The government updates the plan for digital transformation of public administration

The Ministry of Digital Development has prepared a draft updated plan for the digital transformation of public administration, which provides for the implementation of ten initiatives until 2030: from more active use by officials of government communication services (such as domestic instant messengers and mail) to the ability to make decisions on a number of government services automatically. Among other things, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in standard processes of officials is envisaged. The authors warn that extensive plans may be hindered by a lack of money and digital “immaturity” of personnel, as well as sanctions that have limited access to necessary technologies and equipment.

A draft document entitled “Strategic direction in the field of digital transformation of public administration” was published on Tuesday by the Ministry of Digital Development in the state information system “Management”. It assesses the current state of affairs in this area and lists project initiatives for the period until 2030.

The stated goal of this strategy is the modernization of public administration. The implementation of ten projects will help with this. Among them are more active use by officials of government communication services (in particular, domestic instant messengers and mail), the ability to make decisions on a number of government services automatically, and the introduction of electronic document management in state and municipal subordinate institutions. Other initiatives include the transition to centralized storage of electronic archival documents, the sharing of computing resources of Gosoblak (see Kommersant of August 18, 2022), the development of state information systems on a single digital platform Gostekh.

As is customary in such documents, obstacles to the goals set are also named. These are problems of resources (financing and availability of qualified personnel), regulatory regulation, organizational difficulties (low digital maturity of participants and lack of motivation to switch to electronic interaction). Another obstacle is access to technology and modern equipment limited by sanctions.

When implementing these projects, digital technologies will be used, including artificial intelligence. Thus, automation of standard processes using AI bots should reduce the time officials spend performing routine tasks and searching for solutions. Let us note that earlier Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko stated that the “machine” is already ready to change procedural things, including in public administration. At the same time, “digital”, according to him, is only a tool that helps a person make a decision (see Kommersant-Online, June 15).

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved the current action plan for the digital transformation of public administration until 2030 in October 2021 (see “Kommersant” dated October 28, 2021). Among the projects approved at that time was the creation of an automated system for collecting and analyzing data from economic and social sectors, a platform for performing control functions, as well as a system for monitoring the implementation of strategic government tasks. There is no mention of them in the new project. “The document has not yet been received by the government; it is being processed by the relevant department,” the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told Kommersant.

Let us remind you that the White House is actively working on the digitalization of government administration. Thus, the government apparatus is creating an ecosystem and robotizing part of routine operations in project activities, which, as expected, will make it possible to unambiguously understand whether the set goals are being met, whether money has been allocated, whether the indicators that project initiators of all levels were counting on have been achieved (see “Kommersant” ” dated December 5, 2022).

The Ministry of Digital Development explained that the strategy is a top-level planning document; it implies constant work on it, updating and adapting to changes. The task of creating an automated system for collecting and analyzing reporting on all socio-economic indicators, digitalizing the sources of such data and launching the process of their continuous processing has already been implemented in other existing systems, they explained.

As for the use of AI technology to automate standard government processes, as the Ministry of Digital Development points out, we are talking about services that can be provided using a registry model, provided that the necessary data is already available in government systems. “In such cases, bots speed up the collection, processing and verification of data when making the final decision. But the final decision will be made by a government official,” the department notes.

Venera Petrova