DIGITALISATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, AND DEVELOPMENT OF E-GOVERNANCE IN SERBIA
The paper explores the digitalisation of public administration as a multidimensional reform process aimed at enhancing legality, transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the public sector. It emphasises that successful digital governance requires not only an adequate legal and strategic framework and properly designed public policies by the state authorities, but also the integration of artificial intelligence and the active participation of civil servants and citizens alike. Artificial intelligence is examined as a transformative tool capable of improving decision-making, regulatory enforcement, and service delivery, while also raising critical ethical and legal concerns, including algorithmic bias and data privacy, while the role of civil servants is highlighted as pivotal to the implementation and legitimacy of digital reforms, underscoring the importance of their professional development and adherence to democratic values. The paper further analyses the case of Serbia, assessing its strategic and normative efforts to modernise public administration through various legal and policy initiatives. Despite notable advancements in digital infrastructure and service availability, the Serbian experience reveals persistent challenges, such as bureaucratic inertia, system interoperability issues, uneven service quality, and low digital literacy among citizens. Lastly, the study concludes that digital transformation must be approached as an inclusive and adaptive process, grounded in democratic principles and requiring coordinated engagement from all stakeholders to ensure a transparent, efficient, and citizen-centric public administration.
Keywords: Public Administration, Digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence, Civil Servants, Serbia.
Abbate, T et al. 2014. A Knowledge-based Decision Support System for the Service Quality Improvement in Organizations. In: Sandkuhl, K. & Seigerroth, U (eds.), 7th International Workshop on Information Logistics and Knowledge Supply: 13th International Conference
on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research Lund, Sweden, September 23-25, 2014 Workshop Proceedings, pp. 49-60. Available at: http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1246/ (1. 5. 2025).
Bencsik, A. 2024. The Opportunities of Digitalisation in Public Administration with a Special Focus on the Use of Artificial Intelligence. Studia Iuridica Lublinensia, 33(2), pp. 11-23. https://doi.org/10.17951/sil.2024.33.2.11-23
Đurašković, J. 2016. Unapređenje modela efektivnog komuniciranja elektronske uprave sa privrednim društvima. PhD thesis. Novi Sad: Fakultet tehničkih nauka Univerziteta u Novom Sadu.
Đurašković, J., Viduka, D. & Gajić-Glamočlija, M. 2021. The Use of E-government from the Perspective of Biggest Business Entities in Serbia. Journal of Information and Organizational Sciences, 45(1), pp. 39-53. https://doi.org/10.31341/jios.45.1.3
Lutsenko, K. 2024. Digitalization of public administration: challenges and prospects. Health Leadership and Quality of Life, 3 (3), pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.56294/hl2024.434
Marković, N. 2021. Elektronske usluge Ministarstva unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije. In: Jelena S. Perović Vujačić (ed.), Zbornik radova 34. Susreta Kopaoničke škole prirodnog prava Slobodan Perović, Tom II. Beograd: Kopaonička škola prirodnog prava, pp. 113-124.
Milovanović, D., Ničić, J. & Davinić, M. 2011. Stručno usavršavanje državnih službenika u Republici Srbiji. Belgrade: Association for Public Administration, The Public Enterprise Official Gazette.
Milovanović, D., Nenadić, N. & Todorović, V. 2012. Studija o unapređenju zakonodavnog procesa u Republici Srbiji. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Milovanović, D. 2023. Upotreba veštačke inteligencije u javnom interesu – mogućnosti, izazovi i odgovornost. In: Jelena S. Perović Vujačić (ed.), Zbornik radova 36. Susreta Kopaoničke škole prirodnog prava Slobodan Perović, Tom II. Beograd: Kopaonička škola prirodnog prava, pp. 5-30.
Perović, S. 2018. Besede sa Kopaonika. Beograd: Kopaonička škola prirodnog prava.
Tomić, Z. R. 2012. Komentar Zakona o opštem upravnim sporovima sa sudskom praksom. Beograd: Službeni glasnik.
Veale, M., Van Kleek, M. & Binns, R. 2018. Fairness and Accountability Design Needs for Algorithmic Support in High-stakes Public Sector Decision-Making. In: Mandryk, R. L. et al (eds.), Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018, Montreal, QC, Canada, April 21-26, 2018. New York: Association for
Computing Machinery, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174014
Vučetić, D. 2021. Stages in the evolution of the law on administrative procedures – from the first codification. In: Zbingiew, K. (ed.), Administrative Proceedings in the Habsburg Succession Countries. Lodz-Warszava: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 181-198.
Vukašinović Radojičić, Z. & Marković, N. 2019. Izazovi primene savremenih informacionih tehnologija i reforma javne uprave u Republici Srbiji. Pravni život, 68(10), pp. 285-297.
Vukašinović Radojičić, Z. & Vučetić, D. 2023. The European Principles of Public Administration Services Delivery from the Perspective of Digitalization and Simplification: Normative Framework and Practise in the Republic of Serbia. EU and Comparative Law Issues
and Challenges Series, 7(1), pp. 219-242. https://doi.org/10.25234/eclic/27449
Vukoičić, A. Z. 2020. Reforma i modernizacija javne uprave u Srbiji sa posebnim osvrtom na standarde dobre uprave. PhD thesis. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu.
Legal sources
Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020 to 2025, Official Gazette of the RS, no. 96/19.
Online sources
Monitoring Report, Public administration in Serbia 2024, Assessment against the Principles of Public Administration, SIGMA, OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/public-administration-in-serbia-2024_02001fe4-en.html (1. 5. 2025).