The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is undertaking a study to establish Uganda’s Open Government Data readiness. The study, which will form the basis of advocacy, awareness raising, and network building activities, is gauging political willingness, public administration readiness, and civil society interest and readiness.
We are also assessing citizens’ perceptions on open governance. Please see http://apc.org/cipesa-opendata-survey for the online survey. For details about the assessment, email [email protected].
EGov Africa
Technology is becoming a key tool in the delivery of a wide array of government services and information. Today, eGovernance is a broad topic that deals with the broad spectrum of the relationship and networks within government regarding the use of ICTs.
While eGovernment programmes potentially have great benefits, many times they do not deliver the rosy results which their designers set out to achieve. For instance, some scholars have reported that “eGovernment studies consistently report a lack of the much hoped-for efficiency gains by reorganisation and cross-organisational integration, particularly at local level” (Grönlund, 2007). It is then important to explore the link between ICTs and successful implementation of governmental development programmes and improvement in efficiency and transparency of public sector operations. Besides, at CIPESA we view EGovernment programmes very much from the lenses of the citizen. Thus, we are keen to see how eGovernment directly involves and benefits the ordinary person.
CIPESA has started a programme to track developments in eGovernment in Africa, publish occasional papers and research highlighting success stories, advocate the adoption of inclusive and progressive eGov policies and practices, and offer advice to African governments in designing and implementing eGovernment plans and programmes.
ICTs For Democracy: Connecting The Dots
CIPESA is spearheading a multi-year programme that catalyses the use of ICTs in enabling and monitoring democracy. The programme, to be undertaken with various partners, is still under construction but will be multi-faceted. Initial work has started, such as a baseline study to establish the current state of play and the opportunities for intervention. Raising citizen participation in community/ public affairs via ICTs is central to this initiative. For more information about the initiative, please write to [email protected]