Digitalisation 4 Development

Toolkit Infosheet 4 - eGovernance

Digitalisation for Development.

A toolkit for development cooperation practitioners

International Partnerships (INTPA) 

A key component of the role of digital technologies in accelerating progress towards each of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is that of contributing to advancing and transforming public institutions and their service delivery.

The concept of eGovernance (Electronic Governance) refers to the integration of ICT and digital technologies in the administration of a country. Its goal is to support and simplify governance for all parties: government, citizens and businesses, ultimately contributing to achieve good governance. It involves effective planning, management, coordination and supervision of the whole process of digital transformation of public institutions. eGovernance can improve management and reporting of financial information, increase the speed of dealing with various processes, reduce costs, enhance communication with citizens, and potentially serve as a catalyst for increased accountability and enhanced citizen participation in public processes. These may include, for example, obtaining a birth certificate, handling taxes, applying for university or getting information about public policies and activities.

Thanks to its leadership on eGovernance issues, the EU’s approach can be an important reference in the context of international partnerships. The following principles are at the basis of the EU’s approach towards eGovernance: human-centric approach and citizen centricity, the once-only principle, privacy and data protection, respect of human rights online and offline, cybersecurity, inclusiveness, and the single digital market approach. These topics are currently at the core of a strategic global tug-of-war regarding the future direction and principles underlying digitalisation.

Many countries are only in the initial phases of adopting ICT to streamline the delivery of government services. This is even more so in partner countries with less developed institutions. The adoption of eGovernance is as much an administrative process as a technological one, which needs strong political ownership and commitment. eGovernance is a tool for good governance, but it is not always a driver. It is a dynamic process that is susceptible to a variety of cultural, legal and political forces within different institutional environments.

This info sheet contains a range of references to policies, EU building blocks, action plans, media sources, etc., as well as some case studies, which can help development practitioners in improving understanding and preparing relevant activities.

Enablers and challenges

eGovernance has been actively developed and promoted by the EU for many years and the EU enjoys a leadership role on the topic. For example, the European eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 ‘Accelerating the digital transformation of government’ aims at helping to remove existing digital barriers, reduce administrative burdens and improve the quality of interactions with government. Furthermore, it is a key element in the success of the Single Market which in itself is an important reference for the EU’s international partnership discussions- for example when developing the foundations for cross-border trade. Technical building blocks targeted by the Action Plan include eID electronic identification, eSignature, and eDelivery. The resources section of this document also refers to studies and policies of use for international partnerships.

Overall, it is clear that digital technologies can be enablers of development rather than solutions to structural political problems, helping governments that are willing and able to serve their citizens better, although they are unable to make unwilling governments more accountable. In fact, a correlation between the promotion of eGovernment and internet censorship has been observed. Awareness of the potential of eGovernment in advancing good governance has however been increasing.

The availability of basic infrastructure such as electricity and digital connectivity and the existence  of government services are important enablers of eGovernance initiatives.  Even when digital infrastructure is lacking, preparatory work can be undertaken to assure an enabling environment for eGovernance strategies and programmes – for example through policy and regulation regarding the business environment, competition, skills, cybersecurity or data usage, even while connectivity and infrastructure are being developed. This is important for instance to ensure technological / information sovereignty well in advance of infrastructure roll-out.

The use of digital technologies in urban areas can be helpful in tackling some of the pressures faced by cities in partner countries. Such technologies can also improve outcomes across every aspect of city operations and enhance the services the city offers to its residents. The development of smart city solutions has the potential to meet the ever-growing demand for services and infrastructure. The great need for infrastructure financial resources, the size of informal economies, and governance challenges at the different levels of government all need to be considered when deciding actions targeting digital transformation in cities. 

Smart Cities will be the topic of one of the subsequent infosheets.

With regards to inclusion, challenges in access to and use of eGovernance services by citizens also need to be addressed through strategies developed by governments, potentially supported through international cooperation. Despite impressive investments in digital public service delivery in many countries, large divides persist both within countries and internationally, highlighting socio-economic disparities and lack of inclusiveness. At the national level, a greater use of eGovernment is associated with higher individual education attainment levels, being in employment, urban residence, being male and access to broadband.

Studies suggest that only around 20 percent of public ICT projects implemented up to 2015 were successful. There are numerous opinions and explanations for these stark numbers. Many blame the large gap between the regulatory, political, management and skill realities in government and the ambitions of eGovernment projects. Others point to the rigidities in government procurement rules, IT vendors’ lack of understanding of government processes, and a failure to understand the country context. User involvement, leadership support, and a clear statement of project requirements are ultimately deemed as critical factors for success.

Efforts in international cooperation should thus promote both the creation of eGovernment services and support to their enablers as well as addressing underlying challenges. Practical examples include developing solid eID schemes based on international standards allowing citizens to carry out secure online transactions and use of eServices. This document contains a table of further resources, including the EU’s eGovernment action plan and the ITU’s, as well as other guidelines and roadmaps.  Further actions financed and implemented by the EU in partner countries may focus on other factors enabling successful eGovernance. These include: good governance (including transparency and accountability), policy and regulations on ease of doing business for digital enterprises, education and skills for using and developing eGovernment services, institutional capacity building (e.g.for the national statistical system and the fiscal system, justice, Parliaments), data- governance and data-protection.

Regardless of the specific objective of interventions, digitalisation should be mainstreamed through all relevant actions targeting governance. Further information is provided in other documents published as part of this ‘Introduction to Digitalisation for Development’ series, for example on policy and regulation.

Analogue and Digital Elements of eGovernment

Analogue

• Legislation & regulations
• Government services (identification services, registers)
• Sustainable organization
• Fiscal framework
• Change management
• Political will

Digital

• Digital databases
• Interoperability
• Digital Identity
• Services portal
• Cyber security
• Document exchange
• Sectoral solutions

Source: Digital Dividends. World Bank report 2016

There are three predominant types of eGovernment services, corresponding to three steps leading to the digitalisation of public services:

1. Government to Government (G2G) services: government agencies share information among themselves.
2. Government to Business (G2B) services: government provides services to businesses, as their readiness is better than that of citizens. Private companies are generally better equipped with ICT and do their accounting with computers; for this reason, first services provided by governments are related to financial and fiscal transactions (e.g. VAT reports, customs clearance on export-import, reporting of employees’ salaries to social security, pensions, taxes, etc.).
3. Government to citizens (G2C) services: generally starting with ‘broadcast’ information services, with citizens able to check their data from various databases, moving towards more sophisticated services over time.

Case studies

Colombia’s Urna de Cristal

This case study deals with Open Government first and foremost, and to a lesser extent with e-governance. However, in the general interest of development cooperation practitioners, it has been added here to enrich the discussion and to underline how eGovernance can support good governance.

“Urna de Cristal” (i.e. Crystal Ball) is a participation and open government initiative of the Government of Colombia [1, 9, 10]. It was designed in 2010 by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications with the Presidency of the Republic, highlighting how important  it is to be close to centres of institutional power in order to successfully push for change. The design was carried out in collaboration with the High Counsellor for Communications, the High Counsellor for Regional Affairs and Civic Participation, and the Secretary for Transparency. This large institutional collaboration allowed the alignment of the initiative with the regional public strategies, other national initiatives for transparency and the fight against corruption.

The initiative was intended to promote citizens’ participation and the government’s transparency by establishing a multi-channel platform that integrated traditional media such as radio and television with digital ones like websites and social media. Urna de cristal provides citizens with the ability to interact directly with the national government, asking questions to public servants, making specific proposals to improve projects, and receiving updates on public projects in which they are interested.

Currently the initiative is the main platform for civic participation in Colombia. Opening channels and developing participation exercises has brought high impact results that have contributed to a change in citizen relationship building with the national government. The initiative has initiated a number of themes for participation, including popular ones like sports and recreation: it included, for example, an open consultation to allow people to contribute to the preparation of a new law in the sport sector in collaboration with the Administrative Department of Sports, Recreation, Physical Activity and the Use of Free Time (Coldeportes).

Citizens’ participation has been documented and is available on this website. Since 2018, this information is shared in the form of open datasets through the Data portal of the Government of Colombia.