Designing and Implementing e-Government: Key Issues, Best Practices and Lessons Learned
ISG e-Government Practice in collaboration with the IT Strategic Learning Center, the e-Development Thematic Group, GICT, PREM, WBI and other partners delivered an intensive two-day training workshop for Bank staff and clients on April 26-27, 2005 during PREM Learning Week on "Designing and Implementing e-Government: Key Issues, Best Practices and Lessons Learned". The workshop brought together some 90 participants in Washington DC and over 200 participants in Azerbaijan, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Moldova, and other countries connected via videoconference or live Internet broadcast. Over 30 distinguished speakers shared their insights on the role of e-government in enabling the overall development agenda and specific policy objectives, such as public sector transparency and efficiency, improved public service delivery, private sector-led growth, and empowerment of the poor.
Among the speakers were Jamil Kassum, Regional Vice President, East Asia & Pacific, who provided inspirational opening remarks and challenged the Bank Group to harness ICTs in Operations more systematically. The Minister of ICT for Azerbaijan and Minister of Science and Technology for Costa Rica shared their ambitious plans for mainstreaming the e-government agenda and expressed a strong interest in closer collaboration with the World Bank in this area. The workshop participants also heard valuable insights from Mark Forman, former US CIO and the key architect of the US e-government strategy; Mart Laar, former prime Minister, who was behind the Estonian e-transformation miracle; as well as from Sam Pitroda, Chairman of India’s National Knowledge Commission, who is often credited for bringing telecom services to the Indian masses.
Jeongwon Yoon, one of the key e-government champions in Korea, shared some secrets behind the success of e-Korea. Greg Georgeff, CIO of Ontario Province, Canada, provided a dynamic account of ICT-enabled government transformation in Canada. Learning about best practices and lessons learned from early implementers may help avoid common pitfalls and maximize returns on investment. Therefore sharing of first-hand experience from e-government leaders was much appreciated by the audience. Many Bank speakers, including 9 managers and 12 task team leaders, shared their experience and perspectives on mainstreaming e-government at the World Bank.
Some of the key messages and findings of this workshop included:
What does successful e-Government require? In addition to technology-based innovations, successful implementation of e- government requires a complementary set of government process changes to induce governance that is more client-oriented, transparent, effective, efficient, and empowering. It could establish a new way of doing the business of government with a more integrated delivery of information, services and processes.
Why should e-Government be encouraged? e-Government is an important factor contributing to a country's economic development and competitiveness. It is perhaps too early to look for a macro impact of e-government initiatives but some evaluations indicate significant micro level impacts in specific agencies, cities, or regions. In particular, e-government can be a stimulus for business process reengineering within the government.
Why mainstream e-Government? There is a fast-growing and increasingly sophisticated demand from more and more client countries for the Bank’s support in this cutting edge frontier of the development agenda. Our capacity to respond to this demand is a "fundamental test of the World Bank’s relevance in the years ahead" according to Jamil Kassum, EAP Regional Vice President.
What is the status of the Bank’s e-Government portfolio? e-Government is already big business for the Bank. Many countries are receiving Bank support, and several integrated projects are under preparation or implementation (e.g., in Sri Lanka, India, Romania, Ukraine, Tunisia, Ghana, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Slovakia). New projects in this area are being discussed with counterparts, and there seems to be a competitive spirit among our client counties to collaborate with the Bank on e-government and e-development. The first integrated e-government project (Indonesia ICT Infrastructure Project) was completed recently. There is also a multitude of Bank sectoral projects with substantial ICT/e-government components (e.g., 40% of all projects in the South Asia portfolio).
What are the key entry points? Several possible sector-specific entry points have been proposed: improved management of public finances, greater government transparency, private sector development and competitiveness, and improved service delivery to citizens. World Bank interventions should be rooted in country-specific contexts, and those entry points should be chosen that are aligned with Bank priorities as formulated in Country Assistance Strategies, are catalytic, scalable (ideally), sustainable, and provide the best balance between benefits and costs at appropriate levels of risk. A good example of an entry point and major Bank engagement in e-government at a sectoral level is the Trade Facilitation portfolio of over $1 billion which is primarily about e-government and often involves creation of ICT-enabled Single Windows (e.g. in Tunisia). Other good example of major Bank sectoral e-government engagement is Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) projects portfolio of over $1 billion.
How can e-Government be mainstreamed? What kind of approach is needed? There is an appropriate kind of e-government strategy worth supporting for every country. The ultimate long-term goal of e-government should nevertheless be an integrated single-window service delivery by a seamless government operating across territorial and departmental lines for the benefit of citizens and businesses. e-Government is a driver for cross-government integration both vertically and horizontally. Standards are therefore essential, and it is critical to have an e-government strategy and interoperability framework architecture in place.
While it is important to have an overarching strategy and bear in mind the big picture of the seamless e-government of the future, even more important is to constantly pursue innovative ways of leveraging technology through "quick wins" and "low hanging fruits" as well as more strategic "killer applications" that can improve the quality of life for citizens and investment climate for businesses. Every country is ready for some form of e-government, from the most basic online information sharing to sophisticated multi-functional one- stop transaction portals. Two key principles could be followed. First, "do no harm"—i.e., what may seem to be a shortcut today may be a roadblock tomorrow. "Let a thousand flowers bloom" strategy may work in the beginning but may cause serious interoperability problems later on. Second, plan top-down, and implement bottom-up—i.e., have an overall framework ready, but start with flexible pilots that could be scaled up later.
There are many challenges in implementing ICTs in the public sector. Both public and private sector ICT investments have been criticized for high failure rates and for not delivering on the expected potential. E-Government projects have to be chosen and defined creatively to work within several constraints, without losing sight of the targeted benefits and reform goals. In all cases, the ICT and e-government strategies must be firmly grounded in a country’s development strategy. This is essential for linking ICTs with economic development goals, setting up a suitable policy and institutional framework, and maximizing effectiveness of ICT in the government. However, "not everything has to be automated." The key is to improve processes, start small, and scale up gradually.
What are some critical success factors? The role of e-Leadership, M&E and PPP. In order to achieve these goals, the importance of leadership for ICT-enabled reform and development, and strong, customized institutional arrangements cannot be emphasized enough. Empowered Chief Information Officers (CIO) or equivalent e-government champions with adequate understanding of technology and business can effectively steer process reforms. They need to be positioned close to the top leadership in the organizational structure to have the requisite authority to mandate changes. Both leadership at the highest level of government as well as at the implementation level are critical to success. Leadership needs to be properly institutionalized according to the local needs and conditions, and appropriate incentives and agencies created. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) should be used as a strategic tool for key decisions as an integral part of project concept, design, and implementation, rather than only for post-project evaluation. Many speakers also underlined the importance of using public-private partnerships (PPPs) and outsourcing in ICT/e-government projects to increase effectiveness, reduce the burden on the taxpayers and boost private sector development.
Does the Bank have a comparative advantage in this area? Many speakers agreed that the Bank has a unique comparative advantage in e-government. As the integrating institution bringing together many dimensions of the social and economic life of our client countries, the Bank is actively involved at both the macro and micro-level, operating in almost all sectors and countries, and having very strong partnerships with governments. Based on its depth and breadth of sectoral knowledge, ability to transfer lessons learned across countries, and reputation as an honest broker, the Bank is positioned very well to play the role of the global leader in the e-government for development agenda.
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