Improving Economic Governance of Government Service Delivery
ICT-enabled Investment Climate Reform:Leveraging Technology to Improve Regulatory Governance in the ECA region
A Peer-to-Peer Workshop for Reform PractitionersJune 4-6, 2013
Courtney S. Roberts, Advisor, ICT TeamAbeer Shalan, Associate Operations Officer, IFC Amman
ICT applications can support improved economic governance by:♦Increasing transparency, thus reducing information asymmetries for business♦Reducing corruption opportunities by reducing human intervention in interpreting procedural and regulatory requirements♦Increasing accountability of government staff through private sector feedback on service delivery
What Else Can Technology Do?
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The Promise of Mobile
♦ New Tools: Apps
♦ Cheaper Devices: Microsoft-Huawei’s 4Afrika smartphone, Datawind’s Ubislate
♦ Evolving OSs: 1996-Palm; 2000-Symbia; 2002-Windows and Blackberry; 2005-Maemo; 2007-Apple iOS; 2008-Android, 2011-Mego (Linux); 2013? Mozilla
♦ Networks Expanding: Roughly every 18 months, bandwidth in developing countries doubles and is expanding into rural areas.
♦ Widespread Use: 30 billion apps downloaded in 2011
♦ WBG supporting “App Labs” and collaborative development models (e.g., hackathons) to address specific development needs in several sectors
♦ Benefit: Rapid development of low cost technology solutions; scalability of successful models
Innovative Approaches to Design & Development
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♦ WBG engaging beneficiaries in participatory/”agile” design
♦ Benefit: Higher acceptance of more tailored solutions; replicability beyond pilot
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Innovative Approaches to Design & Development
♦ ICT-enabled reformincreases Access, Qualityof Service, and Efficiency
♦ Mobile TechnologiesProvide Opportunity forIncreased Involvement of Private Sector
But What Does It Mean for Reforms?
ICT-enabled Feedback Mechanisms
♦ Most initial efforts focused on gathering consumer feedback on service delivery or reporting service requests– Indonesia and Singapore early adopters in the region
♦ Builds upon existing benchmarking surveys (e.g., Doing Business, Global Competitiveness Report) to provide for more timely and specific feedback from the business community.
♦ Two main types of G2B feedback mechanisms initially emerging:1. Immediate beneficiary feedback on government service
delivery experience (e.g., business inspection)2. Public comment on proposed new business laws and
regulations, prior to enactment.
1. Direct beneficiary feedback on G2B service delivery experience
♦ Feedback can be provided through a web interface or mobile devices
♦ Mobile apps offer the opportunity to collect more structured information (e.g., ratings, average waiting time), as well as summarize feedback to be more useful to management
♦ Use of management dashboards show– Time series information on service delivery by “product” (e.g.,
specific license) or location (e.g., customs border post)– Benchmarking against peer group or defined service standard– Anecdotal information on service delivery problems or
examples of exceptional service provision
1. Direct beneficiary feedback on G2B service delivery experience
Prerequisites for success:♦Easily accessible by users through appropriate technologies♦Established and announced service delivery standards♦Active solicitation of feedback at point of service delivery♦Evidence that Government is actually listening
2. Public comment on proposed new business laws and regulations
♦ Several successful examples exist:– Regulations.gov in the US; all proposed regulatory actions must be
posted in advance for public comment– REACH in Singapore facilitates PPD on new legislative measures
♦ Efforts in developing countries planned or recently implemented– Uganda: IFC-supported web portal to collect private sector
feedback on proposed business licensing reforms– Azerbaijan: IFC-supported web portal collects feedback on
proposed legislative measures affecting business– Similar efforts under discussion in Egypt and other client countries
2. Public comment on proposed new business laws and regulations
Prerequisites for success:♦Web site managed by government or recognized business advocacy organization (Private Sector Foundation in Uganda)♦Strong mandate from government, ideally legal mandate to solicit feedback♦Evidence that feedback is analyzed and taken into account before regulations or legislation formally enacted (e.g., summary of public consultation feedback posted online)
Feedback Mechanism: Challenges
♦ No established systems for collecting feedback from businesses
♦ No single point of contact at inspectorates/ministries to receive feedback and it may not be channeled to the right person/unit
♦ Some inspectorates do solicit feedback on their services in general, but not specifically for inspection
♦ Inability to generate reports on private sector satisfaction since feedback in most cases is collected manually (e.g. formal letter, paper-based questionnaire, or verbally)
Proposed Feedback System
Questionnaire Dashboard
-Visit duration/frequency- Inspector’s attitude-Inspector’s fulfillment of expected role-Awareness of procedures-Satisfaction with visit results
Available through:- Smartphone Application- Inspectorates’ websites- SMS survey
- Maximum of 10 questions- Multiple choice with ability
to add comments
Design Considerations
♦ User authentication– Business ID/registration number– Mobile number– Creation of usernames / passwords
Would businesses provide feedback if requested to identify themselves?
♦ Promotion of positive feedback in addition to negative feedback– Incentive scheme– Awareness campaign
System is expected to be launched in September 2013
Design Considerations
♦ System ownership– Hosting and management of the application– Access to dashboard and reports– Ownership of Apple account (in case of a shared
application)– Involvement of a third party
♦ Transparency of the process– Processes to act on the feedback– Need to demonstrate outcomes to those surveyed
THANK YOU!Contacts: Courtney S. Roberts, [email protected] Shalan, [email protected]