ZANZIBAR ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT AGENDA A WAY FORWARD

18 November 2011 Overview Electronic government also known eGovernment is an interaction through digital network between government and citizens (G2C), government to business (G2B), government to employees (G2E) and between government and government agencies (G2G). The eGovernment delivering models mentioned should consist of good governance element, information and communications technologies status quo (ICT) a country readiness, business process re-engineering (BPR) on government way of doing things and country citizens at all level as stake holder. eGovernment will allows Zanzibaris to interact using Internet devices to obtain government service, as well enquire about government information at any time and any location, while eliminates the necessity for physical travel to meet government officials sitting behind desks. Also can improved government accountability and record keeping can be simplified through computerisation, while information can be easily accessed (OGP Open Data Government initiative). On the administrative side, access to help find or retrieve linked information which now can be stored in through electronic databases versus hardcopies stored in various governments facilities. Zanzibaris with disabilities or health conditions can no longer required being mobile to attain government service or information as they can be in the comfort of their own homes while attended by government agencies. eGovernment can easily fully engage Zanzibar Diasporas all over the world in building new Zanzibar to realise its full potential, in doing this government openeness is necessary and that can be easily achieved through eGovernment for those who are at distance from their motherland. Zanzibar socio-economic future will depend very much on how Zanzibar will use ICT and especial new technologies to change the way government is operating and dealing with citizensin an opneness way, it also depend on how the government will use ICT to enable government to operate efficiently, to allow quick, reliable and accurate decision making process using business intelligence tools, through ICT government can make good use of knowledge management tools and cut down bureaucratic red tapes, at the same time making the government more accessible to citizens. eGovernment if will be properly implemented as process and not an event and while Zanzibar empowered citizens to use it accordingly, it will allow government to maximise transparency, it is a concept that will allow Zanzibar to realise its 2020 development vision. But all this cant be achieved if Zanzibar cant get the best out of

Zanzibar Electronic Government Agenda, and reaching there Zanzibar needs to adopt the agenda in a professional and ethical way, where Zanzibar in-house ICT capacity and potential skills can be utilised to the fullest extent and takes the lead. Government should show high degree of seriousness on the agenda rather adopting the agenda in ceremonial or cosmetic way, by keeping in-house potential skills at the back seat in pursuing the agenda. In contrary Zanzibar will join the list of failure eGovernment project in Africa1. Zanzibar eGovernment Agenda and Way Forward A way forward for Zanzibar to adopt the norms of eGovernment, it will be for the government to establish a dedicated Directorate of eGovernment (DeG) as government agency commitment to make eGovernment agenda a reality, and to ensure that it provides the best out of it to Zanzibaris. DeG should be headed by its own Director General who will also be a chief executive officer of the agency, and should be a department under the Ministry of State Presidents Office for Civil Service and Good Governance, the role of the Director General should be advertised and a suitable candidate (a Zanzibari) with the relevant qualifications in IT/IS wishes to be considered should apply, meaning the appointment of the Director General should be by application to get the right person instead of nominating the candidate, once the right candidate indentified can be confirmed by the President. The mandate of DeG should be to provide leadership, facilitation and coordination of eGovernment agenda across government ministries and accounting departments. DeG further should coordinate and prepares the eGovernment Strategic Plan including the readness impact assessment, the implementation plan, monitoring and evaluation of the process to a full decorated eGovernment. Zanzibaris, like any other citizens of the world having no more time to wait for a true development, while the world increasingly turning to online transactional services to conduct their day-to-day affairs. The Directorate of eGovernments goal should be to develop eServices for government; services that are easy to use, and meet the real needs of Zanzibaris, at the same time ensure security and privacy of the scheme. Also the DeG should develop, coordinate and define ways so that electronic and information technology business strategies assist government to operate more effectively and efficiently in delivering services to citizens. DeG will be to provide coordination and advice on issues pertaining to electronic business, telecommunications and technology, plan and strategies, while direct government wide activities to support other government departments fully participate in the development, analysis and evaluation of government wide technology issues, policies and legislations. DeG will have a specific strategic function that includes to build and maintain quality country backbone ICT infrastructure with adequate international connectivity, to build and maintain quality ICT infrastructure for Zanzibar eGovernment agenda, to acquire and implement a portfolio of key integrated eGovernment applications, to ensure quality management information systems services, to develop and enforce relevant ICT standards and policies, to ensure security of systems and data, to build
1

Caroline Stanforth (2010), Analysing eGovernment Project Failure: Comparing Factoral, Systems and Interpretive Approaches, IDPM, Manchester UK.

and sustainable in-house human capacity to implement, support and exploit ICT resources more effectively and efficiently, to create and operationalise an appropriate governance structure for eGovernment agenda, and ensure adequate and sustainable funding for eGovernment agenda. DeG Organisation Structure The directorate should be governed by Technical Advisory Board where its chairperson2 should be appointed by the President of Zanzibar after receiving profile of at least three potential candidates chosen by the minister. The technical advisory board composition should include the Chairperson, DeG Director General and 4 Zanzibaris ICT gurus, who will be highly qualified in the ICT industry with not less than 10 years professional working experience in the field of information technology, information systems management or telecommunications. The Technical Advisory Board will also include representative from key government agencies these are Zanzibar Revenue Board, Peoples Bank of Zanzibar, Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, Principal Secretary Office of the Second Vice President, Principal Secretary Ministry of Education, Principal Secretary Ministry of Finance, Principal Secretary Ministry of Communication, and Attorney General as effective eGovernment agenda will involve some of the legislation to be changed to meet the demand of electronic life. The management side of the DeG should be headed by the Director General who will be appointed by application and not by nomination, meaning qualified Zanzibaris should apply, and successful candidate will be named by the President of Zanzibar as Director General of the DeG. The Director General will be assisted by for heads of departments whom will be appointed by the Technical Advisory Board by application like any other staff for DeG, those will be Head of Network and Technical Service, Head of Consumers Affairs, Head of Corporate Affairs and Head of Legal Service. eGovernment Public Consultation Since the eGovernment agenda involved many areas of life, to be so effective after implementation, its process requires a through public consultation taking into account of most relevant stake holder opinion, so the system to be user friendly to citizen at all level, the consultation is the most important step before implementation as that will avoid the agenda not to be a white elephant. Such an IT project will attract significant amount of capital investment, it is therefore important to have a value for money output, and that will be achieved by following proper IT project management life cycle, where every stage needs to be careful evaluated by professional and end-user, and that is the reason of having a Technical Advisory Board.

Prof. Idrisa Rai (Vice Chancellor State University of Zanzibar) recommended for the chairperson of the Technical Advisory Board. Prof. Rai has a strong track record in attracting external resources and establishing partnerships with private and educational institutions. To that effect, he has won grants from numerous global IT, Educational, and International corporate such as Google, IBM, CISCO, HP, ISOC, ITU, UNESCO, EU/EU, British Council raising over 1million USD of grants for Makerere University. He is a founding member of the Joint Institute for Mobile Innovations (JIMI), a collaborative research and development institute between IBM, University of Southern California (USC), and Makerere University, and a founding member of Mobile Monday Kampala (MoMoKLA).

Conclusion Many eGovernment projects introduced in Africa end up in failure either total or partial3. To address the challenge before Zanzibar eGovernment Agenda, stakeholders must be sensitised to the large gaps that often exist between project design and public sector reality. The 'design-reality gaps' can be seen to underlie failure, because eGovernment concepts and the designs have their origins in the West. Origins that is significantly different from African realities. Public consultation and the use of country potential skills are the best practices outlined that may help to close design-reality gaps and, hence, help to improve project success rates in Africa. eGovernment agenda will only be fully realised if the design and implementation they too are appropriate to Zanzibar realities. Therefore utilising country potential skills and public consultation for effective Zanzibar eGovernment agenda is very important, which I cant see now happening in Zanzibar, all run by personal wishes, it is worrying that, if personal wishes left to lead the project instead of country potential skills being fully utilised, Zanzibar will join the list of other African eGovernment projects that were recognised as failure. References 1. Caroline Stanforth (2010), Analysing eGovernment Project Failure: Comparing Factoral, Systems and Interpretive Approaches, IDPM, Manchester UK. 2. Richard Heeks (2006), Benchmarking eGovernment : Improving the National and International Measurement, Evaluation and Comparison of eGovernment, The University of Manchester, 2006 3. Richard Heeks (2002), eGovernment in Africa : Promise and Practice, IDPM, Manchester UK.

Prof. Richard Heeks (2002), eGovernment in Africa : Promise and Practice, Institute for Development Policy and Management, The University of Manchester, 2002