Hello Barrack,
I see and hear your concerns,
however, this animal called e-Government can
be very complex and
allow me to share some little knowledge I have after
more than 10
years of e-Gov consulting. Warning: This will be a bit
long.
First and fore most we have to understand that e-Gov is
delivery of public
services through the use of ICT infrastructure.
This means e-Gov is *not*
ICT infrastructure but part of the delivery
and facilitation mechanism. If
we agree on this, then the networks
that you refer to (I think this is the
Government Core Network (GCN))
has set the stage for e-Gov service delivery
but it is not a service
as-is.
This means there is a another level that needs to be
worked on, and that is
the services portfolio. This has already
started albeit in a very
uncoordinated manner. KRA seems to be
leading the fray - PIN, VAT
application, Online tax returns etc. Due
to poor or lack of coordination,
each Ministry seems to be working on
their own programmes and projects (I
have talked about this before)
and I can tell you this does not bring the
benefits of e-Gov -
efficiency, accuracy and cost savings.
A case in point is the
myriad of databases across government agencies.
Almost each ministry
*owns* its own database with a lot of redundant
information that each
ministry keeps on collecting from you. Under the
shared services
model, application and data re-use can be made possible.
Where Govt
can shared core applications and databases. You will be surprised
the
amount of errors that are introduced to records every time an new
form
is filled. So just reducing the number of times you fill a form
at each
ministry greatly improves the accuracy of Govt records. So,
shared services
model is best practice in e-Gov.
Now, about
strategies and strategy meetings. E-Gov is a change process.
Its
about change, changing the way people work, changing the
processes and
re-engineering these process to be supported by an ICT
infrastructure.
Change at any level is not easy and at government
level is unthinkable!
Let me illustrate. All e-Gov services have
to be backed by law and there are
legal requirements for every
government service you receive. Some laws have
come into effect that
support the roll out of e-Gov services but many are
yet to be
enacted. Consider the issue of contracts. When is a contract
valid?
In most cases there are specific requirements of form designed
to
protect interests or persons. So you see that contracts may in
some cases be
considered valid only when executed in their physical
form. That's why you
have to make a physical application and sign it
when applying for your
passport. So, for you to apply for the same
passport online, some laws have
to be amended to allow for such
provisions.
The UN or InfoDev, not sure which one, identified
5 e-Gov maturity levels
from basic online presence to what they refer
to a Connected Government. All
these stages are incremental and have
increased benefits to the citizens as
you move up the ladder.
Connected Government is ideal level and very few
countries globally
are there yet. One of them is Canada. We are possibly at
the second
level where we have basic transactional capabilities - can
download a
form, can file tax returns online, can query a database to check
the
status of your passport application etc.
Now, to move to the next
level, we need to plan and put strategies in place.
Evaluate what we
have done, where we are at, revisit our priorities and set
new goals.
This is a that you will see over and over again. So e-Gov is
not
something you switch on, its a process that builds on existing
blocks
incrementally.
Whether we use these strategies we
develop and review is a totally different
thing. But its critical to
plan and strategise. As they say, failure to plan
is planning to
fail.
My apologies for such a long post, but I felt obliged
because e-Gov is a
subject that is very close to my heart and I hope
this helps. Corrections
and additions are all welcome
I
suspect this is worth a bob, ama walu?
Kindest
regards
Harry
On 3/27/10 7:43 PM, "Barrack
Otieno" <
otieno.barrack@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Listers,
>
> I have been following
discussions on this list that seem to be
> touching on the above
mentioned subject. We seem to be spending large
> sums on
meetings strategizing and restrategizing however are we
>
really making any headway? at this point in time we are
still
> required to "fill in some forms" whenever we seek
government services
> is this e-government? we are now talking
about shared services i
> thought e-government implemented a
project that networked most
> government offices, however you have
to travel physically to offices
> to get services, at times we
confuse the public with ICT jargon what
> the public needs is
efficiency and effectiveness in service provision.
> ICT4D on the
other hand has been infiltrated by commercial interests,
> i
wonder what should prevail when "commercial" and "public"
interests
> meet, probably we should spend more money on change
management,
> capacity building and awareness campaigns as opposed
to this "strategy
> meetings" which will only lead to analysis
paralysis
>
> My thoughts
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