Electronic Government refers to the use of Information Technologies through Government entities to have the ability to transform relations with citizens, companies, and other branches of the Government.
These technologies can serve in different ways: improvement in the delivery of services to citizens, improvements in the Government's interaction with companies, businesses and industry, empowerment of citizens to carry out efforts, more efficient management of the Government and provide better services to citizens.
This work summarizes two success stories in the Digital Infrastructure area promoted by the governments of Chile and Mexico, each of them developed important advances in the modernization of public service processes, which can serve as a reference for the development of initiatives and policies in other regions.
Introduction
New Technologies are marking important changes in the development and way of working within organizations, collaborative work and the opening of organizational borders for the exchange of knowledge, substitution of traditional transaction mechanisms, the opening of markets and the deregulation are some examples of what the "New Economy" imposes today.
Various terms are related to Electronic Government, one in particular is e-governance, which points to how a society operates, works and is organized in which the government must ensure each citizen access to its network of information. On the other hand, the term of Electronic Government is more linked to Back-Office tasks that lead to the interaction of citizens with the government. (Harris, 2000 and Gartner, 2000 mentioned in PRYME, 2003)
The incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), especially the Internet, into public and private activities constitutes a factor of economic development. It is important to highlight that the Internet goes beyond being just a technology, it is a means of communication that constitutes the way in which new societies organize themselves (PRYME, 2003).
So the role of the State is important for the implementation of public policies that allow: implement policies for the development of communication infrastructures, promote and facilitate access to ICTs at all social levels, and finally promote the use of the Internet As an information tool for transactions, procedures and service provision.
Therefore, the government's job is to provide fundamental changes for the modernization of its component organizations, giving citizens new ways of communicating and receiving services. (HMSO, 1999) quoted in (Hazlett and Hill, 2003).
In the context described above, the adoption and success of new transactional forms through the network depend on two basic components:
a) Infrastructure: for the exchange of information between bidders and applicants, to support all types of economic activity, including the transportation of goods and services.
b) Content: which is the information necessary for bidders and claimants to know the terms of the transaction.
Infrastructure constitutes an important “enabler” in the way the government operates as a service provider (Bei, 2004) and encompasses a set of elements necessary to guarantee the success of transactions (Cominetti, 2002):
a) Access and connectivity infrastructure. Constituted by means of telecommunications and network connection devices. Its development depends on policies that encourage the deployment of telecommunications devices and networks, which allow all citizens, without exclusion, access to the Internet.
b) Means of payment and certainty infrastructure. Which must provide security in all transactions, confidence generation and inviolability of private data. It is important to mention that the necessary conditions must be generated for the protection of digital identity. The incorporation of mechanisms such as digital signatures, which must have the same legal status as handwritten signatures, must guarantee and protect citizens against failures and bad practices in electronic commerce. (Freeman, 2004).
c) Distribution infrastructure. Related to logistics to guarantee the distribution and delivery of goods and services resulting from transactions carried out electronically.
Likewise, it is worth highlighting the identification of other success factors in the implementation of Electronic Government, such as those cited by (Stone, 2003): Administrative and political leadership, Detailed project management, Process reengineering, Scalability, adoption of Standards, among others.
Digital Infrastructure in Chile
As part of its strategy, the Chilean government has implemented a series of policies aimed at promoting and strengthening the components mentioned above. To this end, it has developed specific programs for each of the areas. To this must be added the effort made to strengthen the supply and demand for goods and services through the network. To this end, the generation of content in accordance with the needs of the public is promoted; the training of people to increase the demand and creation of local information is mentioned as a factor of success.
The implementation of Telecentres, information technology education programs for public officials and promotion of Internet use by small and medium-sized companies are some of the most important initiatives.
In the access and connectivity component, the fundamental priority of the Chilean government is universal access, that is, all citizens without exclusion must be able to access Information Technologies, thus aiming to reduce the so-called “digital divide "
For this purpose, focused credit policies have been created for subsidies in the purchase of equipment at both the individual and community levels, extending the basic telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country, especially in rural areas. Among the most successful programs are: Red Enlace, National Program of Community Infocentres, Community Telecentres and one that draws attention to the Computer Recycling Project for Infocentros, which is the product of a strategic alliance between the public sector and private companies.
In the field of connectivity, the liberation of the telecommunications market has been promoted, generating competitiveness, universal access and investment. On the other hand, it is known that the digital economy requires a connectivity infrastructure at the levels of: international, national and local connectivity.
The component of security and certainty proposes policies that contribute to the strengthening of network security, privacy, integrity and authenticity of communications and information, on the other hand, it mentions the generation of certainty in value transfer systems, stimulating the generation of value added.
The emergence of business-to-consumer (business-to-consumer) business relationships enables the generation of trust. The promulgation of the digital signature law will reaffirm the technological and legal security of electronic transactions; In this regard, it is important to clarify that the concept of digital signature is based on the use of an encryption method called asymmetric or public key. This method consists of establishing a pair of keys associated with a subject, one public, known by all the subjects involved in the sector, and another private, only known by the subject in question.
In this way, when we want to establish secure communication with another party, it is enough to encrypt the message with the subject's public key so that upon receipt only the subject who owns the private key can read it. (Ramos, 2005). It also highlights the development of public information security policies and a cooperation network against cybercrime and bad practices in electronic commerce.
Finally, the logistics component mentions the importance of the distribution mechanisms for goods and services purchased by electronic means, for this it considers important the role that the Chilean Post Office must play in facing the challenges of modernization, adaptation to trade e-mail and competition from other private logistics and delivery operators.
Regarding policies to promote the strengthening of the supply of goods and services, the generation of content by the public sector has been encouraged, so there are currently several government portals that offer public electronic services, in which it stands out the Internal Revenue Service, the Public Sector Procurement and Contracting Information System and the one-stop shop.
Joining initiatives to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies within government organizations to identify recurring processes and redesign them by applying new technologies, digital infrastructure concessions to the private sector, and other initiatives to improve content. The subject of content was broadened, taking as an example the work of the Spanish government to regulate content, especially those aimed at protecting the integrity of minors; For this, an observatory has been set up to study, from the educational aspects of new technologies to the role that the minor plays in electronic commerce, paying special attention to the dangers to which children are exposed,both as recipients of harmful information or as the protagonist of child pornography. (Montañés, 2004).
The challenges of the Chilean government pose the need to lessen the differences in Internet access, eliminate the barriers that prevent the use of new technologies and a greater incorporation of the State in networks to bring citizens closer to public services, improving their quality of lifetime. In this regard, it is important to highlight the report of (PRYME, 2003, p. 113):
“… The Electronic Government initiatives developed in Chile are mostly in the first stage of Presence and Unidirectional Interaction at the central level, some of them have reached the Interaction stage in both directions and at the local level. These statements are endorsed by the United Nations Global e-Government Indexes study, 2001, where Chile appears in 35th place…..the country is in 28th place in 2002, for the previous year it appeared in 29th place (E-Readiness ranking), which means that the work of the first stages of progress towards an Electronic Government has been completed, but that a greater effort must be made to consolidate what has been achieved so far. »
Experiences in the National e-Mexico System
The National e-Mexico System is a commitment of the Mexican government to modernize the State with components of participation, content and cultural commitment, where the "trigger" is technology. It is about providing the basic infrastructure to at least 10,000 localities so that they have access to technology services (Grinberg, 2001) cited in (Blanco, 2003).
Through the e-Mexico Portal the communication channel is established that integrates through a single window (one-stop-shop) and in a harmonious way the four components of the National e-Mexico System (e-Learning, e-Health, e-Commerce and e-Government), also allowing access to services provided by public administrations at all levels: federal, state and municipal (Portal e-México, 2005)
In the realization of the National e-Mexico System, three main axes to be developed were defined that are coordinated as a whole: connectivity, content and systems. The concept of connectivity refers to the offer of comprehensive communication systems to the country's populations, either through the current and future coverage of public network operators or through a network established by the federal government.
This concept has materialized through the creation of the Digital Community Centers (CCDs), the main vehicles that link to various locations in the country (Blanco, 2003).
On the other hand, the contents are essential for the System, since the connectivity offered must be used in the distribution and access of all types of digital content that represent data, information, knowledge and services for the population that translate into a benefit. manifest in their standard of living.
They highlight education, health, economy, science and technology, industry, tourism and government.
Due to the wide variety of information, procedures and services that will be provided to the population, the participation of multiple entities and organizations, both public and private, that contribute their creativity will be necessary.
The use of programming systems will integrate the contents and their applications, in turn making it available to the general public. For this purpose, portals in each area have been developed, as well as the Portal-de-Portales (one-stop-shop), which allows integrating all the content that each entity, agency or body (Blanco, 2003).
The e-Mexico Government Portal has been created with the citizen in mind, it is a space that enables the government to present a single entry to thousands of electronic services, it is a portal that is at the level of other countries such as Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, to name a few.
The importance of this portal lies mainly in the following aspects (Connectivity, 2005):
- In the generation of a single face of the Federal Government before the citizen and the employer. Ability for the citizen and the employer to find the most important information for their relationship with the Federal Government, in one place and organized by the logic of the user and not that of dependencies. Capacity for citizens to easily find comprehensive information related to their needs.
The e-Mexico project has developed several mechanisms that have made it possible to unify the main services (education, health, information and business) in cities with the greatest technological infrastructure, but now to reach the most remote regions, it has been decided to divide them politically into micro regions and find the best coverage options for your telecommunications needs.
For this, it would use satellite systems that allow it to cover these areas. This will allow you to reduce costs, increase the speed of coverage and improve the quality of the services currently provided (Rodríguez, 2005). AND
Regarding the area of protection of electronic transactions, Mexico is recently incorporating the electronic signature, a success case is the Tax Administration System (SAT) to avoid electronic fraud, identity theft and for the security of taxpayers, as well as the fact that the current (official) documentation is not entirely secure in Mexico; For this, the SAT develops the advanced electronic signature program, which allows the information to be encrypted in a complete and secure manner. (Alcaraz, 2004).
The e-Mexico strategic model for government innovation considers the following lines of action: Intergovernmental technological infrastructure, knowledge management and digital collaboration, the redesign of processes through the use of IT, the definition of electronic services and procedures, the design of the e-government portal, e-democracy and citizen participation as well as the information policy and organization for the Digital Government (General Coordination of the National System e-Mexico, 2002) cited in (Blanco, 2003).
The scheme of said model is visualized in figure 1.
On the other hand, regarding connectivity, the initiatives of the Mexican government focused on two aspects (SCT, 2002) cited in (Blanco, 2003):
1) The investments that telecommunications network operators are making to increase the infrastructure and coverage of telephone service in Mexican homes, with plans to go from 12 lines per 100 inhabitants in 2000 to around 25 lines per 100 inhabitants in 2006.
2) Create a network of Digital Community Centers (CCDs) that serve to provide connectivity to populations and families that due to economic and geographical limitations do not have the necessary telecommunications infrastructure to access dedicated connectivity within the home.
The CCDs installation and operation project contemplates three phases: the first, in which at least one digital community center will be installed in each of the 2,443 municipal seats that exist in the country, including the delegations of the Federal District; the second, in which it is intended to cover 10,000 communities where more than 75 percent of the country's population lives; and the third, which will seek to cover most of the national territory.
As additional information, Microsoft won the tender related to the acquisition of Infrastructure and Software and it is intended that it install some 10,000 free access kiosks in rural areas throughout the Mexican Republic, at the same time that SATMEX (Mexican Satellites) signed an agreement in which two transponders (equivalent to 72MHz) of satellite capacity will be allocated to its Solidaridad 2 satellite, as part of the supply of satellite reserve to the Federal Government (Netmedia, 2002) cited in (Blanco, 2003).
Finally, it highlights the progress and achievements that the e-Mexico System has achieved, which are documented and cited by (Blanco, 2003) until the end of 2003:
- The connection of two thousand 450 localities throughout the Republic, in charge of Interdirect, the company that won the tender (Digital Policy, 2003). 80% of the Digital Community Centers (CCD) were installed in venues that depend on the educational structure national, and the remaining 20% in venues that are owned by the National Health System, mainly, but also by other entities, such as CONACULTA libraries, facilities operated by the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) or the municipal presidencies, among others (Policy digital, 2003).In 2003, a historic change began in Mexico's telecommunications, with the deployment of satellite connectivity in 3,200 locations, where the same number of CCDs will be installed (Margain, 2003).In 2002, the Electronic Citizen Attention System (SEAC) was installed in 31 internal control bodies, thereby achieving 100 percent progress in replacing the National Complaints and Complaints System (OPIG, 2003). a total of 29,848 citizen requests, 46.1 percent more than those registered in 2001, of which 15,550 were complaints and allegations, 3,768 follow-ups of irregularities and 10,530 suggestions, acknowledgments and requests (OPIG, 2003). As a complementary tool To the SEAC, the design of the Executive System for Decision Making was carried out, which aims to facilitate the analysis and monitoring of the information of citizen requests captured by the Internal Control Bodies to detect areas of opportunity in the process catchment,follow-up and resolution of the same, in order to make the response to the citizen more efficient and establish continuous improvement actions (OPIG, 2003). In order to modernize the Citizen Telephone Service System (SACTEL), in August 2002 The installation of the computerized system was completed, which will help to reduce waiting times and allow citizens to be informed about the follow-up of their complaints and claims (OPIG, 2003).In 2002, through SACTEL, 130,035 calls from citizens were received and attended requesting some type of information on services or procedures, a figure lower by 34 percent compared to 2001, due to the fact that the CIOs provided, in a complementary way, information to the citizens about the procedures and services of the dependencies and entities that they supervise. (OPIG,2003) The Integral Service Centers have the purpose of giving immediate personalized attention to the user, streamlining the procedures and public services, measuring and evaluating the quality of the procedures and services, as well as providing users with various means to previously know the requirements, hours, costs, among others, on the service, which allows transparency and permanent improvement of the Federal Government's service areas (OPIG, 2003).In 2002, 13 Comprehensive Service Centers were installed, more than six times in relation to the two that were installed in 2001, which contributed to the improvement of 41 procedures and public services (OPIG, 2003). During 2002 the Electronic System of Non-Conformities reported that 2 Internal Bodies of Control of federal public institutions received,313 citizen nonconformities: 1,095 of acquisitions; 717 of services; 404 of public works; 93 for public works services and four for leases. (OPIG, 2003) Additionally, in the same period, 1,927 issues were resolved, which resulted in a resolution rate of 83.3 percent, with a variation of 15.6 percentage points less than the rate registered in 2001. Of the nonconformities resolved, 363 were ruled appropriate, 929 inadmissible, 605 dismissed and 30 unspecified (OPIG, 2003). Regarding the procedural actions supported by the Electronic System of Nonconformities, in 2002 2,691 agreements were issued, and 5,742 notifications were practiced based on the Article 35 of the Federal Law of Administrative Procedure, of the latter figure, 45.5 percent corresponded to the Federal District and the remaining 54.5 percent to the interior of the country. Likewise, 12,774 certified copies were issued (OPIG, 2003).
Conclusions
The last goal of the Electronic Government is general quality public value for the citizens, so the technological infrastructure that supports the socio-economic activities of a country must accommodate the needs and services that are required.
The rules of the New Economy require the opening without borders of the economic systems of each region, for this the Information and Communication Technologies have become an important enabler of competitiveness and efficiency within organizations, for which governments could not stay behind and open up to your societies, generating modernity and transparency in the public service.
Two success cases in the implementation of Electronic Government programs have been analyzed. In the Latin American context, Chile and Mexico have shown significant progress, each aligned with good governance strategies.
The results described in this work describe important applications of Information and Communication Technologies as vital support to create a digital infrastructure, as well as the development of government policies that promote the development of electronic commerce and local content consumption; They are some of the important elements on which the governments of developing countries should focus.
Finally, the participation of citizens and the private sector are essential since all the incentives that governments carry out are aimed at improving the quality of life of societies.
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[01-02-2004 - Source: EL DIARIO MONTAÑÉS
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Consulted in the digital library of the Tecnológico de Monterrey on January 27, 2005
