Optimising the delivery of services to the public, streamlining internal and external communication, and stimulating foreign investment - these are all mandates of government that fall under the spotlight of a solution strategy launched today by the Africa-focused division of HP.
The strategy aims to enable governments to deliver on these mandates and meet their public service goals - whether through innovative information and communication technology (ICT), new processes or a combination of the two. It also aims to allow governments to increase penetration of the Internet in their regions and ultimately move to a viable form of e-government.
"Governments need to be accessible to the people, they need to eliminate bottlenecks [and paperwork] and they need to drive down the cost of public services," explains Gerald Naidoo, the regional sales manager for Africa at HP.
"A solid ICT infrastructure, an effective means of communicating with other departments and other governments, and a series of partners that can advise on process and change management are critical."
To help governments along this ICT development path, HP has formed a task force comprised of experts from HP Consulting (the company`s dedicated IT services and solutions consulting arm) and specialists from its Africa division. This group will initially focus on several solution areas, says Naidoo.
"One of the first areas we will be addressing is communication - between departments in the same government and between governments in different regions. We believe the key is to standardise the means of communication and the technology that is used.
"It`s for this reason that we`re developing centralised portals that can be used in these situations. In the example of intra-government communication, departments would be able to log into the portal environment, access relevant policy or other information, and communicate with members of other departments. The same principle would apply to inter-government communication, just on a larger scale."
The successful deployment of such a portal could be extended not only to an African country`s immediate neighbours but even further afield internationally. A standardised ICT infrastructure holds immense opportunities for regional cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade and tariffs, knowledge transfer and distance learning, says Naidoo.
The issuing and delivery of passports, identity documents, driver`s licences and the like is another area that HP`s task team will be paying close attention to; the company believes ICT can add immense value by automating, simplifying and streamlining the processes involved.
Naidoo says there are plans afoot to take African governments along a similar road to SA, where a major online tax initiative was recently launched by the Revenue Services.
HP will also focus on making Internet access available in rural areas. Naidoo says the company offers solutions based on wired and wireless infrastructures that can make this possible.
"It`s obviously a challenge to ensure that as many people have access to the Net as possible ... in some cases, it`s even possible to physically drive a mobile satellite rig into rural areas and establish temporary mobile Internet access points for the public."
Closely related to this Internet access issue is that of e-government. HP has seen that many governments have demonstrated a desire to Internet-enable their internal and public processes; all that remains is to formulate a strategy as to how.
"There are four critical factors to successful e-government: solid lines and processes of communication; effective management of existing resources; a strategy that ensures sustainability of the venture; and the technology that enables it all," explains Naidoo.
"From our work thus far - and the work that`s being done with governments all around the world - we are hoping to help Africa make progress along the e-government development path."
HP is hardly new to the business of enabling government; in fact, one of the major benefits the company has to offer is the massive portfolio of solutions and best practices developed over years of conducting government implementations on six continents.
"We have also demonstrated our ability to meet the challenges of doing business in Africa by working successfully with many commercial organisations across the continent. We have seen that this gives governments confidence in our ability to deliver solutions in conjunction with our business partners ... this can only stand us in greater stead when it comes to engaging those governments," concludes Naidoo.
For more information on HP`s solutions and activities in Africa, surf to www.hp.com/country/aa/eng/welcome.htm
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