Digital transformation of municipal services: challenges and prospects for implementation

Abstract

The digital transformation of the municipal level of public administration in the Russian Federation is characterized by a significant increase in the volume of electronic services, which reached 23,716 positions by the beginning of 2024, but this is accompanied by a pronounced asymmetry in the distribution by types of municipalities, where urban districts significantly outperform rural settlements, as well as the persistence of a significant share of pseudo-electronic services that require the applicant's physical presence to complete the procedures, despite the formal transition to a digital format. The analysis demonstrates the chronic fiscal dependence of local governments on higher-level budget transfers, which account for more than 71% of total digitalization expenditures for the period 2019-2023, with municipalities' own funds rarely exceeding 19%, which limits institutional autonomy and perpetuates inefficient resource utilization, estimated at up to 11% of allocated funds in some periods. Structural barriers are interconnected, combining financial constraints, a shortage of qualified personnel of 14,8 to 21,000 specialists with a high level of turnover due to a 35-60 percent wage gap compared to the market level, and infrastructure disparities, with only 53,8-71,4% of institutions in small towns having access to broadband internet. Additionally, there are institutional and regulatory challenges, including unclear delineations between different levels of government. The regional differentiation of digitalization indices, which reaches a three-fold gap between leaders and outsiders, has become a persistent structural phenomenon that cannot be overcome by the predominantly transfer mechanism of federal funding. A comparison with the models of Estonia, Finland, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore reveals the hybrid nature of the Russian architecture, which combines centralized platform solutions with the formal responsibility of municipalities in the absence of an appropriate resource base, which distinguishes it from more balanced foreign counterparts. User satisfaction with municipal e-services, rated at 6,8 out of 10, is consistently lower than that of higher levels of government, with a predominance of complaints about lack of feedback, excessive data entry, and unintuitive navigation. By categorizing barriers based on their types, manifestations, and degree of manageability, we can conceptualize the situation as a low-equilibrium trap, where financial constraints exacerbate staff shortages, undermining the operation of infrastructure and reducing public trust, which in turn weakens the political demand for further transformations. The presented approach contributes to the establishment of the main content of the study, the assessment of its relevance for the development of regional programs, budget efficiency methods, and institutional adjustments, providing grounds for the decision to refer to the full text within the framework of information and search systems.