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GOVERNMENT STEPS
UP TO THE PLATE
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In meeting the economic and other challenges
facing the globe, governments play a vital role once again.
 New
challenges have emerged from the current global economy that
face all global markets. In meeting the challenges, preparing
for the future and ensuring that countries survive the issues,
governments are once again playing a vital role in regulating
and implementing changes that prepare their constituencies for
the future. Technology also plays an important role in meeting
the challenges.
Speaking at the State Information Technology Agency's (SITA's)
GovTech 2009 conference yesterday, Antoine Brugidou, senior
executive for management consulting in Europe, Africa and Latin
America at Accenture lists water shortages, healthcare
management, financial crises and the migration of people to
cities as some of the areas of challenge governments face.
He said there is a ‘back to basics' movement happening
internationally that South Africa is very much part of.
"South Africa and other developing countries are well positioned
for the future, but their success will depend on how they react
to these challenges," he predicted.
He said companies are combining strategies where economies are
being more regulated and that "government is back in the game
and is key to tackling the crises we face."
"Governments need to implement new programmes around health and
other issues, but these are very difficult because most states
are not in a position to maintain transformation due to a lack
of finances, skills and other resources," said Brugidou.
He added that countries have to identify their own unique
situations and look at local solutions for these, not just in
terms of cost-cutting, but the emergence of new programmes and
procedures.
Brugidou used France as an example of government's
implementation of new processes and programmes. He pointed out
that France is an example of best practice, due to its ability
to resist change.
The election of Nicolas Sarkozy as president ushered in a new
era of projects to guide government's involvement, initiated by
the president's office. Key to this process was the identifying
of problems and a focus on efficiencies, said Brugidou.
He added that the processes involved in planning and
strategising are common to the private sector, but not
necessarily utilised to the full in the public sector.
France aims to increase its GDP growth by at least 1% per year,
reduce unemployment from 8% to 5%, and reduce its budget
deficit, thus decreasing tax levels according to initiatives
from the president's office.
"One of the key levers to achieve this was to drastically reform
the central administration by redefining its mission and
organisation," said Brugidou.
He added that the South African government under the leadership
of President Zuma has been mandated to deliver on a set of
priorities as set out in the electoral mandate, similar to what
is happening in France.
"These priorities in the electoral mandate conceived the
establishment of long-term national planning capacity as the
principal mechanism for defining long-term frames of reference
and subsidiary objectives. The latter includes integrating
government efforts, as well as monitoring and evaluating
implementation to ensure efficient and effective service
delivery to citizens," he said.
"Following extensive research by the South African government on
how governments in other parts of the world plan and monitor
performance, South Africa made a decision to establish the
ministries of national planning and monitoring and evaluation,"
added Brugidou.
He concluded that France delivered on its political programme
through a specific endeavour of the president's office and that
South Africa could also leverage and build upon its similar
initiative.
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