Public administration and public governance play a crucial role in society today by ensuring that social needs are met. Due to the constantly changing environment, public governance models have transformed many times, creating differences in public governance practices among public administration institutions, with combinations of contradictory structures and principles that coexist. Accordingly, this paper aims to provide an overview of different public governance models, extract quantifiable elements based on models’ principles and examine the extent of layering of different governance models at different levels of public administration in the specific case of the Slovenian administration. Thus, the main focus is on identifying the differences in characteristics of public governance practices between state administration and local self-government. The results show state administration institutions are more strongly characterised by the Neo-Weberian model’s principles. In contrast, local self-government institutions are more oriented to managerial public governance and Digital-Era Governance practices. Public managers may regard the results as additional resources for democratic and efficient governing. At the same time, they may provide policymakers with in-depth insights to consider while determining the trajectories of future public administration reforms.

This research advances the field of digital government by developing and empirically validating a model for measuring the digital state of public administration, with a specific focus on Slovenia. Moving beyond traditional digital maturity models, our study introduces a holistic framework that integrates elements of technology, process, structure, people and organisational culture, enriched by dimensions of digital principles, good governance, and external environmental factors. This framework is grounded in an adaptation of Leavitt’s diamond model, tailored to capture the nuances of digitalisation in public administration. The empirical validation is conducted through a comprehensive questionnaire administered to Slovenian public administration organisations at both local and state levels. The results provide a nuanced understanding of the current digital state that extends beyond technological aspects, including process optimisation, organisational structure, people elements and culture dynamics, and insights into internal and external barriers to digitalisation as well as principles of good governance and digitalisation. The study’s results show that ministries in Slovenia generally possess a more advanced digital infrastructure than municipalities, particularly in various aspects of ICT development and integration. While Slovenia aspires to align with the EU digital strategy, it faces various challenges, particularly at the municipal level, in achieving coherent development of digital skills and policy implementation. The comprehensive approach allows for a more informed evaluation of digital transformation efforts, offering insights into areas of strength and opportunities for further development. The findings have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders, highlighting critical areas for targeted improvement and strategic planning in the digitalisation of public administration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped administrative relations and put emphasis on the digital transformation of public administration that is urgently needed to support a sustainable recovery from the pandemic crisis and future sustainable development in the post-pandemic era. This paper presents a comparative study on the ways the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted general administrative authorities on the local level with respect to various aspects of their functioning and digitalization in five European countries. With a sample of 926 respondents from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia, the study shows that the pandemic-imposed changes are very similar in these countries. The results reveal that, except for Germany, the biggest problems of pandemic-related regulations are their obscurity. For all countries under study, parties to the procedures are shown to be the main driver of digitalization and not the public administration itself, generally lagging behind in this sense. Nevertheless, the pandemic has also created several potential opportunities, whereby public managers, especially in Germany, have acknowledged the importance of digitalization right after the protection of health, as confirmed by the wider use of ICT equipment, particularly in Germany and the Czech Republic. Moreover, Germany and Romania exhibit the greatest potential to accelerate digitalization. Finally, the critical factors influencing accelerated digitalization after the pandemic are also identified. The paper’s evidence-based findings could prove useful while formulating recommendations for the sustainable practices of public administrations during this and any future pandemic crisis.

Purpose: The purpose of the presented study was to develop a set of recommendations for decision-makers (policymakers and public managers) and public employees to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of organisational elements in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in public institutions. Design/methodology/approach: Utilising a systematic literature review following the PRISMA protocol, the study examines the organisational enablers of AI adoption in public institutions. Comprehensive search queries in the Scopus database identified relevant literature focusing on the intersection of AI technologies and various organisational elements. The analysis was facilitated by NVivo 12, enabling a structured examination of key organisational facets for people, culture, structure, processes, and technology within public institutions. Findings: Previous studies on AI adoption in public institutions identified numerous enablers of AI adoption associated with organisational elements like people/employees, structure, culture, technology, and processes. Several surveys and case studies stress the importance of concentrating on the introduction or transformation of these organisational elements prior to or concurrently with the adoption of AI. Academic contribution to the field: By applying a systematic literature review protocol, the study represents the first holistic and systematic review of specific organisational elements that can serve as enablers of AI adoption in public institutions. Research limitations/implications: This systematic literature review was subject to several limitations. Firstly, the division of AI literature between natural and social sciences, with the former focusing on technical aspects and the latter on broader organisational themes, may have resulted in an incomplete depiction of the intersection of AI and organisational change. Secondly, despite the broad search queries, inherent limitations of keyword-based searches may have excluded some relevant studies. Thirdly, considering the rapid evolution of AI technology, our review may not fully encapsulate the very latest developments in the field as it covers literature published until May 2023. Finally, the interpretation and coding of literature, despite the use of NVivo 12, involved subjective elements that could affect the study’s outcomes. Practical implications: Drawing from experiences in the private sector, public institutions are increasingly adopting AI technologies across various subsectors such as public finance (taxation), research, healthcare, law enforcement, defence, education. This requires a transformation in both hard (structure, processes etc.) and soft aspects (people, organisational culture etc.). Therefore, the enablers identified in the study can serve as guidelines for decision-makers and implementers of AI at all levels of public institutions. Social implications: If adopted effectively and efficiently and used professionally and ethically, the use of AI in public institutions can bring many benefits to society, such as transparency, justice, cost and time efficiency, high quality services, and improved collaboration between different stakeholders in society. Originality/significance/value: Our study makes a distinct contribution by shifting the focus from technological barriers to organisational enablers of AI adoption in public institutions. It bridges a critical gap in the literature by integrating both technical and social science perspectives, providing valuable insights for theory and practice in the fields of organisation and management.

Digital transformation, driven by disruptive technologies, is significantly altering economies and societies worldwide. For public organisations, embracing disruptive technologies can enhance efficiency, productivity, transparency, and service delivery. However, successful integration of these technologies requires comprehensive readiness at an organisational level. Accordingly, this study aims to identify and understand the critical factors that enable or constrain municipalities in developing their disruptive technology capability. The empirical analysis is based on data collected through a comprehensive questionnaire distributed to public managers in Slovenian municipalities between April and July 2023, yielding a sample of 143 responses. The results of a structural equation modelling approach reveal the complex relationships between identified disruptive technology capability determinants and components. These findings offer valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers aiming to navigate the complex landscape of disruptive technology adoption within public organisations. Key Points for Practitioners To enhance disruptive technology capabilities and drive disruptive technology adoption, the results indicate to: - promote a proactive leadership style that fosters innovation, - leverage government incentives, - respond to citizen expectations, - prioritise investments in skills development and infrastructure, and - implement robust data management practices to enhance service delivery and decision-making.

Purpose: This article examines the development of the legal competences of public officials within the Slovenian public administration who use the Administrative Consultation Platform (ACP) when conducting procedures under the General Administrative Procedure Act (GAPA). The ACP is an open-access legal clinic that serves as a supplementary source for interpreting procedural rules. To this end, a conceptual framework delineating legal competences for public officials was developed to assess how the use of the ACP affects the development of their acquired legal competences for the purposes of conducting administrative procedures. Based on this framework, a structural model was created to enable empirical testing of the impact of public officials’ affinity for the ACP and the frequency of its use on the development of their technical-legal and entrepreneurial-relational competences.Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical component employs normative, doctrinal, and comparative research methods to study legal competence models in the existing literature. The empirical component includes statistical analysis of data collected using a questionnaire measuring the technical-legal and entrepreneurial-relational competences of public officials who use the ACP, combined with an axiological-deontological evaluation of the results. Structural equation modelling was used to verify how affinity for the ACP and the frequency of its use when conducting administrative procedures affect the development of their legal competences.Findings: The empirical study conducted in spring 2025 involved 112 public officials who conducted administrative procedures in administrative bodies and used the ACP between 2023 and 2025. The results indicate that the use of the ACP contributed significantly to the development of public officials’ legal competences, particularly relational competences, such as the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with parties involved in the administrative procedure, and entrepreneurial competences, especially the ability to uphold core ethical principles (e.g., integrity) and proactively seek solutions that balance the public interest with parties’ rights. However, they developed technical-legal competences— such as legal reasoning for resolving procedural issues, understanding of the GAPA, and data protection regulation—to a lesser, though still not negligible, degree. Academic contribution to the field: The article focuses on relatively under-explored aspects of public officials’ legal competences. The conceptual framework represents an original contribution, complementing existing research on legal competences in a narrower context, while in a broader context it can be categorised as dealing with the subjects of administrative law and public administration. The empirical study advances scientific understanding of the impact of public officials’ affinity for the ACP and the frequency of its use on the development of their legal competences, providing key feedback for ACP stakeholders.Research/practical/social implications: The conceptual framework of legal competences serves as the foundation for further scholarly examination of the legal competences possessed by public officials and functions as a baseline for the systematic upgrading of the ACP to continue fostering the development of public officials’ legal competences while they use it. From a societal perspective, this article contributes to raising awareness of the critical importance of cultivating legal competences and of the effective utilisation of the ACP as an instrument for more participatory and problem-solving-oriented administrative decision-making processes. Originality/significance/value: The article offers an original contribution by (1) establishing a conceptual framework that advances the study of legal competences among public officials who use the ACP when conducting administrative procedures, and (2) demonstrating the pivotal role of the ACP as a repository of accumulated collective knowledge, which aids public officials in developing their legal competences and facilitates the networking of stakeholders engaged in addressing administrative law challenges. The findings provide guidelines for enhancing the effectiveness of public officials and for fulfilling the objectives and principles of Good Governance in modern public administration.