Transformations  in
Business & Economics

E-GOVERNMENT AND THE SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: DIGITAL INTERACTION WITH PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN THE REGIONS OF THE EU²
Ladislav Suhanyi, Stefan Gavura, Alzbeta Suhanyiova

ABSTRACT: The role of e-government has grown significantly in recent years, also in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic and the reduced possibility of personal communication and migration, which also brings fundamental developments in the functioning, environmental friendliness, and sustainability of public administration. The study underlines the significance and importance of digital communication with public authorities at the NUTS 2 regional level within the European Union, as an indicator of e-government. It examines whether the level of digital interaction with public authorities can be affected by broadband internet access, the level of education, the median age of the population, and the income of households per capita. The source of secondary data was the Eurostat database. A multiple regression model was used and tested. The suitability of the proposed model was tested using the ANOVA method. A significant effect was shown in the case of three of the examined variables, namely the level of education, the median age of the population, and the income level of households in the region. The summary of implications and proposals supports the increase of the level of tertiary education, training and support of the elderly, and support for the residence of the population with higher incomes.

KEYWORDS:  e-government; sustainable public administration; digital interaction; education; age; income of households.

JEL classification:  H11, O18, R50

²Acknowledgments:  Acknowledgements. This research was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy Sciences as part of the re-search project VEGA No 1/0590/22: "Exploration of natural, social and economic potential of areas with environmental burdens in the Slovak Republic for the development of specific forms of domestic tourism and quantification of environmental risks”. Disclosure statement. Authors declare that they do not have any competing financial, professional, or personal interests from other parties.