Impact of ICTs in democratic governance

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have continually changed the way things are done in today’s dynamic world where access to knowledge-base information and application of this information is key for development at all levels of governance; a fact we cannot deny. ICTs have become powerful tools that support development strategies and the establishment of efficient and effective governance systems.

When ICTs are used to promote more efficient and effective government, facilitate more accessible government services, allow greater public access to information, and make government more accountable to citizens, we have what is called e-governance; this would involve the delivering of services to the public via the Internet, telephone, public access centers, wireless devices or other communications and information systems.

Information and Communication Technologies offer a unique opportunity for governing elites to overcome the crisis of representative democracy, as ICTs and the Internet empower the civil society to play its role more effectively and facilitate the performance of governments’ main function, which is serving the people who elect them.

What do you think would happen if governments provide greater access to information by making laws, draft laws, regulations, forms, and economic or scientific data collected and making them accessible online; promote civic engagement by enabling the public to interact more conveniently with government officials, such as by obtaining permits or filing required documents electronically; increase government accountability by making its operations more transparent, thereby reducing the opportunities for corruption to infiltrate; and supporting development goals by lessening the time and expense small businesses encounter in their dealings with government and by providing rural and traditionally underserved communities with information and communications capabilities? The answer is development.

Imagine a situation in which all interaction with the government can be done through one counter, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without waiting in lines at government offices. This is possible if governments are willing to decentralize responsibilities and processes and start to use electronic means such as the Internet and other technologies as well as embrace good governance systems. If this is done each citizen can then make contact with the government in a medium where all forms, legislation, news and other information will be available 24/7. This is true in the case of the Mexican government which created a government portal offering a one-stop access to various websites and informational resources.

In Europe and the USA, commercial banks already work according to this concept. Only in a few very special situations one has to go to a physical counter. Most transactions can be done at either an ATM, by mail or by the Internet, which has saved banks an enormous amount of costs. In other words, they do more work, with less people, in less time and with less and smaller offices. They use ICTs to achieve their goals.

This concept of money withdrawal from ATM machines has been introduced into the banking system in Nigeria, however, other forms of payment or bank transactions still experience long queues, network problems of the bank, for instance, when money is transferred from another branch (this could be as a result of other failing factors such as poor electricity, vandalism, etc). Until the necessary infrastructures that ICTs need are put in place in Nigeria and most developing countries the benefits of ICTs cannot be fully exploited.

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), also, to curb corruption and reduction of long lines at its passport issuing offices around the country recently introduced an online payment and registration of personal data system where a scratch card with a pin to access their website is bought from one of the banks. Despite this achievement hindrances still exist, particularly at the office level during the photo-capturing stage of the registration. At this stage corruption still exists. This is also true for the e-passport system recently introduced by the NIS. The rush for the acquisition of this new system encourages staffs of NIS to still perpetrate corrupt practices.

According to a staff of the NIS who spoke on condition of anonymity, the highest bidder is first attended to and received special treatment. This then raises the question, can ICTs really contribute to the reduction or elimination of corruption?

It is true that corruption has been responsible for governments not being able to make great impacts and strides in achieving development at all levels of governance particularly at the local government level. So, what should governments do and in the case just mentioned above?

Governments, as collectors and sources of information, with the use of ICTs, should be more transparent and open to its customers (citizens, businesses, and other interest groups) in the running of its affairs. When governments’ information can easily be accessed and their handling of services to the citizens become transparent then the issue of trust will not be a problem.

In Nigeria, the governing elites are viewed with skepticism; it’s believed that they are all corrupt. Perhaps it’s due to actions of past military and civilian governments where embezzlement of funds meant for development are instead channeled into individual private bank accounts and they are not made to be accountable. But this trend is gradually changing since Nigeria embraced democratic governance.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo made great strides in involving the people in nation building initiatives by organizing a discussion forum aired live on national television where citizens called and talked with the president on issues they thought needed to be addressed. Unfortunately, this concept didn’t last long.

Therefore, regardless of the opportunities presented by ICTs, without good governance (democratic governance) development strides may not or will not be achieved. Information and Communication Technologies should be viewed as a tool for development and not as a goal in itself as e-governance can only function well in an environment of good governance systems.

In view of this, distribution or decentralization of power into self-governing local governance systems against the centralized system of governance dominantly practiced in the past will enhance the involvement of non-governmental actors or stakeholders in policy-making, either in a consultative way or through the development of new participatory approaches and this will in turn push for development.

According to a research on e-governance and developing countries by Michiel Backus published in 2001, the strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all parties - government, citizens and businesses. The use of ICTs can connect all three parties and support processes and activities. In other words, e-governance uses electronic means to support and stimulate good governance or democratic governance.

Therefore the objectives of e-governance are similar to the objectives of good governance where good governance can be seen as an exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to better manage affairs of a country at all levels, national and local; when governments in developing countries can achieve this, they will be able to achieve most of the UN Millennium Development Goals on or before the target date of 2015.

By Harrison A. Akoh

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