Seminar "The emotional component in the perception of digital public services by citizens: the cross-country aspect and the role of digital solutions based on artificial intelligence"
The International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration (The Laboratory) of the HSE University held a seminar with the participation of representatives of government authorities. Evgeny Styrin, Head of the Laboratory, presented the report "Development of an International Laboratory in The Era of International Turbulence: Challenges, Academic Trends and Prospects". Evgeny Styrin also presented a joint report with Research Fellow Aisylu Atayeva on the topic "Emotional Determinants of Digital Interaction Between Citizens and The State": Cross-Country Analysis". Senior Research Fellow Evgeny Diskin presented the report "The Future of Digital Platforms: How AI Will Change Architecture, Competition and The Rules of The Game."
In the first report, Evgeny Styrin outlined key scientific trends in publications on public administration in general and digital public administration in particular. Evgeny Styrin shared his experience working with foreign scientific teams on the example of China, Brazil and Israel. The seminar participants also heard a short video message from Eran Vigoda-Gadot, a leading scientist at the laboratory, Professor of the Department of Public Administration and Politics at the School of Political Science at the University of Haifa, on the importance of studying the emotional component in citizens' perception of digital public services for improving public administration.
The second report was devoted to the study of the role of socio-psychological factors, in particular, emotions, in the process of citizens' interaction with digital public services and other mechanisms implemented by public authorities. Modern research shows that users' emotional reactions, both positive and negative, have a significant impact on trust in digital government, willingness to share personal data, and the level of engagement in digital interaction with the government. Evgeny Styrin presented to the seminar participants the motivation and design of a study on six countries (Russia, Israel, the USA, Great Britain, Poland, Germany), which will reveal emotional differences among citizens in the perception of the digital state. Researchers believe that taking into account emotional factors is crucial for addressing digital disparity, fostering social integration, and establishing a resilient digital landscape in public administration.
Evgeny Diskin spoke about the future of digital platforms in terms of their rapid integration with generative artificial intelligence (AI). The speaker noted the vulnerability of traditional platforms and presented a timeline for their replacement by distributed AI systems. He stressed that platform competition will change: the decisive factor will not be the race for computing resources and data, but the deepening of vertical integration of services and scale effects. The quality of the models, access to data, and manageability of the ecosystem will determine chances for success. Evgeny Diskin also reviewed the transformation of government regulation in the report: from antitrust and personal data protection measures to general standards on transparency, accountability and information flow management. One can see transition to norms that integrate procedural distributive justice, ensuring increasing control over information turnover.
After the presentations, there were question and answer sessions. The discussions of the seminar participants covered a wide range of issues related to the emotional component in citizens' perception of digital public services and the increasing role of AI in the digital transformation of public administration.
