The World Bank e-Development Thematic Group last Wednesday held a Global Dialogue Workshop on e-Government in Washington D. C, US. The workshop, which was organised in partnership with USAID and the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) e-Government Seminar, had 11 presentations and about 245 participants worldwide.     

Six countries, Ghana, Armenia, India, Russia, Kenya and Rwanda with Public Private Partnership projects on e-Government participated in the live webcast workshop, titled “Enabling Private Sector Delivery of Public Services: Public Private Partnerships in e-Government Projects”.

Mr Sanjay Pradhan, Sector Director, Public Sector Governance of the World Bank in a statement underlined the importance of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) since it helps solve the issue of outsourcing of funds for the delivery of important services to the public.

He said PPPs have helped expand physical infrastructure, offered opportunity to improve service delivery, shared risks between government and private sector partners, and supported private sector development in participating developing countries.

He noted however, that even though PPPs through e-government could improve service delivery, they are not panaceas to other problems, such as governments inability to attract investments, corruption, resistance to reform, difficulties in monitoring quality of service, weak and duplication of service confronting many developing countries.

In order to facilitate public private partnerships, Mr Pradham stressed the need for participating countries to come out with credible legal and regulatory framework, capacity building programmes for staff, transparent and competitive procurement policies, capacity to monitor goals achieved, and  reduction in duplicated roles.     

Mr R. Chandrasekhar, Additional Secretary (e-government), DIT, Government of India who delivered the keynote address emphasised the relevance of public private partnership in the development of e-government in developing countries.

He cited ideal models in India, where the World Bank funded e-government projects through PPPs has brought transparency and efficiency in service delivery, transformed some villages through the provision of internet facilities at telecentres among other things.

Mr Chandrasekhar however, said there are unforeseen problems during implementation of e-government projects which must be addressed when discovered after implementation. To minimise these problems, there was the need for comprehensive planning by all stakeholders before implementation is done, he said.

In her welcome address,  Ms Laura Samotshozo, Information Technology Project Manager of USAID, said her institution has a long tradition of supporting ICT, economic growth, agriculture and trade in developing countries.

USAID, she said, have in the past years collaborated with the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) to train participants from developing countries on various areas of ICT, telecommunications and broadcasting among others.

She disclosed that 23 participants from 19 developing countries are participating in this year’s e-Government for Development Seminar being held in Washington D.C. from June 16-27, 2008.

Dr Sam Mensah, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Sam Somuah, Director General, GICTED and Mr  Emmanuel Darko, CEO, GCNET made presentation on Ghana’s success story through the implementation of e-government to improve service delivery.

Mr Darko who presented GCNET e-government programme explained how information communication technology tools were being used to enhance customs revenue mobilisation, while Dr  Somuah’s presentation explained how through PPPs, revenue generating bodies such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Value Added Tax will employ e-government strategies to deliver improved service.

Source: ISD (Elorm Ametepe)

Posted: 27/06/08