World Bank E-Government Websites: Increasing Voice and Transparency Using ICT Tools: (E-Government, E-Governance) PRMPS Workshop: Decentralization and Intergovernmental Fiscal Reform March 26, 2003 Arsala Deane adeane@worldbank.org World Bank E-Government Websites: http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/ http://www.developmentgateway.org http://www.infodev.org The world Bank Experience Conceptually what do we mean by electronic applications Case Studies Challenges

Presentation Structure World Bank Experience To Date Some Conceptual Issues Case Studies – Successes and Failures Challenges Critical Success Factors

What is E-Government? E-Government: The use of ICT tools such as Internet, mobile computing and cellular phones by government to streamline processes and transactions. The resulting benefits include: Make the working of the government more efficient and effective Disseminate information about government procedures and rules Save costs and capture revenue Improve service delivery to citizens and businesses and other arms of government TOP DOWN APPROACH NOT TO BE CONFUSED w/ EGOVERNANCE – Often terms used interchangeably

What is E-Governance? E-Governance implies the use of ICT channels to change the way citizens and businesses interact with government to enable: Citizen Involvement in Decision Making: Giving citizens a voice in gov’t planning Increased Access to Information: empowering citizens and civil society with knowledge More Transparency: increasing the openness of government processes and procedures, reducing intermediaries Civil Society Strengthening: Empowering civil society to create a meaningful public debate Government doesn’t necessary take the lead, can play the role of hosting an application Allow citizens to participate in dialogues, both public dialogues with the gov’t and citizen-to-citizen dialogues hosted by the government. Two concepts are inter-linked, some of the case studies – show e-governance and e-government concepts

World Bank Supporting E-Government Projects IFMS E-Procurement Service Delivery Information Online and Information disclosure

3 Stages of E-Government/E-Governance Evolution Less about technology and more about a process of reform in the way government conducts its business, delivers services, and interacts with citizens. Information Dissemination Interactive Transactions Online Monetary Transactions Paying taxes, fines, fees Disclosure of budgets, assets of civil servants Rules, regulations Publishing Procurement Notices online Requesting Forms online Filing Grievances Commenting on Legislation

Access to ICT Infrastructure Part of Broader Reform Efforts ICT can contribute towards public sector reform goals if the following 6 key dimensions are taken into consideration in design and implementation phase Political Will Access to ICT Infrastructure Part of Broader Reform Efforts Enabling Factors for E-Applications E-Skills for Citizens and Government Institutional Capacity Relevance to Citizen Needs

Local Gov’t Responsiveness in Madhya Pradesh, India Gyandoot: 40 rural cyber cafes. (www.gyandoot.net), Serving ½ million inhabitants in rural areas. Total cost: $50,000 for network, set up of one kiosk is $1, 250 Nearly 35 Services Provided Commodity marketing information services and village auction site Applying for a copy of land records, driving license, caste certificate Filing a complaint in local language: Hindi e-mail Impact: Government: More responsive, transparent, accessible. Community:limit role of intermediaries and travel time. Complaints responded to within one week. Challenges: Lack of Institutional Capacity: Inadequate value delivered to clients -- unsolved grievances and price data not updated. Poor access to ICT infrastructure Results in problems of sustainability – economic viability Total cost: $50,000, set up of one kiosk is $1, 250 Challenges: Low quality of content, kiosks running only 50% of the time, Maintenance costs have been high, so a number of them have been shut down.

E-Democracy in Yalova Municipality, Turkey Interactive municipal services offered through website. Delivery model: Internet Kiosks, contact centers, municipal personnel Information Provided:Municipality budget and cash flow, tenders and their results, Assets of City Council Members E-Democracy: Citizens can put forward their views online Citizens vote on investment proposals Impact: All investments at the district level have to be in accordance with public views expressed by citizens Rustempasa District: 75% of all investments have been made with citizen participation and input Citizens can voice their needs and priorities Challenges: ICT literacy and Monitoring Capabilities Too early to tell impact, Monitoring capabilities

NGOs use E-Governance to Create an Informed Citizenry in Lithuania Citizen Advisory Services in Lithuania: An intermediary between the municipality and citizen. Provide information and offer consultative advice on legal, social and other issues, and influence the development of social policies locally. Target clients come from socially vulnerable groups (youth, elderly, unemployed). Set up of 15 offices, some of them located within municipal offices with volunteer advisors. Offices provide access to Internet and to CDROM that provides information on laws, social services, setting up of business. Citizens seek advice and information on: social security; health care; employment; housing; human rights; legal advice; education and training; business; customs duties. Goal: help to promote effective, transparent and accountable public administration and policy making and create informed citizenry.

The Challenge of E-Government Political will and culture of openness is critical Citizen and Government capacity to interact over online channels Transparency of processes/automation is seen as threatening to jobs Institutional capacity to adapt to new way of doing things: can government effectively respond? Few efforts made to create assessment tools to evaluate e-government projects – evidence is anecdotal

Critical Success Factors: Political Leadership required for guiding government agency through transition ICT is not a magic bullet, can contribute to better governance only when it is used as a tool to complement broader reform initiatives Policies need to support new processes: I.e. Information Access and Disclosure Policies Citizens are the e-government experts: e-government services should be piloted with the full participation of citizens before a government invests in a project. (citizen steering committees, focus groups, NGOs can help with design and evaluation) Citizens who participate must receive some “return on involvement.” ICT is a neutral tool, can contribute to decentralization in the right institutional environment and committed reform agenda.

Thank You Arsala Deane http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/