Education, Science and Technology > Information and Communication Technology for Development
E-Government
Similar to the dramatic changes in e-commerce, countries in the Regions have begun to recognize the emergence of e-government -"the ability to obtain government services through nontraditional electronic means, enabling access to government information and to completion of government transaction on an anywhere, any time basis and in conformance with equal access requirement."- offers potential to reshape the public sector and build relationships between citizens and the government.
At the same time, concerns have already been expressed about the gap between the technology haves and have-nots, and more popularly known as "the digital divide." In order to ensure that countries avoid creating a digital divide and create conditions to ensure that growth of the knowledge economy contributes to carrying out a democratic process of efficient, equitable and sustainable development, expanded dialogue and new patterns of cooperation among public, private ad civil society organizations are needed. The multiple roles of government, at all levels, must be recognized and understood by all if it is to play an effective role in this partnership involving access to information and the role of information and communication technology.
- Uses information and information/communication technology provided by the private sector for public administration,
- Produces public information to which citizens must have access,
- Has the authority to establish marketplace rules and establish regulatory structures that ensure that everyone participates and benefits from growth of the knowledge economy.
- Creating alliances with other institutions and governments
- Promoting regional dialogue among institutions including different aspects of e-government
- Promoting interamerican cooperation to strengthen democracy through expansion of the e-government capabilities.
- Lower costs as well as improved efficiency and quality of service.
- More effective linkages between citizens and government.
- Improve efficiency of government workers.
- Facilitate transparency and accountability
- Institutional Strengthening
- Implementation of a Regulatory Framework
- Provision of Electronic Services
- Establishment of telecenters
- Development of new skills and Knowledge Management
- Content generation
- Systems Integration
- Creation of Observatory Information: GIS, Mapping Systems
- Application Development: Managerial, Administrative and Decision Making tools.
- Strengthening of Digital Communities
- situating the promotion of the Electronic Government as a key priority within the political agenda of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean;
- creating/strengthening the existing institutional capacity for the definition of participative e-government development policies;
- increasing the number and quality of ICT projects and programs in the Region;
- encouraging the cooperation and establishment of public, private and civil society networks related to the development of Digital Democracy; and
- incrementing the amounts and quality of public expenditures assigned to the development of the Digital Democracy as an instrument to facilitate governments? efforts towards an efficient, equitable and sustainable development and poverty reduction in the Region.
There is an inextricable relationship between government's role as a user of information and communication technology and its capacity to formulate public policy for the knowledge economy. Governments that learn how to use these technologies to operate more efficiently and improve public services are more likely to effectively stimulate and contribute to the knowledge economy public policy debate.
Online delivery of services benefits both government and its constituents, as it lowers costs and make services more accessible.
Latin American and Caribbean countries have already begun to improve public administration through the implementation of e-government capabilities, processes and techniques. The Inter-American Development Bank has been expanding its institutional capacity and knowledge by working with an increasing number of these countries to understand how e-government can be deployed in a manner that is responsive to the special conditions of each country. The Information Technology for Development Division (SDS/ICT) is facilitating appropriate marches in e-government between the increasing and changing needs of each country and the resources of the Bank, by:
The general objective of this program is to assist the countries in the Region to create the conditions that will allow the governments and the stakeholders to achieve a greater capability by becoming more efficient, transparent and accountable, though the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
There are many different methodologies that could be applied to initiate this process, and it is not our intention to create recipes by telling our counterpart in the region how the e-government should be implemented, but it is important to start creating a work team formed by the local authorities and IDB specialists.
Once the team is formed, the next step shall be to initiate a dialog process to identify and define the objectives, goals, activities, timeframe, risks involved, benefits will be achieved and the environment we are planning to move on. The development of the e-readiness and e-government strategy will help us to trace the boundaries and to establish the priorities. After the e-government strategy have been developed, a plan of action will be necessary to identify the timeframe, the costs involved, the methodology applied, and all the necessary requirements during the implementation process (i.e.: the elaboration of the terms of reference).
At this phase in time, and after accomplishing all the previous activities, we should have identified the components and activities ready for implementation. Possible components for this type of projects include:
Digital Strategies Program (DSP)
The objective of the Digital Strategy Program (DSP) is to support the Bank?s borrowing member countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the definition of a model and methodology towards the development of the Electronic Government, seeking to improve the existing national capacities and the exploration of new development areas.
For this purpose and, as social engineering solutions at a national level, the objective of DSP is to stimulate and seek cooperation actions among the various agents and stakeholders responsible for the development of the electronic government. Thereby, DSP constitutes an instrument which generates an adequate institutional framework to improve the conditions for the development of the electronic government in the economies of the Region.
The specific objectives of the Program include:
Program Scope and Activities
The DSP Program concentrates in the following areas in each of the countries that request technical and financial support in this area: (a) internal promotion at a country and local level on the potential and benefits of the Electronic Government, and creation of the conditions necessary to facilitate inter-institutional cooperation among the various agents and stakeholders; (b) strengthening of the necessary institutional framework as an instrument for economic and social development; (c) strengthening and/or establishment of new basis for an effective technological development and according to the requirements and characteristics of each country; (d) identification and formulation of new projects aimed at the development of the Electronic Government; (e) identification of financing sources and instruments to undertake such initiatives; (f) structuring of regional cooperation mechanisms and establishment of the necessary institutional framework for the transfer of lessons learned, best practices and knowledge; and (g) training of human resources in management aspects of programs related to the promotion and development of the Electronic Government.
The Bank is aware that the development of the Electronic Government requires the active participation of the different agents of the economic and social sectors. The Bank has been promoting the conformation of independent and representative committees to provide strategic guidance and to coordinate such development process. For this purpose, the Bank contributes to the establishment of DSP Executive Committee in each country and conformed by: (a) the Executive Branch of Government through the Office of the President, and pertinent instances in science and technology; (b) the academic sector represented by universities; (c) the private sector through business associations related to the technology sectors; and (d) other institutions related to ICT such as telecommunications companies and regulating bodies.
The following activities are undertaken with the objective of undertaking a structured process for the design and implementation of DSP in each member country of the Bank: (a) recollection, review and processing of background materials; (b) identification of public officials responsible for promoting the development of the Electronic Government; (c) identification of the agents in the business sector and the pertinent sectoral structure in each country; (d) identification of the technology supply situation and of innovation services; (e) implementation of workshops and diffusion activities; (f) definition of the Digital Strategy Program, discussion and search for consensus; and (g) elaboration of a Plan of Action.
Results
As a result of the above-mentioned activities, a DSP consists of: (a) a diagnostic assessment (b) a plan of action indicating the implementation, priorities, expected results, institutional framework and organizational, responsibilities, and implementation schedule for the activities; (c) recommendations on concrete investment plans aimed at the execution and implementation of the strategy; (d) description of other programs and activities to be implemented along with the management and monitoring systems and mechanisms; and (e) financing plans identifying the sources and uses of funds. These actions ultimately result in the design and implementation of pilot/demonstrative projects and other activities, and in the execution of investment programs of a wider magnitude in ICT for development.
Last updated: 03/22/07
