Speaking at the two-day ITWeb eGovernment conference at Emperor's Palace, Mtimunye said the challenge to realise the full potential of e-government, aligned with the circumstances and priorities of the country, will not be met until understanding and responding to the needs of citizens is made the top priority.
But he warned that up until now e-government initiatives have been focused on what currently exists in the government offerings, and not on addressing the actual needs of citizens.
Mtimunye added that in order to tailor services to unique customer segments and through multiple channels, a lot of market research is required. Unfortunately, he argued, only limited research has been conducted. As a result, service delivery tends to be what government believes citizens need from government, which is often wrong.
What can be done?
Mtimunye pointed to examples of “citizen research engagement” such as the Network Economic Development Agenda (Neda), which is aimed at uncovering customer and citizen needs and wants. He noted that Neda has both a demand and supply component and makes strong use of “e-participation” – the use of ICT for enabling and strengthening citizen participation in democratic decision-making processes.
These e-participation processes may involve administration, service delivery, decision-making and policy-making. “E-democracy”, the use of ICT by elected officials, media, political parties, interest groups, civil society organisations, international governmental organisations, and citizens and voters, is also crucial, Mtimunye added.
Mtimunye said that with e-government initiatives beginning to show their potential in the US and Europe, there is now an urgent need to “re-set” SA's e-government vision and strategy and to come up with ambitious new targets for ICT-based improvements in government services and service delivery. It is time, he noted, for SA to “move to higher levels of e-government maturity”.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jacob Nthoiwa
Quelle/Source: ITWeb, 23.03.2009
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