This report explores the growing contribution of ICTs to government services, financial services, education, health, climate change adaptation and agriculture. It also examines two cross-cutting themes: regional trade and integration, and ICT competitiveness.This summary focuses on the chapter ‘Modernizing Government through ICT’. The chapter sets out a three-tier framework for ICT-enabled public service delivery, noting the need for a ‘foundational’ institutional structure, ‘enabling’ systems and technologies as well as the service delivery citizen interface.
The chapter draws on landscape analysis of trends in ICT and public service delivery in industrialised nations and emerging economies, as well as case studies of integrated financial management systems in Malawi and electronic tax filing in South Africa. Key findings were as follows:
- ICT is fundamentally changing the way in which government representatives, citizens, business and other agents of the state interact throughout the world as well as in Africa. The associated high expectations, particularly regarding the speed and flexibility with which public service providers can respond to individual requests, provide feedback on programmes and expenditure and handle national crises, are extremely challenging.
- The delivery tiers of e- and m-Government are key but depend on the design, development and implementation of underlying ICT systems. Governments should recognise the power of social media and exploit it to their advantage, in particular to reinforce democratic processes, drive efficiency, foster innovation, empower public sector workers and expose corruption.
- Efficient service delivery is frequently hampered by programme developers who do not listen sufficiently carefully to the poor and hence are not able to identify their needs and prioritize them. Planning that focuses on supplier interests rather than those of the end-user is also a problem.
- The establishment of accurate, effective and efficient national identification systems, incorporating technology that reduces fraud and identity theft, has been one of the key building blocks for effective government service delivery.
- How governments communicate should not overshadow the importance of the accuracy, completeness and relevance of what they communicate.
Implications for policymakers and recommendations for donors include:
- Develop new organisational and legal support structures. Individual countries should develop national eGovernment plans that look at the public service of the country as a whole.
- Establish national identification systems.
- Address socio-economic and digital divides.
- Recognise the power of social media. Support citizen-centric initiatives with social media. Public agencies should exploit social media to their advantage, and it should be ensured that legislation and institutional requirements imposed by government do not restrict adoption and use of Web 2.0 and social media technologies.
- Establish technology platforms for anonymous whistle-blowing.
- Create incubation spaces for innovative technical solutions in the public service sector. Cloud computing can assist sites in sharing data and software.
- Empower public sector workers in rural areas. Reduce the administrative burden on workers, such as by developing mobile applications to replace paper-based solutions.
