Digital Governance

Governance has been defined to refer to structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment and broad-based participation. With respect to digital governance, it refers to the structures and processes which are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment and broad-based participation, of all varieties, in the online world, rather than that which is limited to the physical world. Digital tools and social media have empowered people through widespread access to information and global connections. Citizens are using technology to hold governments to account and to exercise their civic rights. Governments are using technology to be more transparent, accountable and inclusive. They are also innovating solutions to pressing issues, including delivering services better, establishing cutting edge systems of procurement, advancing fiscal openness and fighting fraud and abuse. Yet, the same technologies can represent real risks to democracies. Unaccountable institutions are leveraging technology to pursue their own interests in and across markets with little to no—or conflicting—jurisdiction and accountability. And public institutions are dealing with the unintended consequences of fast-moving technologies that often outpace legal safeguards and government oversight. Some of the recommendations that have been put forward with regard to digital governance involve inclusive digital transformation and innovation, digital rights-based frameworks and safeguards to prevent misuse of digital technologies. In this chapter, we will explore the concept of digital governance. We will begin by defining governance and some of the philosophies and theories of governance. These will be applied to nation/state governments as well as to corporations and organisations. We will outline the features of social responsibility, including sustainability, accountability, transparency and the social contract. Having established an understanding of governance, we will proceed to look at governance through the digital framework, focusing on issues of corporate digital governance and the responsibilities which flow from that. Finally, we will discuss the growing issue of digital governance of user-generated digital content, an issue which has been at the forefront of digital policy in many governments as of late.