DIGITAL MATURITY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The article substantiates a methodological approach to assessing the digital maturity of public administration in environmental protection and natural resource management. Digital maturity is interpreted not as the number of electronic services but as the institutional capacity to use data, interoperable registers, geospatial technologies, analytical models and digital participation channels throughout the environmental policy cycle. A seven-dimensional model is proposed, covering institutional and strategic governance; data and interoperability; digital-by-design processes; platform integration; openness and participation; predictive analytics; and cyber resilience with human oversight. Five maturity levels and an aggregation method with a bottleneck rule are introduced to prevent strong components from concealing critical weaknesses. An information and analytical mechanism is developed that links environmental data sources, interoperability, analytics, managerial decisions, public interaction and ex post evaluation. Directions for applying the methodology in Ukraine are defined with regard to the EcoSystem platform, geospatial data infrastructure, the pollutant release and transfer register, digital environmental-impact assessment and environmental-monitoring reform.

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