10-1758

Oct. 22, 2014

Thesis Statement

Title: Electronic Government: Connecting People

Purpose: In the Philippines, there are traces of Electronic Government being enacted in
different local governments. These local governments have tried to simulate the success
that Information Communication Technology brought for the private sectors such as a
call center. However, what most government officials do not see is that there is a big
gap between the activities of the private sector and that of the government. They may
cater to the same client (Filipino citizens) but their respective approaches are different.
Additionally, the funds being used by these two entities are derived differently; profit
for private sectors and taxes and government funds for the government.
This is the situation today as we look in our local governments. After more or
less twenty (20) years have gone by since the first implementation, there is still poor
implementation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the dealings of the
government. ICT was meant to improve government activities but in reality, it is really
more of a burden than an asset. The funds needed to sustain, develop and improve ICT
in local governments are tremendous while the benefits derived from it are less than
substantial.
One way that local governments have tried to implement ICT in their system is
through the use of a website. But as one would look into the projected benefit of a
website, one would see that a website is more than a webpage with information placed
on it. A website is meant to help the government interact with its citizens and provide
the same quality of services it would render personally. However, what is happening is
that the development of the website is in a stalemate. To add to this difficulty, the
culture of strong political activity in the nation is now being transmitted by use of the
website. A local government webpage is now a platform for individuals seeking political
positions to discreetly campaign and make themselves known to the public.
This situation is in dire need of a change. The writer of this paper believes that
what it needs is a legislation that would direct the way ICT is being implemented in the
local governments. There has to be a criteria that has to be followed ( a top notch
criteria for that matter) by every local government. Also, the legislation must provide for
a budget much larger than that being given today to ICT projects. The author
acknowledges the difficulty that such legislation will incur to the people and to the
government officials, but he believes that Electronic Government is more than a mere
band-aid solution, rather it is a long-term solution to a culture of problem and
corruption.
Field of Law: This paper will look more into the field of administrative law which in part
is a public law. It will look into how ICT implementation affected the dealings of the local
governments.

Problem: The problems that the writer of this paper will look into are the inefficiency
and ineffectiveness of websites to the service delivery of local governments.
As one can see, the situation described in the previous paragraphs of this paper has
depicted more or less the problems that local governments have with ICT
implementation. The writer of this paper would like to focus on the problem of service
delivery between the government and its citizens through the use of an interactiveservice; websites.
There is still a problem with the way websites are being used by the local
governments especially in terms of the effectiveness and effectiveness in service
delivery. The improvement of the website of local governments is an important issue
that must be taken up by legislators and policy makers alike.
Various studies show that the benefits that E-government to the service delivery
of a government entity are numerous. Several authors have stated how the use of
technology has helped make the government more efficient and effective through
cutting down costs, citizen empowerment etc. E-government is concerned with making
information available to the public so as to empower them. It provides a system
wherein interaction and transaction happens between the citizens and the government.
Another way that E-government is useful to improve efficiency and effectiveness of
service delivery is through improved internal communication between government
agencies and reduction of duplicity of inefficiency.
The problem that the writer takes note of is the inefficiency and ineffectiveness
of the websites in service delivery. Addressing this problem will bring about numerous
benefits in the service delivery of the government to the citizens. The website is used as
a concrete venue wherein a two-way communication is achieved. The website is not
only a venue where information is made available but it is also a venue wherein
transaction can be done between the government and the citizens. Thus a proper
implementation of a website will make the overall process of a government agency
quicker and easier.
If the process of service delivery is made more efficient and more effective, then
the citizens will not only be more active but will be empowered. This empowerment and
activeness which the citizens will acquire could lead to the overall improvement of
democracy in the nation. Additionally, since E-government is a fairly new topic, this
paper could be the cornerstone for future legislation on the subject matter (future
papers could discuss on other aspects such as accountability and transparency). Lastly,
this paper focuses on manifesting the wordings of the local government code which only
states of a transfer of technology. The writer believes that it should not only be
limited to a transfer of technology but it should also include development and
improvement of technology.
Thesis Statement: A legislation that would provide for better ICT implementation so as
to establish a two-way service system which would enable the government to interact

with its citizens and for the citizens to give feedback to the government should be done,
because it would lead to a more efficient and effective service delivery of local
governments as envisioned in the Local Government Code.
A legislation of an improvement of ICT implementation in local governments will
help the weakness of the bureaucracy in the Philippines. The processes of government
services are slow thus offering neither incentive nor comfort for the citizen. Additionally,
ICT will help the citizens express their concerns with the process of service delivery
which would help the government improve more on their service.
The implementation that local governments would do here in the Philippines
should be patterned to other countries wherein websites have led to an improvement in
the efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.
First off, In the Caribbean region, the use of ICT helped improve the efficiency in
responsiveness of the government especially in terms of security. In the case study
conducted by M. Thomas (2011), the countries in the Caribbean region used ICT to
improve their regional security. In the study it was noted how the crime being done in
the different states were of similar nature such as: Electronic crimes, Homicide, Drugs
and Guns, Organized crimes and kidnappings. The role of ICT was a drastic improvement
and solution enacted by the region specifically in relation to crime and security. Using
ICT helped the countries within the region to help each other monitor crimes by
connecting each country in a network through a submarine cable owned by Cable and
Wireless (Thomas, 2011). The submarine cable connects the region to North America
through the Montego Bay Freeport. Another cable would be the regional East/West
cable which connects countries such as Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Virgin Islands.
The developments of these submarine cables would improve the capacity of these
governments to respond to the crime and security of the region as a whole (Thomas,
2011).
In another case study done by (Ghayur, 2006), the effectiveness and efficiency of
the US federal government was increased due to the implementation of ICT and more
specifically of web-based application. The use of websites cut down the cost and
delivery times of the government. Some of the achievements done by the government
since the application of websites would be the following: Citizens, small businesses, and
community groups have one-stop access to US $500 billion in grants and procurement
opportunities, Integrated services are offered across different federal agencies to help
citizens tailor government to their specific needs, thus the services have been grouped
on websites to target a specific group of citizens such as students, entrepreneurs, and
nearly forty(40) million Americans carry out transactions with the federal government
electronically (Ghayu, 2006). The case study concluded that the use of websites by the
government would improve its efficiency and effectiveness.
In another case study conducted by Monga (2008), the success of Indian
initiatives in E-governance was highlighted. One project that improved the rendering of

services by the government is the Bhoomi project. The project tackled the problem of
the long process of acquiring land ownership and helped make the process of acquiring
land faster. The case study showed that the project helped determine the number of
executed and pending mutations orders along with fixing the responsibility and
accountability of public officials (Monga, 2008). Bhoomi was considered a success
because of three results that it brought: simplification of procedures, reduced hardships
of poor farmers in terms of delays, reduced corruption and ensured a more
accountable, transparent and responsive system.
One can see that improving ICT implementation, specifically the establishment of
a effective website for local governments will help in improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of service delivery of local governments. The benefits of a strong website
for local governments are numerous and encompassing various aspects of public
service. Therefore, a need for legislation has never been so important than in modern
times of globalization and technological advancement. The writer believes that the
improvement of E-government, specifically a website, is vital for the improvement of
not only the local areas of the country but it will in effect, help in the development of
the country.
Possible Sources:
National IT Industry Promotion Agency (2012). Electronic Government Development &
Strategy.
Lallana E., Pascual P & Soriano E. (2002). E-governemnt in the Philippines: Benchmarking against global best practices. Digital Philippines
Iglesias G (2010) E-government Initiativesof Four Philippine Cities. Philippine Institute
for Development Studies.
Rivera T. (2010). E-Government Implementation in the Philippines based on the 10-Point
Agenda of President G M Arroyo
Siar S. (2005). E-governance at the Local GovernmentLevel in the Philippines: An
Assessment of City Government Websites. Philippine Journal of Development. Volume
32 No. 2