E participation study

Study into the Potential to Utilize Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT’s) to Promote
Inclusion, Public Participation and Accountability in
Local Governance.

PREPARED BY

PROJECT FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
MBUMBA DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND eKHAYA ICT

Contents
List of Abbreviations..................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 6
1.1. Context of Participatory Local Governance in South Africa ....................................... 6
1.2. Approach of the Study ............................................................................................................... 9
1.3. Structure of this Document (Roadmap) ...........................................................................10
SECTION A: CONTEXT AND LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................................11
2. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................12
2.1. Aim..................................................................................................................................................12
2.2. Structure of this section .........................................................................................................12
3. Definitions and Context....................................................................................................................13
3.1. e-government and e-governance ........................................................................................13
3.2. e-Inclusion ...................................................................................................................................15
3.3. e-Inclusion within the SA Municipal Sphere ..................................................................16
3.4. e-Participation............................................................................................................................17
4. Models for Municipal ICT Transformation ...............................................................................19
4.1. Ferguson’s Methodology ........................................................................................................21
4.2. Developing Criteria for Success ...........................................................................................23
4.3. South African e-Governance Access Models ...................................................................24
5. Process and Systems Overview using Gartner’s Hype Cycle .............................................26
5.1. Transformational level of maturity....................................................................................26
5.2. Web 2.0 and Gartner Technology Maturity ....................................................................28
5.3. Process Technology for the South African Context......................................................31
6. Computing Technology Overview ................................................................................................34
6.1. IT Hardware Categorisation .................................................................................................37
6.2. IT Software Categorisation....................................................................................................38
6.3. Mobile Technology ...................................................................................................................40
6.3.1. Established Mobile Application Fields ....................................................................42
6.4. Web sites ......................................................................................................................................45
6.4.1. International Web Site Studies...................................................................................45
6.4.2. Website Studies: SALGA ................................................................................................47
6.4.3. Website Studies: Van der Zee .....................................................................................49
6.4.4. Government Web 2.0 .....................................................................................................51
6.5. Other Technologies ..................................................................................................................53
6.6. Non-Local Government Case Studies ................................................................................55
7. Legislative and Policy Frameworks.............................................................................................57
7.1. Section 152 (1) of the Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) ................57
7.2. The 1998 White Paper on Local Government ................................................................58
7.3. The Municipal Structures Act (No 117 of 1998) ...........................................................59
7.4. The Municipal Systems Act, 2000 .......................................................................................60
7.5. Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 .....................................................................61
7.6. The Municipal Property Rates Act, 2004 .........................................................................62
7.7. The Electronic Communications Act (Act 36 of 2005) ...............................................62
8. Conclusion to Section A ....................................................................................................................63
SECTION B: CASE STUDIES INTO SOUTH AFRICAN MUNICIPAL PARTICIPATIVE BEST PRACTICE .........66
9. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................67
9.1. Potential Case Studies in ICT Usage ...................................................................................67
9.2. Top ten case studies .................................................................................................................69

PCRD, Mbumba & eKhaya ICT – May 2011 2

9.3. Top three case studies ............................................................................................................70
SECTION C: FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................72
10. Introduction .....................................................................................................................................73
11. Findings and Conclusions ...........................................................................................................74
11.1. Clarifying the Meaning of e-Governance in the Municipal Sphere.........................74
11.2. General Factors that Shape e-Participation ....................................................................74
11.3. ICT’s as Tools of Government Transformation .............................................................75
11.4. e-Government Models: South African Government Proposals ...............................76
11.5. Infrastructure and back-office, not participation requires e-focus .......................76
11.6. Hardware and Software Options ........................................................................................77
12. Analysis..............................................................................................................................................79
12.1. ICT’s and Formal Participation in Local Government .................................................79
12.2. ICT’s and Non-Structural Forms of Participation in Local Government ..............85
13. General Recommendations ........................................................................................................87
13.1. From e-Government to e-Governance ..............................................................................87
13.2. Focusing e-Participation ........................................................................................................89
13.3. Institutional Culture.................................................................................................................89
13.4. Shared Services and Mentoring ...........................................................................................90
13.5. Independent Civil Society ......................................................................................................90
13.6. Incentives for ICT Enabled Participation .........................................................................91
13.7. Implementation Challenges ..................................................................................................91
13.8. More Detailed Examples of Technology Enabled Participation..............................91
14. Model of an ICT enabled Local Municipality .......................................................................93
14.1. Infrastructure Level .................................................................................................................94
14.2. Software Level ............................................................................................................................94
14.3. Informational Level ..................................................................................................................95
15. References ........................................................................................................................................97
SECTION D: APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................99
16. Appendix A: Case Studies ........................................................................................................ 100
Ten Initial Case Studies........................................................................................................................... 100
Three In-depth Case Studies ................................................................................................................. 134
17. Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire ...................................................................................... 171
18. Appendix C: e-Participation Municipalities Decision Matrix ..................................... 174


List of Abbreviations

ATM – automated teller machine

BPM – Business Process Management

The Cloud – highly available server infrastructure, which is paid on a per-use basis
i.e. per access by customers, per hard disk space used, per Internet
bandwidth.

COTS – common, off-the-shelf software

CBP – Community Based Planning

CDW – Community Development Worker(s)

CPSI – Centre for Public Service Innovation

DCoG – Department of Cooperative Government

DPSA – Department for Public Service and Administration

ECA – Electronic Communications Act (2005)

EDGE – Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, also known as Enhanced GPRS
(see GPRS below)

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning

G2B – Government to Business

G2C – Government to Citizens

G2G – Government to Government

GIS – Geographic Information Systems

GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

GPRS – General Packet Radio Service: mobile data service available to users of
the second generation (2G) cellular communication systems global
system for mobile communications (GSM).

ICT – Information and Communication Technologies

IDP – Integrated Development Plan

IM – Instant Messaging

Infomediary – The use of human intermediaries to provide access to ICT’s for
challenged or illiterate users.


IT – Information Technology

IVR – Interactive Voice Response, automated spoken menus that allow callers
to select options by dialling a number on their telephone.

Mashups – This is a commonly used website technology, which refers to the
dynamic (automatic) inclusion of content from third party websites

Mesh – Wireless Mesh networks can provide cheap access to communities within
a municipality.

MFMA – Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003

MXit – A South African mobile software application that uses data services to
allow its users to communicate with each other and network services.

PCM – “Please Call Me” Service (cellular telephony)

Plug-in – An extension to a product or service which does not change the basic
functionality of the original product or service.

RICA – Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of
Communication-Related Information Act, 2008

SaaS – Software as a Service (software available only via the Internet, commonly
hosted in “the cloud”)

SALGA – South African Local Government Association

SIM (Card) – Subscriber Identity Module, is a removable card which can be used to
identify the user of a telephone (see also RICA). The SIM card is a
removable electronic medium which can also store logic.

SMME – Small, Micro and Medium (sized) Enterprise

SMS – Short Message Service (cellular telephony)

USAASA – Universal Service Access Agency of South Africa

VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol

VVoIP – Video and Voice over Internet Protocol

Wiki – Wiki’s are web based software that allows online collaborative editing of
shared information.


1. Introduction

This the final report for the Study into the Potential to Utilize Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT’s) to Promote Inclusion, Public Participation and
Accountability in Local Governance.

1.1. Context of Participatory Local Governance in South Africa

The theory and practice of participatory local governance in South Africa is bound to
the core objectives of local government as set out in Section 152 of the South
African Constitution viz:

 To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities;
 To ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable way;
 To promote social and economic development;
 To promote a safe and healthy environment; and
 To encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations
in the matters of local government.

Within the policy and legislative framework already outlined e.g. the 1998 Local
Government White Paper and the Municipal Systems Act of 2000, the participatory
and accountability aspects of local governance are of major significance. As the
Good Governance Learning Network, a national network of NGO’s specialising in
local democracy, notes:

The quality of democracy in South African local governance can be assessed
in terms of the opportunities that exist for public participation; transparency of
municipal processes; systems and accountability; the extent of corruption; and
the nature of the relationships between elected representatives and officials.1

The 1998 White Paper on Local Government provides a useful breakdown of the
four key elements of participation:

1. As voters to ensure the maximum democratic accountability of the elected
political leadership for the policies they are empowered to promote;
2. As citizens who express, via different stakeholder associations, their views
before, during and after the policy development process in order to ensure
that that policies reflect community preferences as far as possible;
3. As consumers and end users who expect value for money, affordable
services and courteous and responsive service;

1
Good Governance Learning Network 2008, Local Democracy in Action, p16


4. As organised partners involved in the mobilisation of resources for
development via for-profit businesses, NGO’s and community-based
institutions.

These elements provide a useful conceptual lens and framework for understanding
the use of ICT’s and their success or lack thereof in advancing participation and
accountability.

The practical enactment of these principles has seen:
 A code and guidelines for service standards and delivery (Batho Pele)
 Wall to wall ward committees as structured and legally sanctioned forms of
neighbourhood participation
 Regularly convened forums for involving citizens in planning – the IDP forums
 Budgeting cycles that legally oblige municipalities to seek citizen’s input and
scrutiny
 Public meetings or Indabas convened around key municipal events

Many of these systems however, have not fully met expectations. For example,
public surveys highlight a number of problems with the ward committee model
including a lack of clarity around the roles of the ward committee, the ‘stocking’ of
committees according to political party loyalties, and lack of resources. Other
weaknesses include poor links with sectoral interests, poor representivity and weak
election procedures.2

Clean governance and financial accountability persists as an on-going challenge in
local government as consecutive Auditor General and National Treasury reports
attest. The Auditor General’s report for the period ended June 2008 indicates that
more than half (54.4%) of the countries 283 municipalities had either disclaimers,
adverse opinions or some degree of qualification in their audit reports. The
percentage of municipalities cited for unauthorised, fruitless or wasteful expenditure
rose from 38% in 2006/2007 to 45% in 2007/2008.

It is not surprising therefore, that since 2000 public perception surveys by Markinor
and other research agencies suggest that corruption in local government is
perceived to be on a par with corruption in government line functions that are
particularly prone to perceptions of corrupt practice e.g. the Department of Home
Affairs.

The principal legal instrument to combat financial irregularity and corruption is the
Municipal Finance Management Act, which aims to create more direct accountability
within council, specifically with regard to the decisions and controls exercised by
mayors, mayoral committees and finance officers. In spite of this, investigations
show that the major sources of corruption are tenders and procurement procedures.

Government has launched several programmes to deal with these trends; e.g. in
October 2006 the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) launched
a strategy entitled “Government and Communities in Partnership to Prevent

2
Good Governance Learning Network 2008, Local Democracy in Action, p 30


Corruption.” This was an outcome of Project Consolidate and was publicised as an
initiative “to promote a culture of good and ethical governance.”

Accountability safeguards are also built into the legislative framework. The Municipal
Systems Act includes Codes of Conduct for both Councillors (Schedule 1.) and
Officials (Schedule 2.) The Codes set out legal parameters that govern the
professional behaviour and conduct of councillors and officials and many of the
provisions are designed to prevent irregularity, corruption and misconduct that would
potentially threaten the credibility of local government as an institution.

Despite these endeavours, the control that citizens exercise over elected leadership
and municipal officials appears to be weakening. The State of Local Governance
Report (2009 Working Document) by Cogta notes:

A culture of patronage and nepotism is now so widespread in many
municipalities that the formal municipal accountability system is ineffective
and inaccessible to many citizens.

While South Africa has strong structural models for participation, the performance of
these models is questionable. According to Cogta (2009) there are about 3790
wards established countrywide, involving nearly 40 000 community representatives,
however, independent NGO research over the last 5 years has been unable to show
an appreciable contribution of these bodies to effective municipal – community
communication. The 2009 State of Local Governance Report underlines this worry
noting that, “…the functionality and effectiveness of the ward committees is a matter
of serious concern.”

The Cogta (2009) report also highlights the consequences of weakened public
participation and accountability:

In respect to community engagement with public representatives, in instances
where it was found that there was a lack of a genuine participatory process,
due to political instability, corruption and undue interference in the
administration, then it can be said that there is a failure to provide democratic
and accountable government. This failure is growing as evidenced by the
community protests and intense alienation towards local government being
expressed by such communities.

The most recent and comprehensive response to failings and challenges in local
government was the 2010 Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS)
devised by Cogta largely on the basis of the State of Local Governance Report and
other key research produced by the National Treasury. The LGTAS sets out the key
features of an ideal municipality and advocates tailor-made interventions according
to the specific governance patterns in individual municipalities. The LGTAS is guided
by five strategic objectives:
1. Ensure that municipalities meet the basic service needs of communities
2. Build clean, effective, efficient, responsive and accountable local government
3. Improve performance and professionalism in municipalities
4. Improve national and provincial policy, oversight and support


5. Strengthen partnerships between local government, communities and civil
society

It is clear therefore that this study potentially contributes towards all these objectives
and in particular objectives 2 and 5.

A broad range of good governance interventions are outlined by Cogta for achieving
the above objectives e.g. working towards clean audit reports, organised
participation in IDP processes, properly constituted staffing complements with the
“right people for the job” etc. However the interventions that this study would most
closely align to are:
• Improved public participation and communication including effective complaint
management and feedback systems
• Political office bearers deployed in municipalities are well trained, inducted
and have the capacity and integrity to provide leadership in the best interest of
communities
• Councillors are responsive and accountable to communities
• A good citizenship drive encompassing:
- Greater involvement in municipal affairs
- Ethical behaviour
- Prioritising the poor and vulnerable
- Loyalty to the Constitution
- Volunteering / community service
- Transparency and accountability of Public Office
- Responsiveness of Public Officials
- Support and partnerships
- Common national patriotism
- Rights and responsibilities are inseparable

In line with these intervention strategies the LGTAS has resolved (within the
participation / accountability theme) to prioritise the implementation of a new ward
committee governance model, strengthen transparent supply chain management,
use public works programmes to drive ward-based development and use the good
citizenship campaign to “unite the nation” and mobilise public involvement in local
development.

Practical evidence of roll-out of the LGTAS is lacking at this stage (May 2011) but
the design and purpose of this survey would seem to fit well with the intended
purpose and strategies of the LGTAS.

1.2. Approach of the Study

As indicated, the broad objective of the study is to identify the potential for
strengthening public participation and social accountability in South African local
governance through the use of ICT’s, in the form of e-Inclusion and e-Participation and
e-Government programmes. In order to ensure that the study remains relevant to
small / medium local government, the study will make use of a reference model i.e. a


hypothetical small / medium sized municipality which successfully uses ICT’s to
interact with citizens and improve local governance
The reference model will explain how the municipality can use ICT’s as well as
benefits these will bring and will be constructed from an analysis of the literature.
The model is not described in the literature review. The aim of the literature review is
to provide the conceptual foundation for programmes of support and engagement to
pilot and/ or implement the model or components thereof.

1.3. Structure of this Document (Roadmap)

This document has three content sections, which follow logically from each other,
and an appendix section with additional resources.

1. Section A defines important terms that are used throughout this report and
reviews the literature available on international and local best practices. An
important result of Section A is to define the two axes that are crucial to the
further development of the report in the later sections, namely:
a. Models of maturity of local government bodies: these describe
transformational processes required to reach e-governance maturity
from the organisational perspective.
b. A taxonomy of ICT technology and processes: this clusters types of
technology together and reviews the technical processes that
technology can support in local government and reviews the latest
technologies in use by local government.

These axes are important as they provide the perspectives for the analysis in
Section B and the recommendations and modelling in Section C. Section C
suggests which kinds of municipality should utilise which kinds of
technological inputs to improve specific dimensions of e-governance.

2. Section B presents a review of innovative ICT use in 10 municipalities. Three
municipalities were then short listed and interviews were performed with
various stakeholders at each municipality. The three municipalities were
selected from a set of 10 municipalities that had been profiled via web and
telephone.

3. Section C synthesises the findings from Section A and Section B into firm
recommendations for implementation of e-participatory technologies and
processes in municipalities.

4. Section D contains appendices which are useful reference resources for the
reader.


SECTION A: CONTEXT AND LITERATURE REVIEW


2. Introduction

2.1. Aim

This section reviews the literature and the body of existing projects that involve ICT’s
and which are relevant to the local government context. Owing to time limitations
some aspects of this study may be fairly cursory as the review attempts to cover the
entire breadth of the subject. Particularly noticeable in the literature review is the lack
of scientific studies into e-participation in the local government sector. We believe
that this is due to the fact that there is an extremely fast rate of development within
the software industry, combined with the somewhat more cautious approach
assumed by government. Thus, the majority of the most innovative local government
ICT developments are only available as project reports and not scientific reports,
which is reflected in this section.

The aim of this literature review and context overview is to:
1. clarify the concepts of e-Government, e-Inclusion and e-Participation as they
appear in ICT literature at international level
2. describe the context in which these terms are used in South African local
governance and the way the concepts manifest in actual ICT systems
3. identify and motivate for those ICT’s that have most relevance for small /
medium sized municipalities, using a wide variety of reliable business and
academic sources
4. provide an overview of the current legislative and policy frameworks, including
the Municipal Structures Act, the Municipal Systems Act, the Municipal
Finance Management Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act in
terms of their relevance to the use of ICT’s in local government.

2.2. Structure of this section

Section A begins with definitions of e-participation and other important concepts
(section 3). e-governance (as opposed to e-government) is the concept used as it
encapsulates the democratic (participative, accountable, etc.) notions pertaining to e-
government.

The next section discusses models of transformation and the criteria that can be
used to measure whether an ICT pilot is successful in the local government context
(section 4). Section 4 makes it clear that ICT’s can play an important role in the
process of transformation of local government.

Section 5 overviews the processes and systems in government that need to be
transformed. These are the type of functions in local government that need to be


addressed in order to set the scene for transformed government functioning. These
are mostly, large projects that need to be undertaken on a national level and require
much investment and coordinated effort.

In section 6, an overview of computing technologies is presented together with a
more detailed discussion on individual technologies in order to ascertain if there are
any quick and easy methods in the ICT toolbox that could be applied without
completely transforming local government. The findings show that there are
numerous things that can be done with ICT’s to engage with the public and that
several projects could be employed in the field of e-governance.

Section 7 considers the legal and policy frameworks that any ICT intervention at
local government would have to fit into and questions are raised regarding local
government’s fulfilment of its legal obligations.

The report concludes with an overview of findings in this theoretical, section.

3. Definitions and Context

3.1. e-government and e-governance

Maria Farelo and Chris Morris (2006) of the Department of Public Service and
Administration and the Meraka Institute respectively, define e-government as “…the
use of ICT to promote more efficient and effective government, facilitate more
accessible government services, allow greater public access to information, and
make government more accountable to citizens.” The South African Local
Government Association or SALGA (2010) defines e-government in the same
manner.

Martin Ferguson (2002: Executive Summary) identifies a number of trends in the
delivery of local e-government around the world:

e-services: securing and providing government services by electronic means
examples include the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong.

e-governance: linking-up citizens, stakeholders and elected representatives to
participate in the governance of communities by electronic means (including e-
democracy) e.g. Brazil, Netherlands, Finland, Italy.

e-knowledge: developing the skills and the ICT infrastructure to exploit knowledge
for competitive advantage, e.g. Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland.

The 36 case studies in Ferguson’s report examine projects and initiatives that focus
on one of the three elements to Gartner’s definition of e-government (Gartner, 2000,
and also used extensively in SALGA, 2010), namely customer service, internal
efficiency, and citizen’s engagement.


In the international literature a useful distinction is made between e-government and
e-governance which is not apparent in Farelo and Morris’s (2006) use of e-
government as a catch-all term. This distinction is set out below in the discussion of
Holzer and Kim’s 2007 international evaluation of digital governance in
municipalities.

Marc Holzer and Saeng-Tae Kim of the E-Governance Institute at Rutgers University
surveyed ICT use in municipalities as part of the Digital Governance in Municipalities
Worldwide Survey. They assessed the practice of digital governance in large
municipalities worldwide in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Holzer and Kim outline an
important distinction between digital government (e-government) and digital
governance (e-governance).

- Digital government uses digital technology to deliver public services
- Digital governance includes digital government but has the additional element
of digital democracy i.e. citizen’s participation in governance.

Holzer and Kim (2007: 3) provide further insight on the meaning of e-Government as
it relates to municipalities:

Municipalities across the world are increasingly developing websites to
provide their services online; however, e-government is more than simply
constructing a website. The emphasis should be more focused on using such
technologies to effectively provide government services.

In South African government circles, therefore, e-government is equated with e-
governance and covers a broad range of considerations from transforming how
government works, being more citizen-centred, managing information, public-private
partnership, customer feedback, and engaging with the public (Farelo, M & Morris,
C. 2005: 2) There is also an understanding that e-government has sectoral
components such as e-health and e-education. This merging of e-governance and e-
government therefore creates a fairly complex notion of service considerations mixed
in with work culture, performance feedback and participatory considerations.
Whether this departure from the international convention is a useful conceptual
approach is a moot point.

e-Government also typically includes intra-government application of ICT’s aimed at
greater efficiency and effectiveness – this element will not be examined in this study.
Nevertheless, it is noted that e-Government may also be unpacked according to an
understanding of the different parties involved in transactional arrangements
(government, community, business). This has given rise to a set of acronyms that
describe such transactions. The South African e-Government “vision” for example,
sets out the priorities and key objectives of government in terms of G2G, G2C, and
G2B transactions (Farelo, M & Morris, C. 2005: 5).

Section Summary
 Many varying definitions of e-government and e-governance exist, which can
cause some confusion in a detailed analysis such as this study however the
terms of reference point strongly towards an e-governance focus


 The emphasis in e-government rests on ICT use within government for
efficiency objectives
 The emphasis on e-governance looks at ICT use within the interactions
between government and civil society
 This study uses the definition of e-governance that covers both efficiency
imperatives achieved through digital government and the digital enhancement
of citizens participation or participatory local governance

3.2. e-Inclusion

European Union political stakeholders claim that e-Inclusion is more than the
availability of electronic media to ensure that people can be part of the political
structure in question (in Europe, these are the local, regional, national and European
structures). Instead, such media must be actively brought to the constituency by the
state, in order to de-marginalise groups that face barriers in accessing that media,
such as the physically disabled and other minority groups. The EU, thus, defines e-
Inclusion in the following way3: “The use of ICT to make society fully inclusive,
ensuring that the benefits of ICT are made available to everyone without
discrimination.” The inclusive benefit implied in this definition relates to the access to
ICT rather than the use of ICT to access specific online content or e-government
services, where access includes such basics as literacy and the ability to use a
computer or other access device (i.e. it includes training and awareness
programmes). In other words, the inclusive benefit is one of being part of the
Information Society (an EU term which refers to a society, or part thereof,
possessing skills and the means to use electronic information and the Internet, and
ICT’s in general.)

To emphasise then, according to the European Union, e-Inclusion is not only about
relatively passive issues, such as local government making its documents available
electronically on a website. It concerns society actually partaking in, or making use of
the information that is available. The EU thus claims to actively engage marginalised
parts of society, bringing them online so that they can make use of their rights to
access information. In this sense e-Inclusion is closely related to e-Accessibility (EU,
2008). This sentiment is also echoed in the Canadian e-inclusion network4. The
Digital Inclusion Network (funded by the Ford Foundation) on the other hand,
highlights the confusion surrounding the term “inclusion”, as they focus on
democratic aspects of the term, although they exclusively use the term “digital
inclusion”.5

In this literature review e-inclusion is used in the European Union sense, i.e. access
to ICT, unless otherwise specified. The notion of enhancing democratic life through
the use of ICT’s to deepen citizen’s involvement in state functions and decision-
making is nevertheless noted and clearly has strong theoretical roots.

Because of the low broadband penetration in South Africa, e-Inclusion is a serious
problem, which is recognised and is being addressed by various organisations. e-
3
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/index_en.htm - accessed on 2010-12-06
4
http://e-inclusion.crim.ca/ - accessed on 2010-12-09
5
http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/inclusion - accessed on 2010-12-09


Inclusion is part of USAASA’s mandate in terms of the Electronic Communications
Act (ECA, 2005). e-Inclusion has not been successfully implemented in South Africa,
as yet. Many South Africans live in under-serviced areas and thus continue to be
disadvantaged in terms of wealth as well as opportunities to communicate.

Section Summary
 e-Inclusion is an important aspect of e-governance. It refers to efforts by all
levels of government to actively implement policies to connect constituents. It
further implies an obligation on the state to expand access to ICT’s.

3.3. e-Inclusion within the SA Municipal Sphere

In 2003, a study was conducted for the Centre for Public Service Innovation, entitled
“Citizen Access to E-government Services”. The study showed various methods by
which e-Government may be accessed in South Africa. This study is discussed
further in section 4.3, South African e-Governance Access Models. In section 5,
Process and Systems Overview, actual implementation of the access methods and
how they relate to each other is considered.

An indication of the level or nature of citizens’ service empowerment in South African
municipalities can be found in the SALGA report on the state of ICT’s, 2010, which
shows that the number of Internet and computer users in the poorer municipalities is
very low indeed (see draft SALGA report on state of ICT’s, 2010, p.52). In fact for
the worst connected 24 municipalities, the average Internet penetration is at around
3%, and computer use is at around 6%. This raises questions about the efficacy of
common ICT techniques from the developed world (such as websites) as vehicles to
promote e-participation and e-inclusion for disadvantaged citizens and others served
by municipalities of low technical capability.

Ready access to ICT’s does not mean that citizens will necessarily be more included
in the procedures and systems of governance. How does e-Inclusion relate to e-
Participation where the latter includes considerations of democracy and specifically,
a participatory form of government?
 Even if one is included, one may choose not to participate for a variety of
reasons e.g. political alienation or the belief that the system of government is
flawed in a substantive manner (where ICT’s can offer little or no remedy) or
that opportunities for participation constitute tokenism.
 E-Inclusion can thus be seen as a pre-condition for e-Participation, where the
latter implies citizens’ participation in the affairs of state. E- Inclusion therefore
enables civic e-Participation but does not guarantee it.

This potential dilemma is recognised by Farelo and Morris (2006: 3) in a more
cautious assessment of ICT potential, “It is well understood that simply adding
computers or modems will not improve government, nor will only automating the
same old procedures and practices. Making unhelpful procedures more efficient is
not productive.” Similar sentiments are echoed in a business study by Andriole
(2010), which shows that many forms of participatory ICT’s (based on web 2.0
technology) do not live up to their promises. We discuss Andriole’s findings further in
section 5.2 Web 2.0 and Gartner Technology Maturity.


Participatory democracy is impacted by a range of variables, some of which are
beyond the scope of ICT’s. Participation per se requires a motivation for
participation, an understanding of the relationship between citizen and state and
some degree of trust in the organs of state. These are independent variables that
exist largely beyond the impact of ICT’s.

Section Summary
 e-Inclusion i.e. ensuring the broadest possible connectivity for the population
and the widespread ability to use ICT’s, is a pre-condition for e-Participation,
but does not guarantee it. Low levels of literacy and especially ICT literacy in
the general population suggests that e-Participation is structurally
disadvantaged
 e-Participation is however only partly shaped by issues of connectivity and
ICT literacy and basic questions of the legitimacy of government and the
exercise of citizenship also determine the scope for e-Participation
 Web-based ICT interventions have limited relevance for the majority of South
Africans unless facilitated by intermediaries (community-based organisations,
NGO programmes or social movements that deliberately set out to work with
ICT’s).

3.4. e-Participation

On-line citizen’s participation in government is a relatively recent area of e-
governance study according to Holzer and Kim (2007). The authors suggest that e-
participation extends into the arena of decentralised decision-making e.g. via the
Internet. This level of engagement and allowing for civic feedback is still in its early
stages of development within municipal government. Nonetheless, e-Participation is
dealt with in some detail by the EU: “eParticipation – From ‘electronic participation’.
Participation in the processes of government, especially policy-making and
legislation, supported by ICT.”6

Some forms of e-participation identified by Holzer and Kim (within their limited
website focus) were:
 Online feedback to individual agencies / departments or elected
representatives
 Online information updates on municipal governance
 Online polls on specific issues
 Participate in or view the results of customer satisfaction surveys online
 Get feedback on municipal performance or publish the results of performance
reviews online.
 Online bulletin boards or chat rooms for gathering public input on municipal
issues
 Structured online discussions on particular issues or institutional matters

6
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/eparticipation/2009/about/docs/
eparticipation_brochure.pdf – accessed on 2010-12-06


What are the prospects for South African municipalities to engage in meaningful e-
participation relating to feedback, decision-making, policy options and performance
assessments? The Afrobarometer survey (2008) consistently shows that citizens’
trust in local government is lowest compared to other spheres of government. In fact
the motivation for citizens’ active engagement with policy and legislative issues
should not be over-estimated. As Mattes (2007: 2) notes: “But while survey
researchers may locate receptive allies in smaller civil society organisations devoted
to policy research and democracy advocacy, they find no automatic alliance with civil
society in general.” e-Participation in South Africa may therefore find more relevance
as a function of registering opinion or feedback, rather than contributing to legislating
and decision-making.

A further aspect of e-participation being explored in South Africa is the use of ICT’s
through an intermediary. In this approach an ICT-enabled member of the community
who is trusted and respected acts as an intermediary enabling information services
to flow into the community to particular community members, as well as from the
community to the rest of the world. The approach is more economic in its focus than
socio-political. The longest running programme investigating this idea is the
Infopreneur project of the Meraka Institute which by all accounts, has met with initial
successes. The original idea was to create “Infopreneur service bundles” that can
assist local business and SMMEs to work together and with first economy
enterprises through the channelling of relevant information in both directions (to and
from the rural areas) (Schaffer et al, 2007). Most recent Infopreneur models
envisage ICT enabled intermediaries performing tasks for local government, mainly
surveys of citizens in hard-to-reach areas (peri-urban and rural) of South Africa
(Interview with van Rensburg, 2010, also van Rensburg, 2008). The South African
based international NGO the Village Scribe Association is another organisation
investigating this aspect of development, together with Rhodes University and a
SAFIPA ICT4D project.

Some participatory best practices mediated by ICT’s mentioned by Murray, Caulier-
Grice, & Mulgan (2010) are:
 Web platforms, which allow participation in specific local government matters,
are becoming an indispensable tool for local government. Apart from offering
information about public matters in a locality (e.g. information about tourism
opportunities, investment opportunities, service opportunities and tenders,
etc.), they also allow local government to provide value added services such
as traffic reports, interactive GIS systems and RSS (information feeds) among
other things (Van der Zee, 2009). Technologies that allow participation, for
instance through commonly used social networking platforms such as
Facebook, can make a big difference to participatory experiences of citizens.
Another web technology that is making a big difference in business (Andriole,
2010) is the wiki, and this technology is mentioned separately below.
 Participation in Government via a wiki: New Zealand used a wiki to draft
police legislation. Wikis allow anyone to edit a document, while changes are
marked and can be undone, thus providing a safe platform for collaboration.
The process was very empowering and good ideas were produced. Wikis are
a common technology and can be used in any collaborative creation process,
such as the drafting of by-laws etc.


 AmericaSpeaks or 21st Century town meetings are methods for participation
that use ICT’s: real-time voting on current issues in a gathering, similar to the
next point.
 Citizen Juries: a random collection of citizens provide feedback on
contentious issues or even new ideas about problems. This is a device used
by the Jefferson Institute in the USA and subsequently in Europe.
 Citizen Panels: similar to the above, except much larger more chaotic
gatherings occur. The panels can most easily convene and communicate
online.
 Citizen Petitions: similar to surveys, but the question being explored also
comes from the public.
 Planning for Real (Tony Gibson), is a non-ICT enabled method which boasts
empowerment of citizens through hands-on planning. While heightening
participation it is not strictly speaking about electronic participation as the
method was developed in 1977, although electronic media could well be part
of the process.

Section Summary
 Aspects of e-governance that promote e-participation are trust and good
feedback. It has been argued that these are supported by drawing citizens
into decision making processes, “speaking the same language” as the
constituents and sharing key information to empower citizens in this
process.
 Intermediaries may be an effective medium for the promotion or enabling
of e-participation in the South African context of poor overall connectivity
and weak ICT skills
 International experience suggests that e-governance is best facilitated
where ICTs are employed to enhance a specific form of engagement
between citizen and government e.g. petitioning or registering opinion of
specific issues via a poll
 Internationally, e-participation best practices often originate from public
mass movements or NGO activities – these may be independent of
government

4. Models for Municipal ICT Transformation
An interesting notion that has emerged in ICT literature is that ICT can shape the
very nature and quality of government. Several authors have postulated that all
governments advance through certain phases of development as they progress
toward a higher level of ICT integration. These theories are meant to hold,
regardless of culture, nationality or the level of government (national or sub-national).
Since these models deal with future uncertainty, and try to predict the effect of
rapidly developing ICT’s on all spheres of government, they are strongly abstract and
tend to end with a final phase that may be labelled “integrated” or “transformed”.

Government progress through such phases is theoretically very desirable, as it
allows optimisation of government internal processes and (theoretically) encourages
direct, controlled participation of citizens and public groups in e-governance, thus


greatly strengthening democracy within a nation. Also it widens the percentage of the
population that is empowered to take part in the information society or “network
society”, (Castells 2000). According to Castells, networked individuals and
companies have access to tremendous advantages over those that are not, as they
can access global (financial) markets and operate internationally at very low cost.
This empowering effect is deemed positive, especially in the South African context.
In the thinking advanced by Castells and others, ICT have the potential to empower
select segments of the population and therefore reduce inequality.

The theoretical models presented here end with what is referred to as the
“transformational stage” – there is little in the way of literature that tries to predict
what happens after this stage. The rapid development of ICT’s makes such guess-
work error prone, however the progress and evolution of governments through more
advanced ICT usage seems inevitable.

The developmental model frequently referenced in this study is Gartner’s four
phases of e-government model (Baum and Maio, 2000). Gartner Research
postulates four levels of government maturity:
1. informational (uni-directional)
2. communicational (bi-directional communication concerning minor tasks)
3. transactional (entire transactions, from inception to completion can be carried
out online)
4. transformational (government processes are integrated to such an extent that
cross-departmental optimisations and synergies can be carried out).
[For more information on this model, see e.g. the SALGA e-Government Report
2010, p.2.]

Personalisation: In contrast to Gartner, the chartered accounting company Deloitte
and Touche proposes a six stage model, in which the Gartner phases remain
recognisable. Deloitte and Touche add phases for creation of portals and for
personalisation of such portals. It is clear that the Deloitte model incorporates a
dimension, which Gartner sees as orthogonal (independent) to the e-government
phases, namely that of personalisation (Siau and Long, 2005). This is evident in the
fact that each of the Gartner phases can itself be personalised, and thus this
dimension can safely be omitted when theorising. In practice though, personalisation
is a key principle of Web 2.0 technology and it has been relegated to that discussion.

Participation: Hiller and Belanger (2001) propose a five-stage model where the fifth
phase captures public participation in government. This embellishment, similarly to
the Deloitte and Touche additions, seems to be orthogonal to the Gartner model.
Each of the four phases represents a deeper aspect of participation by the public in
e-government. The authors, however, adopt a broad understanding of participation
where simply being informed about government actions is regarded as a form of
participation. Adding the ability to act on this information naturally increases the level
of participation. Further, the encouragement of participation is not only an electronic
consideration and can occur through a variety of means including non-electronic
ones.


Section Summary
 Theorists agree that governments undergo transformation in identifiable
phases as they progressively adopt more ICT and the processes that allow
efficient use of ICT (and networking in particular).
 Since there is no universally recognised theory, the actual progress toward e-
government may not be as orderly as surmised and there will be individual
variations.
 It seems that in a transformed government, the organisation allows
communication in a networked manner, rather than enforcing a classical
hierarchical pattern on communications.

4.1. Ferguson’s Methodology

While the former models describe the phases of development that a government
must go through in order to reach greater ICT maturity, Ferguson (2002), developed
a methodology, which a government could use to transform itself. Ferguson’s model
for e-government transformation at local government level involves four basic
methods that address all facets of implementing full e-government in a municipality.
The models developed in this study go further than describing the South African
municipality. They make also make suggestions about how a pilot project may be
executed in compliance with best practices. This section and the following one relate
to theories about transformative ICT projects that inform the development of the
model in Section C.
Below, we have selected and para-phrased some of the key methods as they relate
to the topics being addressed in this study.
It is also interesting to note that participation and inclusion play a strong role in this
methodology and that it is thus applicable to any findings in this study.
Involvement
- Be sensitive to local community needs
- Involve a wide variety of stakeholders
- Be aware that no single model works for all municipalities
- Get on and do something and actively learn.

Access Priorities
- Work towards outcomes sought by citizens
- Balance process with an understanding of customer needs
- Learn with communities and interact to expand the scope for local e-
government
- Champion the use of electronic media and build citizens confidence in this
regard


Collaborating and Redesigning
- Improve information management for better on-line services
- Use expertise from private and other strategic partners to improve front-line
services
- Consider value of information generated and returns / investments that might
flow from this
- Seek practical arrangements for data sharing but keep security considerations
in mind

Searching for Innovation
- Seek out the unexpected and look for new opportunities to make progress on
change
- Consider the role and capacity of citizens and customers to innovate when
developing your e-government solution.

The relevance of this model to this study is that it roughly describes a methodology
for local government transformation where the centrality of stakeholders is
recognised. The search for best practices in the remainder of this study takes into
account the perspectives of as many stakeholders as possible. Stakeholders that are
immediately apparent with respect to e-governance in South Africa are presented in
Figure 1.

Figure 1. Stakeholders in South African Municipal Context


Section Summary
 Ferguson’s methodology seems to be universally applicable, and it also
seems to be in line with the South African policy frameworks as described in
section 7.
 This methodology provides a starting point for Part C of this document, see
section 1.

4.2. Developing Criteria for Success

The previous section made recommendations about how a government may
progress towards the transformational phase of e-government, with a focus on
participatory practices. In this section, criteria or methods by which one may be able
to objectively judge whether progress has been made are reviewed.

Murray, Caulier-Grice (2010) and SALGA (2010) mention several metrics that can be
applied to measure how well an intervention or implemented model is proceeding.
The following are criteria which may apply to an ICT intervention:
 Cost-effectiveness analysis has been the most widely used method, primarily
by public authorities and agencies to assess a particular proposal or project
taking into account costs and benefits not reflected in market prices. As a
method its goal is to quantify financially what is external to the market, and is
now standard for assessing transport investment and large development
projects.
 Social Impact Assessment methods have been in use since the 1960s, trying
to capture all the dimensions of value that are produced by a new policy or
programme. They attempt to estimate the direct costs of an action (for
example, a drug treatment programme), the probability of it working, and the
likely impact on future crime rates, hospital admissions or welfare payments.
 Measuring Public Value (particularly associated with Mark Moore), explores
the value associated with public policy. Some of these tie value to notions of
opportunity cost, i.e. what people would give up in order to receive a service
or outcome whether through payments (taxes or charges), granting coercive
powers to the state (for example, in return for security), disclosing private
information (in return for more personalised services), giving time (for
example, as a school governor) or other personal resources (for example,
giving blood). The BBC in the UK uses this method as an aid in decision
making.
 Life Satisfaction Measures are a particularly interesting new set of
approaches (led by Professor Paul Dolan) which compare public policy and
social actions by estimating the extra income people would need to achieve
an equivalent gain in life satisfaction. One imaginative study of a regeneration
scheme, for example, showed that modest investments in home safety which
cost about 3% as much as home repairs, generated four times as much value
in terms of life satisfaction.
 User Experience Surveys. This approach takes the emotional reactions of the
users’ into account in a survey and reflects the development of biographical
methods as qualitative research techniques in the social sciences.
 Outcome Benchmarks, e.g. a survey asking whether people feel a sense of
influence over local government decisions after a particular intervention has


been implemented to raise such influence. Outcome benchmarks generally
provide a much more objective measure of social dynamics than the
indicators chosen by the implementers of a project.

Measuring success objectively is important in any ICT project as different elements
impact stakeholders in a variety of ways (see Figure 1). Further, it is good practice to
obtain consensus on which method should be used before beginning a pilot. Since
many interests are represented in local government, multiple metrics apply when
measuring different aspects of a pilot project, For instance, outcome benchmarks
may be a good way to measure success across the project in general, whereas a
cost-effectiveness analysis may address administrative imperatives.

Section Summary
 Several criteria and methods of measurement and analysis may be used to
track progress of any ICT intervention. This may be critical to understanding
the results of any pilot project.

4.3. South African e-Governance Access Models

A CPSI e-government access study released in 2003 by the South African
Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and the State Information
Technology Agency (SITA) named seven e-government models that could be
adopted in South Africa to allow citizens to access e-Government. These methods of
access are important as they address the issue of limited public access to websites,
especially in the poorer municipalities. Below, we briefly outline each access method.
a) Smart Service Gateway Service Points
This model enables the provision of services to citizens using technology such as
that of widely accepted ATMs. The CPSI study noted that the model allows the
citizen to perform entire e-government transactions via self-service or just access
information. Unfortunately the ATM technology itself poses problems for many
disadvantaged citizens. The Thusong Centres are a realisation of this mode of
access.
b) Smart Plug-In
This model foresees a closer interaction with the extensive telecommunications and
ICT networks of agencies. Currently, South Africa boasts the highest deployment of
ICT platforms on the continent. Agencies such as Uthingo, the Post Office and Post
Bank have a wide reach at local level throughout the country. The model
emphasises the need to integrate some plug-ins with, for instance, the Uthingo
network (CPSI 2003).
c) M-Services
The model embraces the multitude of mobile subscribers in South Africa. Hence, it is
a cornerstone to the implementation of e-government functionalities. One such
example of e-government strategy rooted within this model is the rapidly growing
popularity of cell-phone banking being implemented by banks and mobile phone
companies. Government could also integrate e-government functionalities before the
mobiles reach the customers. The model addresses the objectives of extension of
services to under-serviced areas (CPSI 2003).


d) Government Online
This is the government website, which is discussed in detail in the next section
(technology overview). This is a very important mode of access to e-government and
has been legislated as mandatory for local government.

e) Gateway Service Centre
This model is reported to be the most visible face of e-government service delivery.
The Gateway Service Centre will provide one-stop interaction to the citizen. The
model emphasizes the need to consider the location, which should ease the citizens’
movements, proximity to other services and traffic flow. However, the study reported,
the model realizes only the need for centres to be confined to high population density
areas. It is therefore more applicable in big cities and high density suburban areas
(CPSI 2003).
f) Talk-to-Government: the plain old telephone.
Apart from being an appropriate model for under-serviced areas, this model has the
capability of transactions if there is a payment system in place with effective
authentication mechanisms (CSPI 2003). The study suggests that the model can be
referred to as an information service model, which can be based on two applications
– IVR and call centers. The application of IVR will be best suited to rural areas, the
study noted. A current example is the presidential hotline.
The 2009 presidential hotline is an excellent example of such a service, which
showed how publicity using the name of the president and technology could be
combined motivate citizens to contact the government. According to the Office of the
President, 30000 calls were serviced in a single year of operation (more than 100
per day).
g) Computerized Counter Services
The model is a key one when e-government is in its initial stages of implementation.
The main objective of strategies behind this model is to reduce repeated visits by
citizens. However, the location of the e-government functionality will still be in
government offices, though computerized (CPSI 2003).

The CPSI is continually upgrading its National Access strategy as applicable to
National and Provincial government (via interview with Kgatliso Hamilton, CPSI).
Local government should be more closely tied into these efforts, especially as local
government is enabled to provide access through the ECA and is closest to the
communities.

Section Summary
 This section focuses on providing e-inclusion to disadvantaged constituents in
South Africa. This study attempts to find ways to boost e-participation in such
segments of our society.
 The South African government is developing and has developed several types
of access, which should also be taken into account in any recommendations.
 There has not been much success in the past in connecting the masses at a
broad based level using technologies. However, connectivity prices are falling
and mobile usage is increasing, and thus access methods need to be re-
evaluated from time to time.


5. Process and Systems Overview using Gartner’s Hype Cycle
This section tries to make sense of the process and systems possibilities open to
local government to improve or implement e-participation. In order to grow
government and transform it, its processes must also be transformed (as mentioned
above in the section “ e-Inclusion”). ICT’s, on the other hand, embed particular
government business processes in systems. This section investigates the question
of process and systems relevance and priority in government, looking specifically at
the systems that may be required to achieve local government’s goals. Specifically it
focuses on the Gartner publication “Hype Cycle for Government Transformation,
2010”. It summarises Gartner’s findings and interpolates to the case of local
government, given the South African context.

In section 5.1, we review the processes that must be implemented by government in
order to reach the final (“transformational”) level of e-government maturity. The
reason for focusing on the final level is two-fold:
 since the final level builds on the previous levels it also encompasses those
levels and adds to our understanding of the previous levels
 technologies are developing rapidly and may enable us to skip certain initial
steps, or one may be able to get ahead with respect to certain technologies,
despite other aspects of the e-government lagging behind.

In section 5.2, the technologies required or being implemented in developed nations
to bring about transformation are discussed. Several techniques can be utilised to
promote e-participation without full integration of government systems.

In section 5.3, the innovative governmental IT systems that Gartner has identified
are reviewed and described in terms of enabling e-participation in the South African
context.

5.1. Transformational level of maturity

According to Gartner, governments are transforming themselves for financial and
social reasons, and this change, which involves technology, is unavoidable. The
transformation exists along several technological dimensions, enabling different
kinds of benefits, according to Gartner:
“Seamless Socialisation”
Gartner refers to the possibility of using data openness along with analytic tools and
social media and web technologies that can disseminate information widely to
increase government transparency and to enable citizens to understand government
processes better and take part more actively (see also the World Economic Forum
Annual Report, Dutta & Mia, 2011, p. 95). The WEF report lists the following
beneficial effects of this transformation:
a) Create a single version of the truth by consolidating data from all relevant
sources, cleansing the data and transforming them so that they are ready for
analysis.


b) Gain insight into the long-term economic impact of expenditures and make
better, more reliable decisions with large-scale forecasting and optimization.
c) Clearly communicate the value and results of programs by developing a
performance management system that has meaningful, targeted outcome
measures.
d) Provide valuable insights and essential decision- support information to
stakeholders and policymakers by delivering accurate and timely reports on
spending and program effectiveness.
These technologies are meant to enable a specific form of democracy, which is
present in many nations that score very highly on the transparency and
accountability index, such as Sweden and Germany. In these countries, participation
and awareness of civic duties is promoted nationally and facilitated through
legislation. Although voting is not compulsory, high voter turnout (above 85%) is
normal. These democracies experience a “seamless socialisation” because
government and the public understand themselves as being part of the same team –
i.e. that they are part of the same society; that citizens have an important role to play
in government and that government staff are also citizens themselves.
It is not in the scope of this document to ask whether South African society can be
moulded to fit models that try to transform government to allow seamless
socialisation. The approach in this document is rather to note technologies that can
work in the South African context and which to bring government and citizens
together in a practical fashion.
“Commoditisation”
Here Gartner refers to the rationalisation of costs of assets that local government
controls and produces as part of its operations. Examples include the sharing of
services between departments and use of common off the shelf software (COTS) to
reduce costs. Additionally, there may be the possibility of local government
becoming an information service provider, thus commoditising its own assets.
In the case studies in section B, we see that municipalities as producers of data can
attract wide audiences, which can in turn generate revenues for the municipality. An
obvious example of this is the Cape Town electricity saving campaign. One of the
services the City would like to offer its citizens is a service to identify the easiest
ways to save electricity and the nearest shops where necessary supplies could be
bought. This service could bring in advertising revenue from suppliers (who could
also register themselves for the service online), all legalities being observed.
“Information Continuum”
Here Gartner refers to the future idea of integrated local government systems
advancing far enough to allow integration with citizen created public data. Such
public data sources could augment or even replace some local government
databases, thus blurring the distinction between local government as information
service provider and consumer.
In the South African context, this idea can be equated with public input into the IDP
and budget processes (among others). Wards and special interest groups could use
ICT’s to create their own data sets and change requests, which could automatically
be communicated to government.
“Employee Centricity”


With this idea, Gartner refers to the employees of local government, whose efficiency
can be improved through integrative IT.
In the South African context, this most likely translates to capacity building and
awareness training that shows the value of systems and processes to the
employees. In the transformational context, it refers to the fact that employees
recognise that over and above their responsibilities as civil servants, they
themselves are civic actors as individuals who have additional responsibilities in
maintaining transparency and accountability.
“Confluence of Information, Operational and Consumer Technologies”
By this Gartner refers to the increased technological level of all aspects of society in
Western Nations, which allows a more integrated planning and problem resolution
approach for governments.

Section Summary
This section outlines in terms of very broad process and technology based
descriptions, the vision of a new kind of government and society. Such a
government and society are at the transformational level of maturity. They are
transparent and accountable, and public participation in the government is high. The
collaboration is enabled through specific ICT systems, which are discussed in the
next sections.

5.2. Web 2.0 and Gartner Technology Maturity

It is not only governments that can be assessed by maturity - the technologies used
also have varying levels of maturity. Gartner’s Hype Cycle concept prioritises those
IT supported processes that governments must prioritise during their process of
transformation. This section briefly looks at the IT technologies Gartner recommends
using, because of their stable nature.

The following technologies are listed in the Gartner e-government hype cycles
analysis 2010. Gartner selected these technologies, because they are the ones
making the most difference in the business of public authorities at the moment.
The list is presented in order of lowest to highest risk when implementing a project
using such technologies.
Mature Technologies
- Packaged ERP for Government
Maturing Technologies
- Advanced Analytics for - Geographic Information Systems
Government
- Service Oriented Architecture:
- Enterprise Content Management Government
for Government
- Federated Identity Management
High Risk Technology
In these cases, some experience has been gathered (sliding into Gartner’s trough of
disillusionment)


- BPM for Government - Internal Communities in
Government
- Government Domain-Specific
COTS - Whole-of-Government Enterprise
Architecture
- External Communities in
Government - Business Intelligence for
Performance Management in
- Shared Services
Government
- Government Data Interoperability

At the Peak of Hype
- Government Cloud - Consumer Social Networks in
Government
- Private Cloud Computing
- E-Discovery for Government
- Open Government Data
- Public Cloud Computing
- Cross-Agency Case Management
in Government

On the Rise
- Enterprise Information - Open-Source Public-Sector
Management Programs Vertical Applications
- Citizen Data Vaults

The Gartner Hype Cycle classifies technologies according to their end-user function
and it does not focus on implementation technology. Many of the technologies that
Gartner mentions are thus not only concerned with software and hardware, but also
with the business process of (local) government. This is an important caveat
concerning IT system driven transformation, namely, that IT systems are only as
beneficial as the processes they implement. Very few transformations can be driven
by technology, e.g. from the list above there is perhaps only one topic that could be
driven by IT and not by process and regulations, namely Government Cloud.
Nevertheless, it is clear as one delves into the Gartner publication, that the driving
force behind the transformation is the increasingly networked nature of society and
the emergence of Web 2.0 – technologies that connect “consumers directly to
consumers” in business terms (Andriole, 2010), or citizens directly to citizens. Web
2.0 technology can be used to implement portions of most of the functionality
relevant to citizens and especially to e-participation. Web 2.0 has spurred vast
amounts of involvement by the public in content creation and it is perhaps the hope
that this technology can also spur citizen involvement in government that is the idea
behind this study. On the other hand, Gartner sees integrating public web 2.0
technology and social media into the municipal ICT infrastructure as risky and
untested and at the peak of hype – everyone is talking about it.
Andriole (2010) performed a study on web 2.0 technologies including social media
and their perception and impact on business organisations. He found that the
expected benefits were generally much higher than the actual benefits. He
categorised benefits and outcomes of web 2.0 into an impact metric, which he


systematically investigated in US businesses. A rather small sample was
interviewed: 15 senior managers in 5 large companies. The results of the survey
show that the expectations regarding benefits to collaboration and communication
improvements within the companies were realised. However, benefits regarding
customer relationship management, which is perhaps the closest to citizen
participation in the governmental sphere, were usually not realised, or the results
were disappointing. Although not conclusively shown, the managers attitudes
towards information sharing, security and privacy may have contributed to the
disappointing results in terms of improving customer relations through web 2.0
technologies.
An important “maturing technology” is the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for
Government. SOA, in general, is used to structure enterprise-wide systems that can
offer the entire organisation access to information and shared services to maximise
their utility within the enterprise, and also without (in the case of externally available
services). This technology requires close cooperation in organisations between IT
departments and business functions (within the municipality these would equate to
line departments as well as core departments such as finances, strategy and
planning). SOA, according to Stal (2006) has the important function of bringing
business departments and the IT department in an organisation together, and forcing
them to speak the same language. The fact that SOA for Government is considered
a maturing technology indicates that developed countries are standardising
government processes and finding a common language among Government and IT
practitioners. A consideration in the South African context is the CPSI Innovation
Centre7, which is responsible for bundling best practices and innovation across
government departments. This new centre has two core offerings. It has created a
visual process planning tool, which allows planners to visualise all government
processes in their department (only available at National level at the moment) and it
presents awards to the most innovative departments and units at all levels, annually
(information from interview with Kgatliso Hamilton, 2011).

Section Summary
This section serves as a warning that we should not expect too much from
technology driven change. Many of the technologies that should be investigated in
this study are only being used in an ad hoc fashion and are noted by Gartner as still
being relatively immature and badly understood technologies. Because they are at
the “hype” phase of the technology maturity cycle, they are receiving a great deal of
attention, nevertheless, to expect productivity gains from them is not reasonable.
This is especially true of the corporate market where expectations of web 2.0 or
social software technologies have exceeded the actual impact of the technologies.
On the other hand, service oriented architectures (SOA) for government are a
maturing technology. SOA require a clear understanding of an organisation’s
business processes and they specifically focus on bringing IT and core business
departments together and enabling them to speak the same language. This could
also be critical for the adoption of ICT’s in local government.

7
http://www.cpsi.co.za/innovation_centre.php


5.3. Process Technology for the South African Context

This section relates the Gartner publications discussed to the South African local
government context. First we look at a core e-government service that Gartner
expects advanced nations will be implementing within 2 years, but which it would be
unreasonable to implement at the SA local government level in the near future.
Thereafter, we look at three technologies which could be incompletely implemented
at the LG level, and which to some extent are already being used.

Challenges to local government in terms of ICT skills availability and ICT awareness
prevent most advanced technologies being implemented at the local level [SALGA,
2010]. Strategic e-government initiatives seem to be better housed at the national
level, but as surveys have shown, the public do not readily differentiate between
levels of government – they expect better service regardless of which level of
government is responsible [IDASA civic report, 2011]. This suggests that any partial
broad based e-government solutions are likely to lead to misunderstanding and
confusion, unless, perhaps, very well advertised and free of charge. The SARS e-
government solution is an often quoted example of a successful e-government
service, but it is careful to avoid the grassroots population and the informal economy.
ICT’s aimed at this segment need to be well supported by municipal processes and
technologies, otherwise they risk misleading civic users, either because:
 the services are not “deep enough” and the citizens never receive an answer,
i.e. the automatic processes simply result in more issues clogging the inboxes
of civil servants who are not able to process the sudden influx (perhaps part of
the problem with the Gauteng e-services crisis), or
 citizens receive an answer that is unsatisfactory, e.g. that they are 211 th in the
queue and will be serviced within two weeks.

Federated Identity Management, is a core topic for any e-government initiative
(including such ideas as the electronic citizen file), while useful for e-participation at
local government level may be a topic for National Government, because of its core
nature in describing citizens across all government levels and departments (see the
examples following). Gartner advances the following arguments about FIM:
 Federated Identity Management

Although popular, system-by-system identity management is often painfully
inefficient and ineffective:
 Users have the problem of different names and passwords for a frustratingly
large number of systems.
 Systems managers have the cost and difficulty of managing identities,
something they are often unqualified to handle.
 Also, systems are not very strong — leading to an enormous rise in identity
theft and other fraud and abuse.

“Federated identity management (FIM) seeks to solve these problems through
collaboration among institutions, to gain economies of specialization and scale.
Federated management is well positioned to provide a cost-effective infrastructure
foundation for citizen, consumer and business identification, authentication and
authorization.


The primary benefits for users will be improved convenience through reduced
authentication failures and single sign-on. For service providers, and society at large,
federated identity management promises reduced mistakes and increased trust at a
relatively low identity management cost.” [Gartner 2010:47]

FIM could boost participation in the South African context, for several reasons.
Assuming that FIM allows collaboration between silos of information: FIM could, for
example, enable municipalities to access information, which the RICA database,
DHA and SARS collect. Such collaboration would have a number of applications for
e-participation:
 This could allow highly personalised targeting of segments of the market,
which have previously been unreachable or very silent – targeted
communication has a higher effectiveness.
 E-government mash-ups could be enabled – for instance, an eFiling user
could be polled on local government issues and her response could be routed
to the correct local authority.
 Indirect participation could be enabled: the public could vote through their
interactions with public facilities, which require that they be identified when
they use the facility; for instance if only certain segments are known to use the
public access facilities, campaigns could be launched to spread awareness to
other segments through capacity building. Similar arguments could apply to
use of the clinics, or as another example, registering for social grants through
the Department of Social Development could automatically reflect on
municipal indigent registers.

On the other hand, there are technologies that can be piloted now (without requiring
a strategic intervention at the highest level) by ordinary South African municipalities,
including the following 3 technologies:

1. Consumer Social Networks in Government:

Consumer social networks in government refer to the use of a variety of social-
networking sites to better communicate and engage with citizens. This can either
complement or be an alternative to the establishment of external communities by
government organisations themselves.

There are two different uses of consumer social networks that can be (and usually
are) very independent of each other:
a) Establishing an institutional presence to communicate with constituents in
virtual spaces where they already are, as opposed to drawing them to
government-driven external communities. Such presence includes pages
on mainstream social-networking sites, including microblogging sites.
b) Empowering employees to use these social networks in the context of their
work. By linking social networking profiles with documents, it is feasible,
that responses and interaction among employees of large municipalities
might be facilitated. These technologies may improve interactions within
small municipalities, which possibly have a number of different offices
spread across town. Many modern Document Management Systems
include social networking aspects.


“While the institutional presence on consumer social networks will have a positive
effect on improving communication with citizens, the real transformational impact will
come from the regular engagement of employees in those networks. The reason is
that this allows them to tap into external content and knowledge that can help them
become more effective and efficient (for examples, see the Gartner publication "Web
2.0 Opportunities Abound in Most Government Domains"). Further, participation in
external social networks creates more opportunities for informal collaboration with
other government employees, possibly competing with collaboration tools deployed
internally. The main business impact will come from the possibility of blurring the
boundaries between external and internal collaboration.” [Gartner 2010, p. 20]

Consumer social networks include Twitter and Facebook and these are already in
use by many municipalities throughout South Africa. Their use is uncoordinated and
thus far there is not much evidence that they have been used effectively. Perhaps
the most effective services seen thus far are by the City of Cape Town, and these
services are related to service delivery and not e-Participation. It is doubtful that use
of consumer social networks for interaction between municipal staff would improve
productivity.

2. Open Government Data

“Open government data is public data that is in machine-readable, raw and not
aggregate form, accessible to anyone without any requirement for identification or
registration, and for any purpose, possibly in an open format and not subject to any
trademark or copyright. The purpose of open government data is to increase
transparency, favour participation of citizens and other stakeholders, and support the
emergence of new services that are based on that data. Early examples of open
data were feeds provided by state and local governments to give visibility to their
performance.

Government organisations that either are required to comply with the mandate of
publishing open government data or decide to do so autonomously should prioritise
open datasets in order to maximise the value generated for the organisation. The
total cost of ownership as well as the benefits and risks should drive such
prioritisation. Unfortunately, some (if not most) of the uses of the data are hard to
predict in advance, and therefore, it is difficult to gauge the value in advance,
particularly when the data is integrated in third party applications and consumed
through multiple channels (mash-ups) and for analytical applications that might, for
example, be able to identify important trends and relationships (in the data) that the
originating government agency was unaware of.” [Gartner 2010, p. 17]

3. External Communities in Government:

External communities are groups of persons or institutions that share a common
interest in an aspect of local government and have an interface with government
through some form of ICT’s, usually a website. The communities may be well-
defined along institutional boundaries, or they may have an ad hoc nature and


include some government employees. Generally, though, the members of the
communities are external to local government, hence “External communities”. The
idea is that these communities can provide beneficial impulses, feedback and raise
interest for government initiatives both in the community and in general.

Technically, external communities can be hosted and supported by municipal
infrastructure, using technology such as blogs and wikis. Gartner mentions that this
method may be appropriate where there is a clear purpose and where consumer
social networks do not have "interest" and "capabilities" for getting involved.

“External communities will certainly improve the image of government, will improve
the way to engage with established constituencies in policymaking (such as
consumer and industry associations, nongovernmental organisations, and lobbying
groups), and will have moderate success in engaging individuals or groups that have
no direct interest in politics. Impact is related to:
a) how engagement can be more directly connected to service delivery and
areas that are of immediate concern for larger audiences;
b) the transparency of idea ranking and rating mechanisms; and
c) the complementarity and connection with spontaneous initiatives taken by
citizen and other groups on consumer social sites” [Gartner 2010, p. 30]

An excellent example of an external community is the LED (Local Economic
Development) Network. The website is hosted by government and any interested
parties are welcome to get involved. The LED Network is a project that is used
principally to join municipalities and SALGA in focusing on local economic
development issues, although its great strength is that any external organisations
can join and add to the discussion. As the website reports, it is “a forum for the
exchange of knowledge and successful LED practice, for municipal peer-to-peer
support and learning across disciplines;” and also “a platform for networking among
practitioners from different sectors.”

Can such communities also be harnessed for other local government issues?
Certainly, a community around transparency of tenders for specific municipalities
could also be instituted as a best practice and other examples can also be raised.
One possibility is to look for existing networks of community based organisations and
to attempt to incorporate these into government process through ICT’s.

Section Summary
This section looks at the use of specific technologies in the South African context.
While some technologies cannot be adopted quickly because they require
widespread systemic adoption, others are already being used and could be improved
through wider marketing, better integration and more effective strategic planning.

6. Computing Technology Overview
In this section, we attempt to draw inspiration for the actual computing technologies
used from as wide a sample of existing and announced projects as possible. All of
the hardware or software mentioned in this section either exists or will soon exist.


Hypothetical or new technologies which could be developed do not form part of this
review.
To guide the research, a categorisation of computing technologies has been drawn
up, set out in Figure 2 below.


Figure 2. Mindmap of ICT’s relevant to e-participation in municipalities in South Africa


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