[kictanet] E-Government is it a myth or a reality?

[Rad!]

You misunderstand me. I am not saying we don't need broadband. Far from it.
What I am saying is that broadband in itself is not a panacea. There need to
be systems and appropriate processes in addition to broadband for service
delivery to work.

My concern is that there is too much emphasis is on broadband, less on
systems and even less on procedures and processes. This to me is putting the
cart before the horse.

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 11:23 AM, Harry Delano <harry at comtelsys.co.ke>wrote:

>
> Rad,
>
> Agreed, broadband on it's own will never be an answer - But you see,  the "
> 6 lane highway" is the one that leads to the "Big City",
> already being built block by block, as Harry correctly put's it.
>
> Lest we wait until we have built a big city - such as Nrb right now, and
> then realize quite late the roads leading to it are logjammed/
> congested and it's also very expensive to access services, and have to
> start building by-passes to decongest, etc etc, when this
> could have been done much earlier on.
>
> What we are looking it, is ways and means of delivery of the E-Govt.
> services, to the real customers - with ease of convenience
> and through affordable mediums. There is no gainsaying, that this has to be
> addressed, urgently. The customers, of these services
> - such as Returns filing, do not sit at the Gov't Headquarters. They are
> far and wide, we need to ensure that as we work on platforms,
> these services should reach customers where they are.
>
> Therefore we like it or not, broadband becomes of absolute essence.
>
> Harry
> ------------------------------
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+harry <kictanet-bounces%2Bharry>=comtelsys.co.ke@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Rad!
> *Sent:* Monday, March 29, 2010 10:37 AM
>
> *To:* harry at comtelsys.co.ke
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] E-Government is it a myth or a reality?
>
> Well said Harry.
>
> I keep hearing the term 'broadband' bandied about in this context.
> Broadband in itself is not the answer. There is no point of a 6 lane highway
> if there is nowhere the road is going.
>
> Just to add on what you said above an important consideration is to review
> some of the current existing processes and see if they make sense, both in
> themselves and in a connected context.
>
> For example if e-Government is implemented from a context of National and
> International Immigration it would be useful to re-look at many of the
> existing processes: for example the need of that exit/entry declaration form
> that is filled at the airport. Is there a need to fill in your name,
> address, occupation etc -- information that is already on your passport and
> is already being scanned?
>
> Many such parallels exist. E-government should not purely be looked at from
> the perspective of ICT
>
> On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:26 AM, Harry Hare <
> harry at africanedevelopment.org> wrote:
>
>> 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 at 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
>>
>> African eDevelopment Resource Centre
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
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