Embracing digital technology to improve exchanges between local authority and citizens is a strategic political commitment.
Civil society is prompt to embrace digital tools to convey social demands: this is called civic tech
Civic tech
The use of technology to strengthen democratic bonds between citizens and government and improve the political system. This encompasses any technology allowing an increase in the power of citizens on political life, or making the government more accessible, efficient and effective.
. If they fail to acknowledge these new spaces for open dialogue, the local authorities run the risk of finding themselves faced with protest and claims facilitated by social networks.
Engaging in the digital sphere means entering into a virtuous circle of better service quality, transparency and accountability, greater confidence and greater willingness to pay on the part of the users. The capacities for public action are thus enhanced.
Digital technology can lead to change according to three dimensions:
- E-administration: optimisation of administrative functioning via dematerialisation of in-house procedures, digitalization of processing and monitoring procedures;
- E-government: opening of the information to the public via a web platform;
- E-governance: citizen participation in public decisions facilitated and increased by digital tools.
Although independent, e-administration and e-governance approaches are quickly found to be related in practice. It is therefore important to design user services keeping in mind the management dimension internal to the local authority, which will be modified by this (cf. Part C, Section 2).
In order to bring the stakeholders onboard, and be able to show results rapidly, it is important to focus on problems of friction between local authority and citizens. Entering into a coproduction approach with citizens and inhabitants, facilitated by ICT, must enable trust to be boosted in return.