Comparative Study Of Emerging Economies: Pathways To Achieving The Sdgs Through Digital Governance

Abstract

The quest to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has increased the need to seek new systems of governance in the emerging economies. The traditional systems of governance, which are traditionally characterized by bureaucratic stagnation and limited engagement of the citizens, are becoming less suitable to face the challenge of the high rate of urbanization, climate change, and digital disruption. The paper also talks about the evolving environment of digital governance as one of the solutions of attaining sustainability in developing economies. The paper applies a comparative overview of digital practices of participation, accountability system grounded in blockchains, and multi-stakeholder collaboration and finds ways in which digital technologies, and institutional legitimacy, transparency, and sustainable development goals can be implemented in building a stronger strength of institutional legitimacy. While the analysis primarily focuses on emerging economies, the Netherlands is included as a developed-economy comparator to benchmark advanced digital governance practices and derive transferable insights for developing contexts. The case studies of Brazil, India, Estonia, Ghana, Seychelles, the Netherlands, West Africa and global alliances are utilized to demonstrate that countries and regions are trying new governance innovations that would cater to both local and global sustainability pledges. The results emphasize the fact that although digital governance has potentially transformative opportunities, to attain success, it should be inclusive, capacity building, and adaptive in its regulatory framework.