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FROM CITIZEN-CENTRIC
TO INCLUSIVE E-GOVERNMENT
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Trust, transparency, active participation and real
value-add through citizen-centric services are just some of the
attributes governments need to possess to drive true service
delivery through the value chain.
 In
one of the breakout sessions at SITA's GovTech 2009 conference,
professor Michael Blakemore from ECOTEC Research and Consulting
UK, highlighted the fact that citizen-centric governments can
deliver cost-effective, personalised and relevant e-services
that simultaneously enhance the democratic dialogue.
He said his company looked at how organisational change shaped
the construction of services in various spheres of government
across the globe, a project initiated by the European
Commission. The company ended up looking at citizen-centricity
and the relationship between government and citizens in shaping
organisations.
He warned that it is not enough to just implement organisational
change within agencies, since change in itself will not deliver
services that the public value, in addition to which cost
benefits are not the only goals. These measures are sometimes
not effective, and he suggested that a clean sheet approach,
focused on organisational change and online delivery is what is
required.
He noted that in the UK, his company found less than expected
levels of service uptake and resistance to integrated management
associated with electronic service delivery, even if it was
effective and attractive and without possible data security
risks. He said it is a case of building citizen trust, a process
that often takes a long time, but it could also be undertaken
swiftly if done correctly. That said, he warned, losing trust
can be a rapid process, highlighting the recent expenditure
scandal by UK members of parliament.
Blakemore reiterated that it is all about trust and
participation and even though the Internet and information
society allow information and services to flow effortlessly
online, if you have citizen buy-in, scale and locality are
important factors that could derail successful implementations.
He said transparency across government that is visible to
citizens is important in identifying who views and has access to
citizen information. There are however still problems between
government departments to provide real power to local districts
instead of being centrally managed, where sometimes trust and
identity are more difficult to create and embed.
He warned that there are challenges in retaining trust if the
financial conditions change. For example, a government moving
from a low tax base, with a low level of trust, is a challenge
for new member states when considering how emotional services
can be brought online, and can be used effectively.
He stated that governments should have a multichannel approach.
From an organisational perspective, departments and agencies
should be used as channels to services. By harnessing other
entities such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), for
example, they can be used as channels to guide socially excluded
people to services.
Another channel would be that of information communication
technology (ICT) itself, such as phone, email and call centres,
as well as delivery models such as Web forms and remote
monitoring. He added that nominated individuals delivering and
mediating services within government agencies are a must.
But, he cautioned, difficult challenges remain. Service
sustainability, for instance, poses a serious challenge. The
intrinsic value of service sustainability is more than a linear
value-change, which sequentially achieves monetary value. In
multichannel scenarios, silo-based value chains are replaced by
value networks across people, processes and technology,
delivering public value.
He explained that value networks require distributed governance,
with significant complex and intangible benefits that can build
upon the tangible benefits of eGovernment services.
In closing, Blakemore said governance, trust and transparency
remain at the helm of e-services, and cannot themselves be
automated. Starting with a clean sheet approach can allow
government departments to eliminate many legacy issues. He
concluded that people and organisations are as much channels for
service delivery as are e-channels and services to the most
disadvantaged people.
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