“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.” – Richard Feynman

Disruption, the favourite word (and activity) of the technology industry is not just changing the private sector it is also changing government. Technology that has changed the way we communicate, hail a cab, date, manage our finances etc is coming to government. Across the world civil servants and politicians are enthusiastically embracing tech trying to bring the ease, cost efficiency and speed of tech services to public services and information. Driving this change is the rise of Govtech, which we can loosely define as new technologies applied to public services and/or specifically designed for government purposes.

In Africa, Govtech has been seen by many as a way to leapfrog old, corrupt, and sclerotic government systems to deliver services directly to citizens and bring new efficiency and accountability to government procedures and systems. The proponents of Govtech in Africa are right. It has exciting potential to deliver services and enhance governance, and more citizens around the continent are demanding better services, at lower costs with better accessibility. However, the proponents of Govtech must also realise, that for that dream to become a reality, the way governments design and implement these solutions must be grounded in a set of principles and policies that will help ensure that there is genuine transformation and success.

Principles for African Govtech

If you were to formulate a set of principles for African governments looking to use technology, what should they keep in mind? I think there are four basic principles that government should keep in mind when considering tech solutions, to ensure that they do not fall into the trap of overpromising, overspending and under delivering.

1. Technology is not a magic bullet. It cannot fix broken systems, cultures or norms, rather it is part of the solution. One great is example of this is in action Kenya’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS). It is a set of technology solutions aimed at enabling the government to plan, execute and monitor the public budget on a centralised platform that reliably records all of the financial transactions by government on a real-time basis through a central accounting system. Where it has worked in other country’s it has improved transparency, accountability and helped stop corruption. However, there have been multiple instances where IFMIS has been compromised, broken into, illegally accessed and various transactions executed that have lost the public large amounts of money. Tech alone cannot fix the culture and norm of corruption that plagues Kenya’s public service. If IFMIS had been implemented alongside other anti-corruption efforts and reforms (e.g. proper investigations and convictions, cultural change efforts, training etc) it might have worked. However, by relying on tech alone, the government only ensured that the culture of corruption and the cartels that perpetuate corruption had the opportunity to subvert the new system.
2. Tech must be married with genuine service delivery – there would be no point in having the Uber app on your phone if the majority of the time the driver showed up late, was a clueless navigator and was rude. Similarly, if governments are going to try and improve service delivery with tech it must be matched with actual improvement in the delivery of that service. If I can apply for my passport painlessly online, then do not make it an excruciating process to go and collect. If I can file my taxes online, then make dealing with tax issues (refunds, fines etc.) just as easy.
3. It must be designed with African’s in mind – one consistent way in which Govtech in Africa fails is when governments design a solution to be used in a certain way then it turns out people do not use technology that way. It is not enough to copy a system from somewhere else or design a solution for an ideal situation. If you are designing a solution to help farmers access information and market prices make it with the African farmer in mind, who may not have access to a 4G network but uses USSD or SMS based solutions to access information and financial services. Conversely, do not assume African’s are simpletons either, many more farmers have smartphones and data services and that number is growing. In short, do what the best tech companies do, research and know your target audience and if you are making Govtech for Africa it must be designed by or with African’s in mind.
4. Tech is complicated and expensive and needs project management just like large infrastructure – the great allure of tech solutions is that they are not only are they more accessible they are also simpler and cheaper than complicated bureaucracies. However, this is not always the case, what may seem simple for front end users like us, can be incredibly complex. Such as government portal where I can see and access day to day mundane government services like applying for licences, documents, paying fees etc. A system like this requires a number of different databases to be digitised and linked. A user-friendly web-based portal (that works on phone and computer) to be built and linked with robust security so it can’t be hacked. Real-time integration with government systems so that it can actually process your requests. Hosting and backup. Constant maintenance and patching etc. This is neither cheap or simple, but with proper project management it is entirely achievable

A policy for Govtech

With these principles in mind, it is possible to develop a policy approach for Govtech that African governments could use to separate good projects from bad, ensure that the projects they do invest in have a positive impact and give a boost to the technology sector.

Project management

As per the 4^th principle laid out above tech is complicated. To ensure that Govtech projects have a chance at success governments need to invest in acquiring and training the people and skills who can manage tech projects. By manage, I am referring to the ability to assess a problem, break it down into its component parts. Then research, design, develop, test and deploy a solution. All while managing a budget, multiple stakeholders, government bureaucracies and public expectations. Housing these skills within government and empowering them with the ability to help various agencies and departments implement digital projects is key to making this possible.

In Singapore the government created the Government Technology Agency with a mandate to “to create and deliver a citizen-centric user experience that makes things easier”. The agency acts as reservoir of skills and know-how, which all government departments and agencies draw on when they are implementing projects from geospatial mapping, to tax filing, to social security payments. This ensures that every Govtech project is implemented efficiently and effectively and skills and lessons learned from past projects are applied to new ones. They recruit top talent from universities and the private sector ensuring that the country’s best and brightest can spend part of their careers working on solutions with a broad social good. Countries such as Italy, with its famously inefficient idea have taken a similar path creating government Digital Transformation Team that coordinates, develops and deploys Govtech projects across the government. Rather than the current state of affairs in most countries where, each Govtech project is isolated in its own ministry or department, running the risk of running over budget or not succeeding at all, and if it does succeed, that know-how stays stuck within that ministry or disappears entirely from government. African governments should consider doing the same. Recruiting talent from the private sector and the pool of young talented computer scientists and engineers in our higher education institutes. And creating and empowering a core team within the government to assess, drive and coordinate the implementation of digital projects. That, like in Singapore, will be able to drive transformative citizen-centric Govtech.

Smart criteria

Governments do not have infinite resources and cannot fund every digital transformation proposal that comes across their desks. Added to that not everything is ripe for digital transformation and often needs more time and groundwork before they are. What’s needed is for governments to create a clear set of criteria with which they can assess digital project proposals, and which will identify the projects with the best mix of a chance of success and genuine impact. In addition, a clear set of criteria will give government agencies, departments a clear idea of what is required of them and development partners a better idea of what they should be funding.

Incubate

One of the defining features of technology sector in Africa is its ingenuity and adaptability, with innovators across the continent coming up with tech-based unique solutions for the issues that affect them. Why not give them the opportunity to come up with solutions for the problem’s governments across the continent face and reward them if they are successful. In a previous post I advocated for policy that would give entrepreneurs a leg up, the incubation of tech companies and entrepreneurs coming up with Govtech solutions is the perfect opportunity to do so. Why not give local companies or individuals working on a service delivery issue some money and a deadline to invest in developing a solution. Which, if successful (if it works as advertised) they could either sell to the government or give the government a stake in the company, a contract to deploy its solution in the country and a share of the profits if they manage to sell their solution abroad. There will be failures, and that’s all right, as the money would be going into local talent and enterprise. Where there are successes, homegrown solutions to government inefficiencies that make citizens lives easier would be worth their weight in gold and if those solutions are commercial successes the benefits would accrue on multiple levels. Government doesn’t have to do everything, even in Govtech, incubating local innovators and entrepreneurs with a bit of money and the prospect of commercial success would spur private innovation for the public good.

Getting digital transformation right

In Kenya, in 2013 when the current Jubilee administration came to power, they styled themselves as a new digital type of government. They have endeavoured to digitize everything from education, to the land registry, to common government services and even government accounting. Some of these efforts like the e-citizen platform which has digitized a number of common services like applying for various licences and certificates, have been a success making citizens interactions with the government easier. Others like the centralised digital accounting system IFMIS, have not only failed in its mission to improve governance and lessen corruption, it has been used in large corruption scandals. The Kenyan experience points to both the potential benefits and pitfalls of Govtech in Africa. That tech is part of the solution not the solution. Designing Govtech for Africa must be built around that key principle alongside a holistic policy approach to implementation that institutionalises knowledge and skills and lays the groundwork for future innovation.

Applied smartly Govtech can help transform African’s interact with and view their governments. Making the service aspect of public service a reality. To take advantage of this potential, African governments must develop an understanding of the limitations and enablers of Govtech. And put in place the right structures, policies and mechanisms that can identify, develop and deploy genuinely relevant and impactful Govtech, designed around the needs and aspirations of their citizens.