Gradually, governments all over the
world are waking from their slumber resulting to a paradigm shift in the style
and system of governance. Many countries are now adopting e-government strategies
in readiness for the new emerging global economy- the Knowledge Economy.
In this exclusive interview,
president of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) and
chief executive officer of Connect Technologies Limited, Chris Uwaje diagnoses
and re-examines the country’s e-Readiness within the context of the emerging
knowledge society and seeks the application of strategies for the retooling of
the nation’s workforce through e-Government’s initiatives. Excerpts……….
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| *Chris Uwaje |
What do you think is the place of IT in the present administration’s
public service reform programme?
Several existing research works have
revealed that as the human population index surges on (now 7.1billion), no
nation can govern its people effectively, equitably and transparently nor
protect and defend their life and property adequately, without a well
articulated retooling strategy and Government e-Readiness Framework.
In clear terms, it has become not
only mandatory but indeed a time-sensitive national priority and strategic
imperative that Nigerian Government at all infinitesimal levels, must ensure
the establishment of digital ‘Retooling’ models for the actualization of
effective e-readiness for the automation of all government processes, functions
and operations, which must be sustained by highly skilled and IT literate work
force.
The main reason for the critical
state and poor status of government IT development programme is perhaps
“Technophibia” on the one hand, and limited involvement of core IT
Professionals in Government on the other. Contractors have taken over
professional IT projects.
The concept of fear and/or ignorance
of Technology and Information Technology in particular in top government policy
makers, have become a critical factor to the actualization of e-readiness of
government domain. There is therefore, an urgent need for the implementation of
Government-to-Government Automation.
Government-to-Government (G2G)
process automation is fundamental to the actualization of the following:
Objectives set forth in our National Economic Empowerment Development Plans;
Vision 20-2020 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These plans are
focused on how Government-to-Citizen (G2C) interface can grossly benefit the
citizenry.
Above all, G2G is critically essential
to facilitate and accelerate the transformation and enhancement of the vital
component of Government-to-Business (G2B) processes. This is perhaps the most
logical and cost-effective way to leapfrog global competitiveness
As the world transits into the
information age and knowledge society, new conditions are being created for
future economic/industrial direction and creation of wealth.
Can existing structures in Nigeria within the context of Civil Service
and governance processes sustain the 21st century global and
critically rapid development competitiveness?
Today, government officers all
over the world are confronted by the challenge of making the right decision
from the bulky files in their
possession. Reliable studies have shown that indeed, only 10% of the available
content in those bulky files are humanly accessible at a given timeframe for
making those decisions.
Therefore, the first priority of
government in this 21st century knowledge economy is a mandatory
function to retool its workforce,
automate government content and processes and build robust, secured and
sustainable computer-communication networks to establish IT connectivity
backbone across all government departments, all over the country.
Once the networks are
established, Integrated Information Systems have to be implemented and they
have to be updated religiously.
The key problem seems to be that,
once they complete ICT studies, not enough ICT graduates stay in ICT career
paths. The first point to make in relation to this observation is that it is
not uncommon for employees starting a career with particular skills set to move
outside their skills-specific occupations.
Conditions in the ICT sector that
contribute to this phenomenon
may be the high levels of contract and project specific
employment, and what appears to be an insufficient level of on-the-job training
and up-skilling. In addition, ICT students may have insufficient information
about how to embark effectively on long-term ICT careers.
Possible approaches to policy development
by government and/or industry to address this set of problems include:
encouraging firms to create new graduate cadetships that provide on-the-job
training and launch graduates on a long-term ICT career path; providing better
information to students about career paths and providing them with information
about which type of employers will best facilitate these career paths
especially in the early years of employment.
Others include: encouraging
employers to create vacation work positions - work experience – for ICT
students which create a positive experience for them and help them plan a
long-term ICT career; and creating exemplar employment positions within
government to encourage long-term commitment to ICT career paths.
An assessment of the future
requirement, both quantitative and qualitative, of high-level ICT skills
demand a quantification of the likely future demand, to the extent that is
meaningful, for high-level ICT skills from within the ICT sector, building on
the existing e-skills research which focused on all skill levels and skill
demands for IT professionals outside the ICT industry and skill demand from all
IT users across the whole economy.
Secondly, it requires a relative
breakdown of high-level ICT skills by discipline, particularly computer
science, software engineering and electronic engineering, based on enterprise
needs and international best practice/experience; and an identification of
qualitative changes in the nature of the future requirement for high-level
skills.
There should also be an assessment
of the adequacy of the current flow through the ICT skills supply pipeline as
well as the pool of ICT skills in the existing workforce in the ICT sector to
satisfy the likely demand profile in the sector.
Again, there should be an exploration
of the potential of complementary supply mechanisms as well as the need to identify
what actions are needed to ensure that the future high-level skills needs of
the sector can be effectively addressed.
But what is e-Government? And what are its objectives?
e-Government
concept can be defined as an automated information enabling system for the
actualization of accelerated decision process to deliver transparent and
accountable government to government- to-business-to citizens services at all
times. e-Government Model is structured into the following Domain:
Government-to-Government (G2G), Government-to-Business (G2B) and
Government-to-Citizens (G2C). But we should be dwelling on G2G as a fundamental
requirement for country e-readiness.
E-Government is
the public sector’s use of Information and Communication Technologies with the
aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen
participation in the decision-making process and making government more
accountable, transparent and effective.
In simple terms,
e-Government refers to governance processes in which Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) play an active and significant role. The role
played by ICT could be wide-ranging: in delivery and standards of governance services,
to how people access such services, and the participation of people in the
governance sphere.
This translates
to the President or Head of the State should be in a position to access
valuable and reliable information and data to govern the State with the aid of
his digital device -PC or Laptop.
The major
objectives of e-Government are: To have SMART Government, which means simple,
moral, accountable, responsive, and, transparent art of governance.
Secondly,
virtually any citizen, with appropriate technology and facilities, can freely
access public information and documents.
And thirdly,
governance is conducted in a business-like manner. This means high productivity
and optimum use of the resources, namely time, human resources, physical
resources, and, financial resources.
What are the basic
requirements of e-Government?
The basic requirements of e-Governance include: To automate and not just computerise
the constitutional needs of the citizenry through Government-2-Government-2-Citizens
processes; establish Inter–Organizational Networks and Digitize
Information/Data flow.
It also requires the establishment of Messaging &
Workflow systems, e-Document solutions, Video/Data Conference Network System;
upgrading of Integrated Information Systems at all levels; undertaking of
massive IT Capacity Building/ skill training for the Civil Service in addition
to building public support which means
prioritization of citizen services to get public, political and media support
for e-governance.
What in your opinion are the challenges and
benefits of e-Government?
With respect to e-government, that
is Governance by electronic means, it simply means that the existing structure
would be incapable of propelling and sustaining the capacities of government to
deliver equitable, functional, effective, accountable and transparent
governance programme and solutions to its citizenry. This incapability will
widen the gap of the inevitable digital divide.
To effectively respond to those
conditions, demands and challenges will require a high level of conscious
re-structuring and re-engineering strategy of the machinery of governance -
with an abundant political will and private sector commitment. In order words, business as usual will
become a thing of the past. Neglecting this message translates to digital
self-enslavement.
For future governments to function
effectively - applying e-governance tools, major ministerial structures,
functions and human resource base must be completely re-defined and overhauled.
Indeed, because e-transaction, e-commerce and e-governance are inter-linked at
the resource base, it would amount to a great economic misnomer that while the
organized private sector is busy restructuring and re-engineering its
operations - through the infusion of information and communications
technologies - the operating structures of governance remains a traditional
dilemma and unchanged.
In today’s
world, information technology has brought about a revolution in the day-to-day
lives of people. It is time that countries like Nigeria accept the fact that a
pervasive national information infrastructure is as basic a necessity as water
and power. So far, a country’s development status was based on finance,
industry and military. In the new century, Information Knowledge Technology (IKT) will add a new dimension to the
development of a country. Without good and efficient Governance, the above
sectors cannot show progress.
And what are the implications?
We must now rapidly move from the
laboratory and workshop excitements to constructive and practical
implementation stage. We must fashion an actionable approach capable of
ventilating our self-made accumulated knowledge-less economic mess labeled as
Government delivering traditional governance.
First major implication is that existing
ministerial structures and functions must be re-defined and re-structured. They
must change! To pretend otherwise
will amount to a national deceit. Furthermore, market forces alone for a developing economy such as Nigeria, are
incapable in inducing the required change, due to the enormity of complexities
and the rapidity of change in the Information Age Revolution. A mix-mode approach model is recommended.
Can future government and commerce
cope and survive the new age without, for example, a 'Ministry of
Infrastructure' within the context of LII*, NII* and GII*? What purpose will
the Ministry of Commerce and Industry serve without the sophistication and
competence to manage digital technology trade and commerce? How will education
be improved and positioned without the intensive application, diffusion and use
of informatics and communications technologies? How will government respond to
the high velocity of trade and commerce - with respect to balance of trade
issues - in the information age? Indeed, who should be in government and govern
in the information age? What skill would/should such people require to perform?
It must be
clear that Nigeria will require a Ministry of Information Technology; National
Software Commission and a Micro-Electronics/Nano-Technology Research &
Development Agency to succeed in the emerging Knowledge Society.
The response to these emerging needs
and changes will definitely 'change' the
core structures, functions and
strategies of both government and the art of governance in the very near
future.
So what do you recommend should be the steps to be taken by the present
government towards retooling the country’s workforce?
Our Science Policy no doubt has paid
tremendous dividends to the nation over the years (however little). That cannot
be said of our Technology Policy.
Therefore, with respect to government automation, a functional digital
model framework- incorporating fundamental body of standards will be required
In concrete terms, a comprehensively
dynamic and productive national economic strategy for the 21st
century growth and development, will require a whole, new
e-organisations of work processes,
business and governance.
Such new e-organisations must
address fundamental issues of conceptual and definitional approach to Information
and Communications Technology-driven
governance as the engine of economic growth.
These approaches must address and
explore the subject of structured-knowledge linkages - with the primary
focus on restoring the links between the 'reward system' and 'performance'. A
new e-organization of work, business and governance pre-supposes that we need a
'New Knowledge-Economy' for Nigeria - where technology-reasoning and intelligent information and
communications technologies in particular will be the driving engine.
This may not be easily realized or
possible without re-structuring the ministries and core-civil service
skill-sets as productive agents of governance. Going by the current indices on
the rapidity of change in global economic developments - particularly in the
information and communications technologies (ICTs) sectors, creating new
institutions (ministries) to champion competitiveness has become an absolute
imperative.
There is therefore,
a fundamental need for a national e-government and e-Commerce master-plan,
which are the Policy Framework, Strategies and Standards where knowledge
structures and software development dynamism are at the core of deliverables
and performance.
I think that for us to meet the digital
challenges of the 21st Century and make the Civil Service e-Ready, the Nigerian
authorities should consider a number of strategies.
First of
all, it is assumed that government will without further delay, declare ICT
Capacity Building and Infrastructure Development as an e-Government emergency,
deserving the highest priority and special budgetary allocation. Also, that
Software is recognized as the engine for sustainable growth and security of
future education. And also without further delay, convert the NYSC programme to
Digital Knowledge Incubators and Outsourcing Centres.
A Nigerian e-Government
Policy and Application Standard should be established as strategic imperative
for innovative and sustainable governance, effective Civil Service with quality
skills, creation of wealth and competitiveness.
We should
develop a
special/continuous Train-the–Trainer IT programme for all Government
Officer/education lecturers - as well as a universal/compulsory IT training for
all students. All arms of the Civil
Service and Nigerian Schools will ensure that employment of new
officers/teachers/lecturers will be based on IT literacy with enhanced
skill-sets in E-Learning and Multimedia e-Leadership, as key imperatives.
The national
workforce should be empowered to innovate and become the driving force of the
organization, by providing major point of policy focus for rapid IT integration
in education and development.
We should
establish effective institutional framework for e-Government IT Research, such
as Faculty For Knowledge Design Engineering, Incubation and Management; institute
for software engineering development and multimedia modeling - as instrument
for sustainable growth and investment security.
Governance should be automated while
Indigenous Software should be promoted at all government levels. This should be
in addition to
developing
a uniform set of standards and operational guidelines for e-Government and
Campus-wide Intranet IT Infrastructure and local content.
Government
should locate a Transponder out of the Nigerian Sat-1 for e-Government and
e-Education Infrastructure – as a bridge for knowledge and information sharing
and also as repository of inter-generational knowledge warehouse. A National Education Database Portal with
e-learning/library capabilities should be made a priority infrastructure for
all Nigerian schools.
And
lastly, government should, as a matter of critical
urgency set-up a National e-Government Secured Content Development and Security
Machinery.
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