E-GOVERNMENT READINESS SURVEY

Transcription

1 Fourth Caribbean Regional Consultation and High-Level Workshop on Public Sector Management: Strategies for E-government Port Salines, Grenada, January 2003 E-GOVERNMENT READINESS SURVEY Division for Public Economics and Public Administration United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

2 Why to investigate e-government readiness? How to investigate e-government readiness?

3 Why to investigate?

4 E-government is a government that continuously seeks to optimize its functions by transforming internal and external relationships with the the use of information and communication technology (ICT)....what is being introduced is not simply machines, hardware, or knowledge, but most often a collection of different attitudes, values, and social, political, and cultural structures the failure ratio in e-government development remains high approximately 60% outside the OECD countries

5 5 principles from Palermo (to observe in design and implementation of e-government initiatives): Aim at empowering people, raising human capabilities, expanding human choices and opportunities Operate within an existing government program that aims at efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, knowledge acquisition Operate within enabling environment that includes leadership, education, connectivity Use local strengths and capacities; respect and factor in local culture and habits Win support of stakeholders by early demonstration of positive impact of ICT application on their wellbeing

6 Why the high level of caution? Very high rate of e-government development is based on transfer of technology that is accompanied by the If it works for us, it will work for you attitude, (and very often, it does not)

7 If it does not work, why? The knowledge about e-government is still at its nescient stage, but whatever global experience we have, it points to frequent existence of:» Design - reality gap» Hard - soft gap» Private - public gap

8 Design - reality gap (1): As a rule, ICT initiative supports, brings about, precipitates organizational change. The greater the degree of change, the greater the risk of failure. Success and failure depend on the size of gap that exists between current realities and design concepts. Design concepts originate in worldview of stakeholders that dominate design.

9 Design - reality gap (2): Current realities are composites of various degrees of: wide range of skills (from basic literacy to computer literacy, from knowledge of English to familiarity with systems management) availability and age of technological infrastructure (electricity!) value bestowed on knowledge stored outside human brain prevalence of hierarchical, centralized structures work ethics that favor blind loyalty, authority, secrecy, risk aversion dependence of work processes on politics and their volatility local cost of ICT as compared with labor sustainability of financial resources that fund the ICT initiative

10 Hard - soft gap: Existing designs target efficiency, use logic, rationalism; they operate in a universe of quantitative information; technology viewed as enabling tool; optimal solutions; formal organizational objectives, objective processes and structures; staff that is viewed as rational beings; and, resources aligned with organizational objectives. If it does, it can crash against: emphasis on informal, qualitative information perception of technology as status symbol or tool for oppression decisions that are power games multiple, informal, personal objectives perception of staff as political beings, part of power games emphasis on informal, subjective processes and structures use of resources to achieve personal objectives

11 Public - private gap: Many original designs have been developed by the private sector for the private sector. Transplanting them into the public sector may / often does encounter: less appreciation of strategic information, financial cost information interest in different, broader scope of information about customers change environment (volatility) that is attached to political process objectives that emphasize broad social, economic and political factors management structures divorced from sales, marketing, production greater job security - lesser identification with corporate goals greater residual staffing with traditional skills antiquated equipment more time and less money

12 E-government development as the art of skillful improvisation Improvisation must close the gaps, if they exist. Successful improvisations are known to be based on: Thorough investigation, familiarization with reality Work via hybrid teams that include technicians and users and allow time for cross-training Benchmarking, evaluating

13 How to investigate?

14 E-government readiness surveys: a developing art Government s ability to go on line Government s ability to go on line People s ability to go on line

15 E-government readiness surveys: a developing art (cont d) Compelling reasons for the government to go on line Ability of the government to go on line Ability of the government to stay on line Compelling reasons for the public to go and stay on line

16 Compelling reasons for the government to go on line Pressure points that need to be dealt with: related to internal government operation related to relationship with the world external to government Vision, strategy, program to deal with the pressure points Main strategy, planning and programming documents that address the pressure points and call for optimization of government performance as one of the ways of achieving the goals

17 Ability of the government to go on line Human factor State of civil service human resources (skills) Culture of the civil service and political bodies Legal factor Laws Effectiveness of the legislative process Administrative factor Complexity of administrative structure, track record of intragovernment coordination, public sector reform, transparency, capacity to store and move information Financial factor Mix funding Technical factor Presence of the government on line, saturation of government with ICT

18 Ability of the government to stay on line Political support Vision of e-government development Commitment of political leadership User relations Administrative support Strategy and action plan Implementation structure (organizations, resources) Human resources support Training Partnerships Track record of horizontal cooperation, skills Technical support Telecom deregulation, capacity of the private sector, technical support, ICT development plans

19 Compelling reasons for the public to go and stay on line Expectation of gains / perception of real value Time, cost, etc. Enabling cultural and political environment Trust in government, independence of the judiciary, role of cash / informal transactions Negligibility of risk Human rights and freedoms Protection of privacy Safety of networks Negligibility of skills barrier Literacy, ICT literacy, affordable ICT curriculum and training facilities Technical easiness Internet saturation, affordability, technical support to community initiatives

20 Build it and they will come? Yes, provided that: * The reason to go on line is compelling enough to win support of a broad, powerful political coalition * There is sufficient aptitude to build it and to sustain it, once it is put in place * People feel that it is safe and easy to use it and that using it brings to them real value

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