GOVTECH AND CIVIC TECH AS DIRECTIONS OF DIGITAL GOVERNANCE: DEFENITION, SPECIFICS AND CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Abstract

The article examines the essence of terms GovTech and Civic Tech as the directions of digital governance. The relevance is justified by the evolutionary development of digital governance, which in its turn emphasizes the need in research of new terms that appear in the practical field. The purpose of this article is to systematize the views on the «GovTech» and «Civic Tech» concepts which already exists, their essence and ongoing development. It has been confirmed that this topic has been narrowly overviewed in current scientific publications of both domestic and foreign researchers. It is also indicated that on current stage, significant developments in this topic are carried out by international organizations and companies of the private sector. It is clarified that GovTech is direction of digital governance, which conveys an increase in the efficiency and level of digitalization of public institutions. It is disclosed that important distinction of GovTech is to engage expertise from the private sector. It has been discovered that Civic Tech aims to inform the citizens and raise the level of their participation in public processes. It has been demonstrated that one of the main distinctions of GovTech from Civic Tech is a radically different geographical designation, hence a relevant methodical approach to the analysis and development of these directions has been proposed. An analysis of the GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) methodology was carried out. It was determined that an analysis of the development of Civic Tech based on GTMI could bring limited results. Based on GTMI data, it was traced that during the period 2020-2022 the world increased its GovTech development indicators, and Ukraine moved to the group of leaders in the world based on the development of digital governance. The main factors which determines success of the GovTech development have been analyzed based on World Bank report and consistent adjustments have been made to these approaches in order to make them applicable for Ukraine due to its current political, economical and security landscapes, some of them are prohibition of usage of open source software and usage of international aid at the early stages of solution developemtn as a disruptive force of funding of GovTech and Civic Tech initiatives. It was concluded that GovTech and Civic Tech, due to their novelty are not entirely stable and fixed directions of digital governance, but at the same time set a clear framework for further development of the area.