PERCEPTION OF DIGITAL SERVICES BY SOCIALLY ACTIVE CITIZENS OF ST.PETERSBURG

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the civil activists’ experience of interaction with digital services and their preferences regarding the development of Internet services in St. Petersburg. Data collection was carried out using two questionnaires filled out by representatives of non-governmental organizations, a series of semi-structured interviews with civic activists and municipal deputies interacting with them, and two focus groups with young activists and activists over fifty years old. The recordings of interviews and focus groups were studied with the use of method of thematic analysis. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the request for communication with the authorities and like-minded people using digital services exists among active citizens of all ages, but the obstacles for its development are the low level of trust to the authorities together with lack of awareness of existing opportunities for all age groups and the lack of technical literacy, technical equipment and adaptation of the interface of services for older people. The most popular service among activists turned out to be the portal "Our St. Petersburg", however, estimates of the experience of its use vary significantly. Respondents also assessed the prospects for the development of urban digital services in different ways: some proposed ideas for the creation of new services, when the others did not need this and advised to develop existing platforms. It is also noted that activists of all ages regularly use electronic resources, but do not distinguish types of digital resources: apps, government services and the sites they visit on the Internet. At the end of the article, we formed recommendations the implementation of which can contribute to improving digital interaction both between active citizens themselves and between civil activists and the authorities.

Keywords:

digital services, e-government, civil society, interaction between the government and society