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Information and Communication Technologies

Getting Digital Service Delivery Right

Tina George Karippacheril's picture

We are curating a new monthly series on Digital Gov in developing countries seeking fresh perspectives and insights into the policy, institutional, and technical dimensions of using technology and public management to make services work for businesses and citizens.  
 
Over a cup of tea, on a January afternoon of freezing rain, Emily, who works on Digital for the US Government, and I met to exchange perspectives on what it takes for governments to get digital right. Although our contexts are vastly different, we agreed that there remain similar pain points in the developed and developing world. In the first edition of the Digital Gov. blog, we consider factors common to good digital service delivery.

M-government? – Innovations from Punjab

Ana Bellver Vazquez-Dodero's picture

Two recent blogs (Mobile Apps for Health, Jobs and Poverty Data  and Transformational Use of ICTs in Africa) talked about how mobile applications facilitate access to services in the financial, trade, agriculture, and social sectors.
 
Despite proliferation in business applications, most government applications only provide information about public services and agencies. The potential is huge and now there is a level playing field for developed and developing countries.  Take the USA where government applications are still quite limited in scope and quantity (see the 10 best).  Aware of their unleashed potential, President Obama issued a directive on May, 23rd 2012 to every federal agency “to make two government services the American people depend on, available on mobile phones.”  Yes, May 2012.