The Role of E-Government in Reinforcing Public Service Principles

Abstract

Digital transformation has become an imperative for rationalizing public service delivery, elevating service quality, and insulating public service institutions from disruptions generated by sudden crises. This article analyzes how the digitalization of public administration can operationalize the classical principles governing public services—equality, continuity, and adaptability through procedural standardization, expanded accessibility, and the reduction of discretionary human intermediation that often enables favoritism, clientelism, and bribery. It further argues that the pursuit of quality necessarily requires diagnosing implementation constraints. In Algeria, the digital turn remains hindered by infrastructural fragilities, territorial and social digital divides, limited technological capacity and training, fragmented legal–institutional framing, and persistent cybersecurity risks. The study concludes that effective e-administration requires coherent regulation, robust ICT infrastructure, organizational reengineering, and sustained human-capital development.