The 2016 E-Government Survey at a Glance

Transcription

1 United Nations The 2016 E-Government Survey at a Glance DPADM Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations

2 The 2030 Agenda The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world's leaders and the people.

3 Another Way to Look at SDGs - The Five Ps

4

5 SDGs: Universal

6 SDGs: Indivisible

7 SDGs: Transformative

8 SDGs: Integrated

9 So now it is about implementation

10 ICT for sustainable development and The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Global leaders and policy-makers also embraced the use of ICT for development at the two-stage World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), which took place in 2003 (the Geneva phase) and 2005 (the Tunis phase). The WSIS highlighted the urgent need to harness the potential of knowledge and technology to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and guided a development-focused Plan of Action to put the potential of knowledge and ICTs at the service of development for 10 years ( ). The WSIS Geneva Plan of Action : ICT applications can support sustainable development, in the fields of public administration, business, education and training, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science within the framework of national e-strategies. In respect of e-government, the WSIS called on governments to: Implement e-government strategies focusing on applications aimed at innovating and promoting transparency in public administrations and democratic processes, improving efficiency and strengthening relations with citizens; Develop national e-government initiatives and services, at all levels, adapted to the needs of citizens and business, to achieve a more efficient allocation of resources and public goods; Support international cooperation initiatives in the field of e-government, in order to transparency, accountability and efficiency at all levels of government.

11 WSIS and 2030 Agenda for SD: E-government and ICT for sustainable development With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in 2015, a mapping exercise was carried out by UN agencies that are facilitators of the WSIS Action Lines, attempting to draw direct linkages between the WSIS Actions and the SDGs In particular, the role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development is linked to sustainable development goals. To advance e-government, the Geneva Plan of Action identified a target to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and addresses. In order to meet the WSIS target for e-government, it was deemed important that national, local and municipal governments and departments be connected online.

12 UN E-Government Survey The E-Gov Survey presents a systematic assessment of the use of ICT to transform and reform the public sector by enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, access to public services and citizen participation in 193 Countries. UN E-Gov Survey adopted by Member States and economists as a useful tool to benchmark e-government Development UN Survey as a tool to guide policies and strategies on how Member States can overall improve public service delivery and bridge the digital divide

13 2016 UN E-Government Survey 9 th Edition: UN E-Government Survey 2016 E-Government in Support of Sustainable Development

14 E-Government Survey Highlights I o The 2016 United Nations E-Government Survey provides new evidence that e-government has the potential to help support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. o It is essential to ensure that the overarching objective of poverty eradication and Leaving No One Behind, a key principle of the 2030 Agenda, is at the core of efforts to mobilize ICTs to realize the transformation the 2030 Agenda demands. o The Survey finds that e-government is an effective tool for facilitating integrated policies and public service by promoting accountable and transparent institutions through open data and e-participation and participatory decision-making, as well as by advancing online services to bridge the digital divides. o The rankings are based on the report s E-Government Development Index (EGDI), which ranks countries by measuring their use of information and communications technologies to deliver public services. The Index captures three dimensions: scope and quality of online services, status of telecommunication infrastructure and existing human capacity. o The United Kingdom, followed by Australia and the Republic of Korea, lead the world in providing Government services and information through the Internet.

15 E-Government Survey Highlights II o Europe was led by the United Kingdom. Oceania was led by Australia The Republic of Korea topped the list in Asia. The United States led countries in the Americas, and ranked twelfth overall. Mauritius was the top performer in Africa, and ranked fifty-eighth worldwide. o In 2016, there is still a huge gap between African countries, with an EGDI average of , and European countries, with an EGDI average of Europe provides 10 times more services to the poor, persons with disabilities and older persons than Africa and Oceania. o As the only global report that assesses the e-government development status of the 193 United Nations Member States. E-Government Survey 2016 aims to serve as a tool for countries to learn from each other, identify areas of strength and challenges in e-government and shape their policies and strategies in this area. o E-Government Survey 2016 is also aimed at facilitating discussions of intergovernmental bodies, including the United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, on issues related to e-government and development and to the critical role of ICTs in development.

16 Themes of the 2016 Survey E-government for Policy Integration Transparency through Open Government Data Engaging People Through e-participation AdvancingOnline Servicesand Bridging Divides

17 E-government for Policy Integration

18 E-government for Policy Integration Highlights 2016 A new trend in e-government has been the evolution towards the provision of integrated public services online through, among others, one-stop platforms allowing to access a range of public services. This approach makes it easier for people to interact with public administration and get adequate and holistic responses to their queries and needs. Progress is being made towards delivering public services in such an integrated way. For example, 98 countries require a digital ID for online and mobile public services.

19 Number of Countries offering W-o-G related online features, by income group

20 Increasing number of countries with Chief Information Officers (CIO) or equivalent role

21 E-government for Policy Integration Findings Efforts are being made to ensure privacy and security of personal data. But challenges remain. Some relate to the technical difficulties associated with ensuring interoperability of systems. Proliferation of technologies, while positive, makes it difficult to provide integrated e-health services. It also remains difficult to ensure integration of services across sectors. Along with integrated services, e-government may increasingly support policy integration and encourage the efforts of various government institutions to work more closely together. It can provide governments with increased insights to help revisit existing decision making processes and work flows. Progress is however slow. Efforts to promote whole-of-government service delivery and policies have to be accompanied with efforts to ensure that organizational cultures, coordination mechanisms and financial and accountability systems support collaboration among public institutions.

22 Transparency through Open Government Data

23 Transparency through Open Government Data Highlights 2016 In an effort to make public institutions more inclusive, effective, accountable and transparent, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many governments across the globe are opening up their data for public information and scrutiny. Making data available online for free also allows the public and various civil society organizations to reuse and remix them for any purpose. This can potentially lead to innovation and new or improved services, new understanding and ideas. Overall, in 2016, 128 out of 193 UN Member States provide datasets on government spending in machine readable formats. The remaining 65 have no such information online. The availability and use of Open Government Data initiatives, however, vary around the world; not only in terms of the number of datasets released and how they are presented and organized, but also in terms of the tools provided to increase usage of data. Combining transparency of information with Big Data analytics has a growing potential. It can help track service delivery and lead to gains in efficiency. It can also provide governments with the necessary tools to focus on prevention rather than reaction, notably in the area of disaster risk management. The issue that many governments are tackling today is not whether to open up their data, but how to do so.

24 Findings of Transparency through Open Government Data Proper governance and careful consideration of both opportunities and challenges are needed. Challenges include issues related to legal frameworks, policies and principles; data management and protection; identity management and privacy; as well as cyber security. Regarding legal aspects, 105 UN Member States have legislation on the right to access government information. The same number also offer online policies on open government data and 113 countries offer online personal data protection legislation (Data Protection Acts or equivalent). Innovative demand-driven approaches have been taken to enhance people s ability to request governments to open up data. Multiple approaches and tools can be used to increase open government data usage. These include campaigns to raise awareness of how open government data can help achieve the SDGs and empower people with new tools. In the future, steps should be taken to increase the publication of Open Government Data related to vulnerable groups. Ways should also be found to ensure that such data truly contribute to improving the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable. Publishing open data online can help to ensure higher degrees of accountability and transparency not only of national governments, but also of parliaments and of the judiciary, which will play an important role in the achievement of the SDGs.

25 EngagingPeopleThrough e-participation

26 E-participation Highlights 2016 E-participation is expanding all over the world. With growing access to social media, an increasing number of countries now proactively use networking opportunities to engage with people and evolve towards participatory decision-making. This is done through open data, online consultations and multiple ICT-related channels. While developed countries, especially European countries, are among the top 50 performers, many developing countries are making good progress as well; especially lower-middle income countries. In general, a country s lower income level is not an obstacle to posting basic public sector information online on national portals or using social media and other innovative means for consulting and engaging people on a broad range of development-related issues. Yet, a country s income level matters when it comes to developing more technically complex and specialized e-participation portals, such as for e-petitioning or online consultation and deliberation. A growing number of e-participation applications and tools are put in place in various sectors with the objective of responding to the needs of various communities. This can contribute to the development of new forms of collaborative partnerships between government bodies and people and reinforces the focus on people s needs.

27 Engaging People through E-participation Findings The largest share of these initiatives relates to the central government and local authorities giving access to public sector information and public consultation via e-tools. But there has been a growing focus on mobilizing contributions to policy-making, even though progress has been modest so far. Making progress in participatory and democratic decision-making will increasingly be the criteria against which the success of e-participation will be assessed. Advances in e-participation today are driven more by civic activism of people seeking to have more control over their lives, rather than by the availability of financial resources or expensive technologies. Several developing countries, including some least developed countries, generate numerous good practices by using low-cost (open code source) ready-made solutions that are based on collaboration among citizens. Overall, enhanced e-participation and the related social practices can support the realization of the SDGs by enabling countries to ensure that their policy decisions are more participatory. This will increase the ownership of policies by civil society and the momentum for implementation. More analysis is needed to understand whether and how e-participation impacts on the content of policies and focus of decisions ultimately made.

28 AdvancingOnline Servicesand BridgingDivides

29 Online Services and Bridging Divides Highlights 2016 I As of 2014, all countries have an online presence, albeit with different degrees of development. Countries online service delivery is measured by the Online Service Index (OSI) that assesses the national online presence of all 193 United Nations Member States. The Survey shows that digital technologies - the Internet, mobile phones, and all the other tools to collect, store, analyze, and share information digitally - are being increasingly utilized. Since 2014 the number of countries with very high OSI has increased from 22 to 32 whereas the number of countries with low OSI dropped from 71 to 53. Higher levels of online service tend to be positively correlated with a country s income level. The majority of the high-income countries are at the top 50% of the OSI, while the majority of low-income countries are at the lowest end of the OSI. At the same time, the capacity of countries to reform public institutions and their commitment to providing advanced people-driven service delivery, can also influence their ability to use ICT and e-government for promoting inclusive societies and sustainable development.

30 Online Services and Bridging Divides Highlights 2016 II Regarding sectorial and transactional services, more countries have introduced online services for tax submission and registration of businesses, thus reducing the administrative burden for new and existing businesses and increasing transparency. Online application is also being provided for a growing number of certificates (e.g. birth, marriage, social security). The availability of information has increased in the area of education, health, finance, welfare, labour and the environment, with the finance sector leading and the environment sector experiencing the sharpest increase. The overall availability of broadband has increased globally, but there are substantial regional disparities and a major divide persists. Accessibility and availability of mobile devices support improvements in health, education, agriculture, commerce, finance and social welfare. It can allow regions that leapfrogged into wireless broadband to step up innovation and narrow the digital divide. OSI is one of the three components of the EGDI used by the e-government Survey.

31 Number of countries grouped by Online Sevice Index (OSI) levels in 2014 and 2016

32 Trends of transactional services online 2014 and 2016

33 Mobile services, by sector

34 Online government services for vulnerable groups in 2014 and 2016

35 Advancing Online Services and Bridging Divides Findings Ensuring the accessibility and availability of broadband remains an urgent global priority. As called for in SDG 9 (on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation), a major effort is required to increase access to ICT and reach universal and affordable access to the Internet in LDCs by This needs to go hand in hand with efforts to realize the 17 SDGs and lift people out of poverty. At the national level the digital divide does not reflect only issues related to access, infrastructure and availability of technology. It also reflects the inequalities that exists in the social and economic areas. Educational and income levels, race, gender, culture and age also often influence access to digital technology and e-government services. So does geography. It is also important to better understand the factors that influence a country s e-government readiness and overall development. Bridging the digital divide calls for enhanced international and regional cooperation in the areas of technology and finance, but also in supporting the capacities of public institutions to develop policies for realizing the SDGs overall. Technological progress continues to drive innovative development interventions. The use of Geographic Information System data and Internet of Things (IoT) hold the potential to transform the way public policy is formulated, implemented and monitored.

36 2016 World E-Government Rankings

37 UN E-Government Survey 2016

38 2016 World E-Government Rankings Highlights E-government has grown rapidly over the past 15 years, since the first attempt of the United Nations to benchmark e-government in In the 2016 Survey, 29 countries score very high, with e-government development index (EGDI) values in the range of 0.75 to 1.00, as compared to only 10 countries in Since 2014, all 193 Member States of the UN have delivered some form of online presence. 51 per cent of countries had lowegdi or medium EGDI values in 2016, as compared to over 73 per cent of countries in Regional trends have remained largely unchanged over the past 15 years: in 2016, there is a huge gap between African countries, with a low EGDI average of , and European countries, with EGDI average of Oceania countries, with an average EGDI of , are also below the global average of Asia and the Americas are very close, with average EGDI values of and respectively.

39 Number of countries grouped by E-Government Development Index (EGDI) levels, in 2014 and 2016

40 Number of countries grouped by E-Government Development Index (EGDI) level and geographical regions

41 Correlation of E- Government Development Index (EGDI) 2016 and the global competitiveness ( )

42 Findings of World E-Government Rankings Looking back at the past fifteen years, the e-government development process has been shifting away from a staged process or progression to non-sequential, overlapping and connected building blocks. Moving forward, concerted efforts are needed to: (i)establish global, national and local e-government indicators to better understand e-government s impact on sustainable development; (ii)adopt a fully inclusive approach to e-government development including through bridging all digital divides and ensuring multilingualism; (iii)enhance global and regional cooperation, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, and public-private partnerships Today, e-government has become a development indicator and an aspiration in and of itself. It can clearly contribute to development. It has helped advance the delivery of basic services such as education, health, employment, finance and social welfare. It is helping small island developing states in building resilience to climate change and disaster preparedness and disaster management. It can play a critical role in making institutions more inclusive, transparent, and effective.

43 E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and its three subcomponents for the least developed countries (LDCs) in 2016

44 Sectoral e-government utilisation (percentage) of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) relative to global development in 2016

45 The situation in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) I Among the 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the majority - 34 countries - are from the Africa region, 22 of which are also landlocked developing countries. Low productive capacity and structural challenges, such as lack of ICT infrastructure and limited access to technologies and related know-how, continue to challenge e-government advancement in the LDCs (United Nations, 2011). 29 countries, representing more than 60 per cent of the least developed countries, have low-edgi values (less than 0.25), while the remaining 19 countries have middle-egdi values (between 0.25 and 0.50), leaving none of them performing in the upper two tiers of e-government development. In the least developed countries, deficits in e-government development reflect those in economic and in human development (UNDP, 2015). Some LDCs suffering from crises or emerging from conflicts such as the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Libya Chad, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo also suffer from lack of capable institutions and public governance (UNDESA, 2012: 35). At the same time, least developed countries are often most impacted by global challenges such as volatile energy prices, food insecurity, the increasing effects of climate change, and the loss of biodiversity.

46 The situation in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) II The landlocked countries face the same challenges as the least developed countries; however, they differ due to issues related to geographical constraints, which can result in, for example, greater dependence on bordering countries for broadband infrastructure development. The average EGDI of the LDCs is , which is only approximately half of the global average of While all three components of the EGDI warrant attention, the low average of ICT infrastructure (0.1145) is most significant as a factor in holding back e-government development for most if not all the least developed countries. Given the competing priorities and limited public resources, public-private partnerships play an important role in driving e-government in the LDCs, and boosting efforts to achieve sustained, inclusive and equitable growth. Good governance and transparent, effective and accountable institutions, including through e- government at all levels, are fundamental to building peaceful, just and inclusive societies (UN General Assembly, 2015: para. 35), and realizing the SDGs.

47 The situation in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) III In fostering inclusive development, the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade also recognizes the role that civil society plays in complementing efforts of governments and the private sector (United Nations, 2011: para. 155) in ensuring e-participation and a participatory and inclusive development process. LDCs have more pressing needs like peaceful societies and poverty eradication, the rationale, foundations and implications of e-government are often not as prominent on their radar. For this reason, there is a need to initiate discussions and build stakeholder capacity related to the broader political, social, and economic implications of e-government. Countries will need to avoid the technocratic approach to e-government that results in government websites or online services with low relevance or minimal usage. Governments will need a more strategic, integrated and sustained approach that is ambitious yet focused, with realistic commitments towards sustainable development and concrete ways to ensure the relevance and inclusiveness of online services.

48 E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and its three sub-components for SIDS

49 SIDS with significant gains in e-government development ( )

50 Sectoral e-government utilisation (percentage) of the SIDS relative to global development in 2016

51 The Situation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) - I The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face specific vulnerabilities and dependencies, along with prevalent development challenges, such as scarcity of resources, physical isolation and barriers to major markets (Lee, 2014). Both intra-country and inter-community isolations hinder the flow of information and public services, which also negatively impacts local development. E-government is not just an enabler of sustainable development for the small island developing states; rather, it is often seen as a critical multiplier and accelerator. Hence, without e-government the opportunity costs of development would increase. In particular, e-government can help SIDS find new ways to build resilience to climate change, including by supporting disaster preparedness and disaster management. The 2030 Agenda recognizes the importance of promoting resilience and disaster risk reduction for sustainable development, with a focus on disaster management, including through the use of ICTs (UN General Assembly, 2015: para. 33). The Samoa Pathway, adopted at the Third International Conference on SIDS, also called for countries to promote and enhance the use of ICTs for, inter alia, education, employment creation, in particular youth employment, and SIDS economic sustainability.

52 The Situation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) - II The average EGDI of the SIDS is , which is below but not too far from the global average of While all three components of EGDI warrant attention, SIDS s progress in online services and ICT infrastructure components, with average values of and respectively, trails their development in human capital, which has a higher average value of In addition to the lack of ICT infrastructure and financial resources, these small states also suffer from a lack of technical experts and experience, as a result of braindrain and other, in establishing and implementing comprehensive e-government strategies (Lee, 2014). Given their common challenges and strategic objectives, increased bilateral and multilateral collaboration among the SIDS, and with other countries, could be beneficial for sharing knowledge about e-government development. The expansion of existing partnerships and the launch of new partnerships with various international organizations, regional development banks, and individual developed countries are needed to mobilise financial and human resources for strategic e-government development in the SIDS (UN General Assembly, 2015: para and 17.16).

53 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!