The Corona pandemic has posed major challenges for municipal administrations. At the same time, the ongoing crisis offers opportunities for digital transformation processes within public administrations. This study examines digitisation processes in the municipal administrations of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in the context of the Corona pandemic. Empirically, the study is based on an online survey of 118 municipalities. The data collected allows conclusions to be drawn about the state of administrative digitisation before, the development during and potential changes after the Corona pandemic. The results confirm that the Corona pandemic has driven digitisation processes in NRW’s local government as a whole, and the respondents expect the new digital working modes to remain in place after the pandemic. The main barriers to digitisation cited are the financial and technical resources of local government, uncertain legal situations and reluctant managers.
Bibliography
Niederelz, C., Nguyen, P. , Wähner, M., Frieß, D., Becker, M., Braun, A. & Stodden, R. (2022). Die Corona-Pandemie als Katalysator der Verwaltungsdigitalisierung? Ergebnisse einer Befragungsstudie in Kommunalverwaltungen in NRW. Verwaltung & Management, 28(4), 186-192, https://doi.org/10.5771/0947-9856-2022-4-186