GIF Global Meeting
From BDPWiki
Contents |
Background
1. While most developing countries have already established strategies to tackle key development targets, current trends indicate that no region will achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. A recent report by UNDP on the subject clearly illustrates this and offers an comprehensive overview of the immense challenges that poor countries are facing -particularly least and low income countries.
2. While the global economy is on the verge of recession amid a rapid increase in food prices and basic staples, current economic growth trends strongly suggest an increasing gulf between rich and poor countries but also increasing socio-economic inequalities within countries, including industrialized nations.
3. In most developing countries, all of the above is compounded by the now well-known government's lack of capacity to deliver basic services (education, health, etc.) and information - at affordable costs and on a large scale- to citizens. Although most countries now have in place national ICT for Development and/or e-government strategies very few have yet been able to fully address the above issues on a successful fashion and start addressing core development issues.
4. E-government in particular has not yet proved to be the catalyst to help national and local governments improve their efficiency, enhance transparency and accountability and promote more effective service delivery and citizens involvement in decision-making process.
5. A quick scan of the deployment of applications and solutions for government operations pinpoints to the fact that access to the latest ICT solutions is not the real issue. Rather, it is the lack of a common vision and strategy that allows for the various government sectors and institutions to effectively and seamlessly integrate their ICT platforms to the benefit of citizens and stakeholders.
Current UNDP/IBM Partnership
6. In 2006, UNDP's Bangkok Regional Service Center and IBM Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Government Interoperability Framework for Asia Pacific Project with resources furnished by IBM and Oracle.
7. The project contained two phases: 1) Review/research; and 2) formulation and dissemination/outreach Phase.
8. The first GIF Review/Research Phase constituted a GIF Study Group consisting of government representatives from about 12 countries world wide supported by high-level experts. Following the workshop a number of policy and technical documents were produced by the GIF project advisor with inputs from the study group. These documents seek to identify promising practices around interoperability, document case studies of those practices in action, and ultimately develop and recommend guidelines, as well as develop a GIF Toolkit comprised of outputs from the GIF project. Four GIF documents were completed by the end of 2007 and distributed to UNDP country office worldwide.
9. The second phase of the project on dissemination and formulation of national GIF did not take off the ground as expected. For starters, initial country demand for GIFs was very low and never reached critical mass. Furthermore, resources for programme implementation were non-existent and potential donors did not clearly see the connection between GIFs and development priorities. Matters were further complicated by changes within UNDP which ended it support for a standalone ICT for Development programme in the region by the end of 2007.
Moving Forward
10. Interest in GIFs in particular and e-government in general has been increasingly since the beginning of 2008. This is taking place at both the donor and country levels. On the former, the World BANK, ECLAC and UNECA have started to support work in this area -the WB usually through loans as is the case of Ghana for example where the government has launched a 42 million USD e-government programme. ECLAC has secured over 10 million Euros from the European Commission to support e-governance work -GIF included- in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the other hand, countries such as Mozambique, Rwanda, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Ecuador, etc. have launched GIF projects which are at various stages of development.
11. It is interesting to point out here that most of the above mentioned initiatives are essentially seen as technical exercises that are required to ehanced the efficiency of governments and their internal enhance. The links to development agendas, which is clearly emphasized by the GIF documents developed by UNDP, has apparently been lost in the shuffle.
12. Building on the ongoing previous work done by the partnership, the proposed set of activities will focus on bringing into the project the links that exist between GIFs and development outcomes.
13. The project will Enhance its geographical scope and include the 5 regions where UNDP provides support to its client countries. To accomplish this UNDP will make use of its network or Regional Service Centers and country offices as well as regional ICT for Development programmes and field-based e-governance policy advisors.
14. The programme will build on UNDP's existing work on e-governance. A recent mapping completed by the Bureau for Development Policy indicates that by the end of 2007 (latest year of available data). UNDP was supporting 109 e-governance projects in 55 countries and investing almost 120 million USD on them.
15. Focus more specifically on e-governance as the key entry point for policy development and implementation of the current initiative. In the framework of the MDGs and the UN Millennium Declaration, UNDP's focus on e-governance comprises two distinct but related components: basic service delivery for the poor (pro-poor e-governance) and inclusion of citizens and stakeholders in decision-making processes (e-participation). From the policy perspective, these two components should drive the project and bring increased buy-in by client countries as well as engagement of key sectors (education, health, civil society) in the process
16. Link more tightly the issue of interoperability with development agendas and targets by providing potential client country with a series of concrete examples between the former and current country development priorities and agendas. As it is well known the developing countries already have a lot on their plates and adding a new and seemingly disconnected (although very important) priority will not be helpful at this stage. Specifically, linking to current MDGs plans and or PRSPs (Poverty Reduction Strategy Processes) could be useful for potential clients.
17. Continue to support the twelve countries that started the regional programme while exploring with UNDP global and regional networks ways to add new countries. The objective here is to created a solid network of countries that can not only share experiences and knowledge but also act as "magnets" for other countries to join such network.
18. Explore the concept of "beacon" or "lighthouse" countries (i.e., countries that lead by example) within this network to promote peering. mentoring and inter-country exchange and also South-South cooperation.
Proposed Activities and Outputs
19. Organize a global meeting on GIFs (Open e-governance, O-egov) before the end of 2008. The meeting will include at least 50 country representatives as well as donors, UN agencies (UNDP, ITU, ECLAC. UNECA, UNESCAP, etc) and Breton Woods institutions (World Bank and regional development banks).
20. The meeting will aim at the following: a) create a global O-egov community of practice coordinated by UNDP and perhaps the WB; b) developed new partnerships for GIF design and implementation; c) identify potential public and private resources to support GIF development and implementation; d) identify and capture existing GIF activities; and e) promote inter-country cooperation (among others)
21. Produce a series of new cases studies to highlight a) ways in which other countries have implemented open e-governance frameworks (HOW-TO) including implementation issues and assessment and subsequent revision of existing frameworks; b) concrete examples on the benefits of establishing such frameworks in terms of cost, scalability and affordability of basic service delivery, and links to development targets
22. Produce a non-prescriptive policy framework for O-egov report which can subsequently be use as a guide for any developing country aiming at addressing the issue.
23. Produce an interactive toolkit and launch a web 2.0 portal to promote the community of practice and the sharing of knowledge and experiences. The web 2.o site will be hosted by organizations and institutions interested in doing, and including UNDP.
Next Steps
- The meeting will be held on the week of 19 January 2009, most probably in Europe (Amsterdam)
- UNDP to compile list of countries that could participate and share with IBM/Oracle
- UNDP will engage eGA in Estonia to help with the organization of the meeting
- Oracle will contribute the final tranche of USD 50,000 to finance the meeting
Possible list of Countries Participating
IBM PRIORITY COUNTRIES
ASIA (8-10)
China
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Korea
Philippines (not on your list)
Thailand
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Nepal
CEE (1-3)
Romania
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
AW (1-3)
Egypt
Morocco
UAE
Africa (2-4)
South Africa
Tanzania
Ghana
Nigeria
LA (2-5)
Brazil
Mexico
Venezuela
Chile
Colombia
TOTAL 14-25
Plus I am sure there are a few that UNDP and WB would consider must-haves, e.g., Moz., Ecuador, etc.
SUGGESTED NAMES
Asia
Afghanistan
- Aimal Marjan, Director General of the ICT Directorate of the MCIT (Ministry of Communications and IT)
- Bangladesh
- ICT cell in PMs office - nomination required
- Bhutan
- Department of Information Technology, Min of Information and Communication
- Cambodia
- National Information Communications Technology Development Authority - nomination required
- China
- Madame Chen Xiaozhu, Director General, State Council Informatization Office (SCITO) - IBM OK
- Fiji
- India
- National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Department of Information Technology - nomination required
- Indonesia
- Directorate General ICT Application, Ministry of ICT and Communication - nomination required
- Laos
- National Authority of Science and Technology - Nomination required
- Malaysia
ICT Policy & Planning Division, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation & Management Planning Unit ( MAMPU) - nomination required
- Nepal
- Mr Manohar Bhattarai, High Level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT)
- Pakistan
- Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) - nomination required
- South Korea
- Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) - nomination required
- Sri Lanka
- ICT agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) - nomination required IBM RECS SHANINI W.
- Thailand
- Ministry of ICT, e-government - nomination required
- Vietnam
- Nguyen Ai Viet, Deputy Director General, National Steering Committee on ICT (NSCICT) and Director of e-Government Architecture and Infrastructure Development Center (EGAID), Ministry of Posts and Telematics 0r Dr Tran Minh Tien, President National Institute for Post and Telematics (NIPTS) - nomination by Minister or Vice-minister required
Arab States
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Lybia
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
Africa
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- DRC - Congo
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Nii Quaynor and Ministry of Telecommunications - Emmanuel Akwetey, Executivr Director, IDEG (Institute for Democratic governance)
- Kenya
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Laurino Chemane, ICT Policy Commission
- Nigeria
- Dr Olu Agunloye, Ceo. Nigerian eGovernment Strategies Limited (Negst) - Victor Ogunmakin, Head of Service at the Presidency
- Rwanda
- Prof. Romain Murenzi, Minister in the Presidency's Office in Charge of ICT
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Zambia
Eastern Europe and the CIS
- Azerbaijan
- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- Director, E-governance Academy
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Macedonia
- Montenegro
- Moldova
- Romania
- Ukraine
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Argentina
- Director, Oficina Nacional de Tecnologías Informáticas - Elida Rodriguez and Mariano Cerezo
- Brazil
- Rogerio Santana, Ministry of Planning
- Nazare Bretos, Ministry of Planning
- Bolivia
- Director, Agencia para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad de la Información en Bolivia
- Chile
- Director, Ministerio de Economía - Agenda Digital
- Colombia
- Director of Gobierno Digital, Ministry of Telecommunications - María Isabel Mejía Jaramillo
- Costa Rica
- Director, Secretaria de Gobierno Digital
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Domingo Tavares, Oficina Presidencial de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (OPTIC)
- Ecuador
- Ministry of Public Administration - Information Society
- Alejandro Subia, SRI, Ministry of Finance
- El Salvador
- Jamaica
- Director, Central Information Technology Office (CITO)
- Mexico
- Secretaría de la Función Pública - Unidad de Gobierno Electrónico y Política de Tecnologías de la Información
- Panama
- Director, Secretaría de la Presidencia para la Innovación Gubernamental
- Trinidad & Tobago
- CIO, National Information Communications Technology Centre
- Venezuela
- Ministerio del Poder Popular para las Telecomunicaciones y la Informática
