Designing and Implementing e-Government Strategy

1. Designing and Implementing e-Government Strategy Deepak Bhatia

2. Agenda • E-government – brief introduction • E-government strategy – components • Case study – e-Bharat • What does all of this mean for the World Bank

3. Why e-government? “Everyone else is doing it, so its probably important and useful” “Its hype” “We don’t want to fall behind all others” “We think it will provide faster, more convenient government services” “We think it will reduce costs for individuals and businesses to deal with government” ”We think it will reduce costs for government (reduced data entry costs, lower error rates)” “We think it will improve democratic process” ”To reduce corruption and fight poverty” ”We need to reach out to a broader part of population” ”We think it’s a tool for transformation of public administration from bureaucracy to service provider”

4. So what is E-Government? • E-government is very simply about applying information and communication technology to all aspects of a government’s business where it makes sense to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the achievement of policy and program outcomes

5. So why an E-Government strategy? • To pursue real economic development goals not just “technology push” • To create the right policy and institutional frameworks from the start. • To maximize effectiveness of ICT initiatives within Government. • To manage the increasing costs of I&IT in government • To generate savings by applying I&IT in backend processes or other programmatic areas • To map path from pilot experiments to sustainable, scalable systems • To design technology architecture (infrastructure, data, standards) for the public sector • To integrate organizational silos and deliver citizen services through common channels.

6. Conceptual framework Business case Implementation Process Measurement of results What is an e-government strategy?

7. TRANSPA-RENCY SERVICE EFFICIENCY Technology ECONOMY Conceptual Framework for E-Government Strategy Outputs Dimensions Goals Leadership • E-Governance: • Legal Framework, • ICT Policies - Standards HumanResource Dev. Connectivity & Data Processing infrastructure Policy & Institutional Reform Institutional Infrastructure for Service Delivery Client-Oriented Service Applications Back-End Government Applications Financing

8. Making a business case for E-Government Strategy a. Defining worthwhile goals b. Demonstrating financial feasibility and sustainability d. Developing incentive scheme

9. Business Case: Goals • To extend the reach of government services • To promote equal access to government services • To increase constituency satisfaction with government services • in particular: to reduce transaction costs for citizens • Survey of citizens in Ontario indicated that citizens want – timeliness of response and right outcome (right information or completed transaction) • To reduce government costs

10. Business Case: Financial Feasibility • Incremental investment financing– Justified by public goods nature of outputs or market failures related to infrastructure-type investments. For example, it is clear that there will be no competition for providing training to public servants unless the government pays. The same about the CSC infrastructure; unless government is willing to provide some seed capital and selective operational subsidies the private sector will not deploy the centers needed. • Cost sharing with business _ through PPPs based on real user fees or shadow transaction fees. • Redirection of line ministry HRD and ITC budgets. • Savings accrued over time from BPR, automation and outsourcing of client interface. Important to note that in initial stages costs to government may not be reduced (multiple channels, significant uptake)

11. Business Case: Incentives • Individuals: skills upgrading, professional development, increased autonomy, international exposure • Departments: Increased budgetary control, organizational visibility, economic rewards, e.g. share of profits/savings, etc.

12. E-Government Strategy: Process (1) • Define vision and goals • Set up high level leadership task force • Ensure consistency with economic development priorities • Assess status quo and • Secure political support • Establish stakeholder participation mechanisms (including demand)

13. E-Government Strategy: Process (2) • Put in place e-govt. management framework • Assess priority needs for government services • Secure funding • Establish partnerships with private sector, where feasible • Design technical, data sharing, and service delivery infrastructure. • Prioritize projects (BPR first)

14. E-Government Strategy: Process (3) • Develop time-bound implementation plan • Secure stakeholder buy-in of implementation plan • Implementation the strategy in phases • Measure and publicize progress • Evaluate results and make course corrections.

15. E-Govt. Strategy: Measurement of results Output Indicators • Infrastructure • Improvement in connectivity and data processing capacity • Governance • E-government management framework in place • Policy and regulatory framework in place • Institutional Capacity • Geographical reach of government services • Training imparted • Business processes reengineered • Number of Government systems operating at service standards Note – illustrative examples – there are other measures of capabilitiy

16. Business Case: Measurement of results Impact Indicators • Constituency satisfaction with government services (opinion surveys, citizen report cards) • Access by the poor and rural population • Client orientation in public service • Data sharing across information systems • transparency of government organization to service recipients

17. Example of e-government strategy NEGP - E-Bharat under preparation

18. Example: NEGP - India’s e-Government strategy • NEGP’s goal is the provision of improved, more convenient government services countrywide through on-line delivery at local service centers. • NEGP is fully recognized as key part of national development plans. • Involves central and all state governments. Will be led centrally and implemented locally. • Will be implemented over an 8-year period (FY2006-2013) at acost of roughly USD 4 billion. • To be supported by proposed USD 1 billion Bank project in two phases

19. India’s NEGP : Scope of Outputs Central State Integrated Services to Citizens (G2C) • Income Tax • Passport, visa and immigration • E-Posts • Land records • Property registration • Road transport • Agriculture • Municipalities • Panchayats • Police • Employment Exchange • Education • Health • Food Distribution & other welfare programs • Common Services Centres: Single-window public service delivery points eventually reaching all the 600,000 villages in India • State Wide Area Network SWAN: fiber optic connectivity up to block level • Countrywide State Data Centers • All India Portal • National E-Governance Gateway Services to Business (G2B) • Excise • Company affairs • Commercial Taxes • EDI (customs & foreigh trade) • E-BIZ • E-Procurement Other • National ID • National GIS for planning • Treasuries • E-Courts

20. India’s NEGP: Criteria for selection of MMPs • Measurably improved citizen/business service delivery • Ownership by line ministry/ state department • Acceptable BPR & change management plan • Solutions can be rolled out in 2-4 years • emphasis on poor & rural communities • Use of PPP solutions

21. India’s NEGP: Funding Sources • Existing ministry budgets (3% national guideline for IT) • Existing State funds • Additional Central Assistance (ACA) from the central government to the states. • External financing from the Bank and other donors, with harmonized administration procedures. • Private financing through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) • User charges

22. India’s NEGP: Strategy for CSC Infrastructure • To setup ICT- enabled CSCs in villages to deliver multiple services to the villagers • To deliver all possible G2C services through these CSCs • To promote public-private-partnerships (PPP) in ownership and operation of CSCs • To provide government subsidies calibrated to financial sustainability of CSCs

23. India’s NEGP: Strategy for Capacity Building • Provide expert TA on project management and procurement • Support BPR plans of implementing departments • Finance extensive training program • Nurture stakeholder/domain networks

24. Levels of Capacity Needs- at State Level

25. Program Management Overall Governance Structure- at National level (proposed) NEGAP Strategy Setting National e-Governance Advisory Board (Chairman MCIT) Cabinet/ CCEA Project Approval Programme Monitoring Apex Committee Expenditure Finance Committee Working Group (Chairman Secy DIT) Project Owners (Central Line Ministries / State Government) Program Management Unit Programme Secretariat Sub-Program Committees Project Committees DIT

26. Proposed Institutional Framework – at State level State Government State eGov Council (CM) State Apex Committee (CS) Departmental Committee DIT DeMT SeMT

27. Sourcing Capacities - Options

28. Implications for the World Bank

29. But is our client interested? • Strategic intent of a Government is signaled by: • Formally expressed interest • Active planning: documents are available and have been discussed internally; ICT deployment is a part of PRSPs; e-readiness assessment done e.g. through an Infodev grant • Established government agency for ICT development • Strategy implementation already started

30. Bank ICT Assistance Strategy • Assistance must be country-specific depending on government commitment and country e-readiness. • Given high risk of ICT investments, a careful implementation strategy is a must • For laggard countries, target ‘low hanging fruit’ projects with high visibility, quick impact and easy implementation. • For more advanced countries—i.e. have already implemented pilots-- the Bank can help in scaling up those systems that best fit within the CAS

31. In the Bank , all types of public sector projects, have e-Gov in them Improve administration structure and processes, civil service performance, public expenditure management de-concentration , revenue collection and accountability mechanisms. E-Gov??? Really??? Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Projects • Health Systems • Modernization Enhance efficiency of the Government’s decision-making process for public procurement and Documentation flow. Trade facilitation and market access Lay groundwork for effective health sector policy making & monitoring Administration Capacity Building Projects Supports improving the legal & regulatory framework for public financial management and new Integrated IFMIS Civil Service Reform and Modernization

32. Why is this important for the Bank? • Conservatively more than 50% of our projects involve significant investments in ICT • Most ICT project components involve e-Government initiatives • Several countries envisioning comprehensive projects: e-Lanka, India’s e-Bharat, e-Vietnam, e-Ghana, e-Peru • Several regions working on an ICT strategy (SAR, EAP) • Most of our clients are investing in this area anyway, it is better the Bank has a strategy to manage that investment and get better/wider impact from it

33. Who provides this support? • ISG – e-government practice – applications, e-government strategies • GICT – telecom, policy, infrastructure, e-agenda • Legal - legal frameworks • WBI – client training, distance learning • Regional units – AFTQK, ECSPE • Sectors – for domain knowledge especially PREM

34. Closing thoughts A country’s e-government strategy will need to be calibrated to the country's situation in terms of • PC & Internet penetration, (adequate technological infrastructure) • software development capabilities available locally, • literacy levels (both conventional & IT), • economic level (ability to pay), • Legal framework • languages prevalent, etc. • preparedness and commitment of political, administrative and technical leadership.

35. And Finally • E-Govt is a multi year commitment. Even if technology can be rapidly implemented organizational change takes time and use patterns change even more slowly. • E-Government offers tremendous opportunities for improving service delivery, efficiency and transparency in government • High risk of e-government projects require careful design • Client countries increasingly require this type of assistance from the World Bank  • Finally – while e-Govt is important it is a means to an end, and not an end in and of itself (its about the ‘g’ and not the ‘e’)

36. Government of India - DIT Åke Grönlund Elisabet Rosengren Seda Pahlavooni Subhash Bhatnagar Mark Dutz Tenzin Dolma Norbhu Joan McCalla Eduardo Talero Credits – Contributors and Reviewers Contributors Reviewers

37. E-Government: Lessons of experience • E-Government cannot perform as a substitute for governance reform • E-Government must address the rural urban divide • Manage expectations: e-government is not a magic bullet • Translating promises to benefits involves difficult organizational changes. • There is no “one size fits all” strategy: the context needs to be understood • Balance top direction and bottom up initiative • Avoid large failures; deliver early results

38. E-Government: Lessons of experience • Identify priority interventions that are capable of exploring a country’s competitive advantage, delivering cross-cutting positive impacts • Promote partnerships between government, private sector, civil society and donors • Avoid technology focus: ensure complementary investment; skills, organizational innovation and incentives are crucial for making technology work • Emphasize training and capacity building

39. Country Experiences: UK • Focus on improving government services for citizens • Priority on ‘high impact’ areas - • Take-up of services must be the key driver of investment and the key performance indicator. • Create competitive pressure • Open up electronic delivery of government services to the private and voluntary sectors. • Do not make exclusive contracts for front-end delivery Ð avoid private sector monopolies. • Let electronic delivery compete with traditional delivery inside government. • Make the Internet the backbone to ESD, but allow multiple entry routes. • Reward innovation, accept some failure • Get going quickly, and keep learning from mistakes. • Set ambitious goals, informed by citizen preferences. • Begin with prototypes that can be built quickly and tested. • Quickly scale up successful prototypes for launch. • Be ruthless in weeding out unsuccessful government e-venture • Push for efficiency savings • Wherever possible ESD should substitute rather than complement traditional delivery. • Determine the trade-off between trust and income (e.g. advertising) for each service.

40. Country Experiences - Australia • Agency e-government programs are more likely to be successful when: • Executive-level support has been obtained from the CEO and senior agency staff • Agency staff are committed to the broader concepts of e-government • Recognition exists that people wish to deal with government through a variety of channels, and service delivery strategies are tailored accordingly • Potential awareness is heightened by promoting availability of online programs to people • Legislation and authentication issues have been resolved • Confidence has been raised through electronic signatures • Models for effective inter-agency collaboration have been built and proven • Momentum is maintained through better integration of enterprise, work, information, application and technology architectures with and among agencies

41. Country Experiences- Canada • Canada regularly surveys citizens and businesses about their attitudes and needs--more so than any other country. • Canada also actively markets its E-government services. It advertises on TV and radio, ad in airline magazines and newspapers to get citizens to use its portal • Canada, like many nations, has a national CIO, given the necessary muscle to drive standards and create a common E-government offering

42. Country Experiences- Singapore • To pull down silos, you need a big stick • Vision of "many agencies, one government" became mantra • The Ministry of Finance was sole authority in approving funding for e-government projects • IDA managed central IT and telecom infrastructure and defined national policy, standards and procedures • All e-services followed same security, electronic payment and data exchange mechanisms, by regulatory and policy mandate • While Internet technology was an enabler, people made it happen, through strong e-leadership Deputy prime minister launched the plan in 2000 "to be a leading e-government to better serve the nation in the digital economy."

43. New Zealand e-Government Architecture

44. Sri Lanka e-Government Architecture

45. India e-Government Architecture

46. Australia e-Government Architecture