E-Government in Regional Perspective: E-Government in Regional Perspective From Concept to Strategies and Programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean Angela Capati-Caruso Division for Public Administration and Development Management, DESA, United Nations Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22 November 2004


What is it that we are dealing with?: What is it that we are dealing with? The concept


Definitions and key assumptions:: Definitions and key assumptions: […as per World Public Sector Report 2003: “E-government at the Crossroads” ]: E-government is a government that uses ICT to transform its internal and external relationships E-government at its best can be viewed as the process of creating public value (i.e. things that people want) with the use of modern ICT, including the Internet People want (differently and individually defined) high quality of life (i.e. human development) From people’s point of view, in their dealings with the public administrations, delivery of public value is more important than the medium of its delivery


What do people want? : What do people want? Goal: human development in a peaceful, prosperous and just world Domain: all people everywhere Action pattern: good governance, genuine political participation Values: freedom, human solidarity, tolerance… To achieve this specific transformation and build this specific societal context – world-making effort is needed


Meaningful, pointless and wasteful e-government development: Meaningful, pointless and wasteful e-government development Meaningful: adds public value (things that people want), empowers them, removes their “unfreedoms”, accelerates their human development Pointless: optimizes government operations, but pursues objectives that are not in line with what people want Wasteful: engages resources but does not result in optimization of government operations


E-government as we know it: E-government as we know it E-government applications can be described as “customer interface”, “functions optimizing”, and “platform” kind of applications E-government development has become part of high-level politics, enjoys broad political support Governments tend to engage in costly, large e-government programs that are prone to failure E-government deployment continues in this form despite concerns related to development, budgetary and cost-effectiveness concerns On-line e-government deployment continues despite documented limited demand (digital divide, culture, design, technical, legal, governance-related issues.


Regional cooperation on e-Government in LAC: why?: Regional cooperation on e-Government in LAC: why? E-government not equally pronounced within region Risk that inequalities may further increase High cost of e-government implementation Financing e-government is a challenge


Regional cooperation on e-Government in LAC: why?: Regional cooperation on e-Government in LAC: why? Human resources limited and difficult to retain Need to improve government services to trade, industry and citizens Need to accelerate and enhance government reform, democratization and development


The Benefits from Regional Cooperation: The Benefits from Regional Cooperation Effectiveness Interdependent benefits and risks Efficiency Split development costs Inventiveness Sharing experience


The Benefits from Regional Cooperation: The Benefits from Regional Cooperation Raise awareness Facilitate dialogue Build political consensus Develop common vision Identify bottlenecks Address inequalities in critical success factors


Implementation of common vision: Implementation of common vision Harmonization in strategy and policy development and implementation Regulatory frameworks Open standards Interoperability


The Benefits from Regional Cooperation: The Benefits from Regional Cooperation Social capital development Overcome market size, reach critical mass and economies of scale Resource mobilization and pooling of resources Stronger voice in international negotiations


UNDESA in regional cooperation in LAC: UNDESA in regional cooperation in LAC Objective : To develop regional e-government strategies and action plans, and convert strategies into bankable programmes Initiatives Caribbean Central America


Caribbean Initiative: Caribbean Initiative Ministerial Consultations Creation of Caribbean e-government working group E-government readiness assessment Strategy formulation and adoption Establishment of project development facility


Central America Initiative: Central America Initiative Conference on ICT and e-government for regional development and integration Creation of Central American E-government Task Force E-government readiness assessment


UNDESA in regional cooperation: UNDESA in regional cooperation Components Awareness raising Readiness assessment Development of regional strategy and plan Project development facility


The process of developing e-government: The process of developing e-government Understand key factors Assess readiness Set strategic goals Involve key stakeholders Secure sustainable funding Establish implementation plans Develop projects


E-government readiness: E-government readiness Institutional Capacity Cultural and Human Resources Conditions ICT Capacity Political Conditions  Administrative Structures  Civil Service Reforms  Policy and Implementation Coordination  IT Education and Outreach programs  New Managerial Skills in the Public Sector  Citizen – centric Public Administration  Communication environment  Technological Infrastructure  Information and Knowledge Management  Committed and visionary Leadership  Citizen participation  Good Governance Core Areas Enabling Factors


UNDESA role:: UNDESA role: Implementation that adds value via: bring to bear the global experience collect and disseminate the accumulated experience develop tools Involve key stakeholders support design of implementation projects support mobilization of resources from ODA for regional projects Benchmarking, evaluating


If you want to know more: If you want to know more about UNDESA & e-government log on to www.unpan.org/dpepa-kmb.asp


Thank you: Thank you Angela Capati-Caruso Division for Public Administration and Development Management DESA, United Nations