E-government and e-participation development in Baltic States: comparison of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
ENE-government and e-participation are inherent parts of modern societies and economies. Each country chooses its own path of development depending on or influenced by certain socio-economic indicators as well as political will. The aim of the current research was to find socio-economic differences in e-government and eparticipation development patterns in the three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The following research methods were applied: 1) descriptive statistics to compare levels of e-government and e-participation in the three countries; 2) correlation analysis to find relationships between socio-economic indicators and indicators of egovernment and e-participation in the three countries. The current research put forward two hypotheses: H1: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have different dynamics in e-government and e-participation development. H2: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have different patterns of interconnections between socio-economic indicators and e-government and e-participation development. The research confirmed both hypotheses and suggested the following proposals based on research results: 1) to facilitate e-government and e-participation development in Latvia authorities should stress efforts on measures increasing economic competitiveness and curbing corruption; 2) to facilitate e-government and e-participation development in Lithuania authorities should stress efforts on measures supporting national income growth; 3) to facilitate e-participation development in Estonia authorities should stress efforts on measures supporting national income growth. [.
