Public management involves a combination of actions undertaken by an entity in the pursuit of its goals, ends and objectives, based on its priorities. To this end, for local, regional and national governments, information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become one of the most important means for achieving such goals and objectives.
Not all of the countries of the region are equally able to adequately implement public management within the desired timeframe. Their dimensions are different and geography can be an obstacle in cases where access is difficult. For others, the lack of financial resources represents a serious limitation. Nevertheless, all our populations have the same right to a public management that meets their expectations, and if delivered through ICTs, this will be all the easier.
The use of ICTs to facilitate public management also constitutes a combination of challenges for the countries of our region. The first is to create the necessary conditions (in infrastructure and telecommunications) for the delivery of services. Second, the public must be able to make use of the services being provided through ICTs. Third, institutions must generate the contents that citizens require in order to interact with the State. Fourthly, a set of norms must be developed to validate the information that is flowing across the Internet. Finally, in using predefined standards, institutions must successfully exchange information among their databases and make it easier for the public to do official paperwork electronically.
This approach coincides with the parameters set out by the United Nations for ranking countries according to their development and implementation of e-government. According to the latest UN E-Government Survey 2008, the region’s progress has been quite heterogeneous and its position with respect to the rest of the world ranges from 37th place (Mexico) to 165th place (Haiti), among 182 nations. With this same uniformity, we can observe progress on issues such as digital signatures, the establishment of standards for the exchange of information among State institutions, interoperability, single-window digital platforms, as well as access to websites and electronic documents.
These achievements aim to change the paradigm of public management, which is currently centered on institutions, refocusing it towards citizens and providing value added public services. So that the countries of our region can arrive at the Ministerial Conference in Lima in 2010 having achieved this is a task for us all.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jaime Honores Coronado
Quelle/Source: eGov monitor, 26.10.2009
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