Ambitious governments and the rise of ‘the Arab Digital Generation’ don’t change the fact that someone has to foot the bill for the fast-growing network of e-government programmes being implemented by Gulf nations, Booz & Company has warned in a new study on ‘self-sustainable e-government’.
And increasingly, the firm predicts, it won’t be governments alone paying to deliver public services online.
“The challenge today is to make e-government programmes self-sustainable. This requires evolving beyond the traditional model - in which governments pay all costs - to one in which governments share the benefits of such programmes with strategic partners, generating revenue, and delivering better services to constituents,” the firm says in the introduction to its new research.
The first is tendering out the provision of public services to private firms, who would then charge fees for the services provided.
Next, the consulting firm advises countries to make more government data available such as maps, statistics and transactional data so that “businesses can use them to create groundbreaking new services and applications”.
The Booz team also calls for e-government sites to carry advertising for private firms in a bid to raise revenues, but observes there have been concerns that “such displays would carry an implicit state endorsement of the products advertised”.
Finally, the firm advises Gulf governments to allow state-created platforms to be used by businesses to offer private services.
Ramez Shehadi, a Partner with Booz & Company, said: “Such initiatives generate revenue for governments, improve operating efficiency, create jobs, foster new businesses, and encourage digitization - the mass adoption of connected digital technologies.”
The UAE is ranked the region’s e-government leader by the UN, and is ranked 28th globally.
---
Quelle/Source: 7DAYS, 01.07.2013
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
