According to the latest report on digital development published by the United Nations, only five of the 19 Latin American countries are among the 50 most digitized in the world, while the American continent as a whole has e-government rates similar to those of Asia. This ranking, led by European countries, measures the scope and quality of online services, the state of telecommunications infrastructure and training.
"If technological innovations are the engine of the so-called new economy, data are the new gasoline of digitalization," says Carlos Santiso, head of Innovation to Serve Citizens at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in the article La nueva economía de los datos: Digital Government as State Policy. In the midst of an accelerated development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), e-governance can be understood as the use of technology by the public sector with the objective of improving the provision of information and services. E-governance implies a new way of disseminating information more efficiently, quickly and transparently, to facilitate public access and the development of more efficient administrative activities, such as procedures, by the government.
According to Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora, director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program in Latin America, e-governance seeks to "stimulate citizen participation in the decision-making process, so that the government is more accountable, transparent and effective. But to achieve the digital transformation of the State, it is necessary not only to have the support of society as a whole and the private sector, but also that officials acquire new skills. In fact, the countries that have achieved the greatest success have invested in the development of their civil servants in less traditional areas such as systems engineering, data science or artificial intelligence.
Despite efforts, the public sector in Latin America continues to be affected by excessive bureaucracy. In addition to taking an average of more than 5.4 hours to complete, procedures are structured around complex mechanisms that are often affected by corruption. In fact, according to Santiso in his article, 29% of Latin Americans surveyed acknowledged having bribed at some point to complete a procedure. This is part of a larger context in which the legitimacy of democratic institutions is, according to Casas-Zamora, "seriously eroded by the widespread perception of corruption and by the serious difficulties that the states of the region have in providing citizens with quality public goods and services in an efficient and effective manner.
According to the UN report, there is a certain correlation between the country's income level and the development of e-government. However, to obtain good results, digitization should be a state policy. In fact, the creation of a specialized government agency has been decisive in the particular case of Uruguay, which leads the Latin American ranking and belongs to the Digital 7 club, the network formed by the leading governments in digital matters among which are Canada, Estonia, South Korea, United Kingdom, Israel and New Zealand.
In second place in Latin America, Panama, which has made considerable investments in developing its digital agenda, climbed 14 places in two years. Colombia, meanwhile, slipped from 57th to 61st place despite having improved considerably in absolute terms, because it advanced at a slower pace than other countries. One of Colombia's advances, like Mexico and Brazil, was the opening of public data through portals, which helps to break down information barriers within the State itself and allows for greater transparency in the public exercise.
The modernization of public management through the application of ICTs is part of the process of transforming the State. This implies improving governance and the delivery of public goods and services to citizens, but above all, according to Casas-Zamora, it is an opportunity "to redefine concepts and forms of citizen participation and democracy". Therefore, it is essential that political leaders not only understand the potential of e-Government, but also assume the commitment required for its effective development.
*Jeronimo Giorgi, is a Uruguayan journalist dedicated to international issues who has collaborated with several media in Latin America and Europe.
Source: The Observer
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