OPINION> Brendan John Worrell
Embracing E-Government and the promise it proffers
By Brendan John Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-19 17:29

This morning came the results of a survey conducted by China Youth Daily and Sina.com that a large number of the country's Internet users were not satisfied with government websites and want them to be more "interactive" and "helpful". Less than 7 percent of respondents thought them "satisfactory". China has the world's largest Internet population and such findings are truly troublesome.

While reading this it reminded me of a good friend I have of mixed Thai/Dutch heritage who works at The Hague within their e-government sector. Years back we were both infant interns at the Bangkok Post, fresh faced and willing to do almost anything to get our names in print. Well we stayed in touch and last year I was fascinated when I learnt of her current position as a back-end civil servant operator.

To be honest I was not surprised because the Dutch as a culture had always shown remarkable aptitude at being able to surf the cusp of change and engage commerce and culture at all levels. Tweaking decision making and making it more accountable to constituents, who were now being referred to as customers, just seemed to be a natural evolution in their drive to save costs, establish a meritocracy of sorts and better life outcomes.

Other governments leading the vanguard in this exciting domain appear to be Canada, Denmark, Singapore and New Zealand, among others. Of note when we analyze the mission statements of the various e-government initiatives increasingly the role of government is being framed to incorporate service delivery, adopting a business model and terminology to refer to its function and duties towards the nation.

For China which only yesterday celebrated its 30th anniversary regarding opening up and reform towards a more market orientation, the present global momentum leading towards an online interactive climate is a challenge.

One natural flow-on when we start to invoke MBA jargon and best business practices, of note degrees frequently selected by Chinese graduates in the last two decades and disciplines they excel in internationally, are issues of accountability and transparency.

Hence for any wasteful corporation or bureaucracy and those wherein who have their hand in the cookie jar – e-government is a signal that the old way of doing things will need to be refined.

A constraint for China today, a nation so diverse, is that we have many markets within one greater market.

In many locations across the country conditions are at one time antiquated, developing and so peripheral to the mainstream current of 21st century technology events. Thus, getting heating for schools and regular nutritious meals for students, let alone fiber optic cables and Wi-Fi is still a struggle that needs to be appreciated before we get too righteous.

In another dimension, parts of China are truly cutting edge and at the very hub of global trade, research and development providing capacity for innovation and streamlining in regards to the implementation of more e-government initiatives and a leadership role to the poorer peripheral regions.

Surely within this latter sphere the move and responsibility towards accepting, embracing and implementing e-government should be recognized as something that can not only save time and money for individuals, local business, communities and prefectures but also assist in the drive to leverage millions of rural citizens out of poverty.

Performed well, it poses less of a threat and more of an opportunity for key decision makers than the choice of resistance to adapt.

Chinese all over the world are famous for penny pinching and in this current global economic crisis the nation has been spared significantly because of the people’s propensity for saving. This characteristic in particular should be called upon when making the argument towards e-government. We all love money and we all want to save money so ideally anything that can be done to maximize resources should be explored.

Particularly at present when the nation is strapped by declines in export revenue coupled with a growth in unemployed skilled graduates who have the capability to implement and manage this new "e infrastructure" the path towards e-government initiatives can be entertained.