Digital government can deliver GDP savings

AN effective knowledge-based economy can deliver economic savings of one working week per year or two per cent of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This calculation was put forward by Dr. Arvo Ott, one of the world’s leading experts in digital government when he spoke at iGovTT’s ICT Business Symposium at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, recently.

“By using the digital signature effectively we can save as much as one working week per year as the economic effect which amounts to two per cent of GDP for a country. The benefits of an effective e-government platform translates into government efficiency and transparency, economic competitiveness and an e-way of life,” said Ott, director of the e-Governance Academy in Estonia, regarded as the most advanced digital society in the world, with 99 per cent of its public services available online. His multi-media presentation was titled: “Lessons Learnt from Leading a Digital Government”.

The symposium, which attracted more than 300 ICT professionals from Government ministries and agencies, as well as the private sector, had a primary objective of driving the iGovTT’s agenda to advance the implementation of the national information communication technology (ICT) plan for transforming TT into a knowledge-based economy. The theme of the symposium was “Transforming Government ICT in a Changing Landscape”.

Also addressing the symposium were Minister of Public Administration Marlene Mc Donald; Esther Le Gendre, Chairman, iGovTT; and Kirk Henry, Chief Executive Officer, iGovTT. Also present was Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Maxie Cuffie.

According to Ott, competencies offered by widespread use of the online platform include central and local e-government, cyber security, e-identity and change management. Citing an example of the real benefit of e-government service versus offline application, the Estonian expert said that establishing a company online would take about 30 minutes as against 510 minutes through offline service, resulting in a time saving of 480 minutes.

With regard to the legal framework for e-government services, Ott explained: “Technology cannot be regulated but relations between people, organisations, rights and responsibilities can be regulated. We should regulate as minimally as possible.

What we should do is use the existing legal framework and make amendments when needed.”

Ott also pointed to some “international lessons” to keep in mind with the use of e-government: the main challenge is in organisation and planning, not the money or technology; all knowledge should be in the country, which can be supported by international experiences; driving forces are unclear, but in Estonia banks and the business sector were the driving forces, and politicians are not motivated.