Published on the 03/08/2018 | Written by Jonathan Cotton
The results are in and, counter to practically everyone’s expectations, Australia has received a big thumbs up for e-govt from the UN…
If you follow the news – this site included – you may have noticed the Australian Government doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to the rollout of IT projects.
Hold your gasps, it’s true: The Census failure, the NAPLAN online failure, the sale of Medicare information on the internet, the Queensland Health payroll debacle, the Australian Taxation Office’s unreliable website, the huge myGov budget overruns, Centrelink’s debt recovery debacle, et al.
Maybe there is a grain of truth to the idea that all these public IT disasters receive such a lot of coverage because they are public facing projects.
There’s a lot of grist for the media mill there, and it’s no surprise that, given the opportunity, they grind it.
But it’s not just a media hatchet job. The Government has admitted on plenty of occasions that its good IT intentions too often outstrip its competence, even going so far as to launch a review in August of last year, to check whether past government digital services actually delivered on their stated objectives of security, efficiency, economy and reliability. And before that, a 2011 report by the Victorian Ombudsman which looked into several high-profile IT projects which had failed couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that Australian IT projects are “often poorly managed” and “failures are common.”
But forget all that, says the UN. Its 2018 ranking of countries on e-government development, Australia coming out on top of a group of 40 countries on its ‘EGovernment Development Index’ (EGDI), second only to Denmark.
Wait, what? Yup, that’s what it says: Australia is second best at eGovt in the world, the third consecutive time Australia has held that position in the biennial report.
Leading countries in e-Government development
That’s a surprising result to everyone it seems, except the UN itself and acting minister for Digital Transformation Dan Tehan.
“The world is undergoing a digital revolution and the Coalition Government is determined that Australia remain at the forefront of the curve to ensure we maximise the enormous benefits on offer for both our citizens and our economy,” enthused the minister in a statement addressing the report.
“Technology enables us to make life easier for busy people by bringing the services they need to their doorstep, rather than requiring them to stand in queues or wait on the phone to do business with government.”
“Measures like the new Consumer Data Right outlined in this year’s budget will also harness the power of data to enable consumers to find better deals on services like banking, communications and energy.”
“Our current ranking also highlights how far Australia has come in just a few short years since Labor was last in power,” says Tehan. “Labor regularly criticises our efforts, but Australia didn’t even feature in the global top 10 for e-government when they were in charge.”
Okay, so gloating aside, what does the report actually measure? That index says it examines a country’s “use of information and communications technologies to deliver public services” and aims to capture “the scope and quality of online services, status of telecommunication infrastructure and existing human capacity.”
How it does that is a little hard to establish, but is based, the report says, “on a holistic view of e-government that incorporates three important dimensions that allow people to benefit from online services and information: the adequacy of telecommunication infrastructure, the ability of human resources to promote and use ICTs, and the availability of online services and content.”
So what does it actually say about Australia?
It’s very light on detail, but points to several initiatives such as the creation of the Digital Transformation Agency (the same one slammed in the Senate report a month ago), efforts to improve data sharing within government, and Australia’s work in cybersecurity.
“The Australian Government…created a Digital Transformation Agency, which focuses on enhancing service delivery by acting as a central repository for open government data,” reads the report.
“The platform adds value to users, intermediaries and society as a whole.”
It also praises Australia’s work with business and research communities to advance the country’s cybersecurity agenda.
“The Government has directed resources towards increasing the number of cybersecurity professionals, and it has invested in tertiary education competitions. Beyond this, it is partnering with various sectors to improve and share cybersecurity information. This is further facilitated through the convening of annual cybersecurity leaders’ meetings.”
Okay, that’s fair enough. The above security initiative – involving investment, information sharing and annual conferences – is certainly worthwhile, but world-beatingly good? That just seems like a bit of a stretch.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to corroborate the report’s conclusions. After all, the report, produced every two years by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, is the only global report assessing eGovernment development status of UN Member States.
But let’s not rain on our own parade here. Maybe we are doing okay in terms e-govt, compared to the rest of the world. And maybe there is a grain of truth to the idea that all these public IT disasters receive such a lot of coverage because they are public facing projects – just the kind we’re asking for.
So let’s take a moment to relish the report – whether it’s flawed or not. Because according to everyone else we’ve still got a long way to go.
See the United Nations E-Government survey 2018 report for yourself.
