Ten years ago when we started e-government we called together the key industry players and ‘web shapers’ from other countries to come and sit with us in the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), to look at our requirements and propose to the government which applications should be built. At that point the internet was new, and our approach was shaped by international trends.
Now, as part of our National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) programme which was launched in late 2010, we have developed an ICT Strategic Plan which was launched in July 2011. This sets out our transformation agenda which is now shaped by the Malaysian people, industries and NGOs. They have sat down with us and helped identify the new things which the government should do. Our programmes are now driven by this internal focus.
For example, we have looked at our online services, so we have to address the needs of the people. We have sat down with the industry, discussed the need for – and trends in – technology today, and integrated these perspectives. This process of engagement is how we get ideas and meet the expectations of citizens and the private sector.
Government as a platform
If you look at our e-government initiatives, you see the proliferation of ICT in the government has already matured. From our baselinesstudy we see that about 35 per cent of government services are available online. To have reached this stage you will already have developed data centres, connectivity – but moving forward we want 90 per cent of government services available online by 2015.
This will require optimisation of IT resources, and we are now moving towards greater consolidation and standardisation. If you’re providing connectivity, every agency must have a minimum bandwidth to ensure that services are not disrupted. So we will make sure that 720 government agencies will have a minimum level of connectivity by providing a secure government network. That will be cost effective – we will be able to consolidate resources, and to give a standard service level to all. The other area of focus for us is on the data centre side – we are consolidating the many data centres across government in to a few data centres, and setting up more disaster recovery centres.
Stakeholder engagement
Our transformation agenda over five years is a huge programme – and to roll this out will take considerable effort to inform and engage the government ministries, the states and the local districts, to share with the citizens and our counterparts at the state level what our initiatives and plans are.
This year we have been given a bigger budget for our promotional programmes. For example, in January, the Prime Minister launched the rural transformation programme and we had a booth show all our services. The session was attended by 50,000 citizens! So our promotional activities are really moving forward, and this year we have already planned to extend the promotional activities to many states – raising awareness of the state plans for ICT.
When we have these road shows – we bring the services to the citizens, enroll them, get them to use the services – so they can practically transact there on the spot. Once we show them, they can show others. Experiencing the transaction – if you want to update driver’s licence, check your summons, your provident fund, register for change of address – makes them advocates, and they will tell their extended friends and family.
Effective government
All of this work creates an impact: the heads of agencies know about our programmes, and at the ministerial level they are fully aware of the necessity to meet the needs of citizens. This is reinforced by a biannual audit of agencies which focuses on three components: organisational management, policy implementation, and customer relationship management.
We grade all agencies on a 1-5 star system to assess the effectiveness of government, in order to create an environment that allows them to actively and positively improve their service delivery, and see the level of compliance with existing rules. Because citizen expectations change, we review all service improvement initiatives that have been undertaken by agencies – and one of the main areas that we look at during the audit is the initiatives undertaken by ministries on how they use ICT.
Engaged government
Our Prime Minister is very active on Twitter, and the government is encouraged to use social media. We issue circulars for ministries to use social media, and they must follow our guidelines on what people should and should not do – we monitor compliance weekly. We also monitor the performance of social media on a weekly basis. If it sounds like a lot of work – that is because it is! But social media is a trend – so of course you have to put in place the people to manage social media effectively, otherwise you’re not showing respect for the people.
This is a new dimension to the work of government; there is no way you can run away from social media.
We have used social media as a channel for feedback – and also to understand public attitudes. We recently used it during our studies on the importance and level of counter service in government. We turned to social media to get participation from citizens, because it is our customers who determine whether a service is good or not, and whether we are doing a good job.
Even though we may have given agencies five stars, we also check agencies regularly through a ‘mystery shopping’ programme. Mystery shopping is trying to evaluate the quality of government services using the lenses of the customer. We go there without their knowledge, pretend to be a member of the public, observe how they do things – how they transact their core business. This supplements our regular inspections – where we inform departments in advance.
All of this mystery shopping is handled internally by MAMPU, and if we find that the service is not satisfactory, we will immediately write to the leadership of the agency and tellthem that there is something wrong with their service, and that they must upgrade their service. This is done across all government departments – and they can expect a lot of reports from us, all of which they have to respond to within a stipulated time – normally within one week.
A single vision for government
Government is one platform, with many agencies that share one vision. This is very important, and although there are a lot of agencies in the country, our vision is the same: ‘Malaysia Maju’ (Advanced Malaysia) by 2020.
That means that everyone in government has to play his or her role for the success of the country by 2020. The Prime Minister set the target – and we are heading towards it. That is why we have to benchmark each and everyone. Even once they have achieved five stars, that means they must keep on raising the bar, which is why we keep checking them every two years – whether they have done a good job, whether they have improved from the last audit, and review their new initiatives. These are the checks and balances between the central agency and the operating agencies.
We must keep up with the needs of the people on the ground – people have expectations for service levels, and we need to keep up with the expectation of the public. We need to meet the expectations of the people on the ground.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): James Smith
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 21.12.2012
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
