Regrettably, when it comes to IT, most politicians are risk-averse - preferring IT issues to go away, and afraid of undertaking anything new that could be disruptive, says Pete Janse van Vuuren, Gartner SA executive partner.
This is Van Vuuren's reply to an ITWeb question that asked if government agencies and parastatals had changed their IT focus from abstract “what if?” issues to those that deal directly with service delivery. In other words, how had the new political imperatives changed the implementation of IT strategies within government and its agencies?
Combined with this is the added pressure on government to fund various social delivery projects, such as increased housing, and to shore up employment in the face of the global economic crisis.
Van Vuuren says many politicians are elected based on promises of what they intend to do to for their voters.
He says voters select these individuals often on how well their vision is articulated. Those with a political interest focus their IT attention primarily on highly visible IT, delivered directly to voters (school laptops, broadband access, free WiFi, etc).
“Once elected, politicians may continue to focus on their political vision, or they may roll up their sleeves and focus on the day-to-day managerial functions of government. But, it is rare that they will have the time or personal inclination to do both. But, it is those that do both who are most likely to be transformational leaders with an inclination to innovate,” he says.
Van Vuuren says, as an action item, IT leaders should take note that if innovation is to be attempted and is dependent on political leadership or government's political agenda, they should assess the aptitude of political officials to provide the necessary leadership.
Budget constraints
Charles Dalton, divisional head at IT consultancy Consequent, says: “Although government should be looking at optimising their IT investments given the current budget constraints, we are not yet seeing this happen in an entirely cohesive and coordinated manner.”
Dalton says, before new implementations or IT selections are made, it is important to understand actual requirements and the need to place equal focus on people and what they need to do to make the technology work.
“Too often, technology is thrown at a problem and we see this a lot in the public space. People use technology and people make technology work; you can't exclude them from the optimisation process,” he notes.
However, there is recognition of the need for change in the government space on how to use IT. Van Vuuren says the focus in local government regarding IT is more on delivery and sharing of resources where it was silo- and debate-driven.
“Government is changing to a much more delivery-focused model and this includes IT services and solutions. There is also strong movement into managing IT to deliver smarter, faster and with less duplication,” he adds.
Governing functions
Van Vuuren says investments in IT have also gone up, but with a clear demand to improve process, risk and sustainability, and to relook at the way government governs the IT functions.
Key to this will be the role of government CIOs, who will often emerge with much fanfare as a key new initiative for the CEO of the organisation.
“If the CIO moves quickly to demonstrate wins and gain credibility in the organisation, becomes part of command and control processes of the jurisdiction, and continues to get the active support of the CEO, the CIO position should thrive. Too often, however, these things do not occur and the CIO position withers. It isn't just that the CIO failed: it's that the position never became part of the culture of the government.”
He advises CIOs to get an organisation into place quickly, leaving mistakes to be fixed later. They must understand the policy objectives of the government, and not focus solely on IT, he cautions.
“Understand the relationship between the office of the CIO and the operating departments of government. Become part of the critical path in command and control processes such as the budget, procurement and human resources,” Van Vuuren advises government CIOs.
Gartner analysts will address IT in government challenges at its annual symposium, from 3 to 5 August, in Cape Town.
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