The Analysis of Efficiency and Productivity Levels of Latvian E-government

The concept of e-Government is not anymore perceived as a breakthrough in the public sector, in contrast it became one of the major and fundamental issues of governing in the Europe and worldwide [9]. It was an inevitable outcome as it was dictated and assisted by the technological progress processes. Some 15 years ago it was just the first steps in the new sphere of actions, now it is already leapfrogged dramatically. It is seemed to coincide with once offered idea which created a great furore – to make an ‘entrepreneurial’ government [4]; despite the blames that it was the area of ‘science fiction’, looking back through all the years it is evident that it has become the reality. E-government is currently one of the essential issues in every country, and focusing on Europe, the European Commission approves and encourages it, facilitating any improvements [37]. However, the price of innovation quite often costs more than a budget can allow and handle [17]. The alternative was find in another fundamental issue of this dissertation, concept which when cooperating allows ‘to get more for less’ [4]. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is supposed to be the great tool to increase efficiency and productivity. Moreover, if E-Governments are to succeed in modern competition of knowledge-based economy it is crucial to realise the necessity of innovation which can be provided by wisely used PPP.

In Latvia, however, the E-Government itself is rather young; and for this country the cooperation between public and private sector is of paramount importance. The shift to market economy and receiving the sovereignty only 15 years ago influenced the process of integration of the new concepts and technological innovations. As a consequence, Latvia, when analysing the level of the E-Government productivity was ranked between all EU27+ the last.




1.1 Background to research

The very problem of the research was identified when the necessity of dramatic improvements in Latvian e-government became clear. The fact that Latvia has the capacity for better performance is approved by the specialists in this field; however, it is lacking rather substantial factors as infrastructure and integration which are remaining behind.

The research is undertaken in order to study the nature of e-Government and its role in overall public sector, to determine its current obstacles and milestones in reaching the most desired level of productivity and efficiency, i.e. to identify the ways to increase the operational activities of Latvian e-Government; what variables influence a successful innovation-based e-Government strategy. Moreover, the research was tailored to illustrate different delivery methodologies and to find the most appropriate tool in the attempt to increase the operating efficiency and online sophistication.…