Johannesburg, 16 May 2017
Like those in the private sector, public sector CIOs are under constant pressure to innovate, modernise and streamline IT operations. However, despite the fact that public sector CIOs have the same business imperatives as their private sector counterparts, they have more constraints and operational challenges. In addition to having far tighter budgets and, often, much larger IT organisations to take care of, public sector CIOs operate in the public eye in a way that CIOs of private companies can scarcely imagine.
Operating under the scrutiny of a number of stakeholders, many of whom have different agendas and can have an impact on budget allocations, leaves them with very little room in which to achieve the transformation and innovation a successful organisation needs in order to function effectively in this day and age.
"While conversations about strategy and how to approach digital transformation have been happening in business boardrooms for a while now, public sector CIOs are often hamstrung by their unique operating environment. They are aware of the need to maximise on the potential new technologies offer, but it's a much harder sell than it would be in a private enterprise. In the private sector, proving value is a matter of drawing correlations between needs and outcomes. Public sector CIOs have a much more complicated road to travel in proving value and justifying cost," says David Mphelo, GM for Enterprise Sales at MTN Business.
"Public sector CIOs trying to champion change are habitually challenged by a risk-averse culture in government on top of restricted - and restrictive - resource allocation. Add to that the fact that short election and budget cycles hinder their ability to meet the needs of their constituencies, and you end up with a frustrating environment for CIOs looking to bring their organisations to where they need to be."
Partnering for change
None of these challenges is insurmountable, says Mphelo. "Public sector CIOs are used to doing more with less, and with the advent of new technologies like the cloud, there are many more efficiencies to be gained."
According to Gartner, legacy silos of systems, data and processes reinforce 'business as usual' practices and behaviours that limit government participation in broader partner ecosystems capable of supporting fully digital end-to-end citizen services. By leveraging new technologies and partnering with service providers that have extensive experience in assisting public sector organisations to do more with less, public sector CIOs can make the leap to digital innovation and an effective digital strategy.
"In what has been termed the digital service economy, investment in ICT is essential for the public sector. CIOs who are not adopting the technology that's transforming the private sector will only ensure that their organisations fall even further behind. But transformation is a huge task that ideally shouldn't be embarked on as a standalone exercise," Mphelo adds.
"In addition to needing a strategic roadmap, transformation requires having many moving parts in the right place at the right time. Even the best CIO can't achieve that on his own. Service providers like MTN Business, which have been helping alleviate the pain of public sector CIOs across Africa for decades, are uniquely positioned to help these organisations modernise and transform."
According to Mphelo, cost efficiencies, strategies and technologies must be combined to create the most effective solutions, and having a one-stop service provider eases the CIO's load immeasurably.
Demand drives change
Both the public sector workforce and the people they serve are increasingly digitally literate. As in the private sector, this results in the 'consumerisation' of the technology tools public sector employees use, as well as increasing demands for relevant applications from those they serve. Mobility is becoming key to public sector service delivery, and should be the foundation for digital transformation.
According to Mphelo, mobility has become a priority for public sector CIOs, and has opened the door into cloud computing as a result. "Businesses everywhere are moving operations to the cloud for its cost-effectiveness and increased efficiency. In a public sector world dominated by budgets, transitioning to the cloud is an attractive option, but public sector CIOs are struggling to eliminate the either-or mentality of the past. This was the result of an environment in which their particular constraints demanded that they either focused on getting the most out of their in-house solutions, or handed much of it over to external service providers. The flexibility of today's solutions has created the opportunity for an entirely different approach. Mobility and cloud must work hand-in-hand, and together offer a springboard into innovation and lowered costs."
He adds that strategic IT investments on the part of government must now include the Internet of things (IOT). "As water and electricity meters - and even street lights and speed cameras - become connected into the greater IOT ecosystem, the CIOs responsible for running utilities, municipalities and law enforcement agencies can access a whole new world of effectiveness. For example, being able to monitor a city's water infrastructure in detail will not only allow for rapid pinpointing of faults such as leaks, it opens the doors to more efficient planning of future infrastructure. Similarly, smart traffic lights and speed cameras can help law enforcement officials better schedule and manage how their manpower is deployed.
These kinds of things will not only improve the bottom line, but will create more streamlined operations throughout the organisation. For public sector organisations using these types of technologies, taking the next step into citizen engagement and digital service delivery becomes easy.
The combination of an IOT ecosystem and a cloud platform enables a detailed understanding of a city and its citizens, together with the means to create personal interactions with residents through mobile applications and other digital touch points.
However, Mphelo cautions that a piecemeal approach in implementing these game-changers can achieve the opposite effect. "Cloud, mobility, IOT, and digital service delivery platforms lose much of their impact if they are not part of a greater strategy. Implementing one can achieve some small gains, but when they work together, they can fundamentally alter how public sector organisations operate and how they engage with people. This doesn't all have to happen at the same time, but if there is a plan in place, provision can be made for future needs."
A service provider that has a full portfolio of the technologies needed by public sector organisations makes planning and implementation that much easier, he adds. "Having a single point of contact makes managing the diverse elements of a public sector IT organisation simpler and more cost-effective. Add to this the advisory capacity that they can offer, and public sector CIOs can alleviate a lot of their day-to-day pressures and focus on innovating for the future."
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