Declaration of Aix-en-ProvenceProf. Cesare Maioli – Cirsfid

University of BolognaLesson 1.5

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Public Governance in the 21st Century - I

The concept of E-Government has become a great success, adding momentum to the long ongoing process, in the industrialized countries, of informatisation of the public sector.

The emergence of the Internet has in many respects changed the rules of the game. Integrated approaches to reorganising government and politics have become feasible for the first time in history.

IT applications in Public Administration and other branches of government, including parliaments and the judiciary, greatly profit from the new vistas opened up by E-Government.

More significantly, IT has emerged as a key element in any policy of modernising government and other institutions of public governance and service provision.

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Public Governance in the 21st Century - II

Integrated strategies are required now for making the most of process re-engineering, citizen and business portals, and innovative technical platforms for parliamentary meetings and citizen participation in public affairs.

Taking all this together is tantamount to perceiving an imminent “e-transformation” of our polity.

The need to modernise government is growing, and E-Government holds the key to improving its efficacy and efficiency as well as the quality of the services which it renders to society. It will also serve the public interest and help to better attain standards of Good Governance related to openness, transparency and accountability of government.

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Required breakthroughs in cooperation

The challenges of E-Government are such that cooperative efforts by a wide range of actors from government, industry, science and the consulting professions are mandatory. Many obstacles have to be surmounted, including many competing goals, a dense grid of regulations, the fragmentation of traditional public sector institutions and many historical legacies.

One way to cope with these obstacles is by building up networks of cooperation. Additionally, the framing of Research and Development programs on E-Government at the national, European and international levels deserves high priority. Through a dense research network, general expertise can be fostered, reference models and practical standards proposed, and the diffusion of innovations accelerated.

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A Chart for Moving Ahead

Surely, the abundance of projects makes the scene resemble a construction site – a puzzling picture.

Nevertheless, the way to move ahead is becoming visible; some signs indicate the trail. The following seven keynote theses indicate the direction which efforts to promote E-Government will have to take.

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1. A holistic view

Moving ahead means having an integrated view. Clear strategies and views are a prerequisite to facing the

challenges and making the best of the opportunities created by technological progress.

E-Government is more than a new wave of administrative modernisation; e-Government means a permanent e-transformation that enables governance on a comprehensive scale.

Of crucial importance for its success will be a cultural change away from treating information, knowledge and business processes as the sole, jealously-guarded property of each organisation, and towards information sharing and joined-up multi-agency working among and across levels of government and in public-private partnerships.

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2. Service provision as focus

Portals for delivering services to business, individual citizens and communities reflect the view from outside government and administration.

Although portals are of prime concern, it should be noted that communicating with public agencies is only the tip of the iceberg: the entire scope of administrative action has to be involved.

Also, success in delivering electronic services depends upon the capability and self-confidence of citizens in doing e-transactions, as well as upon their trust and confidence in the protection of their personal data and in an open and accountable government.

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3. Redefining governmental processes

A thorough rethinking of the machinery of Government is mandatory, to reveal many more situations where IT as an enabling force can enhance the effectiveness, quality and efficiency of public action, as well as its legitimacy.

In many respects, the legal framework of these processes will need revision. New institutions, adapted to the new ways of producing and delivering public services, will emerge.

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4. Knowledge enhanced government

A shift of focus from structures and processes towards content reaches to the very heart of administrative work: decision-making. Management of legal and administrative domain knowledge is a critical factor in governance.

In addition, understanding the connections between processes and knowledge will improve design. In the public agencies of the future, human and software expertise will become totally interwoven – knowledge enhancement at its best.

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5. An engineering approach

A sound engineering approach is indispensable. At the bottom level this means a suitable IT infrastructure for unhampered communication and cooperation, with high availability, security, data protection, etc.

At the application level this means smooth cooperation, high usability and a design integrating important perspectives: citizen service, process reorganisation, and knowledge enhancement.

Tools and methodologies for re-engineering the processes and institutions of public governance should take due account of the role of human knowledge, labour and decision-making capacity, harnessing technology in convivial forms of human-machine interaction.

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6. Reference models and administrative

standards Reference models and pilot projects give

an idea about the full extent of the possibilities available.

Above all, issues of standards have to be tackled: establishing a common understanding of processes, building on widespread administrative concepts, ensuring interoperable platforms; and defining formats for data interchange.

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7. Change Management

Success can only be achieved if a quantum leap in the innovative capacity of the public sector is made.

Critical success factors include strategic thinking and a farsighted allocation of funds for creating infrastructures and avoiding the reinvention of the wheel in different places.

Best practices and guidelines derived from landmark projects will have to replace curious but indiscriminate experimentation with different approaches.

Competent change management will have to place people first, and an unprecedented qualification initiative is needed to disseminate the necessary know-how.