This paper discusses factors which determine the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in public services. The provision of online public services is becoming increasingly utilized as a means to streamline and facilitate contact between citizens and public-sector bodies. The implementation of decentralization process also makes the accessibility of public services to citizens simpler. In this paper, the online services and factors which determine the level of such services are analyzed using the data set of 1216 services provided by municipalities in Slovakia. Special attention is paid to the examination of financial indicators which describe financial independence of local governments with respect to the assumption that local governments with higher level of expenditure covered by the revenue coming from proper taxes display more effective behavior in the field of public services. Thereafter, based on the results of econometric model and statistical methods key factors affecting the provision of online services are determined. The results of the model show that a higher level of ICT adoption in public services is achieved by larger municipalities which are district seats and which are financially autonomous. This is an important lesson for the policy as the process of fiscal decentralization appears to be a very important means of narrowing the gap between the developed and transition economies.

Fundamental changes that occurred in Central and Eastern Europe (including Slovakia) in recent two decades have caused that regional policy as well as regional development has become one of the hottest national policy issues. If one connects this issue with the existence of regional disparities, there is no surprise that also the EU considers this topic an extra important one. Various scholars point out that innovation policy is the right path how to achieve sustainable regional development and how to improve competitiveness of less developed regions. This article is aimed particularly at the innovation policies of the Slovak self-government regions and their outcomes.

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