the basis of the party, we work with them and believe that in some ways this is even our task,” Mr. Semennikov assured.

According to Elena Nikolaeva, leader of the My Moscow parliamentary association, in terms of digitalization of interaction between society and authorities, the capital is a pioneer: “Many subjects of the Russian Federation, many cities are trying to follow our route.” The deputy said that at the recent International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg, even representatives of other countries addressed her on this topic, including in connection with the problems of organizing healthcare. And in matters of the “digital city” and work with the land and property complex, Moscow is at such a high level that “even very serious capitals of the world, to put it mildly, envy,” Ms. Nikolaeva boasted. However, as a “fly in the ointment”, she added that in the development of digitalization, one should not forget about the constant work on protecting personal data bases, which today are becoming “new oil”.

Meanwhile, the opposition deputies of the Moscow State Duma see other problems in the interaction of the population with the authorities. At the round table, the only representative of the opposition who took the floor was the deputy Ekaterina Engalycheva (KPRF), but the broadcast was turned off at her speech. Telling Kommersant later about her position, she said that with all the advantages of digitalization and the convenience of city portals, a new problem arises: many public services can no longer be obtained in the traditional way. “Already today in Moscow, kids are being deprived of products in the dairy kitchen, not being given the opportunity to fill out an application on paper, forcing them to register on the portal. They deprive schoolchildren of registration for additional education – mugs – through a paper application, forcing them to register on the portal, ”Ms. Engalycheva gave examples. In her opinion, in parallel with digital, paper workflow should always remain.

The leader of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma, Maxim Kruglov, in turn, told Kommersant that he receives a large number of appeals, which are often associated with the inability for the townspeople to achieve anything from officials and the executive branch. “For example, over the past few days I have received many requests from Muscovites about the demolition of a historical building in the Alekseevsky district – a hundred-meter forged fence of the ensemble of structures of the former Vodopribor plant. They were ignored by everyone – both the council and the prefecture, simply refusing to speak clearly with them, ”Mr. Kruglov shared. He noted that in his deputy practice there are many examples of “ignoring the problems of the Muscovites who address them by the authorities.”

Finally, Moscow City Duma deputy from A Just Russia, Mikhail Timonov, told Kommersant that many conflicts arise due to the lack of prior information and discussion of the authorities’ initiatives. And in situations where the latter, without the consent of the residents, begin “another improvement”, citizens turn to their deputies for help, Mr. Timonov explained. Last week, he himself “tried to protect the interests of the residents of Sokolina Gora on Kirpichnaya Street”, and on Tuesday he is going to “seek a compromise with the customer who is landscaping the area around the shopping center on Open Highway, which could remain a quiet square,” the deputy said.

Elena Rozhkova