What is E-Government? - by Ndeshi Ndilula
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Electronic computers were first developed in the forties. Although they were mostly used for research, they became efficient tools in processing of repetitive and complex tasks such as payroll, stock control, scientific calculations, and many other applications. As the use of technology widened, increasingly wider applications of computers were made, including both numerical and information processing.
The ability to network computers has led to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution.
This revolution has made great impact on all walks of life and sectors, such as education, banking, commerce, communication and all areas that require data collection, storage, and retrieval. For example, students who are not able to attend lessons physically are able to study via the Internet, which is termed e-learning. In addition, many citizens are already performing banking transactions through the Internet which is known as e-banking and in doing so are avoiding long queues. These are examples of how ICT can assist organisations to provide supplementary services to their clients and by doing so improving their service delivery capabilities.
More recently, the notion of E-Government, or electronic government, has emerged. The essential concept of E-Government is to allow governments to provide interactive services to their citizens on a 24-hours a day and seven-days a week basis. This means that instead of government officials interacting with the citizens, the computer system provides the required service directly to the citizens and the role of the government workers is simply to provide backup and support to the computer systems. In this way, it is possible for the government to provide the necessary services faster, throughout the day, at any place, and in a form most convenient to the citizens. Many governments are pursuing the implementation of E-Government projects as a means of development, in order to enhance communication and knowledge among their citizens.
The emergence of E-Government came about during the 1990s following the progress of E-Commerce and the emergence of fast Internet connections. Although the E-Government implementation strategy varies from one country to another, the main objectives for all initiatives are similar, namely: to improve upon government service delivery and to provide a wider citizen participation in government operations.
The United Nations Agencies have been monitoring the E-Government readiness through global surveys since 2001. The measurement of E-Government readiness (also referred as e-readiness) is an assessment of a country's use of the Internet and the World Wide Web for the provision of information, products and services;
the level of telecommunications infrastructure and the human capital infrastructure development. According to the UN Global Readiness Report of 2005, there was an indication that the majority of the UN Member States have embraced electronic service delivery. A table below indicates the e-readiness rankings for Namibia in comparison to other countries.
Table 1: World E-Government Readiness Index: 2007
Source: United Nations
A historical background of E-Government development in South Africa and Namibia highlights the following:
In South Africa the catch phrase used to describe the E-Government initiatives is 'Bhato Pele', which is a Sotho word meaning 'People First'. The idea is for civil servants to be service orientated and to strive for excellence in service delivery centred about citizens. In South Africa, the responsibility to implement the Bhato Pele Gateway was given to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). According to an article by SITA's CEO, the Bhato Pele Gateway Call Centre, which services both citizens and businesses, was created to provide seamless access to information and services provided by the South African government; and it currently operates in six official languages.
Like many governments worldwide, Namibia has focused on the utilisation of ICTs to improve efficiency in service delivery, information sharing and community empowerment through knowledge. In 2004, an E-Government Awareness workshop was organised by the Office of the Prime Minister in Windhoek. Its main objectives were to sensitise the civil servants, the business community and the relevant stakeholders about the E-Government initiatives. The following initiatives have since taken place in the Public Sector of Namibia:
- The development and implementation of the Parliament Information Management Systems.
- The appointment of the E-Government Coordinating Committee, comprising of members from both the Public and the Private sectors to oversee the implementation process.
- The development of web-based applications, such as, the Integrated Financial Management Systems under the management of the Ministry of Finance.
- The development of web sites by most Government Offices, Ministries and Agencies.
- The expansion of Wide Area Networks to the Regional Offices and the usage of e-mail.
- The Ministry of Education in partnership with SchoolNet Namibia and Telecom Namibia embarked on a project to provide Internet Access to schools countrywide.
- Publishing of the E-Government Policy for the public service of Namibia in 2005.
The stages of E-Government development
There are four stages in the development of E-Government process as explained by Backus. These are:
- Information stage which is about providing static information to the public. For example, the ministries display static information on their websites.
- Interaction stage offers a two-way communication between the government and the public. For example the online birth registration, online tender documents and many more.
- Transaction stage is about carrying out tasks online. For example, the completion of the tax returns forms and submitting online.
- Transformation is the stage where all the information systems are integrated and the public can get information at one counter. For example, an individual can get information about the status of passport application plus another enquiry about land registration, from the same entry point.
These phases are used as a yardstick for measuring the level of E-Government implementation process in a country.
What are the challenges of E-Government?
The implementation process of E-Government is mostly hindered by problems such as lack of telecommunication and power connectivity, lack of resources, lack of ICT skills and literacy levels in the country, lack of local content and the cost of internet connectivity.
The status of these issues needs to be assessed and corrected for the implementation to succeed. A vast country like Namibia, with different language groups, and varying computer literacy rates, needs to mobilise resources and put an achievable implementation plan in place in order to achieve successful results in the implementation of E-Government.
What are the benefits of E-Government?
The advances in ICT have revolutionised access and sharing of information even in the rural areas of Namibia.
Cellular phones, radios and Internet access have enabled sharing of information by many in the rural areas.
Cellular phones in particular offer a great opportunity as their usage and coverage has increased phenomenally over the past years, particularly in rural areas. With the implementation of E-Government the horizon will widen and more citizen participation in the government processes will become a reality. There will also be cost benefits, i.e. the reduction in transport costs if services are brought closer to the people or made available online; hence the term e-services. It has been observed in other countries where E-Government is operational, that corruption has been minimised and government processes have become more transparent, efficient and relevant information more accessible.
The Way Forward
The success of E-Government in Namibia will depend on the adoption of best practices as well as the deployment of 'Total Quality Management' tools such as benchmarking. That is the only way we will be able to identify the ICT needs for E-Government.
Namibia does not need to re-invent the wheel. With many practical examples from various countries, all that needs to be done is to benchmark with those pioneers in the implementation processes of E-Government in order to succeed. There are collaborative efforts among SADC countries as well as assistance provided through the Office of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The World Bank and various United Nations departments are also in possession of E-Government implementation programmes.
- This article is based on the thesis that was submitted to MANCOSA in 2008 as part of my MBA studies.
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The ability to network computers has led to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution.
This revolution has made great impact on all walks of life and sectors, such as education, banking, commerce, communication and all areas that require data collection, storage, and retrieval. For example, students who are not able to attend lessons physically are able to study via the Internet, which is termed e-learning. In addition, many citizens are already performing banking transactions through the Internet which is known as e-banking and in doing so are avoiding long queues. These are examples of how ICT can assist organisations to provide supplementary services to their clients and by doing so improving their service delivery capabilities.
More recently, the notion of E-Government, or electronic government, has emerged. The essential concept of E-Government is to allow governments to provide interactive services to their citizens on a 24-hours a day and seven-days a week basis. This means that instead of government officials interacting with the citizens, the computer system provides the required service directly to the citizens and the role of the government workers is simply to provide backup and support to the computer systems. In this way, it is possible for the government to provide the necessary services faster, throughout the day, at any place, and in a form most convenient to the citizens. Many governments are pursuing the implementation of E-Government projects as a means of development, in order to enhance communication and knowledge among their citizens.
The emergence of E-Government came about during the 1990s following the progress of E-Commerce and the emergence of fast Internet connections. Although the E-Government implementation strategy varies from one country to another, the main objectives for all initiatives are similar, namely: to improve upon government service delivery and to provide a wider citizen participation in government operations.
The United Nations Agencies have been monitoring the E-Government readiness through global surveys since 2001. The measurement of E-Government readiness (also referred as e-readiness) is an assessment of a country's use of the Internet and the World Wide Web for the provision of information, products and services;
the level of telecommunications infrastructure and the human capital infrastructure development. According to the UN Global Readiness Report of 2005, there was an indication that the majority of the UN Member States have embraced electronic service delivery. A table below indicates the e-readiness rankings for Namibia in comparison to other countries.
Table 1: World E-Government Readiness Index: 2007
Source: United Nations
A historical background of E-Government development in South Africa and Namibia highlights the following:
In South Africa the catch phrase used to describe the E-Government initiatives is 'Bhato Pele', which is a Sotho word meaning 'People First'. The idea is for civil servants to be service orientated and to strive for excellence in service delivery centred about citizens. In South Africa, the responsibility to implement the Bhato Pele Gateway was given to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). According to an article by SITA's CEO, the Bhato Pele Gateway Call Centre, which services both citizens and businesses, was created to provide seamless access to information and services provided by the South African government; and it currently operates in six official languages.
Like many governments worldwide, Namibia has focused on the utilisation of ICTs to improve efficiency in service delivery, information sharing and community empowerment through knowledge. In 2004, an E-Government Awareness workshop was organised by the Office of the Prime Minister in Windhoek. Its main objectives were to sensitise the civil servants, the business community and the relevant stakeholders about the E-Government initiatives. The following initiatives have since taken place in the Public Sector of Namibia:
- The development and implementation of the Parliament Information Management Systems.
- The appointment of the E-Government Coordinating Committee, comprising of members from both the Public and the Private sectors to oversee the implementation process.
- The development of web-based applications, such as, the Integrated Financial Management Systems under the management of the Ministry of Finance.
- The development of web sites by most Government Offices, Ministries and Agencies.
- The expansion of Wide Area Networks to the Regional Offices and the usage of e-mail.
- The Ministry of Education in partnership with SchoolNet Namibia and Telecom Namibia embarked on a project to provide Internet Access to schools countrywide.
- Publishing of the E-Government Policy for the public service of Namibia in 2005.
The stages of E-Government development
There are four stages in the development of E-Government process as explained by Backus. These are:
- Information stage which is about providing static information to the public. For example, the ministries display static information on their websites.
- Interaction stage offers a two-way communication between the government and the public. For example the online birth registration, online tender documents and many more.
- Transaction stage is about carrying out tasks online. For example, the completion of the tax returns forms and submitting online.
- Transformation is the stage where all the information systems are integrated and the public can get information at one counter. For example, an individual can get information about the status of passport application plus another enquiry about land registration, from the same entry point.
These phases are used as a yardstick for measuring the level of E-Government implementation process in a country.
What are the challenges of E-Government?
The implementation process of E-Government is mostly hindered by problems such as lack of telecommunication and power connectivity, lack of resources, lack of ICT skills and literacy levels in the country, lack of local content and the cost of internet connectivity.
The status of these issues needs to be assessed and corrected for the implementation to succeed. A vast country like Namibia, with different language groups, and varying computer literacy rates, needs to mobilise resources and put an achievable implementation plan in place in order to achieve successful results in the implementation of E-Government.
What are the benefits of E-Government?
The advances in ICT have revolutionised access and sharing of information even in the rural areas of Namibia.
Cellular phones, radios and Internet access have enabled sharing of information by many in the rural areas.
Cellular phones in particular offer a great opportunity as their usage and coverage has increased phenomenally over the past years, particularly in rural areas. With the implementation of E-Government the horizon will widen and more citizen participation in the government processes will become a reality. There will also be cost benefits, i.e. the reduction in transport costs if services are brought closer to the people or made available online; hence the term e-services. It has been observed in other countries where E-Government is operational, that corruption has been minimised and government processes have become more transparent, efficient and relevant information more accessible.
The Way Forward
The success of E-Government in Namibia will depend on the adoption of best practices as well as the deployment of 'Total Quality Management' tools such as benchmarking. That is the only way we will be able to identify the ICT needs for E-Government.
Namibia does not need to re-invent the wheel. With many practical examples from various countries, all that needs to be done is to benchmark with those pioneers in the implementation processes of E-Government in order to succeed. There are collaborative efforts among SADC countries as well as assistance provided through the Office of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The World Bank and various United Nations departments are also in possession of E-Government implementation programmes.
- This article is based on the thesis that was submitted to MANCOSA in 2008 as part of my MBA studies.
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