IMPORTANT NOTICE:
THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXTRACT OF LINES FROM A REPORT SUBMITTED BY MUKESH PARTHASARATHY TO UNITEC NEW ZEALAND. PLAGIARISM IS A SEVERE OFFENCE. KINDLY USE CITATIONS IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR PAPERS OR WEBSITES.
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This documentation evaluates the impact of Internet on the government sector in New Zealand. It analyses the existing literature and tries to probe into the unexplained parts. It includes three real case studies which are actual projects that were implemented by the New Zealand government in the recent past. A very skeptical approach has been adapted deliberately to look into the case studies so as to dig out and analyse and measure the real impact of Internet on the government sector. This also helps in understanding properly the positive influence of the impact. One of the case study is the implementation of broadband in the rural schools of New Zealand. Another case study is about the online collaboration between the Companies Office located in Auckland and the IRD located in Wellington. The final case study talks about the implementation of the XPLORER technology which brings the data of the Upper Hutt City Council(UHCC) online by using GIS. The documentation begins with an introduction which helps in setting the background for understanding the present scenario. The documentation further dwells into the literature review, where justification is provided for the choice of the source of the literature. Arguments have been provided to bring out the credibility and usefulness of the literature selected. Much of the literature has been dissected, discussed, and analysed in the discussion section of this document. Attempts have been made to find out the real impact of the Internet on the government. The effect on the organizational models have been evaluated, the shift in the locus of control has been observed, and the stakeholders have been identified. In the next section three specific case studies (as mentioned earlier) have been studied. Each case study begins with a synopsis, and each one of them have been subjected to reflection and analysis. An overall evaluation of the impact is presented in the conclusion section and references are respectfully acknowledged in the references section at the end of this document.
Humanity has come a long way since the industrial age. We find ourself now immersed into the communications age. It is a fallacy to interpret the current age as a machine age or an IT age. Although thinkers often confuse this current age with IT or computer age, it must be understood that IT being the volatile landscape that it is, has quickly paved the path for the communications age. We find ourself impacted by the winds of the Internet which has made communications fast and easy. Almost every sector in every society has been impacted by the Internet. Almost every rural area in every part of the world has been impacted by the Internet. The Internet has totally changed the way we look at society, culture, world problems, and humanity as a whole. The global milieu the Internet brings in, has radically changed organizational models and business processes. It has ushered in a new model that looks at doing business in a totally different way. This new model is known as eCommerce which gives terrific leverage to investors, vendors, and product marketing. Almost every organization in every sector have gone online to remain contemporary and competitive in the market. The Internet has also impacted education, government data processing, and other spheres of life. While this being the current picture, it is interesting to examine how the Internet has impacted the New Zealand Government sector.
The history of e-govt in NZ is best summed up by Laurence Millar, the Director of the E-government unit of the State Services Commission.
“Worldwide, governments are seeking ways to use information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and convenience of public services. This has become widely referred to as e-government. Successful delivery of online services has rapidly become an important measure of effective public sector management.
In New Zealand, e-government has developed rapidly since the 1990s. This year the State Services Commission’s E-government Unit conducted the first comprehensive assessment of the New Zealand Government’s online presence. This included a formal assessment of more than 100 government websites, analysis of departments’ use of the Internet and networks, and surveys to measure the demand for e-government.”
Website of the NZ government gives access to a vast amount of data on the ICT revolution in NZ. The vast body of data provides the e-policies and e-plans of the government. It gives access to some precious data about the history of e-governance in NZ. This helps the researcher to have some background idea, before approaching the topic of research.
The most useful part of the literature is the resources section of the website which provides the reader with some real case studies that would make any researcher come back to the site again and again. These case studies tell how the NZ government went about in implementing some of the major projects and how the Internet was impacting the government (and the citizens) through these projects. More information can also be found from the archives section of the website for further research and analysis.
The literature does not directly tell about the impact of Internet on the NZ government. Rather it is left to the researcher to come to conclusions after reading them all. The entire literature is wholly official and is documented by the government officials. Hence this fact in itself provides enough motivation for any researcher to dissect, analyse, discuss, criticize, and summarize the data, so that any further research on this topic can be built upon this documentation.
The New Zealand government has been conductive to the changes brought about by the Internet. The Internet has impacted the government sector since the 90s.In her journal, the Director of the E-government Unit, State Services Commission, Laurence Millar, reports that the story of e-government in New Zealand is indeed a positive one. The report tells that the best practices of government department websites were:
The Inland Revenue (www.ird.govt.nz),
Statistics New Zealand (www.stats.govt.nz)
Archives New Zealand (www.archives.govt.nz)
A survey conducted by the University of Auckland in 2004 tells us how the Internet influenced the government sector. It made a survey of the channel through which the people contacted the government.
The percentages are given below:
(1)31.37% of the people contacted through phone.
(2)29.70% in person
(3)22.30% by letter
(4)10.50% through email/internet
(5)2.70% other means.
In the above survey it is rather discouraging to note that only 10.50% had preferred to choose email/internet as a means to contact the government.
Another survey on the same population reports the security concerns while contacting the government.
The percentages are given below:
(1)Phone, 41%
(2)In person, 16%
(3)email/internet, 29%
(4)letter, 11%
(5)mobile, 3%
In this survey too, the trust of the people over the government (the E-government rather) was average.
From the above two surveys, it is evident that although the government sector has been positively impacted by the Internet, the functionality of the government has not been that much impacted. The ICT that was unleashed through the e-government never really took it to the masses. It can be inferred here that the Internet although had impacted the government sector, never really changed the organizational model of the different departments under it. It had simply embraced the Internet as a means to open up before the people. It simply means that although more networked computers came into place in the government offices, they never visibly changed the hierarchical model of the organization structure. There has not been a significant shift in the locus of power.
The report also points out that many people had concerns over computer viruses, spam, and online fraud. Hence they were hesitant in giving out their personal details in online forms.
Hence the major reason for the average impact of the Internet in the functionality of the E-government can be attributed to the issue of network security.
Hence more steps needs to be done to ensure that secure transactions happen during online government transactions. Steps can be taken to prevent phishing.
The use of government on the Internet is well documented by the survey conducted by the VUW in 2004.It tells us that people were able to access information anywhere/anytime. They also used online government as they resented being put on a hold while making a call. Those who did not use the Internet said that they preferred to talk with government officials in person to establish a good relationship. Some had difficulties with the online forms not downloading properly.
It is significant to note that a majority of people agree with the fact that that there is a very positive impact of the Internet with respect to improved government relations. Very few of the sample actually disagree with this and some of them are neutral in their stand.
In the E-Awareness survey 2005 conducted by the State Services Commission it is reported that the challenges faced in delivering e-government can be grouped into the following categories:
(1)Channel suitability
(2)Resources (People availability with appropriate skills)
(3)Cost
(4)Project Complexity
(5)Online Authentication
To overcome these challenges, the first step would be to bring in changes in the organizational model. It is necessary to outsource some of the technical work that relates to the E-governance. If that is not a feasible solution, then more specialised technical labour needs to be immigrated into the country. This requires some flexibility in immigration policies in the specialised IT sectors, especially networking. The project complexity and cost can be reduced by having a good workable plan and a flexible hierarchical model that fosters a competitive environment. A typical beurocratic government structure will not help in solving the problems. The locus of control must shift over to the people. The E-government needs an independent watchdog that offers positive criticism of its functions. Changes need to be embraced fast. Online authentication is still an issue with E-governance, but it is not a big negative aspect as the problem is still very contemporary in every part of the world. The people, being the stake holders, are the most affected with regards to the issue of network security as their personal information provided online can be misused by hackers. The Internet still needs to convince the people that it is the suitable channel that provides leverage to them.
Project PROBE 2005: Delivering BROADBAND to rural schools
This case study was published on 11th of January, 2006. The NZ government in 2002, led by the ministry for Economic Development and the ministry for Education, wanted to provide broadband Internet access to all schools in rural NZ with the aim of improving the teaching and learning standards. Project PROBE was successfully completed by the end of 2005.It successfully provided broadband access to 891 schools at a final cost of $45 million.
Reflection and Analysis:
Project PROBE which was estimated to be around $28 million was started at $39 million and was finally completed at $45 million. It is significant to observe that the budget estimation by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education for this project proved to be wrong. It is also significant to observe that no work on this project was done during 2003 and the first half of 2004. One of the reasons why this delay has happened is that the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education had different objectives. But the report published mentions that the objectives of these two ministries are complementary, which is a basic fallacy. The tourism, health, and other sectors mentioned by the MED in it’s objectives had really complicated the implementation of this project which is essentially for the rural schools. It has also increased the money spent on this project which could have been implemented more economically. It would have been better it Project PROBE was undertaken by the Ministry of Education alone.
Inspite of the initial hiccups, PROBE proved to be a successful project. The implementation of this large project led to many changes in the organizational structures in the management.
PROBE which was initially led by the PROBE Steering Group (PSG) under the Ministry for Economic Development and the Ministry for Education, further created a smaller PSG group consisting of three members of the PSG and two regional representatives. Further it created 14 regional broadband liaison groups to cater to the regions covered by the project. This expansion in the organizational model was essential as the project was large and complex. It is significant to note that this expansion in the organizational model was not anticipated during the initial planning. Had the ministries painted a clear picture of the flow of work, the whole project would have been better organized. As the project implementation began, the organizational model further expanded at the bottom level with 9 broadband providers getting added down the hierarchy. These 9 broadband providers were meant to cover the 14 regions in New Zealand where broadband would get implemented. An additional 15th region would be provided with broadband access via satellite. This 15th region was a collective of rural areas where implementation of wireless broadband was not possible. This organizational model which came into play as the project implementation started went through further change as 3 regions namely: Southland, Northland, and Wairarapa-Tararua, got the nod to proceed the implementation of broadband independently. However they still received the funding from the PROBE budget. Hence only 12 regions were now covered under the current model.
The stakeholders were the broadband providers which included Telecom, Woosh, Pacific.Net, Counties Power, and ICONZ. The stakeholder most affected was Woosh, which pulled out of Southland (Telecom took over).Woosh was also the most affected stakeholder at Northland and Wairarapa-Tararua. Telecom was the stakeholder which gained a lot as it played a major role in implementing broadband at the Southland, Northland, and Wairarapa-Tararua as it was able to meet the capacity constraints and had the essential telephone infrastructure. The other stakeholders who stood to benefit were the school children and teachers.
Project PROBE proved to be a successful project as it was a large scale project and flaws and overheads were meant to be expected. The PSG really created the competitive environment for the bidders. A good example for this is Woosh making way for Telecom at Southland. However the Post-Project analysis mentioned in this report does not mention about progressive release of contracts anywhere. It does not mention the competitiveness of the bidders.
The .biz registries collaboration between the Companies Office and IRD:
This is a case study of the integration of the process of registering a business between the Companies Office and the IRD.
Reflection and Analysis:
A first observation of this case tells us that companies registering themselves online in New Zealand has been the case since 1996, which is good. On the other hand it is simply surprising and baffling as to why the IRD number was not issued online since 1996!!! True, that the IRD department is located in Wellington and the Companies Office is located in Auckland. Hence the ground level logistics would be difficult for coordination. At least this factor itself could have been a motivating force behind making it online to get IRD number. Even more surprising is that the online integration of the companies office and the IRD department has happened only after nearly 10 years, i.e., during August, 2005!!! A simple and significant IT project of this nature, being been kept in abeyance for as long as 10 years only demonstrates the lethargic approach of the New Zealand government.
The impact of Internet in this case has been notable, as nearly 37% of all IRD number applications comes via the Companies Office.
The Internet in this case though has not radically changed the business model although it did simplify the ground level logistics. The article says that there has been a phased approach to product development, but nothing really is told in detail about how the project was implemented. The article speaks only of project management and not of project implementation.
The stake holders in this case are the companies who have benefited from this online integration of the IRD department and the Companies Office. A slightly out of context remark would be that visa holders who apply for IRD number still do not have the facility to submit the IRD form online. Hence these stake holders are also affected in the larger scenario.
Upper Hutt City Council’s XPLORER:
XPLORER, a GIS(Geographical Information Systems) based application was used by Upper Hutt City Council (UHCC) to provide online information to people on real estate. This service was made available to the public since February 2003 to people, who otherwise had to come to the UHCC office to take a look at land information by asking for a ‘property packet’, which contained property information. XLPORER was developed by Explorer Graphics Ltd.
Reflection and Analysis:
XPLORER is a very successful and remarkable project as it uses the GIS technology which is still very contemporary in today’s IT world. A parallel can be drawn with Google Earth (www.earth.google.com) although XPLORER is specific only to New Zealand, that too only to the UHCC.XPLORER is more LOCAL in it’s functionality as it provides online aerial photographs and maps of the land, property rates etc. The user can use the search engine provided to find out capital and land value, area, and the property rates. Coloured layers of infrastructural information represents water, stormwater, and sewage services on a property.
The Internet in this case had changed the organizational model of the UHCC office to a large extent as the number of people who visited the office reduced with the launch of XPLORER as mentioned in the report. Hence it can be inferred that some staff at the UHCC office had been downsized. This is a very positive development as it made work simple for the UHCC. It can also be inferred that the UHCC organization model is closely coordinating with the organizational model of Explorer Graphics Ltd to exchange information updates.
The stakeholders in this case were the common people who were immensely benefited by the launch of XPLORER. It made property information search easy for them and had before them a plethora of options to choose the appropriate land.
The only downside to the XPLORER project is that the people who used dial-up connections were not benefited as the very heavy amount of graphics on this site made the downloading difficult and sometimes impossible. The writer of this article has not been skeptical about this aspect and has only made a casual reference about XPLORER site being kept lean and fast for dial-up users.
Conclusions:
In the e-government report published by the State Services Commision in 2004, it is stated that “The Internet will be the dominant means of enabling ready access to the government.”
The discussions and the case studies reveal a lot about the positive impact of Internet on the government sector in New Zealand. They also reveal the flaws that needs to be attended. The impact of Internet has ushered E-governance in New Zealand, which has made government data processing simple. The citizens are able to access government forms online from anywhere/anytime. The Internet has brought broadband to the rural areas of New Zealand through project PROBE which was successfully implemented by the end of 2005.The online collaboration between the companies office and the IRD is another positive development. However visa holders still are not able to apply and get their IRD numbers online. Security protocols and standards needs to be improved so that this becomes possible. Overall the impact of the Internet on the government sector is very significant and note worthy. The organizational models have undergone changes in most of the cases. In some cases, even the flow of information and locus of control has not followed the traditional hierarchical model, as with the case of project PROBE. The citizens being the stake holders have been immensely benefited by the impact of Internet on the government sector.
