The United Nations E-Government 2018 survey explores topics related to digital public administration and open government on a global scale. Citizen-centered services are becoming increasingly important for public administrations, and digitalization is playing a key role in this transition - particularly in areas such as citizen participation, innovative public service delivery, and open data publication.
When it comes to digital citizen participation, the United Nations defines it as "the process of engaging citizens through ICT in policy formulation, decision-making, and service design and delivery in a participatory, inclusive, and deliberative manner". According to the survey, Denmark, Finland, and South Korea are the world leaders in this field, followed by the Netherlands in fourth place and a group including Spain, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States in fifth place.
Each leading country approaches e-participation differently. Denmark incorporates it into its 2016–2020 national digital strategy. Australia mandates that all new public services must be accessible to all users, regardless of their environment or abilities. Meanwhile, Japan has the "Digital Government Idea Box" platform, where citizens can discuss digital government issues and contribute to designing higher-quality digital services.
Within digital citizen participation - or e-participation - there are three key levels:
- E-Information: The availability of online information. This is the first level. Without access to relevant information, citizen participation is limited due to a lack of awareness.
- E-Consultation: Online public consultation. At this second level, governments seek citizen input when developing new policies, services, or projects. While these consultations do not obligate governments to adopt the most popular measures, they help them better respond to public opinion. Examples include online debates and surveys.
- E-Decision-making: Direct citizen participation in decision-making processes. This third level focuses on enabling citizens to contribute directly to policy decisions. Examples include online voting, electronic voting, and digital petitions.
In each of these levels, a different country stands out:
Finland: a leader in E-Information
Finland leads in e-information by applying its democratic and transparency principles in the digital space. The country has a Government Project Registry (HARE) where government projects are made publicly available. It also operates otakantaa.fi, a website that facilitates public online debates about government proposals, and demokratia.fi, a portal where citizens can suggest initiatives or provide feedback to local and national governments.
Brazil: a leader in E-Consultation
Brazil has embraced digital citizen participation through participa.br, a platform that promotes public consultations by enabling online debates, videos, maps, and other tools for digital social engagement. This platform has hosted over 200 participatory processes and more than 30 online consultations. It also includes an open government section where national data is made available to the public.
Estonia: a leader in E-Decision-making
Estonia is a global example of e-decision-making and was one of the first countries to introduce online voting in national elections in 2005. This system allows citizens to vote from any internet-enabled device after undergoing an identity verification process. To date, Estonia has successfully held eight legally binding elections using online voting at the national, local, and European levels.
