For many, dealing with public administrative authorities causes discomfort. This is often due to enormous bureaucratic efforts, as well as the untransparent processes. Public administration often has a reputation for lagging behind and being cumbersome, not efficient. Nowadays, people in the private sector are increasingly benefiting from digitization and simplified processes, naturally, they’d want the same convenience when dealing with public services. Paolo Davide Farah and Marek Prityi recognize this predicament in their paper "Public Administration in the Age of Globalization and Emerging Technologies: From Theories to Practice". Moreover, they point out the opportunities and possibilities that digitalization and blockchain technology present for public administrations. Public authorities manage and store huge amounts of data and have to work with them. Decades of analog work have created deep and complex processes. As a result, many processes are not coordinated with each other and entire departments are overtaxed because they do not have the necessary capacities. It seems obvious that these structures would benefit enormously from digitization; not only in developing countries, which generally have weak structures. It is proving difficult to introduce automated processes and digital solutions everywhere, as public authorities often find it difficult to implement digital processes. There are also long internal delays that slow down implementation, and often a lack of competence. The lack of qualified personnel causes many mistakes and further hurdles to be overcome. But there are other problems to take into consideration. First and foremost, the dissatisfaction of the citizens. They lose confidence in the competence and reliability of public administrations, and in the state and politics overall. Moreover, the competitiveness of the entire country suffers directly as a result. It is therefore imperative that public authorities adapt to constant developments and do not fall behind. In addition, the security of processes can be increased, and work can be carried out far more cost-effectively. A backlog will damage the development and performance of a country in the long term and the prosperity of its citizens. In this context, Farah and Prityi ask an interesting question: Should blockchain become the basic tenet of governance? This is a difficult question to answer. Blockchain technology is still quite young, and it is difficult to foresee what level of use it can and will be achieved. However, it should be considered because, even though it may not be the basic tenet of governance, the technology does offer unquestionable benefits that should be exploited. Farah and Prityi, however, are critical, because they still see problems in the application of blockchain technology by government agencies, which should be considered. Nevertheless, one should not, as many authorities do, shy away from it and postpone its introduction.
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