Informed by the results of an e-Readiness assessment, policy makers and civil servants face a number of issues in the planning stages of e-Government programs as well as individual projects:
- How should they form the initial plan?
- When and how should they involve stakeholders in the process?
- How can they pull the components of e-Government into a cohesive national strategy?
- What is the best way to fund e-Government projects?
- How can e-Government projects, once launched, be sustained and managed effectively?
Throughout the process of planning and implementing an e-Government program, the leadership team should determine priorities, establish budgets, provide incentives for the use of the new systems and processes, and measure the results, leaving room for adaptation to local circumstances and response to feedback from the public and private sectors.
Effective e-Government strategies are results oriented, with specific and measurable targets. A strategy should be challenging and inspiring, but not unrealistic. A good theme is “Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast.” Plans for e-Government projects should provide for the ongoing monitoring of progress against stated goals and measurable outcomes.
Building on the
work of Professor Heeks , a step-by-step approach to planning and implementing e-Government programs would include the following elements:
- Conduct an information systems audit
- Create an appropriate strategy that defines goals, structures and roles, placing e-Government strategy within a wider good governance and reform strategy
- Determine the e-Government information systems architecture and establish information systems requirements, taking into consideration interoperability, security, and other issues that will cut across projects or agencies
- Prioritize e-Government projects
- Develop reasonable and sustainable budgets
- Detail an action plan for implementation
- Identify human resources needs and develop an appropriate training program
- Manage, evolve and review the e-Government strategy
As defined by Professor Richard Heeks, the “
architecture” for e-Government has five main elements:
- Process architecture – Process architecture comprises a plan for the key activities that the e- Government program will undertake and support.
- Technology architecture – Technology architecture dictates how computers will be specified and connected for e-Government projects. It also indicates the software programs that will run on the computers.
- Data architecture – Data architecture comprises an overall plan for the data items that will be necessary to deliver e-Government services and their relationships.
- Data management architecture – Data management architecture dictates how data input, processing, storage, and output functions will be managed.
- Management architecture – Management architecture comprises the policies, standards, human resource systems, management structures, and financial systems necessary to support e-Government projects.
As projects take shape and require adjustments, it will be valuable to have clear criteria in place for their re-approval and ongoing support.
The planning process should define staffing requirements to ensure that skilled personnel are brought into program oversight and individual projects in a timely manner. Such personnel may be found or cultivated internally. They may also be brought in through partnerships with the private sector or by contracting out. In many instances, training will be required to adequately develop and maintain an e-Government skill set in-house.
An important part of the planning process is the identification of costs, the performance of a cost-benefit analysis, and the identification of funding sources to sustain the project over its full life cycle. These issues are discussed in detail in
Chapter 5.
Planning Resources
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