Questioning the Real Citizen-Centricity of e-Government Development: Digitalization of G2C Services in Selected CEE Countries

Abstract

This paper presents findings of a pilot research study that focused on a selected area of e-government – digitalization of core government services to citizens (G2C) in selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries – namely in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. Taking into account the literature available to date, it is a first attempt of its kind, even if mainly a qualitative study. The findings clearly indicate that the level of digitalization of the administrative services for citizens is rather low. All three countries are roughly at the same level of electronic govern-ment development (with the Czech Republic slightly ahead), despite vastly different strategies and levels of centralization. This could change in the future, after the results of their respective national strategies become visible, and we are also interested in applying our method to other CEE countries, with the clear aim of refining it.