E-Government Applications in Latin America: An overview Fourth Caribbean Regional Ministerial Consultation and High Level Workshop on Public Sector Management Grenada January 14-15, 2003
Some shared goals in the Americas Reduce poverty Strengthen government institutions and democratic governance. Increase trade and integration for development. Expand connectivity and social inclusion
E-Government contributions to development Provides new and better services to citizens and improve citizens relationships with governments. Facilitates business development, attracts investment and increases the country competitiveness in the world markets. Increases efficacy, efficiency and transparency in government operations. Inhibits corruption. Fosters overall connectivity and digital development.
E-Opportunities at the national, regional and municipal level Procurement Registries (Civil, business, real state) Taxes Licenses and permits Access to public services E-Government support for Small Business Development.
Key initiatives I Networks, Email, Web pages. Individual services: Taxes, procurement, customs, civil registries Progression through presence, interaction, transaction, transformation. Integration of services through access portals. Tramitanet, Mexico Tramitefacil, Chile Rede Governo, Brazil
Key initiatives II E-Government concepts: New and better forms of doing government that is made feasible by ICT. E-Government policies and strategies to establish an electronic administration (Agenda Costa Rica), to coordinate e-efforts in the country (e-mexico, Green Book Brazil) Organizational framework: Inter-governmental and inter-sectoral committees. Programming framework: Connectivity Agenda Colombia. Legal framework: Electronic signature
What has been achieved so far In Chile there are more than 250 ministerial and public services Web sites. 70 % provide information on procedures/transactions and 40% allows downloading of forms. www.tramitefacil.gov.cl provides information on 1,386 procedures/transactions and access to 80 on-line processes or services with 200 downloadable forms. In Brazil millions of people vote and pay taxes electronically. There are national, state and municipal E-government systems that support processes and public services. Mexico has an Internet accessible transactional procurement systems with electronic vault. There are also a wide range of public procedures and services accessible through the net at the national, sector and municipal lvel. Other countries are implementing similar agendas in various stages of development.
Lessons learned I E-Government is first, second and third, a political issue and only then an institutional, legal,financial and technological issue. Develop an strategic vision. E-Government is not about applying technology to existing processes, it is about reinventing government. Do not run unnecessary technical, economic and political risks: Apply proven best practices whenever feasible. Smaller economies new to e-government have the advantages of size and late comers.
Lessons learned II Bring together stakeholders Identify needs and opportunities Review readiness Formulate a plan and assign responsibilities Secure technical and financial resources Establish strategic alliances with the private sector and civil society. Share best practices
Strategies for projects implementation Keep your eyes on the user Start small and provide real value Make it grow fast Do not complicate it Repeat with the next procedure or service Do not loose sight of the whole
Challenges Leadership Institutional change management Human resources Legal framework Financing Physical connectivity Security
Inter-American Initiatives FTAA Inter-American Convention Against Corruption Inter-American Connectivity Agenda and Action Plan. OAS Technical cooperation programs
Government best practices program: The mission To support governments in their modernization efforts for development by facilitating access to the proven best practices and associated institutional capabilities from other governments willing to collaborate with them. To facilitate the adaptation and application of best practices to improve the quality, and reduce the costs, risks and time associated to developing and applying new and better solutions for development. To promote and test new approaches to multinational technical cooperation and training that will make feasible the best practices approach as a process of horizontal cooperation.
Guiding principles Priorities are the result of consultation with member states Decisions on the nature and source of the best practices rests on the user government. The role of IACD is to inform decision-makers and support projects development. Provide integral, coherent and sustained support in all areas of modernization, including policy, strategy, operational, institutional, legal, financial and technical support. Foster the participation of private sector and civil society. Facilitate exchange of information, joint action and mutual support among participating institutions in various countries.
Application of government best practices The AICD is supporting the application of best practices already proven by governments with similar needs, resources and circumstances. To this end: Identifies and document best practices. Organize workshops for policy and decision makers Cooperates in the preparation of projects for the adaptation and application of government best practices at the national, sectoral and municipal level.
Country requests to the OAS Formulate a methodology to define best practices Define a mechanism for access by countries to the best practices programs. Report on best practices identified
Approach to the tasks Methodologies, mechanisms and profiles of best practices are a work in progress. What is presented is only a proposal subject to participants review and further development. There is no single methodology that will fit all cases. The approach should be flexible and adapts to the particular characteristics of each area of work. Access mechanisms should facilitate identifying and meeting potential user needs with what they regard to be the best practices for them.
E-Government leadership development Leadership development for the effective use of new information and telecommunication technology in order to improve: The relationship between citizens and governments The quality of public services The management and coordination of government institutions.
Methodology for identification and documentations of best practices Identification of recognized, proven best practices Operating at least one year Internationally recognized Documentation and review Complete documentation of key attributes working with the best practice institutions. Review by independent experts
Workshops on E-Government Strategies Facilitate the exchange of information and experiences between government executives and practitioners from the public and private sectors on: What is working well and what has not worked in E-Government: What are the best practices The strategies for E-Government development proven successful in Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions of the world.
Access Mechanism Profiles of best practices Evaluation of opportunities for action Strategies for modernization Subregional programs Missions to best practice institutions Design of technical cooperation and training programs. Work plan for the development of projects to apply a best practice. Project preparation Project financing Support in the implementation of the project Mobilizing technical support and co-financing for the activities of the best practices programs.