Yury Kabanov Presented a Pilot Study at the International Conference "Internet and Modern Society" (IMS – 2025)

The XXVIII International Joint Scientific Conference "Internet and Modern Society" was held from June 23 to 25, 2025 in St. Petersburg. ITMO University and the Non-Profit Partnership "PRIOR North-West" organized the conference. International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration Research Fellow Yury Kabanov presented a pilot study on the impact of decentralization on the effectiveness of the subnational digital government.

Currently, there is no consensus in academia on the impact of decentralization on the effectiveness of digital transformation of the public sector. On the one hand, in federal and decentralized countries, subnational authorities have more powers and resources for successful implementation of digital services tailored to the needs of residents. On the other hand, such states are more likely to face the problem of inter-level policy coordination and significant disparities in digital development among the regions.

The pilot study aimed to examine how the degree of administrative, fiscal, and political decentralization of a country affects the level of development of digital services in its largest city. Yury Kabanov used data from the UN Local Online Services Index and other indicators for this purpose.

The pilot cross-national statistical analysis showed that although the degree of decentralization is positively correlated with the degree of subnational digital government development, it is not a determining factor. Predictors that are more important are the level of economic development of the city and the effectiveness of national e-government policy. The specific features of inter-level coordination and resource allocation in each individual country likely mediate the effects of decentralization.