E-Government: Greatest Good for the Greatest Number?

The private sector has always been at the forefront of adopting information and communications technology (ICT) to facilitate business operations and improve customer service interactions. The proliferation of social media among the general public has resulted in increasing levels of comfort and familiarity with technology in many contexts such as electronic marketing, collaboration, academic activities etc. Furthermore, the internet has changed the way businesses deliver services to consumers and conduct commercial activities. This has raised the expectations of citizens that public sector organizations and the government should adopt a similar information and service delivery approach. Additionally, in developed countries, the general public expects government institutions to deliver e-services with the same efficacy as the private sector.

E-Government: Around the World

In the backdrop of the current technology landscape, leading governments around the world with democratic intent have incorporated ICT in their operations to enhance their functional performance. By fusing technology with effective strategies and best practices, governments can improve alignment with the general population and businesses, and ensure citizen engagement and participation in today’s knowledge economy. The term e-government or electronic government describes this integration of ICT in public sector and government activities.

An e-government program can be as simple as deploying a publicly accessible information web-portal or as complex as a comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, which  facilitates government to government (G2G) and government to citizen (G2C) interactions.

The importance of e-government has been broadly recognized by many developed and developing countries. These nations have implemented various ICT initiatives to enhance public sector information delivery and service provision. E-government has been implemented in different variants and at different levels around the world. Some countries have launched social welfare programs while others are promoting IT take-up in administrative and general management activities. An effective digital government strategy is fundamental in modernizing public sector organizations by improving visibility and accountability; reducing costs and layers of organizational business processes; and facilitating intra-government communication.

The three main stages in the implementation of any electronic government initiative are information sharing and access, transaction services and citizen participation. During the implementation of any digital government program, the aforementioned three stages may be considered as an evolutionary process since each subsequent stage builds on the successful implementation of the previous one. Therefore the third stage ‘citizen participation’ is the true test for an e-government project.

Around the world we see the success of e-government initiatives varying greatly between countries. For example, in Denmark, 89% of the citizens use e-services while the uptake of these services is 2% in Egypt.

At the most fundamental level, an e-government program can be as simple as the deployment of a publicly accessible web-portal providing information on common queries and general policy information. These portals serve as a medium through which governments interact with their citizens. Therefore in the arena of e-government: technology and public policy need to take into account the local cultural norms as well as human behavior.

In the context of Pakistan, taking digital government initiatives a step further would incorporate provisions for G2C interaction such as e-voting; making payments for public services online; connecting to service portals; or carrying out online registrations. Additionally, a more sophisticated e-government system will allow for one window operations. For instance, many US citizens can go online to pay fines, register vehicles, file taxes and renew driver’s licenses taking advantage of the transaction services offered by the online systems. Similarly, Government to Business (G2B) interactions such as procurement services to and from businesses can be carried out more cost effectively and conveniently when carried out over the Internet or local intranets.

Advantages, Obstacles and Solutions

Whether it is online campaigning, political news, online discussion forums, activism, the governments of today are undeniably going online and increasingly using social media platforms as listening posts and mediums of communication with the public. Governments and leaders around the world are increasingly aware of the importance of e-government initiatives to improve the performance of government institutions and their potential benefits for citizens and businesses. However, the process of taking governments online is not a straightforward undertaking.

The e-government route is a complex one and cannot be traversed in a limited time-frame. Besides making government information and services electronically accessible, e-government initiatives bring about significant organizational changes that may be resisted by government employees, citizens and businesses to varying degrees.

Embracing an electronic government system requires a cultural and perceptual shift and requires technology awareness in the users. In essence, successful implementation of a digital governance system requires social acceptability and access to technology for the public at large. Another important concern for potential and existing e-government users is online security. The network and security infrastructures supporting an online governance system need to be fault-tolerant, up-to-date and reliable.

Amidst all the obstacles in an e-government transition, the most difficult one to tackle particularly in developing countries like Pakistan is the “Digital Divide”. The digital divide refers to the disparity between the population having access to ICT (such as the Internet) and those who don’t. Lack of technology infrastructure and access in rural areas of developing countries and some developed countries widespread dissemination of e-governance is challenging for practitioners and governments. Governments around the world are taking considerable measures to minimize the digital divide by making internet access available in remote areas through shared access points. These impediments have hindered the growth of e-government initiatives in the developing world.

A digital divide presents itself as a complex socio-economic problem which becomes more evident with the proliferation of the Internet and astronomical IT growth. In developing countries, the schism is greater than in the developed nations.

For instance, in Pakistan a particular social class—which is a small percentage of the country’s population—has access to most forms of communication technology and Internet. Most of the urban population in Pakistan now has access to personal computers either at home, office or at internet cafes.  In contrast, a vast majority of the country’s rural population is unaware or less aware of the government’s digital agenda. Policy-makers and practitioners need to focus on cost-effective and efficient mechanisms to provide rural population with the means to access online government resources and most importantly conduct IT training and awareness projects. Whether accessibility is in the form of shared public computing centers or appointing local council computer operators, the widespread availability of computing resources is central to an effective e-governance system. The rise of social media and the higher proliferation of smart phones has helped raise the level of digital awareness in the country. Rapid proliferation of cellular services, access to high-speed mobile internet (3G/4G) across the country and introduction of sub-5,000 rupee smartphones in Pakistan over the last decade has a positive impact on addressing this gap. The rise of social media has helped raise digital awareness in the country.

A two-pronged strategy is essential in the implementation of a successful and broadly accessible e-government system.

The first part of this strategy is to implement the necessary ICT infrastructure in remote rural areas, followed by a comprehensive training that educates the local population on the usage of these technologies. Central and local governments need to launch the necessary awareness campaigns to encourage and train the general public on the existing and prospective online systems.

The public sector organizations also need to review their operating models and work in conjunction with IT firms to select appropriate technologies and accordingly computerize their processes while keeping respective policies intact. Technology firms play an important role to in terms of facilitating government bodies and encouraging employees to adopt the technology-driven systems to carry out their job functions. Effective change-management programs need to be conducted for government bodies to bring about the required perceptual change and overcome staff resistance such as rewards for the successful completion of various IT trainings.

E-Governance Initiatives in Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan has been very proactive in the implementation of ICT in its operations to improve performance and increase transparency and accountability.

In 2002, the Government established an Electronic Government Directorate of Pakistan, which was merged with Pakistan Computer Bureau to form National Information Technology Board. Among the many project completed under the directorate is the development of Urdu lexicon for machine translation as well as text-to-speech software for Urdu language and the automation of Patent Office, Karachi.

Several pilot projects are currently underway at the federal level. LMKT has worked with the federal and the provincial governments on several of these pilot projects. Public sector departments are working with LMKT to automate most of their departments and operations. ERP automation modules such as Internal Communications, Document Management, Finance Planning and Budgeting, Project Management, Inventory and Procurement, and Human Resource have been successfully implemented in MoIT. The company’s efforts in promoting ICT-driven efficiencies across government departments in Pakistan have been recognized at various national forums.

The implementation of an e-governance system has to be piecemealed due to its complex nature. However it has to be part of a larger all-encompassing strategy that outlines clear objectives and timelines. The current e-government developments in Pakistan are mostly on the institutional level to streamline internal operations and intra-government communication. The internal efficiency inevitably pervades through to the overall functional performance of various government bodies enhancing the services they offer to the general public. The last five years have seen a number of public sector institutions in Pakistan establishing their presence online, offering various levels of information on public services and products to businesses and citizens.

The stage is set for an e-governed Pakistan.

Telcos and cellular operators are expanding their coverage to remote rural areas thus paving the way for a widely-accessible e-government system. In 2018, 3G/4G consumers make up 27.73% and broadband subscribers make up 28.81% of the population, in a country where cellular subscribers make up 72.83% of the population. At the government level, various computer-literacy programs have been planned for rural areas. The government is taking the right steps to ensure that Pakistan is in line with countries such as the US and Singapore that have successfully implemented e-government initiatives at various levels. Appropriate provisions have been put in place by standardizing the role of various members within project steering committees to ensure smooth deployment of various e-government projects. With all the positive developments at the Government’s end and the right technology firms involved in computerizing Pakistan, e-government may indeed be the greatest good for the greatest number, albeit in time. There is a lot yet to be accomplished but the first few steps seem to be in the right direction. The ultimate beneficiaries will be businesses and citizens alike. In time, we might all eventually become e-citizens, communicating with our governments through our smart phones.