Instal, update, reboot

THE NEW Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation is a step in the right direction. But it must be more than simply a tweak of a longstanding Cabinet portfolio.

The ministry needs to be at the vanguard of a wave of profound change in the public sector. Radical transformation has always been required in order to bring about a digital economy, to improve the ease of doing business and to bolster worker productivity by enhancing tools available to the workforce.

Whereas before these were ideals, the pandemic has rendered them indispensable. We have been overdue for a single, centralised entity through which the State’s myriad range of information communications technology (ICT) policies and projects can be focused and strategically aligned.

This could be one role for the rebranded ministry. Though it may all seem a daunting task, the ministry does not have to reinvent the wheel. The experiences and expertise of our Caribbean neighbours can be drawn upon.

Countries like Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica have long had ministries devoted to technology. In some respects, their experiences have been transformative while we have arguably lagged behind, all the while trumpeting digital transformation and related buzzwords.

The new ministry can also look closer to home, where our private sector has some experience in adopting to more updated models of work.

Before the pandemic much work was already being done to formulate a policy vision looking forward. The ministry might be tempted to take older policies, such as the National ICT Plan 2018-2022, and simply sprinkle a few updates here and there.

Yet this is also an opportunity to elicit more decisive action.

Either way, several infrastructural issues need to be at the forefront. For example, the goal of national access to broadband that is affordable, high-quality, safe and secure should be a high priority.

The ministry will also have to work closely with other government departments, such as those responsible for education. Matters of public administration and education have always overlapped. But the problems relating to access to technologies in classrooms, as well as the turn to virtual teaching, also demand solutions that are hardy, user-friendly, and also within the reach of all students economically. That is a tremendous challenge.

Working with the Finance Ministry, the Trade and Industry Ministry, and the Ministry of Planning will also allow expansion of the current range services. Online payments, electronic signatures, digital form submissions – all over the world such things are standard.

Remarkably, they are not universally available in a country that prides itself as being among the most advanced in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Just ask anyone who has to get a driver’s permit or renew a passport. We are now trying to figure out the basics of a unique e-identification, postcodes and the like.

Lack of progress in all of these areas reduce productivity. That’s what the new ministry has to update.