Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 31st NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG2: Digital Government Author(s) Tanja Paneva University of Ljubljana Sveti Nikole Republic of North Macedonia Tanja Paneva (first author)Assoc. Prof. Mitja Dečman, PhDAssoc. Prof. Jože Benčina, PhD (leading author) Title Antecedents of disparities in access to digital public services: A literature review File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Tanja Paneva Abstract The digital transformation process in the public sector is a mechanism for governments to better respond to citizens’ diverse needs in a fast-paced environment. In a constantly changing world, introducing online public services became necessary to provide better service delivery and easier and cost-efficient access based on user-centricity, efficiency, and transparency. However, combining different socio-economic, environmental, and service design factors has generated access disparities to digital public services affecting especially marginalized groups. This has incited the question if digitalization, instead of ? catalyst, carries the risk of being a disabler of inclusive access to public services. To identify the antecedents that generate extrinsic or intrinsic access barriers to digital public services, this literature review paper will present findings of selected articles from Scopus and Web of Science databases published in the period 2018-2022 in the English language. Besides the factors creating disparities in material access (e.g., technology, infrastructure, possession of digital devices), the paper will also focus on antecedents (skills, motivation, existing differences across groups) adding to the second-level divide. By presenting findings and methods applied in addressing this issue in previous research from a global perspective, it would be clearer how to better cluster and address antecedents that generate access disparities. Based on these experiences, appropriate tailor-made solutions can be applied in the CEE region or individual countries facing inequalities of access for different socio-economic groups. Identifying potential antecedents that promptly generate access barriers is important both for scholars and policy makers, to adequately address this issue and support the effective and wholesome digital transformation process. Abstract summary Method: Literature review from selected articles from Scopus and Web of Science using appropriate key words (Antecedents OR factors AND digital AND inequality AND access) published in the period 2018-2022 in English language. Objective 1: Identify the socio-economic, environmental and service design related antecedents that generate access disparities to digital public services in different contexts worldwide Objective 2: Identify the methodology approach to examining socio-economic, environmental and service design antecedents that generate barriers to access to digital public services Objective 3: Identify the most employed concept in previous work of addressing this issue Objective 4: Cluster antecedents adding to the first level divide and second level divide Objective 5: Present potential solutions from previous research applied in different contexts Contribution of the article: To gather the methodology approach and findings in previous work of authors addressing the issue of socio-economic, environmental and service design antecedents that generate disparities in access, identify potential gaps and propose ways of how to properly address this issue in future work by scholars and policy makers.
