"The aim of our research was to evaluate the enablers, constraints and other influences on the decisions about the use of hosted and managed ICT services by government departments, agencies and other institutions," said Adrian Schofield, Manager, Applied Research Unit of the JCSE.
He said that the research team wanted to establish the effect and relevance of legislation impacting on the way in which the South African government approaches the adoption of innovative technologies, the attitude and perceptions of the government user community, and the views of the suppliers who are offering solutions to the government.
"The results made it clear that there is a need for a broad policy for the government, while corporate governance policies and standards, such as the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS) require review," said Luci Abrahams, Director of the Link Centre. The research also revealed that a key enabler to future innovation is the capacity of the institutions, decision makers and operational managers to guide innovation adoption in general, and in forms of virtualisation and cloud computing in particular.
"Strengthening research capacity at this level of government can encourage effective development and adoption of the necessary facilities, without creating a leaky pipeline for procurement of unneeded or inappropriate solutions," explained Abrahams.
A major risk to innovation is the human resource capacity at management and technical levels according to the report. Schofield said that for the purposes of providing an easy access data environment, investment in human resource capacity and relevant skills will be essential: "This is, however, part of a much larger package of investment needed in ICT technical resources for e-government innovation." Delegates at the launch of the report noted the realignment of government responsibilities for ICTs under the new Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services created the opportunity for the holistic approach to be adopted.
The level of advancement of ICT and electronic communications services across the breadth and depth of government locations was also scrutinised. According to Schofield, every government office could be a place of access to government services, including every post office, library, school, home affairs counter, or municipal office: "The most economical way for the government to do that would be to use cloud technologies now, continuously exploring new technological solutions that maximise access to data and minimise cost, because building government private networks for the whole of government could prove to be impossibly expensive."
Cloud utilisation, according to the JCSE, is at its simplest level of interpretation, the use of IP networks to reach data storage centres to enable applications for government services to citizens and business. Schofield said that rather than plugging 21st-century devices at the end of 20th-century networks, cloud computing offers a lower cost route to a high-tech ICT for government future: "For this approach to work, attention will have to be paid to understanding, analysing, recording, managing and mitigating information risks."
The report stresses that the institutional framework for electronic government must be suitable to innovation advancement. Schofield said that current policy and legislation offers both encouragement and caution: "Even with virtualisation in the form of government VPNs and even where government has not moved fully into a virtual environment, there is a risk of unauthorised access, because data messages are flowing across government and private sector physical networks."
He said that there will be points at which the networks are on the surface and all the encryption used will not necessarily protect government data from unauthorised access. The crucial point is that the risk should be assessed, minimised and authorised, ensuring compliance with government information management standards, which are designed to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level.
"If the government is to provide resources and capacities expected of a 21st-century government, it is critical that the necessary research is conducted that will inform their strategic planning, budgeting and procurement of future-oriented ICT solutions," said Schofield.
As with most innovation, new risks and challenges emerge. Such risks and challenges are well documented in the applicable academic literature and in the reports of multi-lateral economic institutions such as the OECD. Governments can use the available studies to guide their way through the provision of innovative environments that enhance their existing capacities and advance their services to citizens.
Schofield concluded: "The application of ICTs to enhance the delivery of services by the government at all levels and the adoption of enabling policies towards the use of ICTs throughout the business, community and personal environments are essential ingredients for growing the economy, accelerating social development and making South Africa competitive."
