A model of open governance in a self-governing city on the example of Batumi

Abstract

The steps taken in the field of open governance in Georgia are often uncoordinated and unsystematic, although there are many successful examples at the central, regional, and municipal levels. Within the framework of the research, we will focus on the analysis of the municipal level, for which the current situation in terms of the development of open governance in the self-governing unit of Batumi was studied, and a methodology for evaluating the level of development of open governance was proposed. Within the framework of the research, an assessment and analysis of the relevant basic environment was also carried out, ways of solving existing problems, development trends and recommendations were shown.

The existing Georgian scientific literature on open governance is distinguished by the novelty of the issue, however, the study of the possibility of introducing open governance on a regional scale is neglected, more over it does not refer to the problems of the implementation of "open governance" on the example of the Ajara region while the main state services for the population come precisely at the regional and municipal level.

The paper presents results with scientific novelty:

- The research methodology for self-governing city open governance at the regional level has been developed based on quantitative and qualitative research data;

- The open governance development index of the self-governing city - Batumi has also been developed and the current state of open governance development has been analyzed with qualitative indicators such as: free access to information, citizen involvement, open data, open dialogue, budget publicity, session publicity and others.

- It has been revealed that the self-governing city of Batumi has made significant progress in the development of open governance, which is partly due to the fact that it is one of the self-governing units integrated in the national open governance action plans.

As a result of the research, such findings were also identified, which work on, will not only help us to overcome the challenges related to the formation of principles of open governance in self-governing units, but will also become a guarantee of the development of open governance in the region.