BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FUTURE: COMPARING DIGITAL POLICIES OF THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY

Аннотация

The aim of this article is to compare the introduction of digital technologies in public administrations in the Netherlands and Germany. In academic research, models are developed to analyse the level of digitalization and performance of different organizations. Models serve to simplify reality in research, but the danger exists that this simplification starts to shape our understandings of different issues. In order for one to understand the current state of affairs, an understanding should be  built  towards  the  first  initiatives  regarding  the  digitalization  of  public  administrations.  Therefore,  in  this  article,  the  policy  notes  of  the  Netherlands  from  1995 and  Germany  from  2001 have been analysed and compared to determine the differences in designing and implementing digital technologies in public administrations. Different elements of the policy notes have been manually selected  to  offer  a  credible  comparison  of  the  two  approaches  towards  digitalization.  Due  to  the  scope  of  this  research,  limited  information  has  been  provided  about  the  influence  of  initiatives  from the European level on the level of the Member States. The results show that both countries have a specific approach towards digitalization of public administration; the Netherlands focused on the utilization of the potential of digital technologies for her constitutional democracy. Germany, on the other hand, largely focused on developing the appropriate IT infrastructures as well as its central coordination. Finally, in the Netherlands, the government turned into a facilitator, enabling different actors to collaborate in numerous projects, with a strong focus on accessibility and inclusion. In Germany, despite the fact that the government already focused on the development and implementation  of  an  IT  infrastructure  in  the  early  2000s,  the  focus  is  still  laid  on  improving  the digital infrastructure of the country

Ключевые слова:

digital government policies, digitalization, public administration, comparative public policy, Germany, the Netherlands, e-Government, Industry 4.0.