How Does Digital Governance Contribute to Effective Crisis Management? A Case Study of Korea's Response to COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 global pandemic has challenged governance practices around the world and led to calls for reform to better fit newly emerged expectations. Studies have identified multiple types of governance practices and important qualities in governance for coping with crises, but they have tended to focus on one or a few aspects. In addition, while the pandemic has shown us how the digital readiness of a country plays a pivotal role in adjusting to and mitigating the societal impact of a crisis, there is limited knowledge of how digital tools and strategies within digital governance can best be utilized in the context of crisis management. This study synthesizes the literature on governance and crisis management to draw a comprehensive analytical framework, aiming to examine the specific roles of digital governance in supporting crisis management. We utilize an interpretive case study of Korea's response to COVID-19, given the country's highly regarded digital governance performance and COVID-19 response. This study offers specific evidence and examples of how Korea's digital governance has operated in response to the pandemic and provides implications for existing theory by linking the digital governance literature to the context of pandemics as well as more effective crisis management practices.