The vast potential of e-Government

by Rohan Mathes

The emergence of e-Governance to the State mechanism would undoubtedly be a fountain of hope to our island nation. Many developed countries in the world today such as the US, Canada, Singapore, Korea and even India in the states of Andra Pradesh and Karnataka, have adopted "e-Government" work strategies to make citizen services more efficient and effective. The heart of e-Government is the government's offer of an efficient citizen service through the use of ICT.

Moreover, Re-engineering Government will strive to ensure that government services are delivered efficiently at the right time, to the right place, and to the citizens' very doorstep, be it the home or the freely accessible community information centres (VGKs). It will provide citizen services in the most efficient and productive manner, by re-engineering and empowering business processes of the government.

The role of ICTA

e-Government in Sri Lanka, had been initiated by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), which to date has provided immense awareness and assisted diverse government departments and agencies on the merits, advantages and benefits of electronic data bases and automated procedures. The programme which is directly under Premier Mahinda Rajapakse's Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, co-ordinates with the Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) as well.

As Lalith Weeratunga explains, "Our programme is e-Government alright, but we take it as Re-Engineering Government. Being also the Chairman of the ARC, I intend to change the way the government works by introducing new management techniques. We will also look into how the manpower should be turned out as part of the administrative reforms. Nevertheless, we will not go into cadre management and salary structures etc., as they will be dealt with by the National Council for Administration.

We will seek to reduce the size and the number of forms which needs to be filled. In essence we will minimise bureaucracy and paperwork. However, I don't say that the staff should be limited. All of them could work but, their productivity should increase.

There would be provision for a 'phone-in' facility from any part of the island, in any language one wishes to speak to, 24 hours a day and 365 days per year, to obtain various information, such as train and flight time tables.

Forms for various services could be downloaded from the web, and one would not have to call Colombo for the same. There would be provision to obtain 'online', all government forms".

The implementation of the Re-engineering Government programme or the delivering of citizen services, would result in the government agencies working together more easily and electronically, with information being re-usable between agencies. Government agencies will be connected via the LakGovNet project and information will be electronically shared across agencies. Databases having personal information pertaining to citizens, would be established.

The government agencies therefore will need to strike a balance between the employees' access to information and the problems relating to the security of information and the information systems, which in turn would need secure information systems.

Barriers

The strategies of Re-engineering Government includes the collaboration with administrative reforms regime in bringing about a new governance framework that is enabled by ICT. It will create a 'single window' for the citizens to access citizen services provided by the government.

The lack of computer facilities and connectivity are two main barriers in the establishment of ICT related work plans. However, the 'Population Registry' project whose first stage commences with the pilot project operating in the Western province, would connect all government entities such as Ministries, Departments, Provincial Councils, District Secretariats and Divisional Secretariats in a closed network, via broadband data communication lines. These government institutions will receive internet connections and email addresses that would follow a uniform naming system. The system will have back-up services as well.

The Population Registry project envisages to create a database containing basic information on every Sri Lankan citizen, who on his birth, will receive a unique identification number, onto which basic information pertaining to the individual will be stored and updated at important occasions such as marriage and death. This will serve as the primary database for information of any Sri Lankan. All government departments, banks and other service providers will have access to this information.

An obsolete manual registration process would not cater to the ever growing demand for personal information nowadays. With the Electronic Population Register which the Registrar General's Department plans to implement soon with the technical guidance of the ICTA, parents would not have to wait in suspense, for six months or more, to obtain the birth certificate of a child. A person domiciled in Colombo need not travel all that way to the Polonnaruwa Divisional Secretariat, where he was born, merely to get a certified copy of his birth certificate. The general public would not have to undergo the hassle of providing the same information to different government institutions repeatedly.

It is envisaged to retain population records in computerised registers, so that they could be retrieved for multiple functions, in various spheres of the society, such as in elections, for welfare benefits,, statistics, taxation, planning of schools and hospitals and payment of pensions among others.

The Electronic Population Register will permit officials to enter information at source, be it birth, marriage, death or otherwise. Information will also be exchanged between databases of other identified government institutions, such as the Department of Registration of Persons, Department of Immigration and Emigration et al.

Furthermore, the system would also streamline government procedures, automate forms, distribute essential services and products such as ID Cards and distribute management and operational information to authorised players. It is also envisaged to enhance the security levels in the issue of National Identity Cards, Travel Documents and Driving Licences.

e-Services

The identification of several citizen services that could be potentially re-engineered, was the initial step in the e-Gov programme, followed by the empowering of these services with ICT. Some of those services identified are, e-motoring, e-pensions, e-Foreign Employment and e-Human Resources Management.

For example, in e-Motoring, the services offered by the Department of Motor Vehicles will be re-organised and made more efficient with the utilization of ICT.

Registration of motor vehicles, transfers of ownership, issue of driving licences and payment of vehicle revenue license fees will be streamlined using ICT.

e-Government, Digital Government, Inter-networked Government, Government online or, whatever one may call it, the government will utilise technology, web based internet applications in particular, to enhance access and delivery of government services to citizens, business partners, employees and other government entities.