Digital Government and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Sustainable development is a concern and a challenge of modern societies, either in developing and developed countries. Good governance is crucial to managing efficiently all kind of resources, including natural resources, for the well-being of current and future generations. Digital transformation can be a key driver of changes in governments if they want to enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency. E-government facilitates integrated policies and public services to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection. E-government contributes to efficient resource management, and so can help to improve namely natural resource usage in the present to avoid damage to their usage in the future. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of e-government on sustainable development. Using a logit model, for a sample of 103 countries in the period 2003–2018, the results suggest that e-government development is a positive determinant for a country to attain sustainable development, proxied by adjusted net savings, that embraces a country’s economic, social and environmental development. This study provides evidence that e-government increases the probability to attain sustainable development mostly in developing and transition economies. The results also suggest that economic growth and gross national income per capita are significant positive influences in sustainable development in the whole sample and that countries with lower age dependency and natural resource rents are more likely to have sustainable development. Developing e-government allows promoting sustainable development, particularly in developing and in transition economies.

Are digital business and digital public services a driver for better energy security? Evidence from a European sample

“…By contrast, all variables capturing the transformation process in the business sectors are negatively associated with the consumption of renewable energy (ES8). Our findings are consistent with Castro and Lopes ( 2021 ) and Haigh and Griffiths ( 2008 ). As revealed by Castro and Lopes ( 2021 ), the digital transformation in the public sector help promote transparency, accountability, and efficiency, then enhances sustainable and inclusive economic growth, social development, and environmental protection.…”

“…Our findings are consistent with Castro and Lopes ( 2021 ) and Haigh and Griffiths ( 2008 ). As revealed by Castro and Lopes ( 2021 ), the digital transformation in the public sector help promote transparency, accountability, and efficiency, then enhances sustainable and inclusive economic growth, social development, and environmental protection. Resource management also becomes more efficient if there is an availability of digital public services in the economy.…”

“…The “rebound effects” of e-government, for example, can be seen in its impact on economic growth, trade, financial development, energy effectiveness, and green innovation. In this section, we argue that digital public services (or e-government) have both positive and negative impacts on institutional quality, which are vital determinants of sustainable development (Castro and Lopes 2021 ).…”

“…As discussed by Castro and Lopes ( 2021 ), the institutional system plays a critical role in securing the energy system and ensuring sustainable development. Due to the ambiguous effect of digital public services on institutional systems, there is an ambiguous influence of this form of digitalization on energy security.…”

Digital Public Administration for Sustainable Development

“…Digital transformation is currently seen as the key driver of change in governments when the goals are to increase transparency, accountability, and efficiency, given that egovernment can facilitate integrated policies and public services to promote sustainable and inclusive growth, social development, and environmental protection. E-government could thus contribute to the efficient management of resources and, consequently, to the improvement of the use of natural resources in order to avoid the deterioration of their use in the future (Castro & Lopes, 2021). The European Commission considers that digital public administrations are needed today to ensure fast and high quality services for companies and citizens in Europe.…”