Universal e-government

1
(No Transcript)
2
Universal e-government the digital divide

• Rohan Samarajiva
• Samarajiva_at_lirne.net 94 (0)11
• July 15, 2004, Beijing

3
Universal e-government the vision

• Citizen-centric government services of all forms
  informational, interactive and transactional
  made available to all citizens (and relevant
  others) irrespective of where they live
• Permanent residents, potential investors,
  tourists, traders, etc.

4
Government services

• Not all services currently provided, but
  essential core remaining after government
  reengineering
• Developing-country governments are over-extended
• Deliver sub-standard services, many that can be
  better provided by regulated private entities or
  by public-private partnerships
• Imperative to pull back focus on a few core
  services
• Regulation will be a core function, but is best
  done by independent bodies

5
Government services

• Services not provided today, but those that
  citizens need and can use
• Informational services not provided now
• National examination results bypassing the
  schools
• Accurate-to-the-minute wholesale agriculture
  prices Govi Gnana System
• Employment services
• Interactive services
• Transactional services

6
Accurate-to-the-minute wholesale agriculture
prices ggs.lk
Dial 066 2283180 from a land line 221 from a
cellular mobile (Dialog GSM)
7
(No Transcript)
8
Citizen-centric

• Reengineered to make life easy for citizens
• Many unnecessary approvals, filings,
  notifications eliminated
• Unleash creative energies of citizens and
  entrepreneurs
• Reduce opportunities for rent seeking
• Designed to suit needs of citizens, not
  convenience of government workers
• Time of interaction, nature of forms, etc.

9
Irrespective of where they live

• Those who live in the capital(s) have been always
  privileged in government interactions
• Reengineered, right-sized government is mostly
  about information payments (some aspects of
  defense, law order excepted)
• ICTs allow information payments (to/from
  citizens) to be provided irrespective of
  location, including outside the national
  territory (for citizens and others living abroad)

10
Barriers to realizing the vision

• Resistance to right-sizing reengineering
• Chicken egg problem
• No content no demand
• No demand no content

• Digital divide
• No infrastructure for ICT based delivery in most
  parts of country
• No ability to connect from households
• Electricity
• Computers
• Telephone ISP subscriptions
• Literacy
• No money

11
Sri Lanka households w/ radio, TV, electricity
telephony, 1981-2002
12
Sri Lanka telecom growth 96-03
13
The problem

• Following 1996-97 reforms, seventh highest fixed
  CAGR worldwide in 1997-2002, rapid mobile
  growth, BUT
• 380,000 registered waiters (43 of subs)
• Highly skewed distribution
• Fixed network is good proxy for broadband,
  always-on connectivity
• This connectivity is skewed against rural areas
  in Sri Lanka

14
Population, GDP fixed telephony shares by
province
15
Lack of cheap backbone capacity

• Five out of 9 provinces untouched by existing
  fiber backbone
• Satellite used in absence of fiber microwave to
  serve 150,000 mobile users in post-conflict
  areas in North East
• Most likely costsgtprice
• Easier to connect to Internet using mobile
  network in North Central Province because of low
  quality of fixed network

16
Unwired Sri Lanka
17
The solution e Sri Lanka

• USD 50 million soft loan from World Bank to
  implement ICT Roadmap, 2004-08
• Information Communication Technology Act, No.
  27 of 2003
• National (Ministerial) committee
• Task Force
• ICT Agency, fully government-owned company as
  executive agency
• Lean, outsourcing-based, private-sector like
  organization

18
Elements of e Sri Lanka

• e Government (reengineering government)
• Human resource development
• e Society Fund
• Market development/investment
• Information infrastructure including
• Extending ICT networks
• Vishva Gnana Kendra (telecenters)
• Legal reforms

19
e Sri Lanka infrastructure solution Regional
telecom networks

• Removing the reasons for rural people not being
  served
• Imperfect regulatory framework
• Action underway
• Perceived lack of ability to pay
• Telecenters to aggregate demand vouchers for
  target groups
• Higher cost of service
• Least-cost subsidies to build networks

20
Least-cost subsidies

• Unlike in case of giving the task of building a
  bridge to the lowest bidder, the end result of
  least-cost subsidy auctions is a network that is
  owned by the bidder, who has invested his own
  money in it, and has all reason to
  maintain/improve it
• Competition for the market, that privileges the
  most efficient supplier

21
The solution
22
Chicken and egg

• Broadband network telecenters Will they be
  used?
• For communication?
• Yes. Evidence pent up demand
• For information retrieval?
• Relevant information in local languages?
• For information dissemination?
• Relevant information in local languages?
• For transactions?
• Low-cost payment mechanisms?

23
e Sri Lanka content transaction solution e gov

• Government creates relevant, useful information
  in local languages in the context of
  reengineering right-sizing
• Also addresses transaction mechanisms problem
• Result pump is primed for decentralized
  initiatives to supply relevant, useful content

24
Core challenge of e government

• How can existing government that is dysfunctional
  (dys gov) give birth to e gov that
• Is more efficient citizen-centric
• Will result in less opportunities for corruption
• May reduce workforce /or change employment terms

25
Two principal approaches

• Comprehensive government wide approach with
  inter-ministerial committees
• Enclave strategy fix small manageable islands
  and encourage their linking

26
Comprehensive is rational But is it feasible in
dys gov?

• Track record of dys govs that have made
  incremental progress, at least
• Tourist zones where electricity works, water is
  clean, garbage is cleared the police are civil
• Export processing zones where approvals are
  expedited the infrastructure works
• Government enclaves such as investment bureaus
  regulatory commissions insulated from larger
  government system that seek to provide one-stop
  shops for clients

27
A creative synthesis

• Track 1 Launch comprehensive e gov exercise,
  developing consensus, standards, protocols, etc.
• Ex ante planning
• Track 2 Reinforce islands of good governance
  through e gov (reengineering, right-sizing, ICTs)
• Opportunistic, pragmatic

28
Dangers of Track 1

• All plan, no results
• Committees, taskforces can be ground down by
  bureaucratic inertia and opposition
• No quick wins no demonstration effects
• Possibility of lock-in to wrong standards in a
  rapidly changing technological environment

29
Dangers of Track 2

• Incompatible standards
• One-stop shops result in duplication waste
• Frustration of the dream of no door is wrong
  seamless government interface
• Can be alleviated by melding with Track 1

30
(No Transcript)