IT as a tool in public and private sectors
The advent of information technology as a high leverage-enabling tool for delivery of services in both public and private sector has now been globally recognized. This has re-defined the fundamentals and has the potential to change the institution as well as the mechanism of delivery of services forever. It is in this context that the issue of electronic governance or smart governance needs to be analyzed.The art and practice of governance is in itself very complex. It involves the interaction of citizens who often provide occasional inputs with political leaders who determine broad policy priorities and distribute resources based on those priorities and existing programs and legal requirements. Over time of course, bureaucratic barriers to reform make it difficult for leaders to recognize changes in citizen needs and priorities. Dissonance among citizens, leaders and those who implement public works, are often based on the inability to communicate through and across these groups. Government therefore needs to provide extensive access to information and interact with its citizens, political groups, and run advocacy campaign. All these can only be efficiently provided using IT as a tool.
The Jigawa Experience
The term E-government is sometimes confused with e-governance. The latter is sufficiently beyond the scope of the former. While e-government is defined as a mere delivery of government services and information to the public using electronic means, e-governance allows direct participation of constituents in government activities. E-governance is not just about service delivery over the Internet. It is not just about digital access to government or electronic payments. It will change how citizens relate to governments as much as it changes how citizens relate to each other. It will bring forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of needs and responsibilities. E-governance will allow citizens to communicate with governments, participate in government's policymaking and enable citizens to communicate with each other. This type of governance will timely allow citizens to participate in the government's decision-making process, reflect their true needs and welfare by utilizing e-government as a tool.
The history of IT-based governance in a state like Jigawa cannot be so long as might be expected by many considering the huge success recorded. The state itself is just 13 years old. With 22,400 km2 landmass and population of a little above 4 million, Jigawa is situated in the north-west of Nigeria. With the coming of this administration to power in May 1999, one of the first moves made was to bring government closer to the citizenry for effective and more meaningful interaction.This eventually led to the decentralization of government ministries and agencies from the state capital to various local government areas across the state. Then came government policy on IT. The Ministry of Science and Technology was established in Jigawa to oversee implementation of the IT policy. Jigawa is the first state in the country to establish Ministry of Science and Technology.
Thousands of personal computers were procured and distributed to all government ministries and agencies across the state.To prepare the citizenry, the government bought a master franchise from Informatics Holdings, Singapore and established Informatics Institute in Kazaure. This Institute, which is the first of its kind in Africa, is offering training on IT and computer appreciation to civil servants, students and the general public, all at subsidized rate. The Institute has now been upgraded to a University of Information Technology. It is expected to graduate 3000 students in IT by the year 2007. The state has also invested a lot in efforts to integrate IT into main stream education and training.
To that effect, eight computer-based model boarding primary school and seven science and computer- based junior boarding schools were established. Empowerment of Youths with IT skills was also vigorously pursued by the government.In this regard, four comprehensive computer training institutions were established at Kazaure, Hadejia, Dutse and Ringim.As a policy, Government directed all ministries in the state to create units and dedicate them to this drive.
Within the government cycle, use of IT has helped in improving transparency, providing accurate and speedy information to both civil servants and the general public and has improved administrative efficiency and public service. Both horizontal and most importantly, vertical accessibility has tremendously increased among civil servants.This is vital for smooth operations. Inter-ministerial contacts and co-ordination has also received boost from IT application in Jigawa.
Processes involving two or more ministries and or parastatals that hitherto take between 3- 5 days to get accomplished can now be finished in few hours online. The civil service sector has also been affected positively by the IT wind. Civil servants are now identified not only with names and ranks but also with code of ministries and a staff identification number and are centrally controlled from the Office of the Head of Service. Exit and entrance into the service are also monitored centrally and coordinated from a common pool. Retirement on the basis of either old age or length of service can now be known instantly from records which are constantly updated. Salary payment in Jigawa has now become much easier using a special program designed for that purpose. Paper vouchers have now started to become history. Salary vouchers from ministries can now be sent to the Treasury online.
Looking at the website of Jigawa State Government which is still under construction, one will find that it was developed keeping the target audience and its requirements in mind. The primary target audience here are the citizens. The website intends to offer a range of information on government activities and the state in general, such that the common citizen does not have to run around government offices and wait on queues to get application forms and other relevant information regarding various schemes and services.
Such forms, along with necessary instructions, would be made available on the website so that one would easily download and make use of them.On the part of the citizenry, the number of Internet users in Jigawa is constantly on the increase. The state government, waking up to the need of the hour, has become aware of the hidden cost in not adopting e-government, such as delay in processes, uncertainty, lack of transparency and corruption. Jigawa seems, therefore, to have realized to its advantage, that it is important to start early and learn fast in this digital area of hyper growth. It is important to mention here that, Jigawa State and the governor were selected by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology as the best IT state and governor in the country respectively for the present year, 2004.
All these operations were facilitated greatly using equipment provided by Galaxy Limited (Broadband Access Network), an IT and Telecommunications company wholly owned by the Jigawa State Government. This company, which is the largest of its kind in Nigeria in terms of facilities, has the capacity to service the whole country in the field of internet provision.
It is using some of the latest technologies in IT to provide services in Jigawa. It has at present started to provide telephone services (on test) similar to that of GSM in Jigawa, charges of which can be as low as 20% of other GSM and plans are underway to extend services to other parts of the country. The main equipment for these services is the main hub situated in Dutse, the state capital, from where signals are sent to receiving masts erected in all the local government areas in the state.The masts in turn transmit the signals to receiving systems.
The main hub is linked to the Satellite PANAM SAT., in space. The main hub in Dutse has the capacity to transmit signals to masts erected any where in the globe within the same system. One might, however, ask what would happen to number of jobs that could be irrelevant as time goes on with the full implementation of e-governance? It is imminent that some jobs such as messengers, clerks and even secretaries, may not be necessary under full e-governance. While conversion may be possible to other cardres for the literate personnel, it may not be so with the illiterate ones.
Government of Jigawa is fully aware of this reality which is uncomfortable to most civil servants for fear of being affected, and has decided to prepare for the matter before hand. The government has in the year 2000 established an agency named Millennium Village Commission to take care of the bloated civil service that might arise in the event of above.This agency has been identifying cases of this nature and giving the affected civil servants training in selected skills for them to be self reliant after retirement. The civil servant is even aided with a micro-credit to help him settle after retirement.
Autor: Ibrahim Saminu Turaki
Quelle: AllAfrica, 06.12.2004
