Red taped up

The local ICT panorama reveals an inordinate number of policy- and decision-making groups which are heavily or marginally involved in the local ICT environment, commissioning projects, making their own plans as the R35 billion gets spread thinner and thinner.

State departments involved in ICT procurement include the Departments of Communications, of Science and Technology, Public Enterprises, Provincial and Local Government, and of Public Service and Administration. Then there`s the State IT Agency, the Government IT Officers` Council (GITO), the CSIR, Meraka, the Presidential National Commission on Information Society & Development and the Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development. The list goes on.

This disparate collection of ICT procurement and planning advisory bodies and actual procurement departments is possibly unprecedented, says industry researcher and World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. “One may well find a similar situation in countries where business is more anarchic, like Russia for instance, but it is never engineered by government to be so dysfunctional,” says the outspoken analyst.

In a healthy, functioning policy-making environment, there would be far more consolidation and centralisation, Goldstuck argues.

ACCOUNTABILITY

GITO chairwoman Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane discussed the allocation of the R35 billion at a recent conference: “Obviously we have a number of projects that can range in value to up to a billion rand. Some will be quite visible in this next financial year, and others which have deliberately not yet been mentioned will be seen in the next two years or so,” she said.

iWeek asked Makhekhe-Mokhuane to detail these visible projects. She`s unable to do so, despite being the leading lady in what is supposed to be the integrated centre of the government`s CIOs.

“The core problem in telecoms regulation, for instance, is a lack of decisiveness and lack of accountability. Nobody is taking responsibility for it taking five years to license a second national operator – heads should have rolled, but nobody was ultimately accountable,” says Goldstuck.

“When one looks at what Sentech could have been, and what Sentech is, that can be put down to lack of decisiveness. The problem is that the more parties you put in place, the greater becomes the indecisiveness.”

He describes the DTI`s involvement in Infraco as “outrageous”. Makhekhe-Mokhuane was asked to list the main ICT projects that will consume much of the R35 billion budget. She suggests: “Let`s discuss other topics and see if we can come up with something meaningful to discuss other than money issues.”

STILL NOT ENOUGH?

Is the government forming too many task teams and councils, and is this lack of ICT policy-direction a result of “too much talk and not enough action”. iWeek posed this question to Lyndall Shope-Mafole, director-general at the Department of Communications.

“We debate a lot – which is good – and we talk a lot,” she responds, “but it`s true that this can have its drawbacks,” she adds.

Shope-Mafole tells iWeek: “the fact that you can even count the number [of ICT policy-making institutions] means there are not yet enough, and means we haven`t yet done enough.”

In her recent budget speech, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri cited the establishment of broadband infrastructure company Infraco and the transformation of post offices into Thusong Post Offices as among her most decisive decisions.

Added to this, she has asked ICASA to “urgently consider” whether existing VANS licencees can also provide and operate facilities or networks, which is certainly a move to cut down on the red tape.

However, the Minister was quieter on the recent high-profile Home Affairs and Transport department ICT initiatives Hanis and eNatis. Both of these have consumed millions of badly-spent rands.

Others take the view that the communication lines between government departments, when it comes to ICT procurement at least, seem to be breaking down. “This is the industry equivalent of a dysfunctional family – and the long list of role-players is an indication of that,” snaps Goldstuck.

Adrian Schofield" rel=tag>Adrian Schofield, head of consulting at ForgeAhead, lends weight to these comments. “The reality is that they [state departments and clusters] communicate poorly. They often fail to recognise the need for overarching coordination of the essential enabling resources that comprise the modern ICT sector.”

Schofield says that it is extremely difficult to put a figure on what proportion of the R35 billion could be wasted on the unnecessary administration and duplication of processes that goes along with having so many decision-makers.

“How do you begin to measure that?” he asks, adding: “I suppose one could safely make the statement that a significant amount is wasted due to the duplication of processes.” Schofield points out that his opinion is expressed as much based on his experiences in the industry associations as on his role at ForgeAhead, which provides research and consulting services to many government departments.

MINISTER OF ICT?

A 2004 study by ForgeAhead for NEDLAC made the recommendation that there should be a single national ICT council, with an executive mandate, to provide the leadership essential for the future, Schofield says.

“Unfortunately, when the need for a minister for ICT is expressed, there is resistance from certain quarters, perhaps because they feel it reflects badly on their own performance.Of course, the call for a different approach would not be made if there was a greater sense of effective performance from within the existing structures.”

Aligning technology deployments to the mandate of the government in general is a tough task, says Makhekhe-Mokhuane.

“One would expect that the leadership role would be taken by the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development. However, to date, it has done little beyond provide a discussion forum,” says Schofield.

Makhekhe-Mokhuane admits that the current environment is not conducive to an effective tender system. “If you look at SITA Procurement statistics on tenders successfully processed and accepted by departments, about 30% of tenders are being cancelled after going through a long process of trying to award them.”

SOLUTIONS

Simon Turner, executive director at consulting firm Foster-Melliar, sees no reason why government departments should not approach their ICT project spend any differently from how it would happen in the corporate environment.

When it comes to procurement across various organisations, he says the biggest risk is that different departments undertake projects that are similar in nature. “Spend is thus not economised, as there is duplication across the board.“

“As we see in large corporations, I believe government should establish a project- or programme-management office that will have the responsibility for coordination and control of the projects across the board.” GITO`s Makhekhe-Mokhuane promises plans are afoot to tighten the controls. “What we are currently proposing, which is a very new initiative, is to recommend to SITA and directors-general they consider composing a panel of experts – that will recommend to departments possible service providers, as opposed to the current way of doing things.”

Run a project management office through SITA, suggests Turner, this would allow for the control of projects and of spend, and would maximise the benefits to citizens.

But Schofield warns against laying excessive blame on government, saying that the private sector also has a responsibility to organise itself and to work together to create a dynamic, managed market place.

“The fragmented approach of government is a reflection of the fragmentation of the sector itself. We have associations, forums and societies to cover every little niche of operation. Rarely do they combine resources to work together on the national issues.”