“Our achievements in e-government services are highly regarded by many countries,” Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts told the press at the launch ceremony for Singapore‘s new international e-government consultancy, IDA International. “We have attracted increasing attention from the public agencies of many countries. They share the same interest to develop their own e-government programmes. They are keen to work with us,“ he said
But are they? True enough, the Infocomm Development Authority has found a market for Singaporean IT firms in countries such as Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago. But besides Brazil, IDA has yet to export its expertise to a country of the size and complexity of China or India. Or besides Brunei, a country nearby in Asia Pacific.
Madhav Ragam, Director of Government & Education, Healthcare & Life Sciences for IBM’s Growth Markets Unit, says that four things needs to be in place before any model can be successfully exported: “Strong leadership, a well-defined governance model, close alignment with the budget process and clearly defined performance measures.” He argues that while Singapore’s e-government technology cannot simply be uprooted and planted elsewhere, technology is not the issue. “It is the holistic thinking around a challenge for government – be it tax or customs clearance – that has put Singapore ahead of others.”
R. Chandrashekhar, Additional Secretary, e-Governance, Government of India: In a word, no. There are elements of Singapore’s model that could be of use in India, at a state or perhaps local level. But one cannot blindly presume it can be applied in toto. The goals of government are very different, and so the role of e-government – or e-governance, as is more applicable to India – will be different too. In Singapore, efficiency might rank highly as a goal for e-government. In India, the ability of government to be inclusive and reach all people is far more important – to be efficient for a small number of people is not India’s goal. The nature of government and the way it run is very different too. In India, everyone expects – and rightly so – to be part of the decision-making process. This has major implications for how e-governance is planned and executed. I’m not saying that Singapore’s model is not at all applicable. But there must be a thorough analysis before an attempt is made to implement e-government initiatives. In India’s case, looking at how ICT can be used to strengthen the manner inwhich the government can better reach its citizens.
Dr Jeongwon Yoon, IT Policy Division, Global Cooperation Team, National Information Society Agency, South Korea: If the Singaporean model can help to guide the target country in how it defines its priorities, and helps that country use limited resources for services and projects, then it is a good model - so yes, it can. But one of the problems with exported models proposed by Singapore - or Korea, or any other advanced country - is that these countries are pushing their success cases on to developing countries. For instance, Korea‘s e-procurement model might not work in China or India. And for many reasons. China‘s regulatory and legal requirements might be different. Public infrastructure might be different. They might have other prioritised projects that require more attention than procurement. They may not have a sound ICT industry or service sector. Critically, they lack the necessary financial resources. But even if they had the funds, the real success factor in applying a good model is political will. Considering the fact that different circumstances might produce different outcomes, the export model should be customised to suit the target country‘s needs and priorities.
Zhang Shouren, Deputy Director, E-government Office of Dalian Municipal Government: During the early years of e-government, certain models from more advanced countries stood out for others to learn from. But things have changed and this is no longer the case. Now, after years of sharing e-government practices there are more similarities than differences across the world. It is no longer useful to talk about ‘models’ – often you can’t tell which bits were from whom initially. A few years ago, our Mayor was keen to collaborate with Singapore on e-government. Lots of discussions took place some of which are ongoing. But overall the introduction of Singapore’s model has proved unsuccessful. The differences between the two countries’ political and administrative systems were prohibitive. Also, because of the central government’s emphasis on information security – it is now hard for us to allow foreign entities to build our e-government model based on their best practices. A few collaborations we had with Singapore companies, successful in their country, all went badly. And this is not unique to Dalian, but other cities in China as well.
Ray Roxas-Chua, Chairman, Commission on Information and Communication Technology, the Philippines: I admire Singapore’s e-government programmes and I have the utmost respect for the IDA. I believe a country like the Philippines can learn a great deal by studying the Singapore e-government model. However, it will probably be very difficult for the Philippines to adopt the Singapore model in its entirety. Managing the e-government programmes of an island citystate with 5 million people is vastly different from that of a country with over 7000 islands and 90 million people. In addition, our government structures are also very different. For example, the Philippines does not even have a Department or Ministry of ICT, so our e-government programmes are handled by the Commission on ICT under the Office of the President. We are currently in the process of passing a law establishing a Department of ICT, so that we will finally have a stronger authority to push e-government initiatives. Adopting the Singapore e-government model in its entirety might be a stretch, but I am open to learning more about their best practices to see what may be applicable in the Philippines.
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Quelle/Source: FutureGov Magazine, 02.06.2009
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