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Regional Workshop on Social  Development Information Exchange through the Internet
Bangkok, 9-12 November 1998
How can governments benefit from the Internet?
Presentation on by: Ilpo Survo Programme Officer
Public Sector Computerization
Statistics Division
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Tel (+66-2) 288 1649, Fax (+66-2) 288-1082
survo.unescap@un.org

 

Contents

  1. Public sector organizations are, in most aspects, no different from other organizations in using the Internet
  2. Governments' special roles in  
  3. Further, the public sector has some constraints in efficient and effective use of the Internet 
  4. Main characteristics of the Internet and their implications to governments Selected characteristics of today's Internet 
  5. Internet....breaks the barriers of time and distance 
  6. Internet....especially its hyperlinked material interconnect PCs, people, offices to the rest of the world, and pieces of information to other information 
  7. Internet....assists in finding information, locating people, organizations, goods and services in an unprecedented way  
  8. tInternet...., and especially its Web, breaks the control of authors (and authorities) to feed information in the order they want
  9. Internet.... content provision requires new skills and team work, especially in the case of multimedia
  10. Internet.... at early stages emphasizes the position of information repackagers at the cost of original authors 
  11. Summary 1/2 
  12. Summary 2/2 
  13. ESCAP and public sector computerization 
  14. Selected Web sites 
  15. Materials made available to the Workshop participants at the time of the presentation

(1) Public sector organizations are, in most aspects, no different from other organizations in using the Internet:

  • they use the same technology as anyone else: hardware, software, operating systems, browsers, Internet, electronic mail, etc.
  • they retrieve and provide Internet content technically in the same way as private organizations
  • they use e-mail for internal and external communication
  • it is the people working for the organization that can make the difference (in making use of the Internet)
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(2) Governments' special roles in

  • providing services and information to all citizen
  • the use of information and information and communication technologies for administrative purposes
  • facilitating the diffusion of Internet technologies in the country
  • creating national information and communication infrastructure
  • setting policies for national IT development
    • affect their Internet use
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(3) Further, the public sector has some constraints in efficient and effective use of the Internet:

  • Physical access of staff to the Internet is often lower than in the private sector.
  • This may be due to the shortage of funds to purchase equipment, software and connection time, or it may be a remainder from 
  • hierarchical organization structures and management styles, in which access to information is selective and based on power
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(4) Main characteristics of the Internet and their implications to governments Selected characteristics of today's Internet:

  • breaks the barriers of time and distance
  • especially its hyperlinked material interconnect PCs, people, offices to the rest of the world
  • assists people to find information, locate people, organizations, goods and services in an unprecedented way
  • breaks the control of authors to feed information in the order they want
  • content provision requires new skills and team work, especially in the case of multimedia 
  • emphasizes the position of information repackagers at the cost of original authors
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(5) Internet....breaks the barriers of time and distance

  • Government information can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • Eventually governments come to reconsider the physical location of certain services, organizational units, databases, archives, etc.
  • Collection of administrative data and other information changes, and digitization of information takes place once, near the data source
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(6) Internet....especially its hyperlinked material interconnect PCs, people,  offices to the rest of the world, and pieces of information to other information

  • Governments must become more efficient and transparent in general, and as information providers in particular, as 
  • people can conveniently compare the quality of public services and efficiency of operations between government departments, between the public and private sector, and between governments
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(7) Internet....assists in finding information, locating people, organizations, goods and services in an unprecedented way

  • Governments are challenged to provide information about their services, legislation and regulations
  • Governments should provide access points to the Internet in public places, educational institutions, libraries, etc. 
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(8) Internet...., and especially its Web, breaks the control of authors (and  authorities) to feed information in the order they want

  • Governments are challenged to pay attention to the consistency, synchronization, cross-references and editorial qualities of the material and statements they release
  • Customers do not necessarily arrive through a single "reception", they approach people who can help them
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(9) Internet.... content provision requires new skills and team work, especially in the case of multimedia

  • Governments are challenged to train civil servants, especially at senior levels to instigate far reaching changes in organizational structures, daily operations, division of responsibilities, job descriptions
  • Governments are challenged to offer tangible incentives for those learning Internet skills by themselves 
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(10) Internet....  at early stages emphasizes the position of information repackagers at the cost of original authors

  • Governments can do reasonable well by starting to provide on the Internet the information they already have in other formats, in other words by repackaging information for the new media
  • Governments must protect copyrights of original authors by broadening the legislation to cover Internet publishing
  • Governments should use Internet wisely in mass education. At best, it can help students to achieve higher levels in critical analysis and independent problem solving. That combined with improved and speedy exchange of ideas among researchers and professionals, Internet is a powerful development tool for all governments (countries, organizations).
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(11) Summary 1/2

Factors why governments cannot afford to ignore the Internet:
  • people can access the Internet at their convenience and when they need the information or service
  • large number of people can be served with a relatively low cost
  • all Internet based services and all public information and can be made accessible through a single Web site (one stop services)
  • civil servants need the Internet for finding information and contacting colleagues, associates and customers

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(12) Summary 2/2

How can governments benefit from the Internet?
  • by adopting the Internet as a routine service channel
  • by exercising a high degree of openness in releasing public information on the Internet
  • after those crucial policy decisions, most constraints in setting up the servers and creation of the content are management problems (and not problems in funding or selecting the right technology) 
  • by training a core personnel for administering organizational Internet servers (Web, e-mail, news, domain name servers)
  • by training trainers to teach Web authoring
 

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(13) ESCAP and public sector computerization

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(14) Selected Web sites

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(15) Materials made available to the Workshop participants at the time of the presentation:

   
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