Using Mobile and Wireless Technologies to Enhance Government Service Delivery Isaac Maredi

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Using Mobile and Wireless Technologies to
Enhance Government Service Delivery Isaac
Maredi SITA RD
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CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND
• Project Trigger and Result
• Aims Objectives
• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies
• PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW
• IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY
• LESSONS LEARNED
• CONCLUSION
• Unknown AuthorGood, better, best never let it
  rest till your good is better and your better is
  best.

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BACKGROUND

• Project Trigger and Result
• Project trigger
• Government unplugged A Future Watch series
  report on Mobile Wireless Technologies in the
  public sector
• An initiative of CPSI, in partnership with SITA
  RD and CSIR Meraka Institute
• Result
• MOU between SITA RD CPSI, in collaboration
  with CSIR Meraka Institute
• Pilot/POC projects
• Two citizen-centric departments (Home Affairs and
  Health) as Test beds
• Projects launched in the last quarter of 2004
• SITA main sponsor, CPSI (with the assistance of
  The Open Society Foundation) and CSIR as
  co-sponsors

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BACKGROUND (Cont.)

• Aims and Objectives
• Aim To demonstrate the value of Mobile and
  Wireless technology in enhancing government
  service delivery
• Objectives
• Promote easy access to government services
  through the use of mobile technology
• Increasing efficiency and productivity of public
  service workers
• Reduce costs by utilizing existing technology
• Providing information and querying facility for
  government service offerings to the citizen,
  thereby promoting e-government and e-democracy.
• Using HLT to facilitate the above for visually
  impaired and illiterate citizens

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BACKGROUND (Cont.)

• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies?
• Alternative delivery mechanism for e-government
• Readily available infrastructure, no need to
  invest in new hardware
• Lack of land-line connectivity to majority of
  citizens, esp. rural areas
• Most citizens accustomed to using cell phone e.g
  SMS as popular means of communication
• Maturation in Mobile platforms, e.g GPRS, 3G,
  EDGE, etc
• Voice/Data Convergence
• Wide of coverage of mobile network operators
  (MTN, Vodacom, Cell C )

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CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND
• Project Trigger and Result
• Aims Objectives
• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies
• PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW
• IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY
• LESSONS LEARNED
• CONCLUSION
• HoraceNo man ever reached to excellence in any
  one art or profession without having passed
  through the slow and painful process of study and
  preparation.

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PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW

• Department of Health
• Dokoza System involves the use of cell phone to
  provide the healthcare practitioner with an
  interactive health administration capability
  (with a focus on HIV/AIDS TB) anytime, anywhere
  and in real-time, and includes the following
  functionalities
• register a patient
• enable health workers to check prescriptions
  against nationally determined protocols
• obtain blood test results from NHLS
• obtain patient history
• remind patient about treatment take-up next
  appointment, etc.
• The system provides SMS, Internet, Email and Fax
  interfaces for the user

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PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW (Cont.)

• AccessHealth System involves the use of smart
  cell phones and PDAs to facilitate and manage
  patient referral process between rural clinics
  and district hospital (referral hospital) by
  providing health worker with the following
  functionalities
• Booking appointment for the patient with the
  available doctor at district hospital
• Registering first time patient and scheduling
  appointments
• Reminding patient of the next appointment
• Uses mobile devices such as smart cell phone,
  PDA, Pocket PCs

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PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW (Cont.)

• Department of Home Affairs
• Notification and Querying facility an SMS based
  system that allows the citizen to
• Query and obtain information regarding services
  offerings at Home Affairs
• Query marital status
• Track status of ID, Passport and Unabridged
  certificate application
• Get a SMS notification when above documents are
  ready for collection
• Support for passport application process an USSD
  based system that provides the citizen with
  interactive, online capability to
• Query information regarding passport application
  at Home Affairs
• Schedule appointment for passport application
• Get interactive feedback regarding status of
  passport application
• Get voice response in the users language of
  choice (HLT) for the above services, for
  visually impaired citizens.

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CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND
• Project Trigger and Result
• Aims Objectives
• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies
• PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW
• IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY
• LESSONS LEARNED
• CONCLUSION
• Publilius Syrus
• It takes a long time to bring excellence to
  maturity.

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IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY

• Department of Health
• Health Reduction of administrative burden of
  paperwork, thus enabling practitioners to
  concentrate on their core function, i.e. care for
  the patient.
• Reduction of duplication by providing for patient
  tracking and monitoring.
• Citizen convenience through SMS reminders for
  taking medication and scheduled appointments
• Optimal utilization of health practitioner
  through effective planning
• Appointment scheduling ensures patients are not
  turned back

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IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY (Cont.)

• Department of Home Affairs
• Reduction of number of visits and phone call
  enquiries to Home Affairs offices
• Citizen convenience through SMS notification when
  document is ready for collection
• Fraud reduction SMS verification of marital
  status especially for citizens without internet
  access.
• Text-to-Speech translation for visually impaired
  citizens for above

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CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND
• Project Trigger and Result
• Aims Objectives
• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies
• PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW
• IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY
• LESSONS LEARNED
• CONCLUSION
• John W. GardnerExcellence is doing ordinary
  things extraordinarily well.

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LESSONS LEARNED

• Increase public servant access to critical
  information
• Demonstrated for health workers at the pilot
  hospitals and clinics
• System received favorably, consistent usage once
  trained
• Quality Can the same quality of data interaction
  be achieved via cell phone/Palm top/ PDA as can
  be done via a fixed PC monitor?
• Not yet detailed, but all critical elements are
  there
• Fax, web system interface for more details
• Change management Cell phone readily embraced
• Technology use of open standards and open
  source allow for seamless integration with legacy
  systems

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LESSONS LEARNED (Cont.)

• OpeNet (SITA open network) provide easier
  interface with the outside world
• Use of simple command structure render technology
  up-take easier
• Co-operation from system owners fast track
  development
• Maturation of technology GPRS, 3G, EDGE, J2ME,
  etc, provide for interactive application
  deployment
• Some Challenges
• Physical and system security
• Abuse by bogus agents
• Limited data intake
• Top management buy-in
• Compatibility availability of devices

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CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND
• Project Trigger and Result
• Aims Objectives
• Why Mobile Wireless Technologies
• PILOT PROJECTS OVERVIEW
• IMPACT ON SERVICE DELIVERY
• LESSONS LEARNED
• CONCLUSION
• Aristotle We are what we repeatedly do.
  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

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CONCLUSION

• Mobile Wireless technologies are ready for
  deployment Gartner Hype Cycle 2002
• Mobile technologies provide government the
  opportunity to reach even under-serviced citizens
• In line with e-government strategy
• Citizen convenience (Batho-Pele)
• Increased productivity
• Reduction of duplication
• Towards a mobile government (m-government
  strategy) an inevitable element of e-government

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Government IT House of Values
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Questions

• ?