ICT in a state

Of course, no discussion of government`s ICT strategy and expenditure would be complete without the argument of priorities entering the equation. In a country where unemployment stands at 26.7%, two million households are found in informal dwellings, 23% and 35% of households do not receive basic water and electricity services respectively from their municipalities, and 4.2 million households do not have access to a flush or chemical toilet, what priority should technology adoption be given?

Speaking at the gala dinner opening of the State IT Agency`s inaugural GovTech conference, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi acknowledged it was a question that was often asked of her.

"People ask me, `Do we really need to spend on ICT? You cannot eat ICTs or the Internet.` But I answer that these can teach you how to eat. We have a mantra `knowledge economy` - eGovernment and beyond is not just a small project, but a holistic initiative to address social issues and delivery," she said.

TURNING AROUND

A case in point for Fraser-Moleketi`s argument and perhaps the greatest public sector implementation of ICTs in recent years is the South African Revenue Services (SARS). By building capacity, streamlining processes and upgrading its technology, business and stakeholder environments, SARS turned public perception from government money-grabber to that of a friendly, service-oriented deliverer of public services.

Other departments have not been as lucky. When initiatives come to the public eye they are more often than not castigated for high costs, slow implementation and lack of tangible benefits to the people.

But are these criticisms fair given that government is the biggest procurer of ICTs and relevant services, with the most complex and widely distributed environment in `business` today?

IN THE KITCHEN

Outgoing deputy director general of information services at the Department of Home Affairs, Kgabo Hlahla, explains that what government is doing is often behind the scenes and difficult for the ordinary person to ascertain.

"It`s like going to a restaurant; you come in, you sit down and it doesn`t look like much is going on. However, if you were to go into the kitchen, you would see much activity in preparation for your meal. You aren`t aware of this and it probably doesn`t interest you, but this activity is critical to the enjoyment of your meal," he says.

And the much-maligned Health Department has been very busy in its kitchen, says Hlahla. Not only has it made significant strides in the Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis) over the past year, but it is also ready with the infrastructure required to start implementing chip-enabled ePassports.

Nevertheless, government ICT projects such as these are not simple cases of setting down a strategy, acquiring the technology and completing roll-out. Hlahla explains that there is much in the way of policy and public discussion that needs to take place before "what is in the kitchen can actually make its way into the restaurant".

"There are several public concerns that need to be addressed before Home Affairs can move forward with the ePassport, like operability, security, durability and potential surveillance and tracking of citizens. These concerns need to be addressed in the public forum, policy decisions need to be taken at a political level and multiple government departments need to come to the party. We cannot make a decision and run with it like a business would do; we have to follow the proper procedure. In the meantime we have printers gearing up for the new passports so that when due process has been completed, we can hit the ground running," he says.

IN THE FIELD

Kugan Soobramani, senior manager: government IT officer in the Limpopo Provincial Government`s Department of Agriculture, agrees as much of what he has implemented over the past two years has been behind the scenes.

"We have big plans for agriculture in Limpopo province, but we need to ensure that we have the right foundation in place before we start making promises that we cannot deliver on. As an example, in 2004 we were using a 2Mbit switch; today, we have 1Gig to the desktop; we are using voice over IP (VOIP) for 45 of our offices and our backend has been upgraded mostly to open source software solutions. Some might see the systems working faster and more efficiently, but most are unlikely to notice a change unless it requires a change in the way they do their work or as the public access our services," he explains. Soobrani already has his `to do list` set out for the next five years and is confident of the department`s success because it has secured what he calls essential political buy-in.

"The Limpopo province has a provincial growth and development strategy (PGDS) in place, which it is working towards. We have, in turn, developed a master systems plan that looks at the business issues and then brings in ICTs to support the PGDS. Our aim is to increase the GDP and even though our ambit is agriculture, we are aware that what we do impacts on other sectors of the local economy and so we have followed political principles to ensure that as many people benefit from our initiatives. By following these principles, we have secured the buy-in of the Premier, the MEC and other relevant bodies within the region," says Soobrani.

PROCESS BEHIND JUSTICE

Like Home Affairs and Limpopo`s Department of Agriculture, South African Police Service assistant commissioner and CIO, Marlene Meyer, says that the Integrated Justice System (IJS) also has a chain to which it must report on its activities. "The IJS board reports to the IJS development committee, which reports to the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster, which, in turn, reports to Cabinet; all approvals have to come back down from Cabinet to ensure that we are following proper governance principles," she says.

And when you are charged with defending the country and its citizens, it is a process that cannot be taken lightly, according to Major General Matie du Toit, government CIO of the Department of Defence.

"If we fail at what we are doing, people die - it is as simple as that. If we don`t fail, then people don`t die. We have several bodies to report to and these ensure that the correct governance is in place; we are aware that we need to be a knowledgeable client because that is the way to discourage people and organisations from committing acts of war," he explains.

POLITICS WITHIN

While politics pervade the operations of government on national, provincial and municipal levels, there is also a quiet contest between the government CIOs and Sita itself. Theoretically, Sita should be a procurement office and service provider to government and its departments; practically, the legislated relationship is rife with tension.

Olly Mlamleli, CIO of the Free State Provincial Government, explains: "Sita is often viewed as an entity that wants to take over government by members of the Government IT Officers Council (GITOC) and those in the departments themselves. I don`t see it like that, while we have had problems in the past we have resolved these by entering into dialogue with Sita and reached a complementary level of partnership."

Others, however, are less convinced. Several delegates to GovTech spoke of power struggles with the agency, internal splitting of tenders to come under the R100 000 mark requiring Sita intervention and age-old suspicions of bribery and favouritism.

On a more practical level, one government officer spoke on the condition of anonymity of how local economies lose out once tenders are placed in the hands of Sita.

"Although Sita has regional offices throughout the country, tenders are handled at the Pretoria head office where they are published and awarded. This means that many of the local companies lose out to larger companies in the Gauteng region who are well known to the adjudicators. Economically, Gauteng gets more benefit from work originating in the regions than the region itself, defeating the aim to grow our local ICT economies through our implementations," he explains.

Despite the political wrangling, government officials and the private sector are satisfied that under the leadership of Sita CEO Mavuso Msimang, change is taking place and for the better.

Closing the GovTech conference, Black IT Forum national chairman Mthunzi Mdwaba recalled that at one stage he considered calling on the ancestors and sacrificing a cow as the only way to bring some relief to the organisation. Today, however, Mthunzi said it is an organisation that is leading the market and providing value to its citizens.