E-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AND THE ROLE OF E- LEADERSHIP IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES The Background Paper Summary Notes and Conclusions by Professor Clement Dzidonu President, Accra Institute of Technology (AIT)
OBJECTIVES OF THE BACKGROUND PAPER - To explore the current issues relating to e-government development and deployment within the African region - To examine issues relating to e-government institutional framework, structures and arrangements in the region - To examine the role of leadership in developing and implementing e-government strategies in African countries. - To review the e-government development challenges facing African countries - To addressed issues relating e-government institutional capacity building needs in African countries
EXPLORING E GOVERNMENT LANDSCAPE IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES There is no doubt that information, knowledge and technology are increasingly becoming the key drivers for socio-economic development world-wide. The emerging information and knowledge age and the new technological revolution are bringing about a new socio-economic order that is characterized by the development, and exploitation of ICTs. One of the key sectors that the deployment of ICTs is making a major impact is the public sector, where a number of countries are using these technologies to drive their e-government initiatives.
Several countries are attempting to revitalize their public administration and make it more proactive, efficient, transparent and especially more service oriented. Governments are introducing innovations in their organizational structures, practices and are carrying out their public sector renewal processes within the context of implementing their e-government strategies. E-government can be defined as: the use of ICTs to transform government (in terms of its processes, procedures and structures) by making it more accessible, effective and accountable. E-government is aimed at transforming government administration, information provision and service delivery through the deployment and exploitation of ICTs.
E-government can therefore be viewed as the use of technology to transform the processes and procedures of how government works to bring about improvements in how government interact with and provide services to those that it serves TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY application application PROCEDUDES PROCEDUDES & & STRUCTURES STRUCTURES transformation transformation E-GOVERNMENT E-GOVERNMENT transformation transformation PROCESSES PROCESSES & & SYSTEMS SYSTEMS interacts interacts & & serves serves PEOPLE PEOPLE & & ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS
Some of the Benefits of E government E-government can invariably lead to: - improving government administrative efficiency, effectiveness, productivity; information provision and service delivery to the public; - reducing administrative, operational and transactional costs of governments administrative activities - improving the means and ways in which Governments serve citizens and businesses through the enhancement and improvement in government s responsiveness to citizens and businesses;
- transforming government systems into a citizencentered government - facilitate the process of bringing the government closer to the people and making it easy for citizens to obtain services and interact better with government machinery and agencies at the national and local level; - providing information and communications infrastructure to support intra- and inter-agency electronic service delivery and information exchange; - provision of access to information and government services by the public and enhancing good governance (promoting e-governance).
The E-Government Landscape in Africa African countries invariably target their e- government programmes at addressing issues relating to: - setting-up institutional or organizational structures to support the management and roll-out of the national e-government initiative - setting up and strengthening the capacity of relevant e-government implementation enabler and support institutional and organizations - carrying-out institutional and organizational reforms and re-engineering of relevant government ministries departments and agencies (MDAs)
- addressing other institutional, physical and resources barriers to the implementation of e- government initiatives within the MDAs - establishing the nature, scope and types of legislative provisions and instruments and the requisite laws that will be required to support e- government implementation - establishing and developing the relevant skills for supporting the roll-out of e-government - developing the requisite organizational IT and communication infrastructure network of the MDAs
- setting up government-wide information and communications infrastructure to support the delivery of e-government services and intra- and inter-agency electronic service delivery and information exchange - developing a national e-government communication backbone network to interlink organizational and corporate networks of MDAs to provide infrastructure to support the nationwide delivery and access to e- government systems and services. - developing and enacting relevant e-governmentenabler legislative provisions, laws and legal regulations to support e-government development and deployment
- setting up national data centers - developing the requisite interoperability framework and enterprise architecture - developing and implementing requisite e-government back office systems - developing and implementing the requisite live-event, statutory government and community and public interface front-office services - mobilizing financial and technological resources to support the roll-out of the various e-government initiatives and projects
E Government Development Challenges in African Countries Lack of e-government enabler institutions The need for institutional and organizational system reforms The lack of e-government enabler laws and legislative provisions The lack of requisite and critical human resources
Limited ICT and communications infrastructure Low level of ICT deployment, penetration and access within the public sector Weak and narrow application systems implementation base Financial and technological resource mobilization problems
EXAMINING E GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS national consultative bodies or ad-hoc/standing committees or task force (e.g. an inter-ministerial committee or task force) charged with oversight responsibilities for overseeing the development and the implementation of the national e-government programmes; national institutional and organizational structures (Ministry/Agency) tasked with the responsibilities for coordinating the development (including e-government policy/strategy development) and the implementation of the national e-government initiatives;
National E-Government Legal and Regulatory Development and Support Institutions or Bodies/Agencies or Authorities Other e-government enabler-institutions or organizational structures/set-ups
E GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP - Top-level political leadership committed to championing the national e-government process; - Leadership provided by a core group of senior administrative (including CIOs), managerial and technical personnel, expertise and manpower within an established national institutional set-up or structure - E-government system development and deployment critical technical expertise corps - Core group of dedicated senior level decision makers and professionals (technical and managerial expertise) within the public service and private sector
E Government Leadership Capacity Building Issues The e-leadership capacity building needs are addressed mainly in terms : - the core group of senior administrative, managerial and technical personnel, expertise and manpower within national institutional set-ups - the requisite e-government system development and deployment critical senior level technical expertise and professionals.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR EFFECTIVE E GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA Two broad types of these factors and conditions can be identified: Process Level Critical Success Factors and Conditions ---necessary for the success for the national e-government policy and plan development process Implementation Stage Critical Success Factors and Conditions --- necessary for the success of the implementation of the nation s e-government programme
Critical Success Factors and Conditions (CSFCs) Process Level CSFCs Implementation Stage CSFCs National, Support, Leadership Championship CSFCs Facilitating Environment CSFCs Enabling Environment CSFCs Organizational & Institutional Level CSFCs Good Governance and Rule of Law Functioning Democracy and Democratic Institutions Prevailing peace, national unity and national security Sustainable un-interrupted political stability Sub-regional stability and calm Stable economic policy environment Well-educated and informed society Modernized and efficient civil and public service Financial and technological resource availability and Human resource availability in key skill areas Disciplined, motivated, citizens led by inspired, dedicated committed and uncorrupt political, economic and social leadership
SOME FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS A key sector that the deployment of ICTs is making a major impact in Africa is the public sector, where a number of countries are using these technologies to drive their e-government initiatives. African countries implementing e-government programmes do however face a number of challenges in key areas.
E-government development and deployment in African countries need to be addressed in terms of: - the appropriateness of e-government institutional and organizational structures being set-up; - the e-leadership issues as they relate to championing, guiding and technically supporting the national e- government efforts; - the requisite e-government critical skills, manpower and expertise; - issues relating to the need to reform the public service as part of the process of re-engineering its operations, procedures and processes to make them conducive for e-government implementation in African countries.
On e-government institutional structures, a number of the African countries have in place: - national consultative bodies or ad-hoc/standing committees/task force with oversight responsibilities for overseeing the development and the implementation of the national e-government programmes. - national institutional organizational structures to coordinate the implementation of ICT4D initiatives including those of e-government. - The vast majority of the e-government institutional and organizational structures in African countries are centralized national e-government agencies operating under designated Government Ministries - The agencies principally play national e-government coordination role
A number of these national e-government agencies are also engaged in providing common e-services, developing and maintaining common e-government infrastructure, providing a central pool of critical e- government human resources and expertise to assist other MDAs in developing and rolling-out their respective e-government systems. On top-level e-leadership: African countries in which the top political leadership in particular the Head of State has played a leading championing role in moving the nation s ICT4D agenda have made substantial progress in rolling out their ICT4D and e- government initiatives than those where the top leadership played minimal or no role.
On E-government Capacity Building: - A number of African countries implementing e- government do have a shortfall in the requisite senior administrative, managerial and technical personnel needed for playing a key e-leadership role in developing, managing and coordinating the implementation of their national e-government initiatives. - E-leadership capacity building is needed in a number of areas including senior administrative, managerial and technical personnel, expertise and manpower within national institutional set-ups and as well as the requisite e-government system development and deployment critical senior level technical expertise and professionals.
SUMMARY NOTES The background paper examined issues relating to e- government institutional framework, structures and arrangements and on the role of leadership in developing and implementing the e-government strategies in African countries. The paper is designed to facilitate dialogue and debate on: (i) e-government emerging issues and the role of leadership in e-government development in African countries, and (ii) on issues relating to institutional capacity building for e-government within the African region
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