SHERYLE A. DOMINGO

DM 216 - Information Technology Management

Master in Development Management

THE SPREAD OF INFORMATION AGE

REFORM

INFORMATION AGE DOES EXISTS BUT IS IT REALLY

SPREADING?

If we consider reform in general, then there is no doubt about its spread: whatever their guise or terminology, public sector reform initiatives have been on the increase. They have spread to all corners of the globe. Within individual countries, they have increasingly set the agenda for public sector managers. The most tangible evidence of SPREAD comes from the increasing use of Information Technology within government.

The origins of Information Technology in government are often traced back to Herman Hollerith, who work for the US Census Bureau in the 1880s. He developed a tabulating machine based on punched cards which was first used for the 1890 national census and subsequently for tabulating military payroll. The company Hollerith founded to produce his machine is today’s International Business Machine(IBM); the largest IT firm in the world.

Just as IBM has grown huge from small roots, so too has government use of IT. There are no reliable figures, but can guess estimate that up to US$500 billion per year is being spent world-wide on IT based information systems in the public sector.

WASHINGTON – The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its updated annual “Report on Information Technology (IT) Spending for the Federal Government.” This update details the approximately $66.4 billion of requested FY 2008 IT spending, a 2.3 percent increase over the FY 2007 enacted total. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/omb/pubpress/2007/052407_it_spending.pdf ACCESSED 9/20/2013 In 2008-09, annual Queensland Government ICT spending reached $1.5 billion , of which 56% or $845 million was directed towards ongoing operations of the sector's existing business applications and technology infrastructure http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Research+and+Markets%3a+In+2008-09%2c+Annual+Queensland+Government+ICT...-a0213312431 ACCESSED 9/20/2013

In year 2008-2009 Australian government spend US$5.17 billion in IT http://agimo.gov.au/files/2012/04/ict_expenditure_report_2008-09_-_2010-11.pdf Accessed 9/20/2013 Philippines Governance Systems and Efficiency Digitalization Program Php6,600,00.00; Php66,797,000 Financial Management Information System Php71,802,000 for the National Payroll System. (Office of the President) http://www.dbm.gov.ph/?page_id=3610 accessed 9/20/2013

• Saudi Arabia spending on information technology to US$4.1 billion dollars in 2012, with an annual increase of 9% over the past years

http://we-en.blogspot.com/2013/02/41billion-in-spending-on-information.html accessed 9/20/2013

Public Sector organizations undertaking their initial computerizations will typically see IT as means of increasing efficiency; automating the human effort within existing manual procedures and thereby attempting to cut staff costs. It is here that the majority of IT has so far been implemented in the public sector. At the other hand of the spectrum, a number of countries have been investing in electronic government projects, with a particular emphasis on using IT to improve the delivery of public services, combining the aims of increasing efficiency and becoming more customer responsive.

In dynamic terms, the IT base available to support the reinvention of the government is increasing every year. In many governments, increasing hopes about IT’s contribution to reform translate into increasing IT investment rates. Recently real average increases in annual government IT expenditure include 8% in the US, 23% in Malaysia and 61% in Singapore

The relationship between IT and government reinvention is increasing not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of visibility, with a number of high-profile initiatives having been launched during the 1990s. These have spread on a policy wave from early epicenters: notably the US but also Singapore. They include: • Australian Initiatives to make use of IT in government reinvention were launched in 1996 as an IT blueprint for the public sector. By 1998 the portfolio of initiatives included Fed link, which will create a whole government intranet, and the Commonwealth Information Centre, which will provide a single point of access to government information.

• European Union The Interchange of Data between Administration (IDA) programme, initiated in 1995 and entering its second phase in 1998, uses computer networks to enable exchange of public sector information between European governments.

• India The Leadership and Excellence in Andhara Pradesh in the 21st Century (LEAP21) initiative, launched in 1997, aims to use IT as a significant lever to the creation of better government in Andhra Pradesh state

•Philippines The governments National Information Technology Plan competitiveness and empowerment that includes plans for extensive computerization of government operations in order to improve governments capacity and efficiency across the board. In 1997, the plan was renamed IT21. •Singapore The IT2000 Intelligent Island master plan, first formulated in 1991, aims to make use of IT pervasive throughout the whole Singapore society. It includes a significant component of reengineering public services through use of IT

• South Korea The snappily titled Implementation Plan for Governmental Administration Informatization Promotion, originating in a 1987 information systems project, strives to increase the efficiency and quality government services through use of IT.

• US The National Performance Review (NPR) of 1993 and subsequent Access America plan of 1997 aim to create better, cheaper government with a substantial role for IT in that process

•World Bank/ developing countries. The

information for Development (InfoDev)

programme was designed in 1995 to harness

the "information revolution' for Third World

development. It includes the aim of using IT

more widely in government reform programmes

Within these initiatives, IT has often been

much more strongly identified as a part of

information age reform than have information

and updated information systems:

The primary objective is to investigate

the scope for a significant increase in

the use of on-line technology to

transform government so that, by the

turn of the century, most administrative

business is conducted electronically

• The initiative focuses on using Information

Technology as a strategic tool for improving

the quality of life for the people of Andhra

Pradesh

• The vision of IT2000 is based on the far-

reaching use of IT to see how IT can be

pervasively applied to improve business

performance and the quality of life

• Government direct will be founded on the

new possibilties offered by information

technology, and the private sector.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO

REFORM

The approach to reform in the public sector has

changed over time as regards IT and Information. In

large part, these changes relate to the changing

nature of senior public officials (both politicians and

managers), who have tended to set the

implementation agenda for reform. We can categorize

four different approaches to reform that appear over

time in a "four-eyes" model:

1. IGNORE

Public Officials are ignorant about IT

and Information System (IS).

They therefore do not include

consideration of their plans for reform. IT

expenditure is minimal and any IT

managers accidentally appointed in the

public sector have a pretty thin time.

2. ISOLATE

Public Officials remain computer-illiterate

and lack an understanding of information's role.

They nevertheless are aware of IT and its

potential. Investment in IT is therefore included

in reform plans but is seen as the responsibility

of IT experts. It is mainly associated with

automation and some idea that efficiency gains

will result. For other reform agendas, it is added

as an afterthought and is not linked in any

systematic way to the process of reform. This,

nonetheless, represents the first step on the

path of Information age reform. IT managers get

the budgets they always wanted and a certain

amount of freedom from management oversight.

3. IDOLIZE

Public officials have become semi-

literate. They use computers and are over-

aware of ITs potential. They believe that IT

can transform the business government.

They are dimly aware that Information is

something important. The public sector

becomes awash with IT-driven reform

projects which place technology at the heart

of the change process. IT managers get

huge budgets, immense workloads and the

boss always looking over their shoulder and

claiming any credit.

4. INTEGRATE

Public officials have become information-

literate. They recognize information as a key

organizational resource that is central to all

government functions. The reengineering of

Information systems and the introduction of

IT are now fully integrated into the process of

organizational change, driven by reform

objectives

INFORMATION AS A RESOURCE: IMPLICATIONS

FOR GOVERNMENT

• Managing government information:

government information in all forms is a

strategic resource and will be effectively

managed throughout its lifecycle

• Data administration: all government

information will be subject to data

administration to ensure common

definitions, integrity and consistency of

data.

• Sharing and re-using information:

information will be captured once, as close

to the source as possible, then shared and

re-used by authorized users.

• Exchanging information: once captured,

government information should be stored

and exchanged electronically to avoid

transcribing and re-entering it manually.

INFORMATION AS A RESOURCE: IMPLICATIONS

FOR GOVERNMENT

• Protecting information: the security, integrity and privacy of government information will be ensured by integrating information technology security measures with physical, personnel screening, and other security measures.

• Retaining information: government information will be retained only while there exist a business need, a legislative or policy requirement, or when it has historical or archival importance.

• Stewardship: specific organizational units

will be accountable for managing

designated classes of government

information to ensure its integrity, quality

and relevance, and to restrict its

accessibility to authorized users only

BARRIERS TO AN INTEGRATED

APPROACH

1. Barriers that restrict progress from the

ignore approach;

2. Drivers that encourage continuance of

the idolize approach;

3. Barriers that restrict diffusion of the

integrate approach

OTHER BARRIERS INCLUDE:

Technical Barriers

Skills and knowledge barriers

Data barriers

Structural and cultural barriers

BARRIERS TO PROGRESS FROM

THE IGNORE APPROACH

1.Skills and knowledge

2.Finance

3.Risk

4.Suspicion

5.Infrastructure

DRIVERS SUPPORTING THE

IDOLIZE APPROACH

1. The image of IT as reform solution

2.Pressure from other external institutions

3. Continuous novelty and unfamiliarity of IT

innovations

4. "Me too" attitudes

5. Other enabling trends

ALTERNATIVE REFORM MODELS

example of a government's Bureau of Statistics:

• Automation Phase

Once collected from the field, statistical

survey is typed by clerical staff on to a

computer instead of being held on a

paper. Tabulations are now performed by

the computer and not by hand.

.

• Optimization Phase

The survey forms and data entry screens

are simplified, and networked computers

are placed in regional offices. This enables

direct entry of data by field staff instead of

central entry by a pool of clerical staff at

headquarters.

• Reengineering Phase

Survey questions are redesigned to

provide the information that is actually

required by the Bureau and its clients.

.

• Transformation Phase

The Bureau is renamed the Statistical Services

Agency. It has outsourced much of its data

gathering and has set up a commercial unit that

provides income generating statistical services for

foreign and domestic private firms. These services

include an annually-updated CD-ROM of national

data sets; access to certain national data sets via

the internet; and an online analysis service for the

provision of customized trend analysis and

reporting