Exploring the impact of digital transformation on public governance - A community perspective

Digital transformation has defied the way our societies are governed and its legitimacy- within and outside Europe. The abundance of information, misinformation and political polarisation are some of the challenges that democratic institutions are facing. Moreover, citizens are increasingly demanding to be part of the decision-making of policies that affects them. Some communities and grassroots initiatives are actively influencing public policies and becoming a crucial contribution to the policy-making and production of knowledge. In this context, it is necessary to understand the impact of new technology trends on the relationship between communities and public authorities. The work starts to explore the impact of digital transformation on new forms of public governance from a community perspective - with a particular focus on Europe. It includes a theoretically grounded framework for community participation models and their influence on public policies. The research outlines three potential evolutionary tendencies for governance paradigms that empower local grassroots communities and the appropriate use of digital technologies to engage with public institutions. Finally, these are translated into recommendations and a research agenda on the digital transformation of public governance for the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).