This in essence makes public services more accessible and citizen-centric by extending the benefits of remote delivery of government services and information to those who are unable or unwilling to access public services through the traditional Internet.
This emerging trend in public service delivery has been called “Mobile Government” (m-Government) and is part of a broader phenomenon of mobile-enabled development (m-development) or leveraging the mobile revolution to enable development impact.
M-Government takes public services and makes them available via mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs, bypassing the need for traditional physical networks.
As more advanced mobile devices become more common, and faster rates of data transfer become possible, more useful and higher value-added mobile services will be possible and expected from all levels of government.
Both developed and developing countries have been experimenting with mobile delivery of public services for the last five to seven years, and there is plenty of experience to learn from for the newcomers to the m-Government agenda.
Developing countries seem to be ahead of the game this time around.
They are coming up with the most innovative mobile applications that developed countries can only imagine.
This innovation is mostly driven by the pervasiveness of mobile networks.
This phenomenal growth, however, is partly as a result of failed telecoms policies that were crafted in the 80s and 90s that led to most developing countries having under-developed communication infrastructure.
A recent study on Internet usage in Kenya indicated that there is a remarkable increase in mobile Internet usage.
This, overtaking the traditional PC access to the Internet.
What this means is, we have the potential to make e-Government more inclusive if we choose to use mobile devices as the delivery channel.
And this is especially so in the Government to Citizens (G2C) realm of e-Government.
Big impact
There is no doubt that at the G2C level, m-Government will have a bigger impact than e-Government.
This in itself is a good thing, as it brings government services not just closer to the people but personal and everywhere.
Deploying m-Government should be part of the government transformation programme and can be a strategically broaden its public service access and impact on its citizenry.
Its implementation should involve the utilisation of all sorts of wireless and mobile technologies, services, applications and devices.
There are already m-Government services in some ministries, but these again are outcomes of “successful accidents” than planned deployments.
Government should spend at least 50 per cent of its technology budget in developing and deploying m-Government applications.
This will result in efficient access to public services and a happy tax paying citizenry.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Harry Hare
Quelle/Source: Business Daily Africa, 13.05.2010
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
