Conceptual framework for public governance of socio-economic systems: from instrumental to substantional understanding of digital transformation

doi:10.26565/1684-8489-2025-1-03

Maksym Sikalo V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4, Svobody Sq., Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5949-5712

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/1684-8489-2025-1-03

Keywords: digital transformation, public governance, socio-economic system, digital statehood, institutional reconfigurability, platform approaches.

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of digital transformation in socio-economic systems as an object of public governance through the transition from an instrumental to a substantional understanding of digital technologies’ role. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the research systematizes theoretical and methodological concepts of digital transformation and identifies its seven fundamental properties: transversality, recursiveness, emergence, accelerativity, cognitive-transformational potential, institutional reconfigurability, and ontological hybridity. These properties form the methodological foundation for a new understanding of digital transformation, where technologies are viewed not as external optimization tools but as constitutive elements of a new institutional reality. The study develops a matrix of digital transformation’s impact on components of the socio-economic system, structuring the nature of changes, influence mechanisms, and resulting effects for economic, social, political-administrative, innovative, and informational subsystems. The research analyzes the evolution of public governance instruments for digitalization—from e-government to digital statehood models focused on digital resilience and platform-based approaches. Based on analysis of real-world cases of public sector digital modernization across different countries, the study confirms that effective public governance of digital transformation requires a comprehensive approach that accounts for the systemic nature of transformational processes. The research demonstrates that the transitive model of digital statehood creates a methodological foundation for proactive responses to digital era challenges through vertical integration of artificial intelligence systems and distributed ledgers into mechanisms of strategic planning and institutional adaptation.

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Author Biography

Maksym Sikalo , V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4, Svobody Sq., Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine

PhD in public administration, doctoral candidate of Economic Policy and Management Department,
Education and Research Institute of Public Administration, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University,
4, Svobody Sq., Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine

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