Local eGovernance for Social and Economic Development

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Local e-Governance for Social and Economic
Development

• Luci Abrahams
• LOGIN Africa presentation
• Gauteng 29 May 2007

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Scope of presentation workshop discussion

• Sketch the context Gauteng city region and its
  municipalities aiming for high growth and social
  inclusion
• What the LOGIN Africa study aims to do comments
  from participants to ensure relevance
• Early findings comment from participants
  regarding mutual advice and issues for further
  study
• Key issues for eGovernance for social and local
  economic development

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Context

• Scope of study local e-governance for social
  development and local economic development
• Entities 14 municipal level councils in Gauteng
  Province, total population 9m South Africa
  total population 47,3m
• Vision globally competitive Gauteng
  city-region collective vision of provincial
  and municipal governments (compare San Francisco,
  London, Cairo, Mumbai approaches)
• Growth and Development Strategy 8 growth by
  2014
• Multisectoral Social Development Strategy
  issues pertinent to local e-governance include
  housing, education, health, safety security,
  social inclusion
• Local Economic Development strategies issues
  pertinent to local e-governance include
  development of the mainstream economy finance,
  manufacturing, infrastructure, services, RD,
  integrating the second economy into the
  mainstream economy, increasing opportunities for
  employment low and high income through HRD and
  increased levels of investment
• SA Cities Network frame/applicability 9 metro
  and district level governments across SA, with
  national DPLG (all have similar challenges, can
  share research solutions) cascading value of
  research

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Context
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Gauteng Municipalities
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Capacity and Organisation of the StateGauteng
Provincial Government

• From DBSA provincial report

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Capacity and Organisation of the StateGauteng
Provincial Government

• From DBSA provincial report

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Capacity and Organisation of the StateGauteng
Provincial Government

• From DBSA provincial report

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GCR Vision for Gauteng

• Aims for high growth 8 gt, based largely on
  manufacturing, infrastructure and services,
  building provincial innovation system, hosting
  international events eg FIFA World Cup 2010TM
• Aims to decrease rate of unemployment and
  increase rate of social inclusion
• Notes that ICT access and usage including
  e-governance characterises productive,
  competitive, innovative cities can increase
  social inclusion, anti-poverty? various
  initiatives

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Local e-governance

• SA Morocco Report E-governance describes the use
  and impact of ICT in governance systems. It
  involves new channels for accessing government,
  new styles of leadership, new methods of
  transacting, and new systems for organising and
  delivering information and services. The focus is
  primarily on processes and interactions.
• Pan-African Conceptual Framework e-governance
  has the following three applications
• e-Administration in which an administration or a
  government office uses ICT in order to
  interrelate its various departments and digitize
  its internal operations via automation and
  computerization of administrative tasks.
• e-Citizens and Services are e-Government
  applications that enable online access to
  government information and knowledge and deliver
  automated services.
• e-Society provides a platform that facilitates
  interactions between government actor and civil
  society.

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Service Delivery and Development Challenges
Governance
Customer/Citizens
E-Administration
E-Services
E-Business
E-Society/ Democracy
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Field of focus

• Social Development
• Social development refers to focusing on
  development through building the capacities of
  individuals, families, and communities, in
  contrast to a more traditional social services
  focus on maintenance and problem solving.
• Social development and economic development are
  interdependent and mutually reinforcing
  processes. Equitable social development is the
  foundation of economic prosperity and economic
  growth is necessary for social development.
• The main elements of the social development
  strategy for the Gauteng government are social
  protection and social investment.
• Gauteng multi-sectoral strategy on social
  development

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Field of focus

• Local Economic Development
• City of Joburg Economic projects/programmes that
  ensure that the Johannesburg economy as a whole
  works better for all residents and which fosters
  growth and accelerates employment (population
  3,225m gt1m households strong in services,
  especially financial services with some
  manufacturing)
• City of Ekurhuleni Mission is to facilitate a
  conducive environment where all can participate
  in a wealth generating local economy by focusing
  on economic growth, empowerment and
  transformation Integrated Development Plan

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Theoretical framework scope

• Global City Region competitiveness, knowledge
  economy, new institutionalism
• what social development envisaged what LED
  envisaged
• ICTs for Development to address information
  poverty (income, assets, services and
  infrastructure) websites, connectivity, ??
• Good governance and public sector reform
  strategic vision, responsiveness, transparency

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Scope Phase 1

• Infrastructure to drive delivery eg. connectivity
  plan building blocks how to phase this in for
  a e-governance architecture eg 3 scenarios
  network hosting infrastructure, MTEF budget,
  HR skills development what have other local
  governments done
• Institutional arrangements local government,
  private provider, SPV?
• Websites SD, LED, level of maturity
  usefulness,compare
• Projects Contact Centres SD, LED, level of
  maturity eg.billing systems, emergency call
  centres, Libraries, Bana Pele
• Potential sites of ICT telecoms sector that can
  be developed because transport for economy, so
  not helping, must have an economic rationale
• Particular concrete areas where cooperation can
  add value economies of scale or
  knowledge/capacity

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Research objective questions

• Research objective To elucidate the current
  state of e-governance in relation to social and
  local economic development and to recommend
  actions for further evolution.
• Research questions
• What is the state of e-governance at the local
  level across the Gauteng Province?
• To what extent (types of activities level of
  maturity) have Gauteng province and
  municipalities implemented e-governance functions
  and services to support local economic and social
  development?
• What factors have informed the development of
  e-governance in local government?
• Has good governance been served by these
  activities in relation to strategic vision,
  responsiveness and transparency?
• What measures and resources are required to
  develop the capacities of local government to
  evolve e-governance for social and local economic
  development?

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Demand side analysis

• Social Development (Baseline profile of Gauteng
  Province Demarcation Board IDPs)
• Local Economic Development (DBSA report on the
  Second Economy SA Cities Network report)
• Digital Divide (Towards an African e-Index,
  Mapping ICT access in South Africa)
• Demand side statements (assumptions taken from
  existing research)

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Supply side analysis

• Social Development (GMSSD)
• Local Economic Development (Gauteng Growth
  Development Strategy, CoJ, CoE)
• e-Govt Plan 2005 alignment to GCR/GDS
  performance wrt plan
• Municipalities e-Govt Plans alignment GCR/IDP
  performance wrt plan
• Supply side statement (taken from
  strategies/plans)
• D S Problem statement Alignment
  (intergovernmental demand) Performance

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Outline of modelGCR e-governance strategy

• A. SD, LED,GCR objectives
• B. e-Governance response e-services,
  e-administration, e-society (phases of maturity)
• C. e-Gov access mapping strategy
• D. e-Gov delivery audit strategy (phases of
  maturity, targets timeframes)
• Content management (knowledge management)
• E. Institutional mechanisms resources
• F. Monitoring and evaluation of inputs and
  outputs recommendations/revisions for outcomes
  impact

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Roadmap for e-government in the Developing World

• A Why are we pursuing e-government?
• A Do we have a clear vision and priorities for
  e-Government?
• B What kind of e-government are we ready for?
• B Is there enough political will to lead the
  e-government effort?
• C D Are we selecting e-government projects in
  the best way?
• C D How should we plan and manage
  e-government projects?
• E How will we overcome resistance from within
  the government?
• F How will we measure and communicate progress?
  How will we know if we are failing?
• E What should our relationship be with private
  sector?
• A How can e-government improve citizen
  participation in public affairs?

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Methodology

• Document and website review
• Stakeholder engagement
• Appreciative enquiry workshops
• Strategy facilitation (strategy outline 10
  questions)
• Identify selected initiatives for more detailed
  study
• Interviews
• Site visits

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Evolution of e-governance
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Good governance factors
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Website review

• Each of the municipal websites was reviewed in
  terms of
• Alignment to the phasing of e-government
  development
• Application of assessment criteria for web design
• Focus on social and local economic development

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Phases of e-Government Development
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Website Assessment Criteria
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Social and Local Economic Development

• The following municipal functions support social
  and local economic development

• Social Development
• Childcare facilities, housing, municipal health
  services, free basic services, refuse removal,
  local amenities, sports facilities, municipal
  parks and recreation
• Local Economic Development
• Local tourism, municipal public transport,
  trading regulations, control of sale of alcohol
  and food, markets and street trading
• Metros have a broader definition

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Assessment of websites

• Website review considered information on websites
  on the following municipal functions
• Social Development Municipal Health Services
• Local Economic Development Local Tourism

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Phase of E-Governance Development Key Findings

• 12 of the 14 municipalities have a website
• 11 of the 12 websites are still in Phase 1
  Information Publishing
• Phase 2 City of Johannesburg stands out as it
  offers a range of services that can be conducted
  on-line

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Assessment Criteria Content

• Scope Assessing information supplied on
  municipal functions that support social local
  economic development
• Finding 1 The websites are generally not
  explicit about what the relevant municipal
  functions are and what additional functions have
  been allocated by province.
• Finding 2 It is not made clear how functions are
  shared or allocated between the district
  municipality and its local municipalities.
• Finding 3 Websites do not always provide
  information on all of the functions that support
  SD and LED pertains mainly to DM and LM sites
• Finding 4 Very few sites are delineated
  according to target audience such as Resident,
  Business, Visitor

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Assessment Criteria Content

• Finding 5 Information available in English only
• Finding 6 Contact information generally is
  provided and growing allowance for email contact
  (esp metros) need to test for responsiveness
• Finding 7 Outdated information (calendars,
  other)
• Finding 8 Presentation of information heavy
  reliance on adobe documents (information
  overload) without summary of the content of the
  documents

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Content Municipal Health Services

• Information on health services is mostly limited
  to information on clinics (apart from CoJ)
• Information is mostly presented in the form of
  databases, with some variation
• Only a few provided all the information required
  name of clinic, physical address, contact number,
  dates and times of operation, and services
  rendered
• None of the districts supplied information on the
  environmental health functions and services
• Not always easy to find the information should
  be intuitive or sites should have a functional
  search engine or site map to assist the process
  of finding the information

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Content Local Tourism

• Four websites had no tourist information (mainly
  local municipalities)
• Five websites had limited information on tourism
• Three websites had comprehensive information on
  tourism
• Only one website, namely CoJ, had information for
  emerging tour operators

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Assessment Criteria Interface

• Scope the look and feel of the websites
• Finding 1 great variation in the look and feel
  of the websites.
• Sometimes within websites there is inconsistency
  in the look and feel. Municipalities that have a
  strong corporate identity are likely to have more
  consistency in the websites look and feel.
• One website found to be unacceptable in terms of
  inappropriate use of graphics.

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Assessment Criteria Navigation

• Scope is it easy to find the information one is
  looking for?
• Finding 1 Generally not easy. Search engines
  either non-existent or ineffective. Websites
  contain a great deal of information but it takes
  patience to find this information.
• Finding 2 Two websites where one got stuck on a
  webpage and only way to get to other parts of
  site is by re-entering the URL address, going to
  home page and starting all over again.

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Assessment Criteria Technical

• Scope any technical challenges in using the
  websites
• Finding 1 In most cases require adobe acrobat
  software as a number of sites have PDF documents
  that need to be downloaded.
• Finding 2 Speed becomes an issue because of the
  time spent downloading documents. It also takes
  more time and therefore costs more to use
  (particularly for dial-ups)

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Website review commendations

• City of Johannesburgs site map and e-services
  website eservice.joburg.org.za
• City of Tshwanes Multi-lingual Policy
  www.tshwane.gov.za/multilingualism.cfm
  www.tshwane.gov.za/wardcom.cmf
• Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipalitys Refuse
  Removal Timetables www.ekurhuleni.com
• Sedibengs supplier development and guide How do
  I tender? www.sedibeng.gov.za/tender.html
• West Rand Tourism Information www.wrdm.gov.za/tour
  ism/tourism.htm
• Mogale City information for residents on health,
  education and library services www.mogalecity.gov.
  za
• Emfuleni for its online community satisfaction
  survey www.emfuleni.gov.za/satisfactionsurvey.htm

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Digital Divide Report

• Access to telecommunications
• 28.5 of households have access to landline
• 48.7 of households have access to a cellphone
• Community service telephones 1250 people
• Access to computers and the Internet in the
  household
• 25 of households have access to a PC
• 20 of households have access to the internet
  (concentrated in CoJ and CoT)(note limitation of
  affordability)
• Access to various forms of public
  telecommunications service centres
• High number of public telecomms service centres
  but potentially servicing incredibly high volumes
  of people impact of quality and access to
  services.

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Discussion

• Governance perspective strategy, participation/
  responsiveness, transparency
• Responses Understanding the factors that
  contribute to the success or failures of
  e-government initiatives, the type of support
  necessary to achieve the planned outcomes and the
  capacities necessary to manage ICT projects can
  contribute to achieving greater social and
  economic development benefits
• Possible recommendations Propose quantitative
  measurement and qualitative assessment against
  pre-set goals to ID risks and corrective actions
• Cairo comment Importance of developing
  e-governance applications as well as GUI
  interface for mobile phones

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Good governance and public sector reform

• Strategic vision, responsiveness, transparency
• A Converged Communications Strategy Ekurhuleni
  Municipality including strategic vision on
  creating a positive legacy of social development
  and LED connectivity through open networks but
  needs same base technology (Tshwane is odd person
  out) eg broadband aggregation VANs licenses,
  providers and competition
• Broad strategies for development need to include
  explicit statements about social and LED and
  ICT/e-governance what the document says vs what
  the institution actually does and where it spends
  its money monitoring evaluation (creating
  understanding, discussion and alignment)
• Policies on use of email and Internet
• Need strong capacity to create business plans,
  budgets and long-term planning and evaluate
  options
• eGovernance vs other options for service
  improvement and innovation eg libraries with more
  library books and computers with access to
  Internet
• Focus on needs of real people ie largest
  population is in poor communities

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ICT for Development

• A Converged Communications Strategy Ekurhuleni
  Municipality including connectivity websites?
• Race to 2010, digital inclusion of marginalised
  communities through broadband deployment eg all
  learners in matric have an Internet address to
  search for jobs Broadband City passive
  infrastructure active infrastructure service
  offerings partnerships with private industry for
  development create a metro telco create
  e-government architecture fiber wireless
  networks (can lease to Vodacom etc)
• Connectivity want to do a Connectivity
  Masterplan ie passive, active services ie
  architecture eg for industrial development ie
  tracking movement of goods, and vehicle
  registration and licensing since probably have
  more trucks coming in and out of Sedibeng than
  any other municipality
• Social development in Sedibeng call centre with
  well trained staff who answer the calls and
  dispatch EMS properly EMS communication
  standards for communication
• Each DM has different functions eg Sedibeng but
  also co-ordinating between province and locals
• 24-hour call center for emergencies and disasters

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Global city region

• A Converged Communications Strategy Ekurhuleni
  Municipality including Attracting investment?
  Social inclusion?
• IDPs and GDSs include reference to ICT
  infrastructure for SD and LED
• DLG objectives coincide with e-governance
  definition in terms of access to information and
  province serving as partner to municipal
  governments harmonisation, alignment and IDPs
  so also harmonisation and alignment of
  e-governance strategies and outcomes? a shared
  understanding of needs, trends, potential and
  development trajectories in the province
• This medium and long-term research and strategy
  design needs to be taken into the GUO review
  lessons from Knysna, other
• Asymmetrical development and infrastructure/servic
  es provision eg Ekurhuleni does connectivity,
  Joburg does content for all, Tshwane??
• Provincial Information Society Task Team must
  include people working with IDPs and GDSs not
  just IT
• Develop assessment capacity for vendors