An information technology (IT) strategy for the public sector is seen by many countries as vital in harnessing IT for public sector reform. But on what model should that strategy be based? This research by the University of the West Indies reviews the development of an IT strategy in Barbados and argues that there are often significant gaps between the conceptions of a model and the realities of the local skills base, business practice, culture and use of information.
IT strategies have been popular with many governments captivated by promises of the electronic delivery of public services that they perceive to be commonplace in industrialised countries. However, the simple imposition of external information age reform techniques on a local situation is unlikely to result in successful implementation. This seems particularly true when a Western model is imposed in a non-Western context. In some situations, the centralised and top-down approach inherent within the strategy will not work. Instead, it may be better to adopt a more piecemeal approach that encourages and builds upon departmental initiatives, rather than trying to produce government-wide applications.
For Barbados, the experiences of other developing countries in creating an IT strategy may be more appropriate than those of the UK. However, even these must be treated with care: all situations are different and there must be some opportunity to consider contextually all strategic initiatives to particular local characteristics. There has been a major gap between the conception of an IT strategy for Barbados by external consultants and the Barbadian reality. Components of this gap include:
- Scant attention to human resource, legal and infrastructure issues
- A vision of electronic government in a public sector with a limited IT base
- Western cultural values divorced from Barbadian culture
- A proposal for outsourcing via consortia for which Barbados lacked many basic prerequisites.
The issues of closing the conception-reality gap and considering contextually may raise the question of the appropriateness of a national IT strategy. For a strategy to work the following recommendations should be noted:
- A properly constituted local task force should be an institutionalised part of any strategic development process. This should comprise representation from government, academia, professional bodies and industry.
- Any total outsourcing approach that brings most information services out of government may be inappropriate in many contexts. Outsourcing should be considered on a more selective basis, at least until it has proven its worth.
- The issue of proving worth is key, since outsourcing is hard to justify unless it can be shown to save societal resources.
- Outsourcing should have a clear objective. It should be developed within an appropriate framework, which would assess potential governance costs and address the real problems of outsourcing.
- Capacity to manage outsourcing contracts is necessary. Currently it does not exist often, leading to dependence on external assistance. Developing in-house skills like government leadership and training on outsourcing is needed.
- Where private sector competence to take on outsourcing is limited, a consortium approach can be considered. Alternatively, ways need to be found to build up IS service capacity within the public sector as well as public-private partnerships in service delivery.
