It is vital that Maitlamo is not seen simply as a huge technology project. For e-Government to be successful, Botswana will need to fundamentally rethink and redesign the current public sector service delivery model. e-Government is the application of ICT within public administration. It extends the reach of government by providing access to information and services, from virtually any location, at any time. Service standards are enhanced and customer satisfaction levels improved. e-Government has the potential to provide savings in time, money and human resources. This is especially important at a time when most government organisations are looking to do more-with-less and reduce the overall cost of service delivery.
e-Government introduces a customer-focused ethic into operations and creates flexible and responsive government departments with a passion for performance measurement and continuous improvement.
Botswana is starting from a position of strength in terms of further ICT diffusion in Government. It has already invested heavily in the development of a sophisticated Government Data Network (GDN).
The specific targets of Government-on-line are: All appropriate government information on-line by the end of 2007; all appropriate government services on-line by the end of 2009; all government employees to receive formal ICT and e-Government training within one year of joining the public service - starting in January 2008.
e-Government is far more successful and delivers far greater stakeholder value when it is designed within the context of a broader service delivery reform agenda. This ‘whole-of-government strategy’ leverages infrastructure, reduces cost and improves the on-line experience for clients.
Next week we will discuss the challenges to traditional service delivery that will have to be addressed as government information and transactions move on-line.
People in Botswana will no longer accept that they need to travel large distances and stand in long queues for basic information and simple transactions - they will expect these tasks to be completed electronically at a time of their choosing.
Quelle: Mmegi, 29.09.2005
