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Govt service via social networks?

Farzana Rasool
By Farzana Rasool, ITWeb IT in Government Editor.
Durban, 12 Sept 2011

South African government has what it takes to improve service delivery using social networks, says Government IT Officers Council chairperson Julius Segole.

Speaking at the annual GovTech conference, in Durban, this morning, Segole said Gartner predicts that by 2015, almost 50% of government services and outcomes will possibly be delivered using social networks and smart technology.

“We need to tap into this technology. I think we have what it takes.”

The theme for GovTech 2011 is 'Connected Government: working together to do more', highlighting government's increasing emphasis on technology as a strategic tool and as an enabler for public service innovation and productivity growth.

Also speaking at the conference, public service and administration minister Richard Baloyi said connected government implies improving the internal workings of the various public sector institutions, the ICT systems that they use to better manage workflow and processes, to eliminate duplication and bureaucracies to ensure faster turnaround times.

“Connected government forms the fabric of a democratic and developmental state. It involves the governmental promotion of collective action to advance the public good, by engaging the creative efforts of all society.”

Cloud is key

Digital communities, cloud and open source are key in enabling government to reach citizens and compete in the global community, said Dimension Data.

The company said a connected government is vital to service delivery, and governments across the world are under intense pressure to reduce costs and increase their operational efficiency, while also improving service delivery to their citizens.

“Their IT environments are under even more pressure to do more with less and as infrastructure has become even more complex, many government departments can look to digital communities, cloud and open source to enable government to effectively connect with citizens and to compete in the global village.”

Connected government with purpose-fit networks goes to the heart of enabling all electronically deliverable services, for example telemedicine, delivery of curriculum, streaming of fingerprints from the crime scene to the police station and back - all of which require adequacy in bandwidth, said public sector executive of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa Makano Mosidi.

“With CIOs and CEOs continuously under pressure to reduce costs, to improve and demonstrate ROI, to ensure a user welfare and experience, cloud computing puts a light at the end of this tunnel.”

Mosidi also said free open source has enabled countries to be effectively innovative, leading to the manufacturing of indigenous systems to those countries.

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