Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Transformation in the Public Sector: The Case of Ecuador

Abstract

Electronic government has several benefits, especially in improving the provision of public services, transparency and accountability, citizen participation, efficiency and cost savings and economic development. However, there is still no extensive literature on the characteristics of e-government in developing countries. That is why the purpose of the paper is to identify the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation in the public sector of Ecuador. For this, a multidimensional theoretical framework of e-government was used that in composed for socioeconomic and political factors to identify the opportunities and challenges of a country. Bibliographic research was conducted for which secondary information was used, especially from public documents of the country and international reports. As a result, since 2000 Ecuador has started its digital Transformation until now with the implementation of a new model for the digital transformation of the country that includes the supply of digital infrastructure, as well as the digitalization of public services, promoting the access of these by creating regulatory norms that allow the development of e-government. However, despite the advances that the country has had in the public sector, there are still challenges such as improving interoperability between the different public institutions, improving the security and protection of government data, and training specialized human talent. In the same way, it is established that to have a positive impact, it is important to take into account that the successful implementation of e-government requires adequate planning, investment in technological infrastructure and the training of government personnel, as well as consideration of security issues, privacy and access to technology.