The Generations of Digital Governance:
From Paper to Robots
Yannis Charalabidis
Professor, Digital Governance
University of the Aegean
yannisx@aegean.gr

Your invited speaker, in one slide
• Born in Athens, origin from the island Samos, Greece
• Electrical & Computer Engineer (BSc/Msc), PhD in complex information systems, National
Technical University of Athens
• Trained in Entrepreneurship Development at UC Berkley and U Amsterdam
• A certified professional coach, specializing in mentoring students and startupers
Since 10 years old, I am having fun:
• 10 years a part-time employee in the family business (B2B liquor store)
• 10 years a researcher in R&D projects for businesses and governments
• 10 years a manager in the software industry, at SingularLogic (Greece, The Netherlands,
Poland, US, India and the world).
• 10 years a professor at University of the Aegean, teaching and researching on digital
governance and innovative entrepreneurship (while wandering around the world)
Am I getting old ?
• 2016: The 8th most prolific scholar on digital governance, worldwide
• 2018: Among the 100 most influential people on digital governance, worldwide

Rules of the game, for today
• My aim for today: to help you learn one and question ten things …
• Have a question ?
1. You can put it in the chat, I will see while I speak
2. If relevant and burning, you take the floor and ask in person
3. You must all have one question for the discussion, at the end.
• Relax and enjoy !

Part A: The Basics

Definition - #1
Digital (or Electronic) Governance
refers to the utilization of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s), by
Public Administration at National or Local Level,
aiming at providing high quality digital public services
to citizens and businesses
(Wikipedia)

Question - #1
How do you define “high quality” in services provided by
the state ? (write in the chat)
Speed
Accuracy
One Stop
24 X 7
No discrimination
No need to store paper, as a citizen
No need to remember … (proactive service provision)

The 5 automation levels of digital services
Level
Level 0: No information on the service online
Level 1: I can only find information online
Level 2 : Can find information and forms online.
Level 3: I can only apply for the service online
Level 4: Fully digital, one stop, one second
Level 5: Service starts by its own, is pre-
completed for citizens
Paper
100%
90%
70%
30%
0%
0%

The 20 most important Public Services – 12 for citizens
Service Service
Orientation
Providing
Administration
Cluster Target
Level
Income Tax Citizens Central Income Generating 5
Job Search Citizens Central / Local Returns 5
Social Security Benefits Citizens Central Returns 5
Personal Documents Citizens Central Permits & Licenses 5
Car Registration Citizens Central Registration 4
Application for Building Permission Citizens Local Permits & Licenses 4
Health-related Services Citizens Central Returns 4
Declaration to the Police Citizens Central / Local Returns 4
Public Libraries Citizens Central / Local Returns 4
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates Citizens Local Registration 5
Enrolment in Higher Education Citizens Central Permits & Licenses 5
Announcement of Moving Citizens Local Registration 4
Level 4: Fully digital, one stop, one second
Level 5: Starts by its own, is pre-completed for me
Level 1-2: I can only find information, online
Level 3: I can only apply for the service online

Service Service
Orientation
Providing
Administration
Cluster Target
Level
Registration of a New Company Businesses Central / Local Registration 4
Custom Declaration Businesses Central Income Generating 5
Environment-related Permits Businesses Local Permits & Licenses 4
Value Added Tax (VAT) Businesses Central Income Generating 5
Public Procurement Businesses Central Returns 4
Social Contribution for Employees Businesses Central Income Generating 5
Corporate Tax Businesses Central Income Generating 5
Data Submission to Statistical Office Businesses Central Registration 5
The 20 most important Public Services – 8 for businesses
Level 4: Fully digital, one stop, one second
Level 5: Starts by its own, is pre-completed for me
Level 1-2: I can only find information, online
Level 3: I can only apply for the service online

Question - #2
Are services enough ? What else do you need from your government
or your municipality ? (write in the chat)
Transparency (I want to know what they do)
Participation (I want my opinion to be heard)
Collaboration (I want to contribute my ideas, too)
Voting (e-voting)
----- think deeper -----
I want “them” to make the right decisions /
(evidence based-decision making)

Definition - #2
Digital Governance is
the social phenomenon, in which
(a) the provision of services by the state to citizens and businesses,
(b) the collaboration between administrations and citizens,
(c) the decision-making and policy development,
and the overall operation of the Public Sector,
and mainly performed by digital means
(Government 3.0 definition / www.gov30.eu)

Funtime: Let’s go Aegean
Watch the Video for the University of the Aegean
(2 min)

Part B: Beyond the Basics

Let’s go back in time, in an island …
Samos Summit 2010 – 2020 : Ten years of partnership
More than 500 international experts shape Digital Governance Science

More people are connected (Internet, Web, Social Media, IoT)
More machine
intelligence is
available (AI, HPC)
More data is available
(Big data, Open data,
Linked data, Blockchain)
2030
2010
Samos Summit 2010 / The CrossRoad project

From Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0

Government 1.0
Division of labor,
rules of Economy,
French Revolution,
US Constitution
Post Kingdom -
democracies
1789 1870 1950
Government 2.0
Processes,
Bureaucracy,
Management Science,
Workflow, Project
Management,
Logistics,
Typewriter
Post-Empire
Democracies
Government 3.0
Computers, Information
Systems, Software, Service
science, Interoperability
Standards, Mobile devices
Representative,
Postwar democracies
Government 4.0
Cyber-physical Systems
AI, IoT, Smart solutions,
Bid Data, Analytics,
Policy modelling and
simulation, stance
classification, opinion
mining, sentiment
analysis
New forms of
Democracy ?
dGOV1.0 dGOV2.0 dGOV3.0
Connected Open Smart / Disruptive
Governance Governance Governance
From Gov 1.0 to Gov 4.0

The generations of Digital Governance
dGOV 1.0
1950-1990 +
dGOV 2.0
2010 +
dGOV 3.0
2020 +
Main Goal Better Services Openness &
Collaboration
Societal problem
solving, quality of
living
Main Method Connected
Governance
Open and
Collaborative
Governance
Smart / Disruptive
Governance
Usual Application Level National Local Local to International
Key Tool Portal Social Media Smart Phone
Key Obstacle / Risk Public Sector
Mentality
Public Sector
Mentality
Public Sector
Mentality
Key ICT area Interoperability Open Data, e-
participation
AI, IoT
Most needed
disciplines, beyond ICT
Management
(BPR)
Sociology,
Marketing
History, Psychology,
Law, Political Science

The Domains of Digital Governance
Digital Governance
Digital Governance 1.0
(Service Provision)
Digital Governance 2.0
(Open & Collaborative Governance)
Digital Governance 3.0
(Decision Making & Disruption)
Service Automation and BPR
Legal, Organisational,
Semantic & Technical
Interoperability
e-Authentication
Digital Signatures
Service Portals
Mobile applications
Cloud Infrastructures
e-Participation
e-Voting
Open Governmental Data (OGD)
Linked Data
e-Collaboration
(Collaborative Service Design)
Crowdsourcing
Community Awareness Platforms
Big Data-Driven Decision Making
Artificial Intelligence in Governance
Blockchain in Governance
Internet of Things
Policy modelling
Societal Simulation
Opinion Mining / Sentiment Analysis

Question - #3
How “full” are you ?
0-50% = I could go on for another hour
51- 80% = I can do another 3-4 slides
81-100% = Oh god, make him finish
Type your number in the chat but DO NOT press enter
I will tell you when

Low Openness & Transparency : extreme 0
High Openness & Transparency: extreme 1
extreme 1
Low Integration of Policy Intelligence
extreme 0
Self-Service
Governance
“Ancient Greek”
Governance
Privatised
Governance
Leviathan
Governance
High Integration of Policy Intelligence
Today
You don’t want
to be here !
You want to
be here !

Personalised, Proactive Service Provision through AI: Moving from human effort to
machine intelligence. The cyber-physical, algorithmic government, that provides
services seamlessly.
Policy & Decision Making: Moving from ideology to big data analytics and societal
simulation for evidence – based decision making.
Digital Public Service Design & Innovation: Moving from non-existing marketing
and design departments, to standard practice in the public sector, (>50% of the
workforce, similar to the private sector).
Democracy & Governance model: Moving from representative democracy towards
more inclusive models, with the aid of technology
Open Data based entrepreneurship: Where citizens and SME’s develop and market
new services, utilizing open data provided by the government, local or national.
Digital Government Science Base: a process of laying the scientific foundations for
Digital Governance and Transformation.

Source: Gartner Inc.

Things I do
1. Information Systems Laboratory: http://icsdweb.aegean.gr/is-lab/
2. Digital Governance Research Center: http://www.dgrc.gr/
3. Master in Digital Government: http://msc.icsd.aegean.gr/egov/
4. Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship: http://msc.icsd.aegean.gr/innovation/
5. Entrepreneurship Accelerator - Aegean Startups: http://www.aegean-startups.gr/
6. OpenGov International Summer School : https://summerschools.aegean.gr/opengov2020
7. EBiz International Summer School: https://summer-schools.aegean.gr/eBiz2020
8. The Samos Summit on ICT Enabled Governance: https://www.samos-summit.com/
9. MOOC on Digital Governance: https://moodle.gov30.eu/
10.The Government 3.0 Project: https://www.gov30.eu/
11.The ManyLaws Legal Information Platform https://www.manylaws.eu/