E-Government - The Singapore Practical Experience

An African proverb admonishes us that: "Whenever the rhythm of your drum beats modifications, you have to transform the dance movement accordingly."

It truly is no longer privileged expertise that Info and Communication Technology has launched the entire globe into what's now generally known as the e-world-meaning electronic planet. Now Governments the globe more than are somersaulting to reinvent and re-engineer governance so as to be far more efficient, effective and transparent within the provision of data, goods and services to their citizens electronically.

Thankfully Ghana has already started dancing for the tune with the technological music due to the fact government has laid the foundation for e-government by establishing the government of Ghana web page popularly known as Ghana Portal which can be being managed by the Information and facts Services Division of your Ministry of Facts in Accra. Government has also established the Ghana-India Kofi Anan IT Centre of Excellence and above all, Ghana has formulated an Info Communication Technologies framework for accelerated improvement, becoming spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications.

Nevertheless, in regards to the practicability, accessibility and usability of e-government solutions by citizens, Ghana nonetheless has some mountains to climb and a few rivers and lagoons to wade by way of. It can be against this backdrop that this writer deems it relevant to share the Singapore e-government knowledge with fellow Ghanaians. But, even before shedding some light on e-government strategies and implementations in Singapore, it might be necessary to explain what e-government is in the initially location.

On Saturday July 31 this year, at the Johannesburg Airport in South Africa, this writer came across a group of Ghanaians on their strategy to Zimbabwe to take aspect within a book fair in that nation. Then inside a chart with one of them, exactly where it was revealed that I was on my way from Singapore exactly where I underwent a quick education course in e-government, my interlocutor exclaimed:

'Eeeee-Government!' "What is the fact that animal, as well?" he virtually shouted unconsciously.

As a matter of fact, my read more  friend confessed that, he was hearing for the very first time the term e-government. Later when we parted organization and he went to Zimbabwe and I was airborne to Ghana, I began debating with my inner self: "If this man, well-educated, living within the capital city of Accra, participating in an international occasion which include a book fair, has not but heard with the term e-government till then, then what occurs to the majority of uneducated and much less fortunate brothers and sisters dwelling in deprived rural communities on the country?

Because we are living inside a planet of Knowledge Management (KM) and Practical experience Sharing, I can not claim to become an professional in this field, however the tiny I know about e-government have to be shared with others for the benefit of all who care to understand; for the advancement of mankind and for the glory on the Divine Intelligence or the very first Giver of understanding itself.

The query is: What's E-government? The United Nations defines e-Government as "Permanent commitment by government to enhance the connection involving the private citizen plus the public sector through enhanced, cost-effective and effective delivery of solutions, data and information." It went further to explain that there are actually 5 categories of measuring a country's "e-gov" progress in terms of Net Presence. This involves: Emerging - Enhanced - Interactive - Transactional and Fully Integrated. All UN member states have been known as upon and encouraged to embark on this e-government project and programme.

Accordingly the planet physique features a way of assessing the progress of every nation within this regard. Drastically within the UN Report for this year on e-government globally, Singapore, a compact Island City State of Land- Location of 697.1sq km having a population of 4.185 million souls is sharing the 2nd position with the mighty United states of america of America with Canada comfortably sitting on prime of all.

How did Singapore make it towards the prime of e-government league table with the world? What tactics and policies have been place in place; when and how did that nation accomplish such a technological feat over and above the super powers of this planet of financial inequalities?