GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT Tech Savvy: Advancing GovTech Reforms in Public Administration Supported by the GovTech Global Partnership - www.worldbank.org/govtech Republic of Korea EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 1 © 2022 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. 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Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. >>> Contents Acknowledgements vi Executive Summary 1 Introduction 5 Defining GovTech 7 World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech Survey 9 Chapter One: Whole-of-Government Approaches to Advancing GovTech 11 Introduction 11 Embedding a Whole-of-Government Orientation in Digital Strategies 16 Institutional and Governance Frameworks 17 Senior Political and Administrative Leadership 21 Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Framework 22 Conclusion 33 Annex 1.1: Selected Country Cases from the UN E-Government Survey (2020) 36 Annex 1.2: Selected World Bank Digital Government Projects 37 References 38 Chapter Two: GovTech Skills in Public Administration 41 Introduction 41 Importance of Skills in Digital Government Transformation 42 Importance of Human Resource Management Environment 43 Defining Digital Skills and Digital Work in GovTech 46 Defining Digital Skills 46 Defining Digital Work 48 Digital Skills and Jobs in the Context of Public Administration 50 GovTech Skills in Demand 51 Workforce Planning for a Digitally Competent Workforce 54 Strategic Direction 57 Supply of Digital Skills 57 Demands for Digital Skills 59 Gap Analysis 61 Skills Strategy Development and Implementation 61 Progress Monitoring Emerging Lessons for Building Digital Skills in GovTech 70 Annex 2.1: Summary table on Country Examples 72 References 73 Chapter Three: Leadership and Culture for Innovation 77 Introduction 77 Conceptual Framework 78 Leadership 79 Culture 79 How Leadership and Culture Impact Successful Technology Adoptions 80 Empirical Evidence: Findings from Bureaucracy Lab Surveys 80 Findings from Kosovo and Argentina GovTech Surveys 83 Empirical Evidence: Findings from World Bank Projects 91 Recommendations 92 Annex 3.1: Surveys of Public Sector Employees to Measure Analog Complements of GovTech 95 References 98 Figures Figure 1. Digital Transformation of the Public Sector 8 Figure 2. Bureaucracy Lab Global Surveys of Public Servants 10 Figure 3. Challenges to Improving Digital Service Delivery 14 Figure 4. Whole-of-Government Approach to GovTech 15 Figure 5. Legal and Regulatory Aspects of a Digital Ecosystem 25 Figure 6. GovTech Adoption Mechanisms 26 Figure 7. Common Human Resource Management Functions 43 Figure 8. Spectrums of Digital Work 48 Figure 9. Digital Skills for All Occupations 49 Figure 10. Digital Skills for Civil Servants 50 Figure 11. Information Technology Graduates as Percentage of Total Tertiary Graduates 52 Figure 12. Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa Relative to Other Regions 53 Figure 13. Relative Penetration of Various Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan African Countries 54 Figure 14. Digital Skills Workforce Planning Cycle 55 Figure 15. Illustrative Framework Mapping of Digital Jobs in Civil Service 60 Figure 16. Core Approaches to Reduce Digital Skills Gaps in the Public Sector 62 Figure 17. Sources of Training - 70-20-10 Model 64 Figure 18. Conceptual Framework 78 Figure 19. The Quality of Management Varies Considerably across Government Organizations within Countries 81 Figure 20. Correlation between Leadership Quality and Staff Motivation 82 Figure 21. Main Constraints to Implementation of New Digital Practices (Argentina and Kosovo) 83 Figure 22. Perceptions of Management and Staff on Constraints - Argentina 84 Figure 23. Perceptions of Management and Staff on Constraints - Kosovo 84 Figure 24. Managers’ Views on Information Gathering on Staffing Plans (Kosovo and Argentina) 85 Figure 25. Managers’ Views on Information Gathering on Staff Skills (Kosovo and Argentina) 85 Figure 26. Distribution of Index of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) 86 Figure 27. Gender Correlates of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) 87 Figure 28. Age Correlates of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) 87 Figure 29. Histogram of Index of Openness to Innovation 88 Figure 30. Positive Correlation between Index of Openness to Innovation and Index of Digital Adoption 89 Figure 31. Regression of Index of Digital Adoption on Index of Openness to Innovation 90 Figure 32. DGSS 1995 - 2020 (Approved FY) 91 Tables Table 1. Presence of Institutional and Organizational Mechanisms among the Top E-Gov Performers 18 Table 2. DigComp 2.1 Competence Areas and Competences 46 Table 3. Top 10 Jobs in Increasing Demand 51 Table 4. In-Demand GovTech Skills from Technology Industry 52 Table 5. Trending Skills in Technology and Data Science Domains 53 Table 6. Data Options for Workforce Planning 56 Table 7. Critical Positions Risk Matrix 60 Table 8. Approaches to Bridge the Digital Skills Gap - Advantages and Disadvantages 63 Boxes Box 1. Spain: A Complex, Multi-Faceted National, Regional and Local Whole-of-Government Governance Model 20 Box 2. Functions of Malaysia’s Chief Information Officer 21 Box 3. Korea’s E-Government Act (2017) 23 Box 4. Australia’s Digital Service Standard 30 Box 5. PRIME HRM in the Philippines Civil Service Commission 45 Box 6. Digital Capability Frameworks and Professional Streams 47 Box 7. Using Surveys during COVID-19 to Monitor Remote Work in Public Administration 58 Box 8. Challenges to Recruiting Cybersecurity Specialists at the US Department of Homeland Security 66 Box 9. Interviews with World Bank GovTech Project Teams 92 >>> Acknowledgements This report was prepared by a team led by Donna Andrews, Global Lead, Public Institutions Reform, Governance Global Practice, and co-led by Zahid Hasnain, Global Lead, Public Institutions Reform, Governance Global Practice, under the guidance of Edward Olowo-Okere, Global Director, Governance Global Practice and Tracey Lane, Practice Manager, Governance Global Practice. Joanna Watkins (Senior Public Sector Specialist) was the lead author of Chapter One, with Arsala Deane (Operations Officer) and Anne Colgan (Consultant). Donna Andrews (Global Lead, Public Institutions Reform) was the lead author of Chapter two, with Nicole Goldin (Consultant) and Ramy Zeid (Consultant). Zahid Hasnain (Global Lead, Public Institutions Reform) was the lead author of Chapter Three, with Galileu Kim (Consultant) and Wouter van Acker (Consultant). The report also benefited from useful guidance and advice from Kathrin Plangemann (Lead Governance Specialist), Shiho Nagaki (Senior Public Sector Specialist), Vikram Menon (Senior Public Sector Specialist), Jana Kunicova (Senior Public Sector Specialist), Sajitha Bashir (Adviser, Education), Astrid Jacobsen (Senior Digital Development Specialist) as well as Natalia Albanil Riano, Maria Victoria Cruz, and Lina Marcela Morales of the Directorate of Digital Government, Government of Colombia. Valuable contributions to Chapter One were received from Reinhard Haslinger, Senior Operations Officer, World Bank, and to chapters One and Two from João Ricardo Vasconcelos, Senior Governance Specialist. Richard Crabbe provided editorial services and Maria Lopez provided graphic design. This report was financed by the GovTech Global Partnership trust fund, supported by the governments of Austria, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< vi >>> Executive Summary GovTech is one strategy that governments have adopted to more effectively respond to citizen needs and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery. Yet, all too often a government’s information and communications technology (ICT) projects do not deliver on their promise, and the public sector in particular has a history of projects falling short of expectations, going over time and budget and taking years to deliver on their potential. Some of the lessons learned from the GovTech projects financed by the World Bank include: • Ensuring dedicated institutional and organizational arrangements with cross-departmental representation. • Developing a supportive legal and regulatory enabling environment. • Building in communications and change management support. • Providing sufficient and specialized procurement support. • Applying a citizen-centric approach to win public support for integrated GovTech policies, with investments in communication and engagement between the government and citizens. • Investing in skills and capacities and cultivating a digital-friendly organizational culture. There are a number of challenges that need to be overcome for GovTech solutions to work, and this report focuses on three key challenges that the World Development Report (WDR) 2016 called the “analog complements,” which underpin effective digital transformation in the public sector: a whole-of-government coordination, civil service digital skill development, and an innovative culture in public sector organizations. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 1 Adopting a whole-of-government approach, linked to a countries, particularly lower-middle-income countries, lack wide range of structural and organizational factors, can be specific strategies to attract digital talent and develop the a significant driver for public sector organizations to realize digital skills of existing employees. There are five categories of digital transformation ambitions. Challenges such as cost digital skills that are necessary to effectively drive and sustain inefficiencies and system duplication, may result from a lack of GovTech initiatives: investment in coordination among the key agencies including Ministries of Finance, and Information Technology, and central • Essential digital skills: to effectively use digital technology. offices such as Cabinet, Prime Ministers, and Presidential • Enhanced digital skills: to work in roles impacted offices. A whole-of-government approach often features significantly by technology initiatives to the extent that in country digital transformation plans and is important for work cannot be done without such technology. successful digital transformation. • Digital professional skills: to work in specialized technology roles to develop, maintain, or enhance digital tools. Lessons learned from GovTech projects financed by the • Digital leadership skills: to lead projects and World Bank show that there are six factors that underpin manage employees. an effective whole-of-government approach for public • Cross-cutting category of soft skills: to possess the skills/ sector organizations: behaviors/personalities to navigate the team, collaborate with others, and deliver goals. • Setting a top-down strategic whole-of-government orientation in digital transformation. There is increasing demand for GovTech skills across sectors • Building a robust institutional and governance framework. and strong competition from the private sector for scarce • Securing high-level political and senior civil servant digital capacities. Using workforce planning to identify future leadership. digital staffing and skill needs is an integral part of human • Establishing a conducive policy and legal framework. resource management. The workforce planning process • Leveraging adoption mechanisms to drive change across involves six steps: strategic direction, supply analysis, demand the public sector. analysis, gap analysis, strategy development, and monitoring, • Adopting an outcomes orientation that puts users first. reporting, and evaluation. Workforce planning should be a key planning process adopted by public sector organizations to Looking to the future, the public sector should be ready to ensure that they are proactive and data-driven to identify their encourage changes in people’s behaviors and incentives, staffing needs. not only to use the technology but also to collaborate and coordinate, instead of solely focusing on technological Once the digital skills gap is identified through the gap advancement. To do so, greater agility and innovation will also analysis, key strategies need to be developed to help narrow be needed from government. or close the gap. Three approaches to strategy development are: to build the skills within the organization through upskilling One critical foundational element of GovTech is the digital and reskilling of existing employees; buy the needed skills skills base in government. In an increasingly digital world, through recruiting new staff; and borrow the skills by engaging digital talents are in high demand, making it difficult for the temporary staff, contractors, or utilizing secondment or government to attract and retain the right people. While fellowship arrangements. Implementation of key strategies securing digital skills is crucial for public sector organizations may also require reform or strengthening of underpinning to achieve digital government transformations, many human resource management policies and practices. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 2 There are four key areas of reform for public sector organizations in order to develop and strengthen digital skills within organizations: Key area Description 1. Elevate the importance of and investment in digital skills. Concrete and feasible planning and investment is needed for capacity building and skill development. 2. Modernize HRM policies and practices. An effective and responsive HRM system is a key enabler to support attraction, recruitment, development, and retention of staff with digital skills. 3. Incentivize quality and sustainable learning, training and Improving the quality and relevance of learning and development. development opportunities for staff can help public sector organizations to respond more quickly to changing skills demands. 4. Support continued research and data on the digital labor Quality and relevant data is important to support effective market and skills for public administration. monitoring of digital skills initiatives. Leveraging individual digital skills requires effective • A correlation between the quality of management and organizational leadership and organizational culture to drive organizational culture with employee motivation the adoption and sustained implementation of technological • Civil servants’ have differing levels of resistance to innovation in government. To drive transformative changes, innovation; it is necessary to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem • Digital talent is not attracted to the public sector and lack between GovTech and its analog complements, enabled by of training opportunities for employees are both major new approaches and opportunities of training and incentives bottlenecks. that digital technologies can now help to provide. • Gender, age and educational levels influence the use and openness to digital technologies. There is empirical evidence from the World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab surveys on the importance of the analog complements for There are six key approaches to developing quality GovTech. Some of the key findings show: management and an innovative work environment to support digital government transformation: EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 3 Approach Description Leadership training Concrete and feasible planning and investment is needed for capacity building and skill development. Incentivizing better management An effective and responsive HRM system is a key enabler to support attraction, recruitment, development, and retention of staff with digital skills. Greater citizen-orientation To motivate and improve public service delivery, public servant’s work can be linked to the impacts on the lives of citizens through incorporating citizen feedback into organization’s work practices via digital technologies. Improving within-organization communication To make staff feel safe and welcome to share their views on issues by inviting them to tackle organization challenges together by creating technology-assisted open communication forums. Training for civil servants To foster civil servant-led innovation by developing mechanisms and curricula which cover a variety of skills from digital, cognitive, and socioemotional, which help drive cultural transformation within an organization. Innovation awards To incentivize staff to innovate, while serving as a learning forum for all involved, which complements the organizational efforts in leadership and culture. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 4 >>> Introduction It is clear that digital technologies are driving change across the globe and COVID-19 is accelerating this process. Digital transformation is disrupting industry structures and business models. An estimated 70 percent of new value created in the economy over the next decade will be based on digitally enabled platform business models.1 In 2020, the value of global e-commerce was estimated at more than US$3.5 trillion. The digital economy’s contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow from 15.5 percent in 2016 to about 25 percent in 2025. While GovTech has increasingly become an effective way for governments to respond to citizen needs and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery, digital transformation can spur economic transformation and GovTech can help accelerate the digital economy. GovTech can serve as the core foundation for the digital economy, providing the foundation for the private sector to use GovTech digital platforms and digital services and providing digital enablers for digital entrepreneurship, ecommerce, and digital financial services. A more in-depth discussion and analysis of the integration of GovTech with the digital economy is the subject of forthcoming work. Despite this increased focus on GovTech, all too often digital technology projects fail to deliver on the promised outcomes, take longer, and cost more than expected. There are many reasons why digital technology projects do not succeed in the public sector as well as they do in the private sector. In short, insufficient attention is paid to the analogue complements for these projects to succeed—see the World Development Report (WDR) 2016 for more details. GovTech projects often struggle to overcome coordination challenges and secure the sustained political commitment to see them through—see WDR 2017. The vast sums involved in procuring GovTech solutions also lead to additional challenges, including navigating complex public procurement rules as well as fraud and corruption. This report focuses on three key analogue complements that can get in the way of successful GovTech projects: coordination, capacity, and culture. 1. https://www.weforum.org/platforms/shaping-the-future-of-digital-economy-and-new-value-creation. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 5 The main audience for this report is policymakers, public secondary data analysis from reports and research of digital sector GovTech professionals, and senior leaders2 from the government transformation; and direct input from the lead World Bank’s client countries. The report also targets a broad authors. The report was also informed by an analysis of World audience of public sector and GovTech professionals within Bank GovTech projects and discussions with Task Team the World Bank Group, donor community and client countries. Leaders. Finally, the report benefited from an analysis of the The report is organized in three chapters, each of which results of two Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys undertaken focuses on a key analog complement. Each chapter in Argentina and Kosovo. examines the current limitations and identifies options for improvement in: While the report does touch on some of the other challenges facing public sector organizations when implementing • Organizing effectively for a GovTech approach and GovTech reforms, it is not an exhaustive discussion on the coordinating across government (Chapter One). analog complements necessary for digital government • Attracting, retaining, and developing more digital skills in transformation. Other challenges, such as lack of high-level public administration (Chapter Two). political and technical leadership; technical and regulatory • Changing the culture of the public sector to embrace the barriers; insufficient budget to support integration; absence of inherent risks and rewards of a more digitally driven public a citizen-centric focus; or inattention to whether users will trust sector (Chapter Three). new digital solutions are potential topics for future work. This report has been informed by a desk-based review of literature sourced from academia and consulting firms; 2. The main focus in this report is on officials within public administration rather than politicians and political appointees. It is acknowledged that in some systems of administration, the term manager is also given to a political appointee. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 6 >>> Defining GovTech GovTech is a whole-of-government approach to public sector modernization and promotes simple, efficient and transparent government with the citizen at the center of reforms. The GovTech approach represents the current frontier of government digital transformation. It is distinct from previous phases as it emphasizes three aspects of public sector modernization: • Citizen-centric public services that are universally accessible. • A whole-of-government approach to digital government transformation. • Simple, efficient and transparent government systems. The World Bank, client countries, and development partners have used the term “digital government” to describe modernization and transformation in public sector, and some still do;3,4 GovTech builds on that foundation.5 Figure 1 below shows the evolution of digital transformation in the public sector. 3. 2020 UN e-Gov Survey (July 2020) Chapter 7: “Digital Government Transformation refers to a process of fundamental change requiring a holistic approach that puts people first and revolves around the needs of individuals, including those left furthest behind, and the mitigation of risks associated with the use of technologies. The central feature of a holistic approach to digital government transformation is the alignment of institutions, organizations, people, technology, data, and resources to support desired change within and outside of the public sector for the generation of public value.” 4. Strategy for National Open Digital Ecosystems (NODE), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, India (2020). 5. There are other complementary definitions used by other institutions that have different areas of emphasis within GovTech. The World Bank definition focuses on using digital technology for public sector modernization including the delivery of public services. This definition does not extend to the ecosystem within the private sector. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 7 > > > F I G U R E 1 - Digital Transformation of the Public Sector Digital Government GovTech E-Government • Procedures that • Citizen-centric • User-centered approach are digital by public services Analog but supply driven design that are universally Government • One-way communications • User-driven public accessible and service delivery • Closed operations services • Whole-of- • ICT-enabled procedures, and internal focus • Government as a government but often analog in design • Analog procedures Platform (GaaP) approach to digital • Sliced ICT development • Government as a • Open by default transformation and acquisition provider (co-creation) • Simple, efficient • Greater transparency • Data-driven public and transparent • Government as a sector government provider • Proactive systems administration Source: World Bank, based on the OECD’s presentation of digital transformation in Digital Government Studies (2019).6 The GovTech approach differs from past phases in the that are interoperable and secure, fundamentally following ways: changing the way government operates and provides administrative services. • It emphasizes universal accessibility to ensure services and solutions are accessible by the widest range of • GovTech also encompasses deepening the citizen- beneficiaries, utilizing both online and physical means. government relationship through CivicTech, that is By focusing on the ultimate user of government services, technology-enabled advances in citizen engagement. including non-citizens, human-centric or citizen-centric CivicTech solutions aim to increase civic participation, approaches refer to the design of solutions that consider improve accountability, and build public trust device- and internet-access limitations, digital literacy, in government. cultural norms, and other factors that might inhibit access.7 This is to ensure that government-provided services reach • GovTech Enablers refer to the cross-cutting drivers of all intended beneficiaries and users. digital transformation agenda, such as digital skills in the public sector, an appropriate and conducive legal and • Whole-of-government approach promotes systems regulatory regime, strong enabling and safeguarding thinking and development of integrated approaches institutions, and an environment that fosters innovation to policy making and service delivery for accessible, in the public sector. Effective regulations, improved transparent, and efficient government. While this might technical skills, and accountable institutions are the be aspirational, the objective is to create a shared analog complements of digital investments as highlighted vision for effective use of digital platforms and data in WDR 2016. 6. OECD Digital Government Studies, Digital Government Review of Sweden: Towards a Data-driven Public Sector (2019). 7. The word citizen is used here, but it is recognized that services need to be accessed by anyone who is intended to use them and, in some cases, this may mean residents who are not citizens. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 8 >>> World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech Survey Survey data provides a useful source of information about public sector organizations including management and organizational culture, use of digital technology and the climate for innovation. The World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab is a joint initiative between the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) Research Group and the Governance Global Practice, and its objective is to generate high quality and operationally relevant data on civil service and public administration. The Bureaucracy Lab has recently launched a GovTech survey module which aim to improve our understanding of public service through survey data on issues related to digital readiness, digital skills, and use of digital technology as well as the climate for innovation in public sector organizations. The GovTech survey module, “Assessing Digital Readiness and Skills and the Organizational Climate for Innovation in Public Administration,” has been completed in Argentina and Kosovo. The survey was deployed through an online platform in May-June 2021 in Kosovo and July-August 2021 in Argentina. The total number of respondents was 2,492 in Kosovo and 295 in Argentina.8 The results of these surveys are featured in this report. The Bureaucracy Lab conducts a global survey of public servants spanning more than 35 countries that explore aspects of management and organizational culture (see Figure 2). These surveys measure a variety of management aspects, including performance evaluation as well as specialized modules focused on human resource management, GovTech, corruption, and managing the impacts of COVID-19. See Annex 3.1 for indicative questions for the main modules for whole-of-government coordination, digital skills, and leadership and culture for innovation. 8. Differences in the number of respondents reflect differences in scope. While Kosovo had a national scope, the survey in Argentina had a provincial focus on Mendoza. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 9 > > > F I G U R E 2 - Bureaucracy Lab Global Surveys of Public Servants Source: Bureaucracy Lab, World Bank. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 10 1. >>> Whole-of-Government Approaches to Advancing GovTech Joanna Watkins, Anne Colgan, Arsala Deane Introduction Advancing GovTech reforms through a “whole-of-government” approach features prominently in the theme of many countries’ digital transformation plans. For decades the lack of coordination of investments in digitalizing government services resulted in a fragmented and siloed approach by individual agencies, leading to cost inefficiencies, duplication of systems and suboptimal user experiences.9 In recognition of these challenges, many countries tout the use of a whole- of-government approach in their plans for digital transformation with the aim of fostering coordination and collaboration across institutional boundaries.10 New Zealand’s Strategy for a Digital Public Service sets a “whole-of-public service direction” to improve the efficiency of the public service and provide better services by putting people and businesses at the center of government services.11 Kenya’s Digital Economy Blueprint recognizes the need for a whole- of-government effort, requiring articulation, consensus, and the use of political will to drive change.12 Oman’s Digital Strategy (e.Oman) refers to “a whole-of-government framework which aims to synchronize various government agencies in order to deliver services in an integrated and seamless way.”13 A whole-of-government approach is also sometimes captured under 9. Cabinet Office (2011). Government ICT Strategy. Cabinet Office, London. 10. Christensen, T. et al (2007). The Whole-of-Government Approach to Public Sector Reform. Public Administration Review 67 (6): 1059-1066. 11. “Strategy for a Digital Public Service.” Department of Internal Affairs, Government of New Zealand. May 2020. Page 8. Accessed at https://www.digital.govt.nz/assets/Digital-government/Strategy/Strategy-for-a-Digital-Public-Service.pdf. 12. “Digital Economy Blueprint: Powering Kenya’s Transformation.” Ministry of Information Communication and Technology. Government of Kenya. 2019. Page 32. Available from: https://www.ict.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kenya-Digital- Economy-2019.pdf (32) DGTS, 2018-2022, page 61. http://repository.kippra.or.ke/handle/123456789/1727. 13. Oman’s Digital Strategy (e.Oman). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 11 other banners such as “Joined up” government in the UK,14 A number of studies have examined the determinants of Singapore’s “holistic approach” in the Smart Nation program, successful (and unsuccessful) digital government reforms, or in efforts to improve “coordination” and “cooperation” across reflecting various elements captured in a whole-of-government government administrative jurisdictions to achieve the next approach. In Building a Virtual State, Jane Fountain explored level of digital transformation. the ways in which actors in institutionalized settings enacted new information technologies to reproduce existing Despite its steady rise in prominence, there is a lack of performance programs, control systems and institutions. Her consensus about what a whole-of-government approach “technology enactment theory” illuminated the role played by to digital transformation entails. Many of the most digitally the “socio-structural mechanisms within organizational and advanced governments have labeled their efforts as whole- institutional arrangements as public managers struggled to of-government, but on closer inspection, the efforts actually integrate the capabilities of a new information technology refer to very different mechanisms to incentivize and drive with such arrangements.”18 This spurred a spate of research collaboration and coordination across government. Some on e-government helping to rebalance the technological countries have narrowly defined it as the presence of inter- determinism of the field.19 Drawing on this body of knowledge, institutional organizational arrangements, while others the UN, OECD and others have developed various typologies have drawn on a range of policy levers – from procurement for digital government transformation. The UN 2020 standards, capability frameworks, and budgeting techniques E-government survey defines nine pillars for digital government – to drive digital reforms across government. transformation that cover organizational, institutional and governance factors based on an assessment of top performers Building on earlier definitions, authors define a whole-of- on the global index. These are: (i) vision, leadership, mindsets; government approach as when a government utilizes a (ii) institutional and regulatory framework; (iii) organizational range of structural and organizational incentives to improve setup and culture; (iv) system thinking and integration; (v) coordination across administrative boundaries to achieve data governance; (vi) ICT Infrastructure, affordability and an integrated response to the uptake of GovTech solutions. accessibility to technology; (vii) resources; (viii) capacity of The OECD defines a whole-of-government approach as “one training institutions; and (ix) societal capacities. where a government actively uses formal and/or informal networks across the different agencies within that government COMMON ROADBLOCKS to coordinate the design and implementation of the range of interventions that the gov¬ernment’s agencies will be making The challenges faced by countries embarking on digital in order to increase the effectiveness of those interventions government reforms are well documented and many countries in achieving the desired objectives.”15 This definition focuses have witnessed stops and starts in their reform trajectories. mainly on the design of whole-of-government efforts in the Early investments in ICT upgrades in the late 1990s and form of formal or informal networks. Ling (2002), by contrast, early 2000s often reflected a siloed approach by individual defines whole-of-government efforts as a “group of responses agencies leading to fragmentation, cost inefficiencies, and to the perception that services had become fragmented and duplication, leading to suboptimal user experiences if not that this fragmentation was preventing the achievement of complete failure.20 As countries have embarked on a whole- important goals of public policy.”16 This definition is quite broad of-government approach to digitalizing government services, and refers to responses beyond those related to GovTech they have had to contend with what can be a particularly reforms. Others expand the definition of whole-of-government difficult and multi-dimensional challenge, involving individual, even further to “whole of nation” or “whole of society” to technological, organizational, and environmental factors. encompass the contribution of NGOS, the private sector, and Many of the challenges countries face emerge within the key even citizens in driving digital transformation.17 aspects of the overall digital government ecosystem: 14. The term “whole of government” can be traced to its antecedents ‘Joined-up government’ in the late 1990s during Tony Blair’s administration in the UK. Joined up govern- ment was the aspiration to achieve horizontally and vertically coordinated thinking and action. It was based on four aspirations: (i) eliminate contradictions and tensions between different policies; (ii) make better use of scarce resources (reduce duplication); (iii) improve the flow of good ideas and cooperation between different Ministries, and (iv) offer more seamless/integrated services. Pollitt (2003). 15. OECD. 2006. “Whole of Government Approaches to Fragile States.” 16. Ling, Tom. 2002. Delivering Joined-Up Government in the UK: Dimensions, Issues and Problems. Public Administration 80 (4): 616 17. Omar 2021; UN E-government survey 2020. 18. Jane Fountain. Building a Virtual State, Chapter 6. 19. Wirtz, Daiser. 2018. “A meta-analysis of empirical e-government research and its future research implications.” International Review of Administrative Sciences. 20. Gagnon et al (2010). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 12 • Weak institutional/organizational coordination structures. Technical and Regulatory Barriers • Lack of political and senior leadership. • Technical and regulatory barriers. Digital government efforts require a complex, cross-government • Ineffective or insufficient financing. architecture involving common ICT standards, interoperability • Adequate ICT infrastructure. frameworks, common data management systems, and an • Critical gaps in skills and training. infrastructure built for compatibility across departments and agencies and supported by legal or regulatory frameworks. Weak Institutional/Organizational Coordination Structures Where these technical and/or regularity frameworks are absent, countries will struggle to deliver seamless services The legacy and dominance of vertically defined governmental to users. structures are embedded in both the organizational systems and culture of most public administrations. Budgets and Ineffective or Insufficient Financing policy mandates tend to be constructed by various agencies, with limited incentive to collaborate across different sectors Digital systems to support government transformation require and levels of government. Performance management, substantial financial investments. Building an effective rewards, efficiency and effective management systems are GovTech system on a whole-of-government basis will be all embedded in these vertical structures. In her research on challenged where line departments and ministers compete the use of ICT in the US federal government, Fountain notes for ICT budgets or where ICT budgets compete with general that federal interagency networks are difficult to build and service funding. A whole-of-government approach, through maintain because the institutional context within which federal which ICT investment across government is centrally agencies managers operate assumes and envisages agency- coordinated with cross-departmental support, can meet this centric activities, discouraging cross-agency activities. This challenge, allowing for an integrated approach to whole-of- institutional “discouragement” is signaled through the lack of government digital priority setting, project assessment, risk instruments for cross-agency activities, lack of expertise and management, and a strong outcomes focus rather than a lack of processes (active channels, templates, models, rule narrow technical focus. regimes) and encouragement for advancing cross-agency efforts.21 A key challenge for whole-of-government approaches Adequate ICT Infrastructure to digital government is the challenge for political leaders to design organizational structures that reflect and drive the A feature of the whole-of-government GovTech reforms is the whole-of-government approach, embed and make horizontal, speed of change whereby new developments in technology shared governance visible, and support this with legislation require continuous improvement and investments in upgrading and regulation. ICT infrastructures, such as computers and data centers. A challenge for governments then is to build into their digital Lack of Political and Senior Commitment systems and structures the right balance between stability and change, recognizing the expensive costs involved in In the absence of strong leadership from senior management upgrading infrastructure. – at both the political and senior civil servant levels - resistance to digital government reforms from line managers are likely to Stagnation and Absence of Innovation flourish. This lack of leadership allows for the vast heterogeneity in the level of digitization of some administrations. Strong A feature of the whole of government GovTech reforms is the political and senior commitment is essential to develop speed of change whereby new developments in technology GovTech policy on a whole-of-government basis, which require continuous improvement and investment. A challenge demands buy-in to a shared vision. Chapter Three explores then for governments is to avoid stagnation and build into in greater detail the evidence on the role of organizational their digital systems and structures the right balance between leadership and organizational culture in driving the adoption stability and change. and sustained implementation of technological innovation in government. 21. Jane Fountain, Building a Virtual State, Chapter 6. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 13 Skills and Training Gaps joined-up working are also crucial at middle management and operational levels within departments where key decisions A key stumbling block for the public sector is the need to invest impacting on collaborative approaches are often made. in the human resource capacities needed to build, maintain, Chapter Two addresses these gaps in detail and provides a manage, and improve the overall work of GovTech. Within the framework for GovTech skills development. broad envelope of skill development, one challenge for states lies in the need for a ‘whole-systems’ based profile of the critical A number of the aforementioned challenges are corroborated skills, from leadership and digital policy development skills, by the findings from the Kosovo GovTech Survey. The survey through the technical/professional skill domains and onwards asked managers and staff a question on the main challenges to the broader applied skills at departmental/service delivery to improving digital governance and digital service delivery in level essential for whole-of-government digital transformation. their institution. The top three challenges cited were training, Skills in boundary-spanning behaviors among key people at infrastructure, and funding, as shown below in Figure 3. every level are essential but often overlooked. Capacities for > > > F I G U R E 3 - Challenges to Improving Digital Service Delivery 0.50 0.47 0.45 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.33 0.35 0.30 0.27 Percent 0.25 0.21 0.20 0.15 0.12 0.10 0.05 0 Training Infrastructure Funding Skills Laws Coordination Leadership Challenge Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Kosovo GovTech survey. THE APPROACH UNDERPINNING THIS CHAPTER This chapter has attempted to unpack the whole-of-government label, clarify the underlying concepts, and present country cases of the successful application of a whole-of-government approach to digital transformation of the public sector. As noted already, a whole-of-government approach requires putting in place several building blocks to secure the mobilization and coordination of efforts across government. Such an approach can help to avoid the pitfalls typically associated with siloed and individual agency approaches towards digitalization. Drawing on the academic and practitioner literature of digital government reforms, six dimensions that underpin a whole-of-government approach are identified: EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 14 • Embedding a whole-of-government orientation in digital is applied to selected cases from the top performers on the strategies; 2020 UN E-Government Survey and to successful World Bank • Building a robust institutional and governance framework; digital government projects to examine the presence of these • Establishing a conducive policy and legal framework; factors. The country cases from the UN E-Government Survey • Securing senior political and senior public servant were selected by computing an average of the E-Participation leadership; Index and the Online Services Index and selecting the top 35 • Leveraging adoption mechanisms to drive change across of the newly computed average. The top three countries from the public sector; and Sub-Saharan Africa –Mauritius, Kenya, and South Africa – • Adopting a user-centric orientation to service delivery. were also included. The selected countries feature many of the well-known top performers in digital government, such as Figure 4 presents a schematic whole-of-government approach Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Australia, and Singapore. to digital transformation. This whole-of-government framework > > > F I G U R E 4 - Whole-of-Government Approach to GovTech Strategic whole-of- government orientation Institutional Citizen- and centric governance orientation framework Whole-of- Government • Budgeting practices Transformation • Procurement support Enabling • ICT pre-approvals Adoption policies, • Performance monitoring mechanisms laws, and • Shared ICT services regulations • ICT project management tools Senior • Digital awards political and technical leadership Source: Authors. The country cases selected represent a range of countries in terms of income, level of development, political regime, administrative tradition, population, and geography. The selected cases are listed in Annex 1.1 In addition, authors analyzed a database of closed World Bank projects with major investments in digital government and selected 14 projects with successful outcomes for further analysis. These projects were selected based on the following criteria: (1) projects that implemented citizen-to-government or government-to-business services; (2) projects with multiple ICT investments for digital transformation across a range of functions; (3) investment in capacity building for government institutions; and (4) projects that received satisfactory ratings upon project closure (rated moderately to highly satisfactory). The list of World Bank projects analyzed can be found in Annex 2. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 15 Embedding a Whole-of-Government Sri Lanka embarked on one of the most forward looking digital transformation initiatives in South Asia at the end of 2002. The Orientation in Digital Strategies E-Sri Lanka Roadmap was innovative as digital government is seen not an end in itself, “but instead a piece of an intricate puzzle, which when put together, will aim to significantly In the absense of an overarching strategy to guide GovTech impact all sectors of the economy and society.”25 South efforts, individual ministry and agency sectoral plans are likely Africa’s overarching National Development Plan 2030 has to dominate the focus of policy and investment decisions, for one of its key outcomes the development of a coordinated undermining the system-wide coherence necessary for the ICT strategy that cuts across government departments and design of user-centric e-services. In the case of Kosovo, sectors. Tunisia’s Digital Tunisia 2020 and SmartGov2020 are where a digital strategy has yet to be formally adopted, linked to national and sectoral strategies to support broader the Public Administration Reform Strategy is the de facto public sector modernization and digitization and include a guiding framework, providing some level of coherence across pillar on e-government with the aim to “transform the public ministries, departments, and agencies. administration through the adoption of digital technologies and to ensure greater efficiency and transparency, and a stronger The OECD describes the significance of national digital orientation towards citizens and businesses.”26 High level government strategies as the source of the vision for the support has also come from the Prime Minister, who prioritized digitalization of government and the future of service delivery digitization of the public administration and economy as a and policymaking, setting common objectives and serving top priority in Tunisia’s Development Roadmap 2019.27 The as a unique means of aligning political, administrative and content and focus of whole-of-government digital strategies technical efforts in favor of the goals stated in the strategy.22 reflect the level of digital maturity and advancement within In its Latin American Economic Outlook for 2020, the OECD the country.28 Digitally advanced countries such as France, also underlines the need for a comprehensive approach to New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, while well-established digital strategy development, with national development plans over many years in terms of GovTech, continue to innovate, (NDPs) aligned with digital agendas.23 The UN E-Government resulting in new and advanced digital strategies being put in Survey 2020 documents the global growth of digital strategies place on a regular basis. and the evolving complexity of these strategies.24 The Scottish Government’s approach to its new Digital All of the case study countries have or are in the process of Strategy29 adopts a holistic, whole-of-government approach. developing dedicated digital government strategies. These The overall approach is based on a set of overarching vary widely in expressed purpose, focus, and content. Many guiding principles, including collaborative and user-focused are located within their National Development Plan, with programs and approaches. The strategy entails collaborating broadly based citizen/societal outcomes, of which GovTech is at a community, local, regional and national level, and across a part, while others have a narrower technical or operational the public, private, voluntary and academic sectors. The focus. Most specifically reference a whole-of-government/ underpinning audit report,30 on which the strategy is based, joined-up/coordinated approach to digital transformation. The emphasizes the fact that enabling change through digital 2020 UN e-government Survey references the extent to which technology is the responsibility of the whole of government governments adopt whole-of-government approaches to and that this requires the support of every part of government, their digital strategy development as well as whole-of-society including support at a senior level. Two elements of the engagement and integration. 22. OECD: Digital Government in Chile - A Strategy to enable digital transformation. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/65e2cbbf-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/65e2cbbf-en 23. OECD (2020). Latin American Economic Outlook. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/e6e864fb-en.pdf?expires=1628174737&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=78239B- B3AC23FEA56E2EC990358C55AD. 24. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. E-Government Survey 2020 Digital Government in the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development. https://publicadministration. un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2020-Survey/2020%20UN%20E-Government%20Survey%20(Full%20Report).pdf 25. Rainford, Shoban, E-Sri Lanka: An Integrated Approach to e-Government Case Study, p. 3. https://www.unapcict.org/resources/ictd-infobank/e-sri-lanka-integrated-approach-e- government-case-study. 26. Digital Transformation for User-Centric Public Services (P168425). Project Appraisal Document. World Bank. May 24, 2019. Report No: PAD3349, page 16. Accessed at: https:// documents1.worldbank.org/curated/fr/831811560823331664/pdf/Tunisia-GovTech-Digital-Transformation-for-User-Centric-Public-Services-Project.pdf. 27. “Tunisie: La feuille de route 2019 de Youssef Chahed. ” December 9, 2018. Leaders.com.tn. Accessed at: https://www.leaders.com.tn/article/26078-la-feuille-de-route-2019-de- youssef-chahed. 28. World Bank. GovTech: Putting People First. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/govtech-putting-people-first. 29. Scottish Government (2021). A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world. https://www.gov.scot/publications/a-changing-nation-how-scotland-will-thrive-in-a-digital-world/ 30. Auditor General (2019) Enabling Digital Government. https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/report/enabling-digital-government. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 16 Scottish strategy, Digital Government and Transforming In sum, for a whole-of-government approach to digital Government, sit within a wider national performance strategies to be effective, it needs to be an intrinsic part of a framework across three aspects: Government, People and wider overarching vision for economic and social wellbeing, Place, and Economy. Transforming Government sets out a guided by clear objectives, supported by robust indicators, comprehensive set of actions for GovTech linked to outcomes and accompanied by monitoring and oversight mechanisms. in the overarching National Performance Framework.31 The A key challenge to achieving this holistic, systemic approach Framework sets out the values and national outcomes that is to invest in collaboration across the widest possible range of underpin the Digital Strategy, along with a set of economic, users, including citizens and businesses to build an ecosystem social, and environmental indicators that together constitute of stakeholders supportive of the strategy. Sustainable digital a vision for national wellbeing. Beyond referencing a whole- strategies also depend on a culture of continuous improvement of-government orientation in the strategies themselves, some and an investment in change management processes that governments have gone further to build-in this orientation from reflect a clear grasp of the dynamism present in the ICT sector. the development through the monitoring of strategies. End-User Engagement in Strategy Design Institutional and Governance While much of the data on digital strategies deals with the Frameworks content of strategies, there is also a strand of analysis that underlines the importance of a change management approach to strategy development, with the aim of maximizing the In the context of the vertically defined structures embedded prospects for good outcomes and effective implementation. in the organizational systems and culture of most public In-depth consultation with end users is one such approach. administrations, it is unsurprising that cross-departmental Switzerland, with its strong consensus-based approach to coordination is extremely challenging. With budgets, decision-making, and Chile are among the countries that have policy mandates, and performance appraisal aligned to invested in whole-of-government engagement of stakeholders individual agencies, there is limited incentive to collaborate within and outside government and across national and local across institutions. This institutional “discouragement” is levels in preparing their digital strategy. Countries that engage well documented and signaled through the absence of the ecosystem of stakeholders in strategy design help to secure instruments for cross-agency activities and lack of expertise alignment with stakeholders’ expectations, and also create a and processes. A key challenge for whole-of-government sense of ownership and responsibility for its implementation. approaches to digital government is for political leaders to design organizational structures that reflect and drive the Oversight and Monitoring whole-of-government approach, accompanied by procedures, protocols, and even legislation and regulations, depending on Embedding expectations of accountability at an ecosystem the administration tradition. level and promoting a joined-up vision of that accountability are key features of whole-of-government digital transformation.32 To address this challenge, successful countries have Oversight and monitoring are critical to ensure good purposefully designed cross-governmental institutional governance and effective implementation.33 Australia’s Digital structures and governance arrangements to drive the mandate Transformation Strategy (2018) includes important milestones of digital transformation. These arrangements bring to the for projects and a dynamic dashboard to track progress. In fore and institutionalize collaboration between departments Denmark, the Danish Council for IT projects is responsible for and agencies and bring together key stakeholders across the reporting twice a year on the status of the Danish government’s system to build holistic, coordinated, whole-of-government digital programs with reference to progress against timescales, policy frameworks. These governance arrangements vary budget, and benefit realization. If necessary, the Council may greatly from country to country, and there is no one-size-fits- recommend that projects with a high level of risk or planned all. The OECD Latin America Economic Outlook 2020 sets projects likely to be delayed or to become more costly are out two models for digital strategy implementation. The first is subject to independent external review. centralized responsibility for strategic coordination above the 31. Scottish Government. National Performance Framework https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/. 32. Bennet Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge: Thinking about GovTech: A Brief Guide for policy-makers.(2019). https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/media/uploads/files/ Thinking_about_Govtech_Jan_2019_online-1.pdf. 33. OECD: Digital Government in Chile - A Strategy to enable digital transformation. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/65e2cbbf-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/ 65e2cbbf-en. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 17 ministerial level (that is, with the head of government). The is perceived in terms of its relationship to other policy priorities second model is a lead minister or specialized agency under and platforms. Table 1 below captures the presence of the the control of the Prime Minister or President.34 different institutional and organizational mechanisms used by the top 15 performers in our sample, as well as the examples In practice, the diverse choices made reflect a diversity of from the Africa region. In addition to the appointment of a Chief factors including size and complexity of government, whether Information Officer (CIO)/reform champion and assignment of it is a federal or unitary state, the stage of evolution of a dedicated agency or Ministry, the Table also points to the GovTech in the country, the relative strength of vertical and presence of cross-governmental structures, use of advisory horizontal structures, and significantly, how the digital agenda groups, and platforms for engaging the private sector. > > > T A B L E 1 - Presence of Institutional and Organizational Mechanisms among the Top e-Gov Performers Finance Cross- Private sector DEDICATED DEDICATED Dedicated Dedicated ministry has Appointed governmental Advisory coordination AGENCY agency MINISTRY ministry key mandate Champion champion structures Groups groups mechanism Australia Austria Cyprus Denmark Estonia Finland Japan Kenya Korea Mauritius Netherlands New Zealand Poland Singapore South Africa United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Source: Authors own elaboration based on assessment of country cases. Note: Color intensity signifies the presence of the factor. 34. OECD (2020). Latin American Economic Outlook. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/e6e864fb-en.pdf?expires=1628174737&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=78239BB3 AC23FEA56E2EC990358C55AD. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 18 Creation of a Dedicated Agency overarching national policy framework. Several countries, including Canada and Poland, appoint a dedicated Digital A dedicated agency with key cross-government responsibilities Minister. Other countries link the digital portfolio with one in relation to GovTech is a feature of most of the case or more areas of policy responsibility. Norway, for example, study countries. These agencies vary in the span of their links digital transformation with a wider public sector reform responsibilities but mainly deliver on a range of critical whole- agenda, having a Minister for Regional Development and of-government functions including strategic coordination and Digitalization, which itself sits within the Ministry of Local planning, the promotion and monitoring of GovTech and digital Government and Modernization. In Slovenia, the Ministry of support functions. Well-known examples include the UK Public Administration is responsible for digital government. Government Digital Service (GDS), the United States Digital The linking of the digitization role with public sector reform Service (USDS), Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency and potentially underscores the essential synergies between them. South Africa’s State Information Technology Agency (SITA). As an example of the breadth of responsibilities held by some Several countries including Singapore, Finland, Denmark, dedicated agencies, the roles of the Norwegian Digitalisation and Cyprus, link the Digital Ministry with the Finance Ministry, Agency include defining the premises for digitalization and an approach that may help to strengthen budgetary provision comprehensive information management in the public sector; for digital transformation. Countries that link the digital coordinating digitalization measures across organizational transformation agenda with an economic portfolio either boundaries; facilitating the development of digital services for explicitly or within the remit of that portfolio, adding a strong the general public, local authorities and business; managing economic emphasis to the role, include Brazil, Estonia, Austria and further developing national components and solutions; and Spain. and responsibility for the strategic planning of the further development of a comprehensive digital infrastructure for the Cross-Governmental Coordination Structures public sector. Dedicated agencies are usually headed up by a CIO or appointed reform champion. While the digital portfolio is likely to have a cross-governmental remit, some countries have also established formal or informal Allocation of Ministerial Responsibility cross-governmental coordination structures to ensure the whole-of-government aspect, bringing key stakeholders Allocation of ministerial responsibility is a central element of the together through committees with a coordination or approach to whole-of-government governance arrangements collaboration remit. In federal states or states whose regional and can give a pointer to the place of digitalization in the or local government structures have high levels of policy and/ EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 19 or independence in digital policy matters, these committees “Overheidsbreed Beleidsoverleg Digitale Overheid” (OBDO), may also serve the purpose of ensuring coordination and advises the Minister of Interior on the country’s digital collaboration across jurisdictions. governance infrastructure. OBDO supports the minister on the multiannual investment framework for development and In Australia, the Cabinet’s Digital Transformation and renewal of the digital governance and infrastructure and an Public Sector Modernization Committee includes a annual cycle for prioritizing and allocating resources. ministerial representative from each state and territory with responsibility for data and/or digital matters and is chaired An increasing focus of whole-of-government approaches to by the Commonwealth Minister for Government Services. GovTech is the recognition that effective whole-of-government In New Zealand, the Digital Government Leadership Group implementation of GovTech requires partnerships with the is responsible for embedding integrated services, while business community and citizens.36 Some countries have the Digital Government Partnership, which is made up of recognized this by adopting a whole-of-society approach to 55 leaders from 20 agencies, ensures the public service is Digital Governance and involving these groups in the Digital aligned with the Digital Strategy. Moldova, in 2010, invested in Governance infrastructure. Sweden’s National Digitalization a governance framework for digital transformation anchored Council, for example, promotes the implementation of the in the highest levels of government. New institutions were government’s digitalization strategy and is made up of created for digital transformation, with the formation of the leading experts from universities, the private and public e-Government Center and Government CIO Office as part of sector and works under the leadership of the Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office, in the State Chancellery. It was Digital Development. Spain has established the Consultative important that the eGovernment Center was not in a line Council for Digital Transformation to facilitate dialogue and ministry, which would have made it difficult to ensure national participation of different economic and social agents in the coordination across government and sectors.35 digital transformation project. Box 1 provides additional details on the Spanish case. In Kenya, a Government Digital Payments The most digitally advanced countries have put in place councils (GDP) Taskforce was created to implement a centralized or advisory groups to facilitate inter-agency collaboration and electronic government service and payment gateway known planning. For example, Denmark’s ”Digitization Pact” has as eCitizen. eCitizen is both an online portal and mobile app committed the national and local governments and Danish that citizens and businesses can use to access, apply and regions to cooperate on and prioritize digitalization initiatives. pay for more than 300 government services. This taskforce The Australian Digital Council is made up of one ministerial reported directly to the President, and its membership representative from each state and territory and provides includes representatives of the private sector, academia and a space for its members to collaborate on data and digital the development community, who advise on best practice matters. The Dutch intergovernmental consultative body, from Kenya and around the world. > > > B O X 1 - A Complex, Multi-Faceted National, Regional and Local Whole-of-Government Governance Model Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation is responsible for proposing and executing Government policy for digital transformation. Within the Ministry, the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence is tasked with promoting the digital transformation of Spanish society and digital transformation of the public administration. An inter-ministerial body (known as the Central Administration Coordination Commission for ICT Strategy) comprised of senior officials representing all Ministries, is tasked with the design and development of eGovernment and ICT policy. In addition, Ministerial Committees for Digital Government are responsible for promoting digital governance in public administration and implementing the action plan for digital transformation in their own Ministry. To coordinate across administrative jurisdictions, a Sectorial Commission of eGovernment serves as the technical cooperation body for the state, regional and local entities in matters of electronic administration. 35. World Bank Group, Moldova Governance E-Transformation Project. Implementation Completion Report and Results Report. No: ICR00004161. June 26, 2017. 36. Ozols, Gatis and Meyerhoff Nielsen, Morten. 2018. Connected Government Approach for Customer-centric Public Service Delivery: Comparing strategic, governance and technological aspects in Latvia, Denmark and the United Kingdom. UN University. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 20 Vertical administrative silos are, culturally and operationally, Political Dividends from Working across Government the norm in government service structures. The diverse range of institutional and governance approaches, linked to Successful cases have revealed that digital government is the political and institutional culture of the country, described embedded in the political platforms of Heads of State and above have been effective in creating and embedding cross- Heads of Government pursing these reforms. Most have departmental coordination for whole-of-government digital taken a personal interest in advancing these reforms, often strategies. However, a key challenge is that even the most framed around the idea of improved services or in terms of sophisticated cross-departmental or agency structures may potential budgetary savings. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin be undermined by the routine, day-to-day processes that are Trudeau, wrote to the incoming Minister of Digital Government, powerfully embedded in the DNA of hierarchical models and emphasizing the need to work across government to transition structures of most public services. These include, in particular, to digital government in order to improve citizen service and budgetary systems, performance management systems, deliver on his electoral mandate.38 In Albania, Prime Minister rewards and incentives. To overcome this challenge, key Edi Rama, in office since 2013, spearheaded reforms in digital operating processes need to be examined systematically in government with the creation of the Agency for the Delivery order to find and strengthen coordination incentives, such as of Integrated Services (ADISA) and made it a central part whole-of-government performance orientation in budgetary of his governing platform. Similarly, the President of South allocation, a focus on clear tracking of whole-of-government Africa, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, has emphasized the investments through a performance and M&E system, joint need for “Batho Pele,” which translates as “People First,” a priority setting across government and alignment of individual South African political initiative. In his first State of the Nation performance management with national digital priorities. Address, he stated, “we know the challenges that our people face when they interact with the state. In too many cases, they often get poor service or no service at all. We want our public Senior Political and servants to adhere to the principle of Batho Pele, of putting our people first.”39 Administrative Leadership Appointment of a CIO and Digital Leaders across Government Without strong commitment from the top, resistance from line ministries is likely to undermine progress on an agenda The presence of a Government Chief Information Officer (CIO) which requires relinquishing a certain degree of administrative and/or appointed reform champion(s) with clear accountability control. Strong collaborative leadership from the top creates for translating the vision of digital transformation into practice the foundational conditions for effective digital government. By is present in nearly all of the country cases. In responses to setting the overarching national vision, driving the legislative the 2020 UN E-Government Member Survey Questionnaires agenda forward, and emphasizing the priority attached to (MSQs), 145 of the 193 Member States stated that they have digital reforms, politicians and senior administrators set the a CIO or the equivalent. These positions carry with them the pace of reforms.37 Results from a 2015 Gartner CIO Agenda functional (and political) mandate to work across government Survey revealed that the success of implementation of digital to embed digital reforms, drive the strategic planning of digital transformation agenda depends mainly on the degree of government, establish common standards and frameworks, leadership or executive endorsement associated with the and report on progress directly to the Head of State. CIOs are digital government and the urgency ascribed to achieving often directly appointed by the Head of State or, in some cases, digital government. These findings are reinforced by the by senior government officials. Malaysia’s CIO is appointed by findings on the importance of leadership from the Kosovo the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia with the and Argentina GovTech surveys described in greater detail in mandate of driving the information exchanges that promote Chapter Three. cross-agency services (see Box 2). 37. E-Government Survey 2020 Digital Government in the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/ un/2020-Survey/2020%20UN%20E-Government%20Survey%20(Full%20Report).pdf. 38. Mandate Letter from Prime Minister Trudeau: https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/2019/12/13/minister-digital-government-mandate-letter. 39. President Ramaphosa referenced it in his first State of the Nation address, Feb. 16, 2018. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 21 > > > B O X 2 - Functions of Malaysia’s Chief Information Officer • Drive Strategic Planning of ICT in the public sector. • Strengthen the governance of ICT in the public sector. • Drive the adoption of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) in the public sector. • Manage the suitability of regulations, policies, standards, and best practices in the implementation of the Digital Government. • Drive the implementation of the ICT shared services in the public sector. • Identify relevant and emerging new generation services. • Drive the information exchanges that promote cross-agency services. To accelerate the implementation of digital government frameworks, common data management systems, and an reforms across levels of government, several countries have infrastructure built for compatibility across departments and also established a network of CIO positions in line ministries. agencies and supported by legal or regulatory frameworks. In India, a Chief Information Officers Programme has been Where these technical and/or regulatory frameworks are set up to create e-governance champions within line ministries absent, countries will struggle to deliver seamless services and line departments. In the case of Austria, every Ministry to users, the ultimate objective of GovTech. Today’s digital has a dedicated CIO and Chief Digital Officer (CDO). In transformation, and its progressive acceleration, demands Malaysia, in addition to the CIO, there are Chief Information additional efforts of governments to keep their legal and Officers at the agency level (see Box 2). In response to the regulatory frameworks updated to seize opportunities and COVID-19 crisis, the UK set up a Senior Digital Leaders tackle challenges posed by digital reforms. Pushed by Network, comprised of the Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) progressive digitalization, countries around the world have and CIOs in every department, which could convene and significantly advanced in the last decades establishing legal make important strategic decisions in relation to the rapid and regulatory frameworks that facilitate inter-government acceleration of digital services. Several countries have also coordination and data sharing (UN, 2020; OECD, 2020, created civil service posts with a direct line of function and WB, 2020). reporting to the CIO. See Chapter Three for additional details. Given the central role senior political and administrative Laws and regulations for digital government have proliferated managers play in driving digital reforms, careful attention should today, recognizing digital documents and signatures, be given to building a network of stakeholders for reforms. In a securing privacy and data protection, framing cybersecurity meta-analysis of the factors influencing the adoption of ICT in policies, and supporting data governance with application the healthcare profession, a number of studies found evidence across government institutions. In line with their institutional that the presence and use of champions (or superusers) were culture, some countries follow a more legalistic approach factors that contributed to successful ICT implementation. that details processes and procedures and their application Organizational support and management were also identified to different policy streams. For instance, countries with Latin as factors to consider in the success of ICT implementation.40 public administration cultures whether in Southern Europe These issues are further explored in Chapter Three. or Latin America tend to follow this more legalistic approach, extensively legislating and regulating the digital transformation of their public sectors. Other countries with more consensus- Legal, Regulatory, based institutional cultures tend to rely more on guidelines and standards. Anglo-Saxon countries, for instance, rely on and Policy Framework institutional coordination mechanisms that are not necessarily reflected in the legal and regulatory framework. Whether the country is situated in a more legalistic or consensus-based Digital government efforts require complex cross-government institutional spectrum, the agility and responsiveness of the architecture involving common ICT standards, interoperability legal and regulatory framework is critical in a world where 40. Gagnon et al (2010). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 22 digitalization is constantly evolving and generating new technological trends. In the case of Korea, many of the key aspects are covered in a comprehensive E-Government Act, which was first promulgated in 2001, and subsequently revised several times, with the latest iteration in 2017. See Box 3 for additional details. > > > B O X 3 - Key Features of Korea’s E-Government Act (2017) The case of Korea provides an example of a dynamic and comprehensive legal framework for digital government. Korea has been proactive in its enhancements to keep up with technological change. Key features of the Act include: • Establishment and use of electronic documents. • Administrative electronic signatures and common data utilization infrastructure systems. • Joint use of administrative information. • Introduction and use of ICT architecture to strengthen the operational foundations of e-Government. • Creation of a management base for information resources. • Designation of electronic government project promotion. • Assessment and international cooperation agencies to implement eGovernment Projects. In the last two decades, since the launch of the Lisbon Strategy Some of the foundational policies, which embeds a whole-of- in March 2000, the European Union (EU) has strongly pushed government approach to digital government across agencies, its member states towards adopting a cohesive set of legal include the following: and regulatory acts to facilitate the digital transition. Numerous strategies, action plans, conferences, initiatives, and projects • Interoperability frameworks. have been supporting the joint effort of EU countries to digitally • Enterprise Architecture. transform their economies, societies, and governments. The • Data governance, data protection and privacy, use of proliferation of European legislation and regulations in these open-source software, cloud policy. areas is a fundamental mechanism used in the last years • Common technological standards for digital platforms, to secure European cohesion and joint efforts between its management of ICT, web services, and common digital members. The following examples can be highlighted: service delivery standards, which need to be adhered to across government. · General Data Protection Regulation (European Parliament and Council, 2016). · eIDAS Regulation - Electronic Identification, Authentication A key enabler of a whole-of-government approach is the use and Trust Services (European Parliament and Council, of interoperability frameworks that reduce system boundaries 2014). between government agencies by setting standards across · Directive on open data and re-use of public sector government systems to allow for seamless exchange of information (European Parliament and Council, 2019). information and communication between systems. An · Directive concerning measures for a high common level interoperability framework sets common standards and of security of network and information systems across the guidelines which government institutions have agreed, or Union (European Parliament and Council, 2016). should agree, to interact with each other. Many countries · Directives on Public Procurement (European Parliament including Croatia, Denmark, and Slovenia have adopted the and Council, 2014[18]) (European Parliament, 2014). European Interoperability Framework (EIF). Australia, Ghana, Rwanda, and New Zealand have their own frameworks. These directives and regulations frame the digital experience of all European member states and simultaneously influence Another important tool is the use of Enterprise Architecture the digital context beyond the European borders given the (EA), which provides a holistic blueprint for infrastructure, economic weight of EU’s economy. data integration, and application. EA is a discipline that EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 23 defines, organizes, and standardizes all important elements Data governance structures, including institutional of a respective organization or set of organizations. One of the arrangements for data management, data infrastructures most commonly used frameworks for EA is The Open Group and standards, data access and use, and data privacy are Architecture Framework (TOGAF), which is typically modeled also important policy and legal foundations for a whole- at four levels: business, application, data, and technology. of-government approach.44 Governments that have put For example, the US federal government’s EA, referred to in place the tools and policies for effective data sharing as the Common Approach, covers over 300 government across government are able to fully operate under the entities, and provides guidelines and standards for all Federal Once Only Principle. Finland’s Information Management Government agencies.41 in Public Administration Act requires government agencies to use datasets of other government agencies whenever Implementation of an interoperability framework and possible, and regular exchange of data between agencies enterprise architecture is complex and can meet resistance, must be conducted through electronic interfaces. The Act as governments often have a patchwork of different also mandates that the Ministry of Finance coordinates blueprints, systems and data management practices. Undoing interoperability of public sector datasets. In similar vein, these systems and changing practices can become difficult Chile established a law in 2019 on the Digital Transformation to manage. For example, the implementation of Korea’s of the State, modernizing laws related to the administrative Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC), which required procedures of the State. The law states that government government agencies to shut down their data centers and procedures are digital by default. An accompanying integrate into the GIDC was met with initial resistance and presidential “Instruction on Digital Transformation of the blocked, particularly for services requiring multiple government State” directs central administration bodies to appoint digital agencies. In Korea, the adoption of enterprise architecture for transformation coordinators, in addition to defining plans for IT projects was also initially perceived by government agencies digitizing procedures, incorporating a unique password as the as adding additional burdensome work for civil servants.42 sole authentication mechanism, and eliminating paper-based communications between institutions. Guidelines that apply to all government departments to standardize digital services across government are used as a In summary, governments are compelled to continuously common lever to encourage a user centric approach for public refresh and adapt their legal frameworks to catch up with the services. These can include standards for accessibility and evolution of digital technologies. Figure 5 below captures the usability of services, principles that mandate open government diversity of legal and regulatory aspects that cover the digital by default, digital by design for public services, and multichannel enabling environment. Cloud computing, mobile devices, service delivery approaches that allow citizens to choose how and collaboration tools are revolutionizing the landscape of to interact with government. Additionally, guidelines promote private and public sector services. Governments must rise a Once Only Principle, which reduces the need for citizens to the challenge and meet the demands and needs of their and business to provide the same data multiple times to once, citizens who expect to acquire a service, anytime, anywhere putting the responsibility on government to have integrated and on any device. In this context, the legal framework needs data systems. Argentina has mandated the Once Only to provide the foundational environment to create a digital Principle by decree, requiring that its Public Administration governance culture that promotes government digital agility. request pertinent documentation once from the citizen, and no For some countries, a legalistic approach that mandates public body should require citizens to present documentation compliance is the path for creating a digital institutional culture. on paper. If citizens present a paper document, the receiving Chile, Colombia, France, Italy and Portugal have followed this agency must digitize it. Government offices must exchange path. Other countries follow consensus-based approaches information through the Module “INTEROPER.AR” of the and issue principles and standards that are adopted on a Electronic Document Management System – GDE.43 more voluntary basis; these include Australia, Canada and 41. The Common Approach to Federal Enterprise Architecture. Executive Office of the President of the United States. May 2, 2012, page 4 (accessed at U.S. Cloud Computing Strategy, archives.gov). 42. Karippacheril , Tina George; Kim, Soonhee; Beschel, Robert P. Jr.; Choi, Changyong. 2016. Bringing Government into the 21st Century. The Korean Digital Governance Experience. World Bank, p. 158. 43. Decreto Tramitación digital completa, remota, simple, automática e instantánea. DECTO-2018-733-APN-PTE. Ministerio de Modernización. Government of the Republic of Argentina. Ciudad de Buenos Aires, 08/08/2018. Accessed at: InfoLEG - Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos - Argentina. 44. OECD Public Governance Public Policy Papers No. 03. Digital Government Index:2019 results. https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/4de9f5bb-en. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 24 the United Kingdom.45 In some countries, where citizens are private sector concerns that is well communicated would risk averse and fear the use of digital services, governments support further uptake of digital services. Building citizen need to quickly adopt strong data protection, cybersecurity, awareness in these contexts becomes critical, so that citizens anti-fraud and other policy frameworks to address concerns understand how they are protected and what benefits could of citizens and the private sector to use digital channels. A accrue to them through the use of digital services. strengthened legal framework that addresses citizen and > > > F I G U R E 5 - Legal and Regulatory Aspects of a Digital Ecosystem Digital Open by design by default Sharing of Access to government public sector data information Digital Personal data inclusion protection Open data Digital Interoperability signatures Digital Digital identity documents Base data Digital right registries Once-only to interact principle digitally Cloud computing ICT e-Procurement procurement Cybersecuritiy Source: OECD (2019[43]), Digital Government Review of Panama. 45. OECD Digital Government Studies: OECD Digital Government Studies Digital Government Review of Slovenia. Leading the Digital Transformation of the Public Sector. September, 25, 2021. OECD Digital Government Studies | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org), p. 71. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 25 Adoption Mechanisms oriented mechanisms like pre-approvals for ICT projects To effectively ensure the implementation of the policy and above a certain budget threshold and mandatory adherence legal framework described above requires countries to use to common acquisition standards for ICT, to “soft” mechanisms what this paper terms “adoption mechanisms,” also referred like awards and the provision of project management tools to to in the literature as incentives or policy levers, to ensure teams. Figure 6 illustrates the various adoption mechanisms compliance with common ICT standards and motivate the utilized by the cases in the sample of countries studied. All uptake of digital reforms across government. Drawing on of the country cases were reviewed to validate the presence work done by the OECD46 and others, authors define seven of these adoption mechanisms. Some countries have opted adoption mechanisms for sound implementation: (i) budgeting for a softer approach, using these tools as guidelines and practices; (ii) procurement support; (iii) pre-approval for ICT recommendations; others have opted for an enforcement investments; (iv) performance monitoring; (v) shared ICT approach, through legislation or rules that are mandated services; (vi) ICT project management tools; and (vii) awards. across government. These adoption mechanisms range from “hard,” compliance- > > > F I G U R E 6 - GovTech Adoption Mechanisms Performance monitoring ICT investment Shared ICT pre-approvals services ICT project Procurement management support tools Budgeting Adoption Digital awards practices Mechanisms Source: Authors own elaboration drawn on work by OECD and others. BUDGETING PRACTICES A number of governments have used the budget process to drive digital transformation. Planning ICT investments through the national budget encourages agencies to work together and prioritize investments that are cross-cutting. At a more general level, countries with performance-based budgeting practices in place can set clear outcomes on digital service uptake by institution to help drive this agenda, in some cases, even allowing savings identified to be retained by the respective institution. A number 46. OECD (2019), Digital Government Review of Panama: Enhancing the Digital Transformation of the Public Sector, OECD Digital Government Studies. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/615a4180-en. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 26 of countries have also established dedicated ICT funds to and innovations. In South Africa, the Budget Department finance cross-ministerial systems and services, earmarking allocates funds for the National e-Government Programme allocations for digital transformation funds within the national through Plan and Non-plan budgetary provisions. The South budget and putting in place budget thresholds to provide African National Treasury supports an e-Government budget oversight on ICT spending. vote to secure dedicated funding for e-Government activities. In Denmark, annual budget agreements are negotiated with Dedicated ICT Funds national, local and regional governments for joint collaboration on digitization. Joint projects are financed through an Dedicated ICT investments funds have been used by investment fund.49 Australia, Canada, Finland, Korea, Scotland, and the United States. Early on in its digital transformation history, Korea Project Budget Thresholds established an ICT promotion fund from 1993 to 2004 to finance high speed information networks. From 2005 onward, Countries such as Australia, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, these practices have evolved further, and the government now Slovenia, and the United Kingdom use project budget sets aside part of the government budget on an annual basis thresholds to ensure consistency and uniformity of government for digital government funding. The Australia Public Service ICT investments, which helps drive common approaches Modernization Fund was created as part of an efficiency across government. Budget threshold ceilings vary across initiative. Australia’s 2016–17 Budget committed AUD $500 countries. The United Kingdom’s central oversight on ICT has million from public sector savings for automation and re- been a model that has been studied and replicated by other engineering of public services. The 2017-18 budget outlined countries. Spending controls on ICT spending were delegated that the Public Service Modernization Fund would finance from the National Treasury to the GDS and, as a result, every projects that deliver government services at a lower cost department has to get approval from the UK Controls Board in using ICT and promote collaborative approaches. Emphasis GDS for any new/renewal of ICT spending. This enabled GDS was placed on investments that promoted better use of data, to enforce a change in the approach agencies were taking. The streamlining citizen services, strengthening workforce skills, UK’s spending control scheme also prohibited government and agency sustainability.47 Canada’s 2021 budget set aside from issuing contracts valued over £100 million. A 2016 UK Can$2.5 billion in digital transformation for services that are National Audit Office reported that the spending controls high in demand. Over Can$1 billion has also been set aside have resulted in savings of £1.3 billion since introduction.50 to finance teams working on government-wide transformation, Another kind of budget threshold, adopted by the Australian including funding to enhance the capacity of the Canadian government, sought to cap government ICT contracts to Digital Service.48 a ceiling of AUD $100 million or three years’ timeline. The cap is designed to help open the marketplace up to more Earmarked Allocations into the National Budget competition, reduce fraud and corruption, and incentivize small and medium sized enterprises to participate.51 Specific national allocations for cross-cutting digitalization initiatives are quite common and have been used by Denmark, An important role for Croatia’s Council for National Information Finland, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, and Uruguay. Kenya’s Infrastructures is monitoring budgets for ICT infrastructure dedicated Budget Program on E-Government Services aims to investments. All investments for ICT exceeding the value of provide universal access to e-government services to promote HRK 2.5 million need to be approved by the Council. France’s a knowledge-based society. The program is monitored by Inter-ministerial Directorate for Digital Technology and the the government through performance indicators. Mauritius State Information and Communication System (DINSIC) earmarks funds annually in its national budget to support oversees ministerial departments’ major technology projects. innovation, research, and development in the country. These France’s Central Government CIO reviews ICT projects that funds are also used to support digital government projects are considered strategic or high risk. DINIC approval is sought 47. Hamilton, Philip. Public sector digital transformation: a quick guide. Produced by the Australian Parliamentary Library’s Cyber and Digital Research Group, Politics and Public Administration Section. RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2018–19 2 APRIL 2019. 48. Government of Canada, “Responsible Government” in Our Shared Economic and Social Foundations – Challenges and Opportunities Ahead, Part 4. Chapter 10 (Canada. ca., 2019). https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p4-en.html#chap10. 49. Gov.uk, “Spend control: check if you need approval to spend money on a service,“ in Standards and Assurance Community, (Gov.uk, 2021). Accessed at: https://www.gov. uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/spend-controls-check-if-you-need-approval-to-spend-money-on-a-service. 50. Mike Bracken and Andrew Greenway, “How to achieve and Sustain Government Digital Transformation,” (IDB, 2018). https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/ document/How-to-Achieve-and-Sustain-Government-Digital-Transformation.pdf. 51. Hamilton, Philip. Public sector digital transformation: a quick guide. Produced by the Australian Parliamentary Library’s Cyber and Digital Research Group, Politics and Public Administration Section. Research Paper Series, 2018–19 2 APRIL 2019. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 27 by for ICT projects worth more than € 9 million. Among OECD Framework Agreements member countries, there is a great diversity in the budget threshold. In Portugal, the budget threshold is EUR 10,000; in Framework Agreements have become a popular tool, and Denmark it is around EUR 1,300,000, and in Norway around are used, for example, by the United States and Finland, EUR 1,033,000.52 to centralize and aggregate purchasing, reduce repetitive purchasing processes, and decrease transaction costs for COMMON ACQUISITION STANDARDS government.56 Framework Agreements allow public bodies to & PROCUREMENT SUPPORT contract suppliers to optimize costs through a large volume of purchases or through recurrent purchasing over a designated Governments have witnessed large increases in ICT spending timeframe. The use of a framework agreement enables over the years, and these investments have required a centralized procurement, as one organization is responsible better managed approach to ICT investment. Public sector for implementing a framework agreement on behalf of other procurement is big business. In 2018, ICT spending in the Dutch agencies. In the United States for example, framework public sector was around € 3.5 billion.53 Finland’s government agreements has accounted for more than 30 percent of spends EUR 537 million for ICT procurement per year.54 Most federal contracting per year. The Finnish government uses of the UN E-Government Survey top performers have put in electronic ordering system, “Merkaattori,” which facilitates place coordinated planning for digital technology acquisitions the purchasing of goods and services under framework and procurement. The OECD Government Index shows agreements. Procurement of ICT products through framework results show that 67 percent of the 33 countries surveyed have agreements is led by the Finnish Ministry of Technology, formal ICT procurement guidelines. Most of the 33 countries Communication and Innovation (MTCI). in the OECD survey embedded ICT procurement into national procurement strategies.55 To streamline procurement and Online Marketplace save costs, countries have issued specific templates and guidelines, put in place framework agreements, set-up online Pooling government procurement through a one-stop shop marketplaces and attempted to create transparency around is a popular and successful model, adopted by a number procurement investments. of governments. India’s Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a one-stop shop for online procurement of common use ICT Procurement Guidelines goods and services required for Indian government entities. The marketplace allows e-bidding, reverse e-auction, and The issuance of templates and guidelines are a common demand aggregation to obtain the best value for the money.57 tool in ICT procurement used by many countries. Many Many countries have adopted an online marketplace that governments, such as India and Argentina, issue model facilitates a whole-of-government approach for procurement. “Request for Proposal” (RFP) Templates and Guidance Notes, These include Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the including Standardized Technical Requirements. Embedded United Kingdom. procurement guidelines in the national digital government framework are used by Oman. Its eGovernment Architecture Procurement Transparency Framework (OeGAF) serves as a guide for developing and deploying information systems and spells out the rules and Procurement transparency initiatives are also seen as good procedures for Government ICT projects and systems. Oman’s practice and the OECD recommends the publication of a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO) publishes formal searchable database for ICT procurement. Finland’s Tutki government assurance frameworks, providing assurance Hankintoja platform is a service which offers citizens and oversight on high-risk digital investments and how agencies companies information on government procurement spending. manage risk. Users can search information on how public funds are spent, 52. OECD (2019), Digital Government Review of Panama: Enhancing the Digital Transformation of the Public Sector, OECD Digital Government Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris: 71 – 83. https://doi.org/10.1787/615a4180-en. 53. NL Times, “Dutch Government’s IT projects €1billion over budget” NL Times, July 2nd 2018. https://nltimes.nl/2018/07/02/dutch-governments-projects-eu1-billion-budget-report. 54. Tutki Hankintoja,” Investigate Procurement”, https://tutkihankintoja.fi/. 55. Ibid. 56. Guidance on Framework Agreements [Online]. Available from: http://etenders.gov.ie/Media/Default/SiteContent/LegislationGuides/4.%20Guidance%20 on%20 Framework%20Agreements.pdf [Accessed 26 February 2018]. 57. Government of India, “Government e Marketplace” https://gem.gov.in. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 28 including information on ICT procurement per year for both ICT PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS state and municipal level spending. AND RESOURCES PRE-APPROVALS FOR ICT INVESTMENTS Project management tools for cross-government ICT projects help governments achieve more coherence and The OECD Recommendation of the Council on Digital value for money for their investments. Project management Government Strategies advises that governments demonstrate tools allow government agencies to share knowledge about the value proposition of digital projects. A little over half of the project implementation and help with better oversight and 33 governments surveyed for the OECD Digital Government measurement of progress. Standardized project management Index publish standardized guides for business cases prior tools also help promote efficiency and support evidence-based to ICT investment to measure the benefits and costs of approaches to make project decisions.60 Many governments ICT projects, but only 39 percent of these governments have introduced project management tools; and evidence make it compulsory for projects to meet specific criteria, shows that when these are consistently applied and enforced, and only 15 percent of the governments have made these they generate the benefits mentioned above. According requirements mandatory.58 to a survey conducted by the OECD in 33 countries, 67 percent of countries introduced standardized models for ICT Assessments conducted by a central body have also been project management, but only half of them have made them employed by many governments. Scotland’s Digital First mandatory.61 In Malaysia, Secretaries-General of Ministries Service Standard (Digital First) assessments require that and Heads of Service mandate the use of ICT project new digital public services projects in central government management guidelines, called Pengurusan Projek ICT are assessed against 22 standards to make sure services Sektor Awam. These guidelines provide tools for planning, are designed around the user and review the business and implementing, monitoring, and regulating ICT projects in technical capacity of the agency to deliver the project. In public sector agencies – in house or outsourced – to enable Australia, proposals must go through a Two Pass Review consistency across government. In Brazil, public sector process and must seek approval from the Cabinet. Agencies organizations are encouraged to use a project management must submit business cases that have passed the Two Pass methodology. The SISP Project Management Methodology Review process to the Australian Government Information (Metodologia de Gerenciamento de Projetos do SISP, MGP- Management Office (AGIMO) within the Department of SISP) is a set of good practices and steps for the project Finance, before going to Cabinet. The ICT Two Pass Review management of ICT projects in public sector organizations Process reviews the department’s ability to procure, manage, and reap benefits from proposed investments.59 Once a project is approved, the public sector often finds that it suffers from a dearth of contract management expertise and Business cases are a recognized tool to help government skills in the digital space. A high turnover of digital specialists decision-makers to understand and justify the value of in the public sector of developed countries due to competition investments in ICT at the pre-investment phase. They help with the private sector for qualified personnel, and lack of such government provide evidence on the strategic alignment of an skills in developing countries, mean that digital government investment, its cost-effectiveness and whether it is achievable; projects teams can struggle to manage ICT projects. In (OECD 2015). In Argentina, all central government entities recognition of this challenge, the US Digital Service developed must submit a business case for their project for review by a Digital Services Playbook that provides good practices drawn the National Office of Information Technologies (ONTI, Oficina from the public and private sectors, including a guide on good Nacional de Tecnologías de Información). ONTI analyses budget principles and contract design and management.62 the information and issues a certification for the project as a guidance. 58. OECD, Digital Government Index: 2019 results. OECD Public Governance Policy Papers No. 03. Page 38. Accessed at OECD Digital Government Index 2020. 4de9f5bb- en.pdf (oecd-ilibrary.org). 59. OECD digital governance performance survey Digital Government Performance (oecd.org) 60. DIGITAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW OF PANAMA © OECD 2019, p. 77. 61. OECD, Digital Government Index: 2019 results. OECD Public Governance Policy Paper No. 03, page 39. Accessed at OECD Digital Government Index 2020. 4de9f5bb-en. pdf (oecd-ilibrary.org). 62. U.S. Digital Service. “Digital Service Playbook.” Accessed on October 12, 2021. https://playbook.cio.gov/. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 29 Some countries have produced catalogues that provide buy technology. All government departments are required information about systems, databases, and related key contact to comply with the mandatory points of the TCoP in the points, data fields, data sharing services and enabling legal implementation of their technology projects or programs and frameworks, and other digital assets. This type of resource are advised to comply with as many of the optional points is an indispensable tool for developers and administrators as possible in order to achieve maximum benefit. Australia’s involved in the planning, design, and management of State Digital Service Standards set outs similar goals. It provides digital services and systems. The United Kingdom translated Australian government best practice principles for designing principles and recommendations from its digital transformation and delivery of digital government services and sets out 13 strategy into a Technology Code of Practice (TCoP), which criteria that government agencies need to meet,63 as presented establishes criteria to help the government design, build, and in Box 4. > > > B O X 4 - Australia’s Digital Service Standard The Digital Service Standard helps digital teams build government services that are simple, clear and fast. 01 07 Understand user needs. Research to Build using open standards and develop a deep knowledge of the users common government platforms where and their context for using the service. appropriate. 02 Establisha sustainable multidisciplinary team to design, build, operate and iterate the service, led by an experienced 08 Make all new source code open by default. 09 product manager with decision-making Ensure the service is accessible to all responsibility. users regardless of their ability and environment. 03 Design and build the product using the 10 service design and delivery process, Test the service from end to end, in taking an agile and user-centered an environment that replicates the approach. live version. 11 Measure performance against KPIs 04 Understand the tools and systems required to build, host, operate and set out in the guides. Report on public measure the service and how to adopt, dashboard. adapt or procure them. 12 Ensure that people who use the digital 05 Identify the data and information service can also use the other available the service will use or create. Put channels if needed, without repitition appropriate legal, privacy and security or confusion. measures in place. 13 Encourage users to choose digital 06 Build the service with responsive design service and consolidate or phase out methods using common design patterns existing alternative channels where and the style guide. appropriate. Source: dta.gov.au/standard 63. Digital Service Standard criteria. Digital Transformation Agency. Government of Australia. Accessed at https://www.dta.gov.au/help-and-advice/digital-service-standard/ digital-service-standard-criteria. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 30 SHARED SERVICES APPROACHES TO ICT edge service delivery approaches, enable skills transfer and introduce innovation. Many governments, such as Brazil, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, employ a shared DIGITAL AWARDS PROGRAMS services model, whereby one group/unit provides services to government agencies on a range of ICT project management, Several governments have used national awards to recognize acquisition, platforms, and services. The creation of such a teams that have implemented successful digital government group can generate incentives for agencies to comply with initiatives and incentivize other departments to follow their standard practices and ensure a coherence in ICT projects footsteps. These types of awards offer incentives for teams across government. Comprising over 600 staff, the UK’s across institutions to collaborate. Awards can include high Government Digital Service (GDS) helps build and support level recognition and national visibility and, in some cases, common platforms, services, components, and tools, and promotion and financial renumeration. In Oman, the Sultan provide digital experts to support transformation efforts Qaboos Awards for Excellence in e-Government have been across government. Among the common platforms the GDS given to Omani civil servants since 2010 to recognize how maintains are platforms designed to notify, verify, and pay that they use ICT to enhance their performance and to improve agencies can use in building their online services – creating the quality of public service delivery.66 Russia hosts an annual incentives for agencies to adopt similar interfaces for users. competition to identify the best regional practices implemented Another example is the United States Digital Service (USDS), by the centers of public services (MFC) in the Russian which is composed of private sector recruited digital experts Federation. The Regional School of Public Administration conducting short term stints in the civil service. The USDS (ReSPA) for the Western Balkans hosts Public Administration supports federal agencies in acquisition strategy, supporting Awards with the OECD and the European Union and has market intelligence, expertise on evaluation methods, and initiated awards for good practices in the public sector, creating technical contracts. The Netherlands’ Logius is with digital government as one of the award criteria. The another technical resource group, housed within the Ministry biennial The Digital India Awards (DIA), hosted by National of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Logius manages Portal of India, recognizes innovative initiatives of various government-wide ICT solutions and common standards and government digital governance initiatives. The last European supports the government in data exchange, standardization Conference in 2017 on Digital Government hosted 40 country and information security. Logius also houses the Secretariat representatives and awarded organizations with Digital of the Standardisation Forum.64 Government Excellence Awards.67 Digital Skills has also been promoted through the annual European Digital Skills Awards Brazil’s ICT procurement strategy for the whole federal that have been hosted since 2016. Prioritizing initiatives that government, adopted by regulation, is implemented with the can be scaled-up and replicated,68 the awards go to public help of two state owned companies, Serpro and Dataprev, and private sector actors to improve digital skills of citizens, that support ICT operations of the ministries, and offer a the labor force, ICT specialists, schools, and girls and women. wide variety of services, including software development, data hosting, operation and support, consultancy, and In conclusion, the adoption mechanisms described in this business intelligence.65 The New Zealand Government section help government policy makers to put into practice (2018) uses an IT managed services (ITMS) model. By using their strategy for digital transformation. Without adoption framework agreements, service providers are contracted for mechanisms, governments typically fail to achieve digital IT support services, such as IT Service desk, user device transformation as there are no incentives or tools for civil support, server support, storage and archiving, database servants to implement digital reform. The adoption mechanisms management, application support, and network management include “hard,” compliance-oriented mechanisms that are services. Outsourcing these services can help bridge the enforced using decision-making tools or budget discipline. digital skills gap in the public sector and bring in cutting Other adoption mechanisms are “soft,” and are actively used 64. Netherlands. Europa Digital Government Factsheet. 2019. https://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/storage/f/2019-09-27T130131/SC64_D05.03_Digital_Government_ Factsheets_Netherlands_2019_vFINAL.html. 65. OECD Digital Government Review of Brazil: https://www.oecd.org/governance/digital-government-review-of-brazil-9789264307636-en.htm. Website of the Secretariat of Digital Government - https://www.gov.br/governodigital/pt-br 66. Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in e-Government 2016 - Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (unu.edu). 67. European Commission Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens. 17th European Conference on Digital Government. Accessed at 17th European Conference on Digital Government | ISA² (europa.eu). 68. European Commission. “European Digital Skills Awards: meet 24 outstanding finalists.” European Commission’s website on Shaping Europe’s Digital Future. 20 November 2018. Accessed at https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/european-digital-skills-awards-meet-24-outstanding-finalists. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 31 to encourage government departments through awards, the organizational impact of this change implies a move from provision of project management support, and the introduction intra-government focused improvements to the relationships of common standards. Countries that have successfully used between government, business and citizens. Interventions soft mechanisms and a principles-based approach to support involve strategy development mobilizing civil society digital transformation include Australia, Estonia, and Norway. partnerships at the policy design and delivery stages, enabling Many countries with legalistic traditions depend on the use users to feed into dataset selection, and strengthening the of hard adoption mechanisms. Governments need to be capacities of public servants to adopt a user-centric focus in aware and prepared that compliance-oriented mechanisms the design of the tools of the digital strategy. A 2018 study by have sometimes been met with resistance by civil servants. the UN University tracks the differing pathways to user-centric Enhancing civil service skills and awareness facilitates a government in Denmark, Latvia, and UK, all of whom have smoother transition. Many governments have also given a time progressed from silos-based, disjointed government towards frame to allow for transitional arrangements for government a user-centric, whole-of-government approach to e-services.71 agencies to digitize their processes and educate their teams to adopt new ways of doing work. Digital transformation of Pioneered first in Estonia, a number of countries have adopted government remains a strategic and organizational task the once-only principle to foster user-centered service more than a technological task. Therefore, introducing the design. To reduce the administrative burdens on citizens and right mix of adoption mechanisms plays a critical role in businesses, the idea is that the state collects data only once, facilitating reforms. respecting existing privacy regulations. Government agencies would not collect data that is already collected by another User-Centered Orientation institution and would internally reuse the data in accordance Not enlisting the participation of end-users in the design with data protection rules. of e-services or in the implementation of a digital government strategy (as described earlier) can result in ill- THE BASICS: ACCESS TO DIGITAL SERVICES conceived “solutions” and low user uptake. The concept of “departmentalism” captures well the phenomenon of A basic component of user-centered design is access to public government departments as fiefdoms that create a particular services from a wide range of government agencies in one path of dependency in the way they perceive things should place, organized and designed in a user-friendly way. All the be done that reflects the siloed organization of government, case study countries provide online portals as gateways to a but also the ways in which the policymaking and execution range of government digital services. These countries offer a processes have traditionally been organized. mix of approaches which include a single national one-stop shop, separate portals for citizen services and businesses and, Taking this into consideration, a key outcome of almost all in some cases, locally or regionally based portals as well as digital transformation efforts is to provide more efficient and national portals. The OECD Government at a Glance Report transparent public services with the user at the center of 2021 provides an overview of the range of front office models the reform effort.69 A user-centered digital service requires across single government-wide portals, several government to be led from the top, as reflected in most national digital portals, institution-specific or other types of portals, and the government strategies. It necessitates a whole system user- number of countries with no portal.72 Switzerland’s portal is the centric service design culture and approach to be integrated national gateway to services providing subject-based access across all the structures of service provision including the via a single interface to all information and services offered policy making, architecture and infrastructure of service. Thus, by all levels of government. India’s National Service Delivery the user-focused approach to GovTech infuses the strategic Gateway supports services for national, state, and mobile policy, design, and implementation processes. service delivery The shift to a user-centric focus through a whole-of-government The OECD notes that Government ideas of policy and service approach is noted as a marked change in government and design and delivery have evolved in tandem with advances public service delivery transformation strategies.70 The in digital technologies, which now enable governments to 69. World Bank. (2020). GovTech: The New Frontier in Digital Government Transformation. https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/805211612215188198-0090022021/original/ GovTechGuidanceNote1TheFrontier.pdf. 70. UN University (2018) Connected Government Approach for Customer-centric Public Service Delivery: Comparing strategic, governance and technological aspects in Latvia, Denmark and the United Kingdom. 71. Ibid. 72. OECD (2021) Government at a Glance 2021. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 32 enter into two-way communication flows that permit citizens or sustainability problems of the CSCs; (4) limited interoperable businesses to customize and design services that meet their back-office systems leading to delays, and high costs; and (5) own needs.73 Thus, governments have generally first shifted limited adaptation to the Government’s digital transformation from government-centered approaches, focused on increasing plan. A new World Bank project is supporting Tunisia’s new cost reduction, efficiency and productivity, to more user- 2019 action plan and approach will introduce a multi-channel, centered ones, focused on interpreting user needs to improve digitized and integrated public service delivery model aimed at administrative and personal services. Next, governments reaching two million citizens.75 finally transition to user-driven approaches, focused on placing the needs of the users at the core of digital transformation Advancing GovTech reforms in Public Administration is not processes in order to improve quality of services. In a user- an end in itself. In most countries, the purpose is intrinsically driven approach to GovTech, the user is present during the linked with political and strategic goals for social and economic entire service lifecycle through service design, development, objectives based on a vision for enhancing citizen wellbeing. implementation, delivery, monitoring, and redesign to enable A key shift in approach to GovTech in many countries has co-creation between the user and government. been the move away from an internally focused effort to a user-focused approach to digital strategy development THE TOOLS AND COMPONENTS OF A BOTTOM- and implementation. This shift signals a recognition of the UP USER-CENTERED DESIGN essential systemic nature of successful digital strategy, which acknowledges, understands, and draws on knowledge of the The OECD highlights the manner in which user-driven design needs, insights, and wishes of the user. The policy maker, is interwoven across the entire whole-of-government digital designer, manager, and user are understood as parts of an ecosystem, and the tools and components that make up that interdependent ecosystem. Effective implementation is seen ecosystem.74 Examples of cross-governmental networks to link the user with all stages of the development and delivery for delivering services that avoid silos of delivery are the cycle from service design, through implementation, delivery, Service Communities in the United Kingdom, the approach to feedback loops and evaluation. There are multiple challenges Interoperability of data in Estonia, and transparency of access to this systemic, holistic approach to GovTech at every stage, to personal data and effective models of citizen consent for including the knowledge, skills, insights, attitudes of politicians their reuse in Spain and Denmark. Thus, the user-centric and public servants, and the perceived costs in terms of time approach to service design is seen to be a whole-system, and money. These have been successfully overcome through cross-cutting principle, led from the top, underpinned by interventions such as training, support for public servants, strategy, rules, processes, and privacy laws, and supported by and new forms of partnerships that bridge the divide between whole-system skill development; in essence, all of the strands service provider and service user. that go to make up effective whole-of-government approaches to advancing GovTech. Conclusion Tunisia transformed its piecemeal approach to support bottom- up citizen participation, into a more integrated multi service delivery channel approach with the installation of 50 citizen This chapter proposed a framework for understanding what service centers (CSCs) in 2009 to support citizen access to a “whole-of-government” approach to digital transformation e-government services in the country. These services were entails, touching on a broad range of structural and prioritized as a result of a nation-wide survey conducted by organizational factors. That governments need to work across the Presidency of Government in 2016. The CSC structure departmental boundaries to achieve transformational impacts revealed lessons for Tunisia as it develops a wider whole- in the way services are delivered to citizens and businesses of-government approach. These include: (1) the need for is not particularly new. But illuminating the types of practices a legal and institutional framework underpinning service that successful reformers have employed to drive this change provision within the government and among government is a helpful guide for countries embarking on new reforms or service providers; (2i) high staff attrition and low capacity; (3) 73. OECD (2020): The OECD Digital Government Policy Framework Six dimensions of a Digital Government file:///C:/Users/AnneColgan/OneDrive%20-%20Councillors%20 DLR%20CoCo/Documents/world%20bank/Resources/OECD%206%20strands.pdf. 74. OECD (2020. 75. World Bank Group. “Tunisia - Information and Communication Technologies Sector Development Project (English).” Washington, DC: World Bank, page 12. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/569361468778498043/Tunisia-Information-and-Communication-Technologies-Sector-Development-Project.. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 33 in need of kickstarting existing digital reforms. To recap, the As this chapter illustrates, the next generation of GovTech six factors identified as underpinning a whole-of-government reforms requires focusing not just on how technological approach are: advances have promised to revolutionize the delivery of public services – such as cloud computing, Artificial • Setting a top-down strategic whole-of-government Intelligence, or Blockchain – but also on the intricate ways orientation to digital transformation. in which these technologies interact with the public sector • Building a robust institutional and governance framework. and require changes in behaviors and incentives for uptake. • Securing high-level political and senior civil servant This will demand greater agility and innovation on the part of leadership. Government to employ a wide variety of practices to advancing • Establishing a conducive policy and legal framework. the agenda. This work also has direct implications for how the • Leveraging adoption mechanisms to drive change across World Bank approaches the design of GovTech projects to the public sector. ensure success. Many of the whole-of-government elements • Adopting an outcomes orientation that puts users first. discussed in this paper have been tested by previous World Bank financed GovTech projects, and the following are some Working across administrative boundaries to achieve an specific lessons that emerge from World Bank Implementation integrated response to the uptake of GovTech solutions is Completion Reports: a daunting challenge given the headwinds of predominantly vertically defined governmental structures that define the way • Ensure that dedicated institutional and organizational that budgets, policy mandates, and even incentive systems arrangements with cross-departmental representation are constructed. Despite tremendous efforts and good exist. intentions, many GovTech reforms have failed to deliver on • Examine the potential collective action pitfalls emerging their promised results precisely because of inter-departmental from digital technologies and incorporate practices to competition and the limited incentives that exist to collaborate facilitate adoption by various institutions. across agencies. • Engage the private sector and the broader ecosystem of stakeholders in specific ways, such as the development To directly address this challenge, all of the cases reviewed of an online marketplace of providers or the creation of have put in place dedicated institutional structures and multistakeholder advisory councils to support GovTech governance arrangements for driving the mandate of digital policy implementation. transformation across departments. Many have allocated • Develop a supportive legal and regulatory enabling direct ministerial responsibility to the digital agenda, ensuring a environment. seat at Cabinet level, or have created specific agencies directly • Build-in communications and change management reporting to the center of government. Several countries have support. also established cross-governmental governance structures • Provide sufficient and specialized procurement support. to ensure the whole-of-government aspect, bringing key • Avoid a piecemeal approach to the roll-out of systems. stakeholders together through committees with a coordination • Create space for the sharing of lessons and good or collaborative remit. practices. • Apply a user-centric approach to win public support Countries have also utilized adoption mechanisms to ensure for integrated GovTech policies with investments in compliance with common ICT standards and motivate – and communication and engagement between the government sometimes mandate – the uptake of digital reforms across and citizens. government. These adoption mechanisms range from “hard,” • Invest in skills and capacities and cultivate a digital- compliance-oriented mechanisms like pre-approvals for ICT friendly culture. projects above a certain budget threshold and mandatory adherence to common acquisition standards for ICT, to “soft” In an effort to codify these lessons and tangibly support mechanisms like awards and the provision of IT services countries in their trajectory, the World Bank’s Knowledge to ministries by a shared services provider. To streamline Repository offers toolkits and frameworks that support procurement and save costs in ICT procurement, countries practitioners in their journey towards digital transformation. have also issued specific templates and guidelines, put in The GovTech Maturity Index,76 for example, helps policy place framework agreements, and set up online marketplaces. makers review their trajectory over a period of time and learn EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 34 from good practices. The World Bank’s Digital Government Going forward, the World Bank and others can serve as Readiness Assessment also broadly captures a number of platforms for international and regional cooperation for dimensions included our whole-of-government framework, exchanging lessons on what practices have facilitated a namely leadership and governance; user-centered design; whole-of-government approach to digital transformation. public administration reforms and change management; Existing groups like Digital Nations, a collaborative network capabilities, culture, and skills; technology infrastructure; data of the world’s leading digital governments,77 share digital infrastructure, strategies and governance; and legislation practices, collaborate to solve common problems, and identify and regulation. Toolkits for crosscutting systems, regulatory improvements to digital services. In 2019, the World Bank frameworks and building digital skills, to support governments Group launched the GovTech Global Partnership, specifically in their path towards adopting GovTech are also available to recognizing the importance of a whole-of-government World Bank client countries and the broader community of approach to public sector modernization to achieve the aims stakeholders. of simple, accessible, and efficient government. 76. GovTech Maturity Index: The State of Digital Transformation in the Public Sector (worldbank.org). 77. The Digital Nations, previously the Digital 9 comprises Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 35 Annex 1.1: Selected Country Cases from the UN E-Government Survey (2020) Country name Region Average Republic of Korea East Asia & Pacific 1 Estonia Europe & Central Asia 0.99705 United States of America North America 0.97355 Singapore East Asia & Pacific 0.97045 United Kingdom Europe & Central Asia 0.9675 Denmark Europe & Central Asia 0.96745 Austria Europe & Central Asia 0.96165 Finland Europe & Central Asia 0.9615 New Zealand East Asia & Pacific 0.95875 Australia East Asia & Pacific 0.9557 Japan East Asia & Pacific 0.947 China East Asia & Pacific 0.9351 Netherlands Europe & Central Asia 0.9351 United Arab Emirates Middle East & North Africa 0.92025 Poland Europe & Central Asia 0.91155 Cyprus Europe & Central Asia 0.9115 Kazakhstan Europe & Central Asia 0.90225 France Europe & Central Asia 0.8936 Canada North America 0.89085 Norway Europe & Central Asia 0.89065 Brazil Latin America & Caribbean 0.8877 Turkey Europe & Central Asia 0.87585 Kuwait Middle East & North Africa 0.873 Switzerland Europe & Central Asia 0.8671 Spain Europe & Central Asia 0.8667 Sweden Europe & Central Asia 0.8607 Malaysia East Asia & Pacific 0.855 Slovenia Europe & Central Asia 0.855 Chile Latin America & Caribbean 0.855 India South Asia 0.855 EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 36 Country name Region Average Argentina Latin America & Caribbean 0.8521 Uruguay Latin America & Caribbean 0.84915 Russian Federation Europe & Central Asia 0.8433 Albania Europe & Central Asia 0.8432 Oman Middle East & North Africa 0.8431 South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa 0.74855 Mauritius Sub-Saharan Africa 0.67145 Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa 0.63585 Annex 1.2: Selected World Bank Digital Government Projects Country Project Project ID Argentina Social & Fiscal National ID System II P101171 Armenia Public Sector Modernization Project II P117384 Bangladesh BD: Leveraging ICT Growth, Employment and Governance Project P122201 Ghana eGhana P093610 India Karnataka Panchayats Strengthening Project P078832 Mexico MX IT Industry Development Project P106589 Moldova Governance e-Transformation Project P121231 Pakistan Pakistan: Punjab Public Management Reform Program P132234 Rwanda eRwanda Project P098926 Serbia PforR on Modernization and Optimization of Public Administration P155172 Sri Lanka E-Sri Lanka Development P081771 Tajikistan Private Sector Competitiveness P130091 Tanzania Performance Results and Accountability Project P092898 Tunisia TN-ICT Sector Development Project P088929 EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 37 References Auditor General (2019) Enabling Digital Government. https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/report/enabling-digital-government Bennet Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge: Thinking about GovTech: A Brief Guide for policy-makers. 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Report No: PAD3349, page 16. Accessed at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/fr/831811560823331664/pdf/Tunisia-GovTech- Digital-Transformation-for-User-Centric-Public-Services-Project.pdf. ________. 2020. GovTech: The New Frontier in Digital Government Transformation. https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/ doc/805211612215188198-0090022021/original/GovTechGuidanceNote1TheFrontier.pdf. World Bank Group. “Tunisia - Information and Communication Technologies Sector Development Project (English).” Washington, DC: World Bank. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/569361468778498043/Tunisia-Information-and- Communication-Technologies-Sector-Development-Project. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 40 2. >>> GovTech Skills in Public Administration Donna Andrews, Nicole Goldin, Ramy Zeid Introduction There has been significant progress on improving access to technology which can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government services. But digital government transformation also requires the right capacities to adapt and drive public sector service delivery to meet citizen needs in an increasingly digital era. Sound government digital policy requires that several building blocks and policy levers be in place to enable the mobilization and co-ordination of efforts across the different sectors of government. Among them, effective design and implementation of a holistic approach to digital government transformation, relies on capacity at the institutional, organizational and individual levels. Technology is reshaping the skills needed for work, with the demand for advanced cognitive skills, socio-behavioral skills, and skill combinations associated with greater adaptability rising (World Bank, 2019). These changes can be seen not just through new jobs replacing old jobs, but also through the changing skills profiles of existing jobs in the public sector. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 41 Importance of Skills in Digital and GovTech; and lower-middle income countries are lagging behind. The newly released World Bank GovTech Maturity Government Transformation Index shows that 47 percent of countries do not have a strategy to improve digital skills and that further investments in digital skill development in the public sector are crucial to Human capital is a fundamental puzzle piece affecting the building strong technical skills. success of digital government transformation. The public sector workforce must have the right skills to be able to take The 2019 OECD Digital Government Index3 observed that full advantage of the opportunities of efficiency, connectivity, talent gaps remain, and that the absence of digital savvy civil openness, and intelligence offered by digital technologies. A servants can hamper the effective and coherent implementation lack of skills and capacity is significant hindrance to digital of digital government policies which is blocking progress. The government transformation, and many governments do not World Economic Forum also reported that skills gaps in the have specific strategies in place to attract, develop, or retain local labor market and an inability to attract the right talent are ICT-skilled public servants.1 While this report is oriented the biggest barriers to the adoption of new technologies (WEF, toward Public Administration at the national level, subnational Future of Jobs 2020 Report). and local capacities can also be a catalyst or roadblock to digital government transformation. Many of the challenges and There are numerous reasons behind the public sector digital solutions in this chapter will apply equally to any level of public skills gap, ranging from the availability of skills to compensation sector organization. The COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted and under-developed human resource management the increasing need for a tech-savvy, digitally literate public systems, among others. We are still learning how to address sector workforce to respond to the growing citizen demand these challenges and increase the skill levels in Public for online, and reduced preferences and options for in-person, Administration for GovTech. This is particularly true in low- services. In response, governments are increasing their efforts and middle-income countries which tend to be lower resource- to raise and enhance the digital literacy of their staff.2 and generally lower capacity-environments. It is useful to understand and learn from countries further advanced on their At the same time, available data suggests that digital skills GovTech transition as well as to consider practices that may be in the public sector are not at the level they need to be to adaptable from the private sector. optimize increasing demand for digital government services “More than anything else, digital transformation requires talent. Indeed, assembling the right team of technology, data and process people who can work together – with a strong leader who can bring about change – may be the single most important step that a company contemplating digital transformation can take. Of course, even the best talent does not guarantee success. But a lack of it almost guarantees failure.” Source: Davenport, T., Redman, T., Digital Transformation Comes Down to Talent in 4 Key Areas. Harvard Business Review, May 21, 2020. 1. ITU 2021, OECD 2020, OECD 2014. 2. https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/insights/industry/public-sector/government-trends/2021/digital-government-transformation-trends-covid-19.html. 3. OECD. 2020. “Digital Government Index: 2019 results,” OECD Public Governance Policy Papers, No. 03, Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/4de9f5bb-en. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 42 Importance of Human Resource importance of the HRM environment is relevant for any country engaging in digital government transformation, regardless of Management Environment income level and GovTech maturity. In broad terms, the goals of HRM are to: Human Resource Management (HRM) is concerned with all aspects of managing people at work and this includes a range • Support the organization to achieve its objectives by of functional areas from recruitment to retirement and includes developing and implementing HR strategies that are issues related to how people contribute to organizational integrated with organizational strategies. performance and strategy (see Figure 7 below). The type and • Contribute to the development of a high-performance complexity of HRM functions that are practiced in individual culture. countries will differ depending on the maturity of HRM systems • Ensure that the organization has the talented, skilled, and and frameworks. engaged people it needs. • Create a positive employment relationships between In order to discuss how to identify and build the digital and management and employees and climate of mutual trust. complementary skills that are necessary to support GovTech • Encourage the application of an ethical approach to transformations, it is critical to understand how this discussion people management.4 relates to the broader HRM environment and context. The > > > F I G U R E 7 - Common Human Resource Management Functions Compensation Strategy Attraction Recruitment & benefits & planning & retention & selection Analytics Learning Policy, regulation, Performance & employee records & development & laws management Organizational Grievances/ Ethics & employee Retirement design, change, employee relations conduct & separations culture Source: Authors. 4. Armstrong, M and Taylor, S. 2015. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 43 Globally, most countries have adopted either of two different consistently applied. In low-income countries (LICs), the focus civil service employment systems5– a career-based system or is more likely to be on a smaller subset of these core HR a position-based system – and some countries have adopted functions which are essential to ensure that civil servants can a hybrid system. Brazil, France, and Cambodia provide be recruited, trained and paid. examples of career-based systems; Australia, Sweden and the UK utilize a position-based system, and countries such as Ensuring that government HR systems can effectively support Belgium, Korea, and Mexico have adopted a hybrid system. the workforce needs of public sector organizations also The choice of system requires some differentiation in relation requires good institutional cooperation and coordination. to the performance of HRM functions. There are multiple public sector organizations that are involved in attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining digitally The career-based system is characterized by competitive skilled civil servants. This generally includes a civil service selection early in the careers of public servants, with higher- or public administration agency/ministry, finance agency/ level roles open only to existing public servants. Career-based ministry, digital agency/ministry, HR departments in other line systems may cultivate a dedicated and experienced group of ministries, regulatory institutions and professional bodies; civil servants; however, it may be more challenging to quickly these organizations require strong coordination among them. adapt to changing skill and educational needs as these new Additionally, commitment and strategic guidance from senior skills will either need to be recruited through early career leadership help to address broader fundamental issues such applicants or developed through in-service training programs. as modernization of HR policies and regulations, development By contrast, in a position-based system, candidates apply of policies for fostering and retaining highly skilled digital directly to a specific role and most roles are open to both professionals (both within and outside the country), and the internal and external applicants. Recruitment systems that are development of the education sector and labor market to open to external candidates at any point in their careers can support the long-term digital skill needs. provide managers with the possibility to adjust their workforce more quickly in response to a changed environment. The maturity of country HRM systems will significantly Regardless of the civil service system that is used within a influence how effectively digital skills and competencies can country, there are several common barriers that impede public be identified, recruited, developed, and retained. It is important sector organizations from recruiting and building the necessary to ensure that the ambitions of any skills development plan are digital skills and competencies in civil servants. These will be aligned with the maturity and complexity of the existing public discussed in more detail later in this chapter. sector HRM systems; failure to do so creates a significant risk of failure. Government HR systems are often bound by complex legislation and rules about how personnel management Conducting a HRM maturity assessment as a preliminary step practices must be performed. For example, many recruitment could help to identify areas of HRM policy and practice which processes will require applicants to pass a civil service would benefit from streamlining and strengthening, prior to examination, which tests their knowledge of civil service laws embarking on the process to develop the digital skills that are and regulations. These examinations take place in-person and necessary for GovTech. This type of diagnostic assessment on an established schedule. Until an applicant has passed can help to identify to what extent existing HRM policies this examination, they are not eligible to be appointed to a and practices comply with existing laws and regulations, are civil service role. Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines are utilizing consistent and transparent processes, are integrated countries that use such exams. within other organizational strategies and are able to meet organizational service delivery needs. By better understanding The complexity and maturity of HRM systems, and the the strengths and weaknesses of existing HRM systems, public extent to which country systems are able to meet the broad sector leaders can make informed decisions about changes goals of HRM, will differ greatly across countries of different that may be needed to HRM policy and practice in order to income levels. For lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) support successful digital government transformations. Box 5 and middle-income countries (MICs), with greater capacity, below provides an example of a HRM maturity framework from there is likely to be a more complex range of HR functions the Philippines Civil Service Commission. that are performed, with practices and systems that are more 5. Generally, this chapter is focused on circumstances where there is a direct labor relationship between civil servants and public sector organizations. We note that, in addition to these direct relationships, there are often individuals who are providing services to public sector organizations under different arrangements. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 44 > > > B O X 5 - PRIME HRM in the Philippines Civil Service Commission PRIME-HRM (Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management) assesses an agency’s human resource management competencies, systems and practices towards HR excellence in four areas: recruitment, learning and development, performance management, and rewards and recognition. PRIME-HRM was developed through the Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development Facility and the Civil Service Commission. PRIME-HRM aims to support the development of agency HR systems, practices, and competencies so they can progressively meet maturity levels and indicators across four structured levels: transactional level (level 1), process defined (level 2), integrated (level 3) and strategic (level 4). Maturity Level 1: Maturity Level 2: Maturity Level 3: Maturity Level 4: Transactional HRM Process-Defined HRM Integrated HRM Strategic HRM a. Processes are a. Processes are attuned a. Quantitative objectives a. Focuses on continually compliant with CSC to the Agency’s are used to measure the improving process and other relevant requirements quality and performance performance through authorities regulations of process for both incremental and guidelines b. Programs are performed continuous improvement and innovative and managed according improvements b. Some processes to documented b. HR partners with the are characterized by processes Agency leadershipto b. Has quantitative projects and are often drive HR systems in process improvement reactive c. Some processes are order to support the objectives which are proactively managed agency’s business regularly updated to c. Often produces services through the use of needs reflect changes in and outputs that work automated systems, Agency objectives; used but frequently exceed but the integration of c. Quality and process to manage process prescribed timelines data is not fully in place performance measures improvements are used to support d. Success depends on data-driven decision- c. HR helps to drive competence of people, making agency business and not by using proven decision on people, processes d. Has developed an HR data, and insight Management Toolkit d. HR strategy is part of Agency strategy Source: PRIME-HRM Guidebook, Philippines Civil Service Commission. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 45 Defining Digital Skills and and experts with advanced skills, capable of the most digitally intensive work, and often associated with transformation, Digital Work in GovTech automation, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp)6 Defining Digital Skills describes the skills needed for the larger share of the global While definitions and typologies may differ, ‘digital skills’ labor market. DigComp 2.1 has five competence areas – generally refers to people having and applying skills, abilities, information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to learn, earn and digital content creation, safety and problem solving – and 21 thrive in digital societies. Digital skills most commonly comprise specific competences (see Table 2 below). The framework a continuum of basic, intermediate, or advanced skills. Other also sets out four proficiency levels – foundation, intermediate, terminologies increasingly utilized in analyzing the digital advanced, and highly specialized. These proficiency levels workforce are competencies and talent; both of which are relate to the complexity of tasks, autonomy required and grounded in skills. “Digital competencies” is generally used to cognitive domain. This breakdown of different proficiency refer to a range of different abilities, many of which are not only levels can be helpful to identify different approaches to skills skills per se, but a combination of behaviors, expertise, know- training as well as being able to chart learning progress. For how, work habits, character traits, dispositions, and critical example, in Spain, digital courses for civil servants at the understandings. Digital talent is emerging as the principal term National Institute of Public Administration were designed using to collectively describe computer, data, and ICT professionals DigComp’s competences (Kluzer et al 2018). > > > T A B L E 2 - DigComp 2.1 Competence Areas and Competences 1 Information and data processing 2 Communication 3 Content creation 4 Safety 5 Problem solving Identify, locate, Communicate in Create and edit Personal protection, Identify digital needs retrieve, store, digital environments, new content (from data protection, and resources, organize and share resources word processing digital identity make informed analyse digital through online tools, to images and protection, security decisions on most information, judging link with others and video); integrate measures, safe and appropriate digital its relevance and collaborate through and re-elaborate sustainable use. tools according to purpose. digital tools, interact previous knowledge the purpose or need, with and participate and content; solve conceptual in communities and produce creative problems through networks, cross- expressions, digital means, cultural awareness. media outputs and creatively use programming; deal technologies, solve with and apply technical problems, intellectual property update own and rights and licenses. other’s competence. 1.1 Browsing, 2.1 Interacting 3.1 Developing 4.1 Protecting 5.1 Solving technical searching through digital content devices problems and filtering technologies 3.2 Integrating and 4.2 Protecting 5.2 Identifying information 2.2 Sharing re-elaborating personal data needs and 1.2 Evaluating information 3.3 Copyright and and privacy technological information and and content licenses 4.3 Protecting health responses data through digital 3.4 Programming and well-being 5.3 Creatively 6. https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC106281/web-digcomp2.1pdf_(online) pdf. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 46 Table 2 continued 1.3 Storing and technologies 4.4 Protecting the using digital retrieving 2.3 Engaging in environment technologies information and citizenship 5.4 Identifying digital data through digital competence technologies gaps 2.4 Collaborating through digital technologies 2.5 Netiquette 2.6 Managing digital identity Source: European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp 2.1). There are also frameworks for ICT professions that describe the skills needed in areas such as systems development, data the highly technical content and composition of skills that are and analytics, content management, computational science, necessary for these specialized roles. See Box 6 for examples technology and service management and security and privacy of Digital Capability Frameworks that have been developed by across seven levels of increasing responsibility, accountability, the United Kingdom and Australia. Frameworks such as the and impact. Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA)7 describes > > > B O X 6 - Digital Capability Frameworks and Professional Streams Countries that are leading in digital transformation practices have commonly developed specific competency frameworks for digital roles to support attraction, recruitment, performance and career and skill development. The United Kingdom has a Digital, Data, and Technology Profession Capability Framework, which describes specific jobs and the skills that are needed to do that job. The framework also describes the career pathways available in each role, from entry level to management or executive level and the corresponding skill level (awareness, working, practitioner, expert). This framework supports the Digital, Data and Technology Profession that works across government to help attract, develop and retain the people and skills needed in digital, data and technology. Australia has developed a Digital Professional Stream to lift the digital expertise of the Australian Public Service workforce and meet long-term capability needs. A Building Digital Capability program has developed a career pathways framework with skill definitions for 150 digital roles. The pathways also show how individuals can transition to different or more advanced digital roles, providing a clear pathway for learning and development. Sources: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digital-data-and-technology-profession-capability-framework; https://digitalprofession.gov.au/. There is a clear distinction between digital talent (ICT specialists) who develop and put in place the ICT tools for others, and basic or intermediate users who use these tools in their work. This distinction informs the way we think about jobs, for example, as further discussed below.8 7. www.sfia-online.org/en 8. OECD 2005. New Perspectives on ICT Skills and Employment. Accessed 07/20/2021. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/232342747761 pdf?expires=1626791312&id=id &accname=guest&checksum=74E0C9A02308FC63C01309D62E2507FA. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 47 Defining Digital Work The spectrum of digital work moves from digital-enabled to If skills are the supply side of digital labor markets; jobs are digital-dependent and, finally, to digital-intensive (see figure 8 the demand side. ICT jobs9 have been described as two below). Digital-enabled work tasks are enhanced or improved specific intersections within the broad range of ICT-enabled by using digital tools but could still be performed without employment. The first focuses on how ICT has created jobs these digital tools. For example, work in accounting, finance, as a sector. These ICT jobs are the result of the growth of procurement, or graphic design. Digital-dependent work tasks the ICT sector, which today directly employs millions of use digital tools to the extent that the tasks can’t be performed people worldwide. The second focuses on ICT as a tool: they without these tools. Technology is fundamental to the work. have been helping more people find work and, as work has This could include jobs that involve social media, call center become digitized, so does the work. Put more simply, it is and online freelance work. Digital-intensive work involves the the intersection between jobs that “produce” ICT products or creation, production, or maintenance of digital or technology “consume” ICT tools in their execution. tools. These work tasks require the intensive use of digital tools. Examples include network engineers, mobile application As technology has diffused and expanded, and the nature development or machine learning. The need for advanced or and structure of employment has shifted, digital work can now professional level skills increases across these spectrums, be conceived more broadly across several spectrums. These with basic skills required for digital-enabled work tasks and spectrums are informed by the extent to which digital tools more specialist professional and advanced skills required for are required and used in work tasks and provides a guide to digital-intensive work. the extent of specialized skills that are needed for workers. > > > F I G U R E 8 - Spectrums of Digital Work Advanced or Digital-intensive professional skills Jobs which are created through Network engineer, the production of ICT and through the Mobile App Development intensive use of ICT Digital-dependent Jobs for which digital technology enables work to such a degree that tasks cannot Social media, call center, online freelance be performed without it Digital-enabled Jobs activities are facilitated by using ICT Accounting, procurement, researcher, as a tool, but could be performed without graphic design digital tools Basic skills Source: Authors, adapted from World Bank 2013, OECD 2005. 9. World Bank 2013. Connecting to Work: ICT and Work. Accessed 07/20/2021. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/290301468340843514/ pdf/809770WP0Conne00Box379814B00PUBLIC0.pdf. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 48 While nearly all occupations will require some level of skills will be significantly smaller than the proportion of staff foundational digital skills, it is important to acknowledge that that will require an intermediate level of digital skills in order as the level of proficiency of digital skills needed increases, to effectively perform their role. This distribution of required the percentage of the workforce that requires these skills will digital skills should also influence the availability and focus of decrease (see Figure 9 below). In this regard, the public sector training courses, with a greater number of foundational digital is increasingly likely to mirror the private sector where the skills training options needed when compared to advanced or percentage of staff that will require highly specialized digital highly specialized digital skill training options. > > > F I G U R E 9 - Digital Skills for All Occupations Highly specialized Advanced 4 Proficiency Intermediate Levels Foundational Percent of workforce Source: Digital Economy for Africa Country Diagnostic Tool and Guidelines for Task Teams, Version 2.0, June 24, 2020. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 49 Digital Skills and Jobs in the Context of good use of productivity tools such as email, internet, spreadsheets and databases. Public Administration • Enhanced digital skills: for civil servants who work in roles Before being able to identify and mitigate any GovTech skill which are impacted significantly by technology initiatives gaps, we first need to understand what kinds of positions to the extent that work cannot be done without such require digital skills, what type of skills and at which level; and technology. how digital skills are utilized and deployed in civil service and • Digital professional skills: for civil servants who work in public administration jobs. specialized technology roles to develop, maintain or enhance digital tools. In terms of being citizen (user) centric, the most relevant • Digital leadership skills: for civil servants who are skills are likely to be those that reflect DigComp and focus responsible for leading and managing people. on data literacy, capability to retrieve and share information, • Cross-cutting category of soft skills10 for all civil servants collaboration, communication, and the creation of simple to ensure they have the skills, behaviors and personal content (World Bank, A Global Study on Digital Capabilities). qualities to effectively navigate the workplace, relate well We would propose a framework which comprises five types of to others, perform well and achieve their goals. digital skills that should be considered by the public sector in order to effectively drive and sustain GovTech initiatives (see These digital skills should be viewed across the four levels of Figure 10 below): proficiency of DigComp – foundation, intermediate, advanced, highly specialized. • Essential digital skills: to ensure civil servants can effectively use digital technology including making > > > F I G U R E 1 0 - Digital Skills for Civil Servants Digital Soft skills leadership skills Digital Skills for Civil Servants Digital Essential professional digital skills skills Enhanced digital skills Source: Authors based on OECD. 10. Soft skills can also be referred to as social and emotional skills, generally when referring to basic education. Soft skills is a term more often used in the context of workforce and higher education. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 50 GovTech Skills in Demand skills accounting for most of the remaining demand (WBG, The type and volume of GovTech skills that are needed within Demand for Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2021). There the public sector will be guided by the maturity and focus of the will be a much smaller demand for advanced and highly GovTech transformation as well as the existing and available specialized skills. digital skills within each country. For civil services that are early in their GovTech transformation, the type of digital skills that For countries with an existing digital transformation, often a will be needed can differ significantly from civil services that good source of information about in-demand skills comes from have already made considerable transformation progress. For the private sector. According to the World Economic Forum, example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the demand for foundational the top 10 job roles in increasing demand across industries digital skills is expected to account for 70 percent of the total (public and private sectors) are almost all technology-related demand for digital skills by 2030, with non-ICT intermediate jobs (see Table 3 below). > > > T A B L E 3 - Top 10 Jobs in Increasing Demand 1 Data Analysts and Scientists 2 AI and Machine Learning Specialists 3 Big Data Specialists 4 Digital Marketing and Strategy Specialists 5 Process Automation Specialists 6 Business Development Professionals 7 Digital Transformation Specialists 8 Information Security Analysts 9 Software and Applications Developers 10 Internet of Things Specialists Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report, October 2020. The supply of digital skills, particularly for advanced and highly specialized skills, relies on a pipeline of qualified graduates. For many countries, even high and upper-middle-income countries, the number of graduates with information technology qualifications has been relatively small, however, the number of graduates continues to grow (see Figure 11 below). This reflects the growing demand for digital skills from both the public and private sectors. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 51 > > > F I G U R E 1 1 - Information Technology Graduates as Percentage of Total Tertiary Graduates 30 25 % of total graduates 20 15 10 5 0 a ia zil hile bi a ica eec e ia ia ea xico and al ia a ke y om ate s ntin tral Bra C m R r I nd nes Kor e a l t ug ven f ric u r g d t ge Aus lo ta do r o A S Co Cos G M Ze Po Sl uth T n Ki ted Ar In w o d i Ne S ite Un Un When it comes to digital skills, some of the most frequently 2019listed in-demand 2014 skills from technology industry sources include a range of technical, non-technical and soft skills. Source: Authors based on OECD.Stat data, Distribution of graduates by field, https://stats.oecd.org. Note: Data includes graduates at bachelor, masters, and doctoral levels. 2014 data for Argentina and Indonesia is partial and incomplete. When it comes to digital skills, some of the most frequently listed in-demand skills from technology industry sources include a range of technical, non-technical, and soft skills, as shown in Table 4. > > > T A B L E 4 - In-Demand Govtech Skills from Technology Industry Cybersecurity Cloud Computing AI and Machine Learning Data analytics Big Data Blockchain Enterprise/technical architecture Networking And Wireless Project Management Soft skills Leadership And Management Data Policy and Governance Source: Authors based on data and surveys from Harvey Nash/KPMG, Global Knowledge, Coursera, Forbes.11 When looking at what type of digital skills individuals are that there are trending skills in the technology and data science seeking training and qualifications for, there appears to be domains which feature in all six regions (Asia Pacific, Europe, a core group of skills for which there is consistent demand, Middle East and North Africa, North America, Latin America irrespective of region. Data from Coursera (in Table 5) shows and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa). 11. Top 5 most scarce skills: Harvey Nash/ KPMG, CIO Survey 2020; Top 10 scarce skills: Global Knowledge, 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report; Coursera – 7 In-Demand IT Skills to Boost Your Resume in 2021; Forbes – 15 in-demand skills tech professional should focus on. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 52 > > > T A B L E 5 - Trending Skills in Technology and Data Science Domains Theoretical Computer Science Programming principles C Programming Python Programming JavaScript SQL Machine Learning Statistical Machine Learning Machine Learning Algorithms Applied Machine Learning Probability & Statistics Design and Product Data Management Source: Global Skills report 2021, Coursera. There is a significant variation in the availability of digital at a detailed list of digital skills. Figure 13 below shows that for skills across the globe. Self-identified digital skills data from one-third of the specific skills, fewer than one-half of the Sub- LinkedIn12 does suggest that workers in Sub-Saharan Africa Saharan African countries have a penetration rate greater than have a lower level of digital skills than workers in other zero. The countries with higher overall digital skill penetration regions13,14 (see Figure 12 below). There are also significant are also the ones with the most diversified digital skills. variances across Sub-Saharan African countries when looking > > > F I G U R E 1 2 - Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa Relative to Other Regions 2.0 India Brazil 1.5 Relative penetration South Africa 1.0 Global Nigeria Kenya 0.5 0 ) %) d d d d n 0% (5 an ) an ) an ) an ) a ra ) (7 e % a % a t ica As ia p ro (22 i As c (5 ic 8% s Ea a (8 % ah 4% er h u a s t fi er n (1 l e c b -S ca ( ut E si i m i i Am Ea Pac A ea d id Af r Su Afr h So a lA t in ibb M h rt nt r La Ca r rt No Ce e No t h LinkedIn users as share of total regional working-age population Source: The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All, World Bank. Note: Parentheses show the share of LinkedIn users in the total working-age population of each World Bank region 12. As defined by LinkedIn, the digital skills considered are animation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, computer hardware, computer networking, cybersecurity, data science, data storage technologies, development tools, digital literacy, enterprise software, game development, graphic design, human-computer interface, mobile application development, scientific computing, social media, software development life cycle, software testing, technical support and web development. 13. Jieun Choi, Mark A. Dutz, and Zainab Usman (eds). The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All (2020); World Bank. 14. It should be noted that a smaller portion of labor force in Sub-Saharan Africa are LinkedIn members, compared to, for example, North America (4 percent compared to 70 percent. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 53 > > > F I G U R E 1 3 - Relative Penetration of Various Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan African Countries Social media Graphic design Graphic literacy Web development Development tools Data storage technologies Decrease in prevalence of skill Data science Computer networking Technical support Software development life cycle Cybersecurity Computer hardware Mobile application development Human-computer interaction Scientific computing Animation Enterprise software Artificial Intelligence Software testing Cloud computing Game development %) 4%) 6%) 7%) 5%) 3%) 4%) 2%) 4%) 4%) (1%) 5%) (1%) 4%) 2%) 2%) 2%) 4%) (1%) (1%) (1%) (1%) 2%) 3%) (1%) 7%) 2%) (17 ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( 1 ( 1 ( 2 i . i ( ( ( ( i c a eria nya ana we nda oire nia bia oon pia gal dan na ( que ia ( ola us ( law ep aso Mal nda nin car bon ogo f r i g Ke Gh bab ga ’Iv nza am er thio ene Su wa b i ib ng iti a . R F a B e as a T m A ur M em ina Rw ag G hA N m U e d Ta Z am E S ts am Na a ad ut Zi t C Bo Moz M D o, Bu rk So Cô g M n Co Decrease in overall digital skill adoption Source: The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All; World Bank. Note: Parentheses show the share of LinkedIn users in the total working-age population of each country. Relative penetration scaled by row for comparison across countries. The different shades of green and the white correspond to the degree of relative penetration. The darker the color, the higher the relative penetration of that specific skill in that country compared with others. Gray boxes indicate a relative skill penetration of zero. Workforce Planning for a Digitally solutions so that an organization can accomplish its mission, goals and strategic plan.”15 Competent Workforce Workforce planning will help to understand the current workforce environment and identify where there are gaps Rapid changes in technology mean that changes in the public with existing skills and capacity that is needed to ensure the sector workplace and staff profiles are inevitable. These implementation and achievement of an organization’s goals. changes mean that public sector organizations will need It can allow organizations to be proactive and data-driven to adapt to performing work in different ways and that new when identifying staffing needs, rather than being reactive, skills, knowledge and experiences will be needed from public particularly for skills which may be hard to find or will take time servants. Workforce planning is a core HRM function which and investment to develop. In LMICs, workforce planning can helps to identify future staffing and skill needs. The Chartered also be a helpful exercise to inform cooperation with donors Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK, defines and partners priorities for funding, projects, and associated workforce planning as: policy or strategy reforms. “…the process of balancing labor supply (skills) against Workforce planning is a process (see Figure 14 below) the demand. It includes analyzing the current workforce, which begins with understanding the strategic direction of determining future workforce needs, identifying the gap the organization; that is, answering the question: what are between the present and the future, and implementing the broader goals and aims that we are working towards? 15. CIPD. Workforce Planning Factsheet. https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/workforce-planning-factsheet#8035. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 54 When focusing on digital skills, this would include examining the strategy direction from step one. This should also consider any digital government strategy. A lack of clear and agreed any anticipated changes in technology, policies, or service strategic vision is likely to result in a mismatch of what skills demand that might affect the workload of staff. Using these are needed to achieve this vision. two sources of information, the gaps between the skills that are needed and the skills that are currently available in the The next step is to consider the “supply” or sources of relevant organization will emerge. The solutions that can be identified skills and skills preparation; this includes the current workforce to help bridge this skills gap will depend on the nature of as well as other sources of skills and skills development the skills, but solutions will primarily include those that outside the organization. This would also include graduates build, buy, or borrow skills as detailed later in this chapter. from educational institutions as well as other potential staff. Finally, it is important to carefully monitor the solutions The process then moves to consider what skills, and how that are implemented to evaluate whether these have the many, are needed by the organization in order to deliver on intended impact. > > > F I G U R E 1 4 - Digital Skills Workforce Planning Cycle Where are we going? (Strategic direction) What is our progress? What digital skills do we (Monitoring, reporting, have? (Supply analysis) & evaluation How do we fill the What digital skills digital skills gap? do we need? (Strategy development) (Demand analysis) What is the digital skills gap? (Gap analysis) Source: Authors, adapted from existing models. Workforce planning can have different timeframes, scales, and focus. Managers may be familiar with providing staffing estimates for the next year, in order to inform budgeting processes or meet establishment management caps. This type of short time-horizon planning allows little room for identifying the critical skills that may need to be developed or recruited over the medium term. It will also almost certainly assume that the current roles, skills, and occupations are the ones that are needed now and into the future. Similarly, when a longer-term strategic workforce planning exercise is undertaken, organizations are attempting to foresee and react to future shifts in technology or other changes and understand how this may impact on its existing workforce. The political cycle and length of government term can be a source of instability for civil servants and can make workforce planning, as well as attracting digital talent, more challenging. Generating broad support for strategic plans such as digital government strategies, together with ensuring that senior leaders are aware of the risks of insufficient planning can help to manage this risk. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 55 The adoption of a medium-term time horizon, three to five as front-line managers and supervisors. Workforce planning years, may provide an optimal balance between solutions for is a key organizational planning tool that should inform key more immediate skills issues as well as identifying solutions decisions within the organization. for issues which will require longer implementation time. Often the timeframe associated with upgrading or developing new The most significant challenge for workforce planning is the digital systems in the public sector is of a similar timeframe. availability of quality, relevant data. While it would be ideal For example, the average time to implement ICT solutions in to have a wide range of data available to inform and guide a study of World Bank projects was 2.5 years, and project decisions, it is possible to complete workforce planning to a completion took 7.9 years on average.16 Workforce plans can useful standard, with some more basic supply and demand focus on a single function of an organization, such as finance data. Table 6 below provides examples of ideal HR data as or procurement or on specific roles such as accountants or well as options for more basic data that would be useful for IT staff. Regardless of the focus, timeframes, or scale of the workforce planning. This is especially true for lower-income workforce plan, it is important that workforce planning involves countries who tend to be data poor. discussions with senior leadership in the organization as well > > > T A B L E 6 - Data Options for Workforce Planning Ideal HR data Minimum HR data Information on current workforce – number of staff, levels/ Information on current workforce – number of staff, levels/ grades, job family, gender/other diversity data, education/ grades, Ministry/departments, gender. qualifications, years of service. Recruitment, terminations, retirements over last five years Recruitment, terminations, retirements for current or and retirement and turnover forecasts for next five years. previous year. Staff competency information. List of training offerings. Performance management results/analysis of Training priorities gathered from discussions with managers. development plans. Training offerings, training expenditure, training Courses offered at local and/or regional universities needs analysis. and colleges. Training and development plans/talent management plans. Number of yearly local graduates from relevant courses. Courses offered at local and/or regional universities and colleges. Labor force survey data, demographic data. Staff survey results. Source: Authors. 16. World Bank. 2011. Financial Management Information Systems: 25 years of World Bank experience on what works and what doesn’t. Washington DC: World Bank. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 56 Organizations should start with existing HR data about its transformation, there appears to be a gap between perceptions own workforce. This includes information on recruitment, and the strategies and action plans in place. Most OECD terminations, turn-over, promotions, retirement projections, countries have recognized the importance of strategizing learning and development plans, performance management and investing to strengthen the capacities of the public sector results, and employee survey data. Ideally, data over the workforce, with 79 percent of countries having dedicated previous three to five years would help to identify any trends. strategies or policies for digital competencies (OECD 2020). In addition to this internal data, information such as labor force surveys and other statistical surveys as well as information However, even when a digital strategy or digital agenda makes on educational facilities including universities, colleges, and specific references to digital skills, it often does not contain a public administration academies on courses offered and structured approach that can guide public sector efforts in this number and type of graduates will help to understand some area. For example, the Brazilian Digital Governance Strategy of the issues related to the supply and demand of specific skill (Estratégia de Governança Digital, EGD) did not include any areas – such as digital. specific actions to improve the digital capabilities of Brazilian civil servants. When asked about the level of priority given to While it can be challenging to forecast the supply and demand the improvement of digital skills in Brazil’s digital government of skills, the pace of technological change can make it very policy, 77 percent of public sector organizations surveyed difficult to identify skills that are needed to develop and considered it a low or medium priority.17 Digital skills remain maintain cutting-edge technology and even more difficult to a policy issue that requires more attention, commitment, and understand whether there is a local supply of these skills. For support from governments. some bespoke skills, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, the local supply of these skills is likely In African Portuguese-speaking countries18 and Timor-Leste, to be extremely limited or still under development. digital user and professional and complementary skill sets were identified as essential for enabling and ensuring the sustainability of digital transformation in these countries. Strategic Direction Despite this, none of these countries had dedicated strategies The starting point for workforce planning is to discuss and in place to attract into the civil service people who have ICT agree on the strategic vision or objectives that the organization qualifications, or strategies that recognize and retain such is working to achieve in relation to its GovTech transformation. skills through a structured ICT career.19 This ensures a clear vision or goal that everyone is working towards. Without this clarity, it will be very difficult to identify Supply of Digital Skills the skills that will be needed in order to meet the goal. This Once the strategic direction is clear and agreed, the next step means examining the broader policy system surrounding civil is to analyze the supply of digital skills, both within the existing service skills and prioritization of GovTech, the extent to which workforce as well as from other sources. Organizations can the government is investing in other human capital initiatives, start by gathering information and data on current public and whether there are adequate institutional supports. Digital servants working in roles within the scope of the workforce government strategies are critical in providing policy and plan. This may be public servants who are working on planning guidance in a constantly and rapidly evolving work any GovTech initiatives or on a more focused group of environment. Strategies make it possible to align goals, priority projects. objectives, and initiatives and are fundamental in establishing consensus and the necessary cross-government coordination MEASURING INDIVIDUALS’ SKILLS for efficient and effective policy implementation (OECD Panama). In this regard, they form a basis of strategic direction Several tools have emerged to measure digital skills and in workforce planning. competencies. They tend to take three different forms (LSE 2014, Kluzer et al, 2018, ITU 2020): Beyond higher-level digital government strategies, skills- specific strategies and frameworks are also important for • Self-reported skills surveys. This is a commonly GovTech workforce planning. While ambitious frameworks used method due to its easy and relatively low-cost of digital skills are increasingly seen as a key requirement implementation. Using online survey tools, a skills survey to seize the opportunities and manage the risk of the digital can be rolled out quickly and data can easily be analyzed 17. Responding to the OECD Digital Government Performance Survey. 18. Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe. 19. OECD. Promoting the Digital Transformation of African Portuguese-Speaking Countries and Timor-Leste. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 57 and reported on. Many skills surveys do not require samples of staff using self-reporting surveys of priority skills highly specialized staff or consultants. The challenge with (Canada22) and providing self-test tools for staff23 (UK) as self-reported data is the inherent bias and lack of third- well as utilizing knowledge and performance assessments as party validation. described above. In Nigeria,24 in response to the COVID-19 • Knowledge-based exams or survey. This can include pandemic, surging demand for online government services, formal education qualifications such as undergraduate and catalyzed government transformation, the Ministry and postgraduate programs as well as specific technical of Communication and Digital Economy established an qualifications which require knowledge-based testing. e-Government Training Centre. The main aim was to support The main limitation with this method is that it may not capacity building of the public servants on the use of digital require any demonstration of skill or practical application tools and e-Government applications. One of the Centre’s first of knowledge. activities was to conduct a widespread assessment exercise • Performance tests. These can be in an applied format, to profile capacity gaps of public servants in all agencies. laboratory or other controlled environment that allows for participants to demonstrate their ability to complete Surveys can track the level of data and digital skills, monitor digital skill tasks. They generally have a high level of the culture of public officials as well as measure the impact of validity, but can be costly to administer, however with reforms. Surveys can also provide insights into good practices scale and a rising number of options, costs are reducing. in recruitment, promotion, and capacity building. An example Many employment-oriented online tests and games have is the Federal Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), which the US been developed to test digital skills, primarily at basic and Federal Government conducts to improve the management intermediate levels used across a wide variety of jobs. Two of federal employees. It has been used in dozens of pieces well-known examples of performance tests are the Digital of research to examine topics central to public administration Competence Wheel20 and the International Computer (Marvel and Resh, 2019). Box 7 (below) describes the use Driver’s License21 (ICDL). of surveys during COVID-19 to monitor remote work in public administration. BASELINING CIVIL SERVANTS Extending the type of information collected in HR Management Using or adapting the types of tools described above, public Information Systems beyond the basic characteristics of the sector organizations are exploring a variety of diagnostics staff is essential to provide a clear picture of staff skills. A survey to assess and observe civil servants’ knowledge and digital in the United Kingdom found that 40 percent of public sector skills competence, helping to set a baseline and identify the organizations lack the skills needed for digital transformation needs for up-skilling existing staff. These include testing all or (GovTechLeaders 2018). > > > B O X 7 - Using Surveys during COVID-19 to Monitor Remote Work in Public Administration Prior to COVID-19, regular remote work (or telework or work from home) was generally the realm of higher-income countries such as Australia, the United States, and Canada. Although remote work began in the 1970s, its popularity started increasing in the 1980s with the introduction of personal computers, internet access, and mobile phones.25 During the pandemic, as a result of the need for the isolation of large proportions of the community, public sector organizations globally were forced to very quickly, and many introduced remote working for public officials. In at least 136 countries, some kind of remote work arrangements were introduced for public servants during the pandemic.26 The overall impact of remote working is not yet clear. There has been growing research and evidence focusing on the effects of remote work including productivity benefits. A study from China in 2015 reported at 13 percent performance increase as well as improved work satisfaction and a halving of attrition, but the rate of promotion fell.27 20. https://digital-competence.eu/. 21. https://icdl.org/. 22. https://digital.canada.ca/2018/11/01/dear-colleagues-what-digital-training-do-you-need/. 23. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-yourself-at-digital. 24. https://punchng.com/e-government-fg-compiles-civil-servants-digital-skills-competency/ 25. Choudhury, P. 2020. Our Work from Anywhere Future. HBR. https://hbr.org/2020/11/our-work-from-anywhere-future. 26. https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/home-based-work-public-sector-8-immediate-recommendations. 27. Bloom, N, Liang, J, Roberts, J and Ying, Z. J. 2015. Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. February, Vol.130, Issue 1, pp.165-218. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 58 It also appears that many staff who became remote workers during the pandemic would like to continue working remotely for at least part of their working time once the pandemic is over. In Canada, 80 percent of staff would like to work at least half of their hours remotely.28 Some of the reasons for this continued support for remote working include better than expected experiences by staff when working from home, investments that have been made in physical and human capital to enable working from home, diminished stigma and a reluctance to return to pre-pandemic activities.29 An upcoming World Bank report, Managing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Remote Work in Public Administration,30 describes 7 large-scale surveys of 109,000 public officials in Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Morocco, and Kazakhstan conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The surveys, conducted by the World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab, explored the experiences of public officials during the pandemic and remote work, employee well-being, and perceived productivity as well as preferences about remote work in the future. The survey data suggests that remote work training is associated with greater remote work productivity, yet most public officials had not received training in key skills and competencies for remote work. For example, in Colombia and Chile, only a minority of public officials reported having been trained in competencies to work effectively from home (46 percent and 28 percent respectively). One of the key recommendations of the report is that targeted training on digital skills should be introduced, with an emphasis on those institutions and staff groups with lower skill levels. SCREENING AND APPRAISAL IN RECRUITING Demands for Digital Skills With a clear view of the available digital skills, organizations Public sector entities are also incorporating digital skills should consider what specific skills and qualifications are criteria and assessment into recruiting processes for both needed in order to meet the agreed strategic direction position-based and career systems. This may take the form of and objectives. Senior technical staff as well as manager/ integrating ICT competency-oriented questions into civil service supervisors from key technical areas should be involved in exams; requiring completion of specific online assignments determining what skills and qualifications will be needed by or participating in exercises; taking a test at an assessment the organization over the next three to five years. For the center, which could include diagnostic digital skills tests noted purposes of this discussion, staff should not be constrained above; or endorsing digital skills certifications/credentials by existing skills and qualifications within the organization, but in recruits. Several agencies in the U.S. have reintroduced rather they should identify the skills that will be needed. A gap exams for many IT positions.31 For position-based systems analysis can then be conducted following the identification of especially, it is critical to review the position descriptions to the skills that are needed. ensure that requisite skills are included and to update – and train as may be needed – evaluators and interviewers to be Ideally this discussion should also identify any critical positions able to identify and screen for skills indicators, signals, and which may pose a greater risk to achieving the strategic certifications, and ascertain competencies from resume or objectives. These risks include a loss of critical knowledge, interviews. In Italy, an Internet Core Competency Certification long lead time to skill up another staff member and potential (IC3) certification is listed as a state-recognized qualification disruptions to work. Considerations of skill scarcity including that is required in tenders and in recruitment for public service how hard it is to recruit for the skills as well the importance staff, including teachers.32 of the position to the GovTech objectives, can be helpful to identify such positions. A simple risk matrix (see Table 7 below) can help with discussions. 28. Statistics Canada. 2021. Study: Working from home: Productivity and preferences. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210401/dq210401b-eng.htm. 29. Barrero, J., Bloom, N., Davis, S. 2021. Why Working from home will stick, DOI: 10.3386/w28731. https://www.nber.org/papers/w28731. 30. World Bank. 2022. Managing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Remote Work in Public Administration. 31. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/04/02/for-federal-worker-hopefuls-the-civil-service-exam-is-making-a-comeback/. 32. https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 59 > > > T A B L E 7 - Critical Positions Risk Matrix How difficult is it to recruit for the digital skills? What is the likely Low level of scarcity Moderate level of scarcity High level of scarcity impact of the position High Impact Moderate Risk High Risk High Risk on the achievement of GovTech objectives? Moderate Impact Low Risk Moderate Risk High Risk Low Impact Low Risk Low Risk Moderate Risk Source: Authors. DIGITAL JOBS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE An organization needs to know the digital profiles of job functions to determine the number and type of digitally Governments have been strategically using human resources skilled employees it needs to recruit or retrain. For many civil data to improve the quality of the civil service (Van Ooijen, administrations, mapping digital roles to government functions Ubaldi, and Welby 2019). For example, in Belgium, the can be challenging, and assessment, recruitment and training Copernicus Reform introduced workforce planning combined can be difficult. Further to the definitional framework of digital with efforts to realign institutional objectives with the medium- work (see page 48), figure 15 below maps the spectrum of term budget and the skillsets requirements. In Ireland, the digital jobs to common types of positions likely to be found government introduced Public Service 2020, a framework in most civil service agencies or departments, and in many for fostering innovation in Ireland’s public service. In Italy, the cases, across all levels of government. government has used predictive analytics in the health sector to forecast the demand for doctors, nurses, dentists, midwives, and pharmacists.” (World Bank, ECA report 2021). > > > F I G U R E 1 5 - Illustrative Framework Mapping of Digital Jobs in Civil Service • Policy or budget analyst • Procurement officer • Lawyer Digital-enabled • Project manager/administrator • Public engagement/communications or social media specialist • Statistician/data scientist • Quality Assurance Digital-dependent • Logistics • Systems administrator • Programmer • IT help desk and trainer Digital-intensive • Cyber security Source: Authors, adapted from World Bank 2013, and OECD 2005. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 60 FORECASTING TOOLS AND STRATEGIES Gap Analysis Once the supply of existing digital skills within the organization One approach to identify and forecast digital skill needs in the is known and the skills and qualifications that will be needed public administration workforce is to utilize and adapt existing in order to deliver on the digital strategic objectives have been methods of skill forecasting that is used in the private and defined, the organization can now begin to understand the public sectors. These have varying requirements and can be gaps between supply and demand. This should also include suitable for use in lower resourced environments. They range identifying any priority gaps where the impact on organizational from focus groups to employer surveys, quantitative modeling, performance will be significant as well as any gaps which are graduate tracer studies, and vacancy surveys. For example, expected to be the easiest to close. focus groups and roundtables may allow for a deeper understanding of needs, but could also be non-representative As introduced earlier in this chapter, there are digital skills gaps and provide only a partial or siloed agency view. Quantitative evident worldwide. According to one global survey, 90 percent models could provide a more holistic, consistent, and concrete of public sector agencies acknowledged that workforce- view of expected needs across government. Such activities related issues represent a challenge to manage their digital require data, and expertise that may not be readily or fully transformation and only 34 percent of agencies indicated that available or ascertainable and could be cost-prohibitive. they have sufficient skills to implement their digital strategies. Sector-based employer/manager surveys may provide the The survey also highlights a gap in public agencies’ abilities most real-time, direct, relevant data if the response rate adds to respond to these workforce and skills challenges with only up to credible sample; and biases will need to be accounted 33 percent of respondents reporting that their agency provides for (ITU 2020, ILO/OECD 2018).33 the right resources or opportunities to obtain the digital skills that are needed. (Deloitte, The Journey to Government’s Comparative survey data of the private and the public Digital Transformation). A weak gap analysis can lead to or sectors can help identify agencies that lag behind private compound the difficulties in attracting and retaining digital sector counterparts and assess the impacts of these gaps. skills in the civil service. Labor market surveys or surveys of potential public sector recruits can complement this diagnostic. They could be used, Skills Strategy Development for example, to evaluate the supply of empirical skills (see and Implementation Thomson, Veall and Sweetman 2018). Surveys can also help Armed with a list of digital skills gaps, including any priority policy makers understand how these factors affect the decision gaps, organizations can then start to develop and implement of empirically minded individuals to apply for or accept public strategies that will work to reduce these skills gaps. There sector positions and the role monetary incentives play in the are many different strategies that organizations could use to decision, which are likely to be useful especially data points mitigate challenges and fill skills gaps, but implementing a for in-demand digital talent (Dal Bó, Finan and Rossi 2013; single strategy is unlikely to provide the impact and effect that Mastracci 2009). 33. ILO and OECD 2018, Approaches to anticipating skills for the future of work wcms_646143.pdf (ilo.org). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 61 will be required. We will focus on three core approaches:34 build the skills within the organization through upskilling and reskilling of existing employees; buy the needed skills through recruiting new staff; borrow the skills by engaging temporary staff or contractors, utilizing secondment, or fellowship arrangements. See Figure 16 below. > > > F I G U R E 1 6 - Core Approaches to Reduce Digital Skills Gaps in the Public Sector • Upskilling (improving existing skills) Build • Reskilling (developing new skills) Buy • Recruit new staff with desired skills • Temporary or contract staff Borrow • Redeployment, secondment, fellowships Source: Authors, based on Ulrich (1998). PRINCIPAL APPROACHES – BUILD, BUY, BORROW and the maturity of existing HR systems will all need to be factored into the decision-making process. There are three key approaches that can be used to narrow or close the digital skills gap – build, buy and borrow. Each A global survey of IT leaders in 202035 showed that there approach has its own advantages and disadvantages (see were a variety of approaches to handling skills gaps, with Table 8), and it is important to understand these when deciding 56 percent intending to train existing staff, 17 percent hiring on which approach, or combination of approaches, could be outside contractors, 16 percent hiring additional staff with the used. Considerations such as how quickly skills need to be skills needed, and 10 percent having no plan to address the available, the time period that the skills are needed for, cost skills gap. 34. Ulrich, D. 1998. Intellectual Capital = Competency x Commitment, Sloan Management Review, Winter, 1998. 35. 2020 Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report; accessed August 9, 2021. https://go.globalknowledge.com/2020salaryreport. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 62 > > > T A B L E 8 - Approaches to Bridge the Digital Skills Gap - Advantages and Disadvantages Strategy Advantages Disdvantages Build Upskilling • Positive impact on workforce. • Skill development can take time. Reskilling • Builds skills beyond employee’s • Existing training options are unlikely to immediate role (long-term value). be suitable – need to identify relevant • Longer-term less reliance on and quality training options, likely external sourcing and potential labor external. market risks. • Requires continual investment to ensure longer-term retraining benefits. Buy Recruiting for new • Skills can be available quickly. • Existing HR systems/practices may skills and hiring • Positive impact on workforce. impact implementation. new staff. • Builds skills beyond employee’s • More costly in the long-term with immediate role (long-term value). increased staff numbers. • May require future re-training and sustained investment. Borrow Temporary staff • Skills can be available quickly and on • More costly in the long-term. Contractors pace with new digital product/device • Does not build skills beyond the Redeploying advances. immediate needs (limited long-term existing staff • Organization has systems/processes value). Secondments, to action immediately. • May not have positive impact on fellowships. • May be cost-effective in short-term. workforce. Source: Authors. Build While we often default to thinking about training as formal courses or events that employees will attend, there are many One of the most popular ways to reduce skills gaps is to different training modalities available. It is widely accepted provide training to existing staff. This could be either upskilling in training and learning literature that informal learning has – improving or strengthening the existing skill set that an a critical role to play. The balance between different learning employee has; or re-skilling – providing employees with new approaches is often referred to as 70-20-10 (see Figure 17 or different skills to enable them to move into a different role below). That is, that 70 percent of learning happens through or perform a different task. The “build” strategy offers an on-the-job experiences (experiential learning), 20 percent from approach which can deliver long-term benefits, both for the social interactions like team members or coaches/mentors staff as well as the organization. Developing or improving (social learning), and 10 percent of learning happens through skills can help staff perform their current role more effectively formal training events (formal learning). These percentages or help them to progress to a higher-level or more complex are not fixed but rather reflect the optimal way that individuals role in the future. Offering staff opportunities to improve their learn. Effective training interventions will ensure that each of skills through training and development can also have a these elements (formal, social, experiential) are incorporated positive impact on employee engagement.36 There are also as part of learning programs. some challenges to adopting a “build” strategy for digital skills. Firstly, skill development can take time. Employees are unlikely to be immediately effective after completing training. This will also depend on the quality of training. 36. Chandani, A., Mehta, M., Mall, A., Khokhar, V. 2016. Employee Engagement: A Review Paper on Factors Affecting Employee Engagement, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 9(15); Sattar, T, Ahmad, K, Hassan, S. 2015. Role of Human Resource Practice in Employee Performance and Job Satisfaction with Mediating Effect of Employee Engagement, Pakistan Economic and Social Review, Vol.53 (1). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 63 Existing training options are unlikely to be suitable for all of education and training programs to meet their digital the digital skills that are needed. Organizations will need to transformation aspirations.37 assess what training and development options they are best placed to deliver, and which skills or qualifications may need There are often many items competing for governments’ to be delivered by external training sources. The quality of scarce resources. In that sense, budget allowances for training these training sources is critical. and certification are often relegated to a lower priority.38 Most of the budget goes to investments in upgrading hardware Sustaining and improving the competitiveness, effectiveness and the implementation of new software. These investments and efficiency of public sector employees in a fast-changing come with the promises of more security and increased environment requires providing just-in-time education and efficiency. However, new technology cannot exhibit its worth training programs. However, specialized training in digital or its impact on efficiency and effectiveness without being skills can be expensive. Maintaining a growing and dynamic backed by technologically capable and confident staff who public sector workforce requires investments that come have the necessary training and capacity building resources. from increasingly scarce resources. This is also true for the The digital skills aspect is one of the “analog complements” opportunities to acquire the required skills and knowledge necessary to maximize digital dividends. When technology is to remain competitive and contribute to the country’s digital applied to transform tasks without working on improving these transformation efforts. This presents the government with the analog complements, technology applications can fail to bring challenge of striving to achieve the best return on investment the broad-based gain of making tasks cheaper and faster. for the creation and delivery of comprehensive workforce > > > F I G U R E 1 7 - Sources of Training - 70-20-10 Model 10% Formal learning 20% Social learning 70% Experimental learning 37. https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pdp.albany.edu/Media/PDF/CommuniquePDF/V28_PDP_Communique.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1627856583916000& usg=AOvVaw1-ZCFgRXNV9v-f6ECZwjY9. 38. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/digital-skills-remote-work-public-sector/116440/. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 64 Buy processes. While the centrality of transparency and merit recruitment must be retained,40 there are other aspects of The second approach to reducing a digital skills gap is to recruit public sector recruitment that can be improved, including and hire in new skills from outside the organization or “buy” advertising all vacant public sector roles via a government the necessary digital skills. The extent to which this approach jobs portal or private sector jobs website as well as allowing is relevant for public sector organizations will depend on the online applications. See Box 8 below which describes the type of civil service that is in place. For countries which have approach taken by the US Department of Homeland Security a career civil service, recruitment of new civil servants will to the recruitment of cybersecurity specialists. generally only occur at entry levels. Depending on the digital skills that are being recruited for, this approach may not be In order to recruit candidates with specific digital skills, it is as impactful in the short or medium term as either build or critical that public sector organizations understand what borrow. Buying skills can also refer to longer-term changes to digital professionals’ value and respond accordingly. Surveys screening practices and requirements for civil service entrants. and focus groups show worldwide consensus that highly The most significant advantage of “buying” the necessary skilled digital professionals tend to place factors beyond digital skills, is that the skills can be available relatively just compensation at the top of what they want from work; quickly, compared to building those same skills. Once the work-life balance, learning and entrepreneurial atmosphere, recruitment process has been completed and the new staff culture of innovation are often top of most lists (BCG 2019, are in the workplace, the needed digital skills can be used. CapGemini, HBR, Deloitte, The journey to government’s Effective recruitment processes will also contribute positively digital transformation). Issues such as flexible work options, to employee engagement which can bring a positive impact collaborative work teams, and accessible management are in on the workforce. As with the “build” strategy, recruiting for demand. While public sector organizations are limited in their digital skills will bring long-term benefits to the organization by ability to pay increased compensation for digital professionals, expanding and deepening the range of skills and qualification there are other aspects of employment where the public sector that are available within the organization and enabling the has an advantage. Digital transformation programs can have organization to perform a greater range of digital functions. profound impacts on citizens and government performance. Highlighting the purpose of the role and the national interest As previously noted, human resource process challenges of the digital transformation program is a unique benefit may be especially burdensome to successfully implementing available only to public sector employees (WDR 2021, BCG a “buy” strategy – the existing HR systems and practices may 2019). The public sector should seek to brand itself as an be outdated and insufficient, and it may be more costly in employer through creation of a “value proposition for the the longer-term, increased employee costs (wages, benefits, next generation of talent.” This branding would make use retirement obligations). There are multiple dimensions of HR of the fact that millennials and younger potential employees system and practice that are important to ensure that public value opportunities and prospects that enable them to have sector organizations can effectively recruit for digital skills. This a positive impact through their work. For example, public starts with job or role descriptions which should clearly identify sector departments can attract younger talent by designing the digital skills that are needed as well as the critical tasks a workforce strategy that specifically communicates and that are to be performed in that role. Adopting a contemporary highlights the impact that the work agency staff has on the and relevant job title can also help potential candidates easily different causes, including the lives of the citizens. understand the purpose of the role. Targeting students and graduates with bespoke recruitment Many potential candidates are deterred from public sector programs is also increasing in popularity. Such programs can roles due to experiences with recruitment processes. Even in offer benefits to students while they complete their studies high-income countries such as the US, recruitment processes together with guaranteed recruitment upon completion of their may still be cumbersome which can deter younger applicants, qualifications. Public sector organizations can benefit from in particular, who will not wait lengthy periods of time before developing a pipeline of entry-level digital specialists who receiving a response on a job.39 For candidates with in-demand are motivated and interested in public service employment. skills, such as digital skills, it is critical that public sector Australia has developed a Digital Cadetship Program41 for organizations work to streamline and optimize recruitment students looking for a digital or technical career in government. 39. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/all-things-work/pages/hiring-challenges-confront-public-sector-employers.aspx. 40. This is often a legislative requirement for public sector recruitment. 41. https://www.digitalprofession.gov.au/digital-cadetship-program. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 65 The program offers industry experience and part-time work during study, reimbursement of university fees, guaranteed employment upon completion and a mentor to help guide professional development. The United Kingdom offers an Apprenticeship program42 which combines work with study including the opportunity to work towards an industry professional qualification, undergraduate degree or postgraduate degree. The length of apprenticeships will vary depending on the qualification, but apprentices undertake paid work while studying. There is also the possibility to transition into a permanent role on completion of the apprenticeship. > > > B O X 8 - Challenges to Recruiting Cybersecurity Specialists at the US Department of Homeland Security The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) faced significant and long-standing challenges to recruiting and retaining individuals with in-demand cybersecurity skills. As the scope of cybersecurity threats had grown over recent years, the agency had experienced a spike in attrition as well as longstanding cybersecurity vacancies. In 2014 Congress gave the agency the authority to design its own talent management system, – one that is exempt from many of the usual hiring, classification and compensation rules. Under the new cyber talent management system (CTMS), DHS doesn’t have to meet the usual job posting requirements and can strategically target new talent using, for example, social media. It can ask candidates to participate in simulations, tests and other interviews in order to demonstrate their expertise. CTMS compensation also works differently to the usual government rules. Salaries are benchmarked to the market and are subject to pay level caps as well as an aggregate CTMS compensation cap. There are no automatic salary increases and length of service is not a factor in CTMS compensation. Compensation increases and bonuses are based on work, or mission, impact and deeper levels of expertise in order to progress to higher career levels. The new CTMS took nearly seven years to develop and went live in mid-November 2021 with an initial 150 target positions. Sources: US Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity Service, http:dhscs.usajobs.gov/Home ; DHS wants to lead the way on civil service reform, Federal News Network, April 14, 2016. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2016/04/dhs-wants-lead- way-civil-service-reform/; DHS details how it’ll recruit, pay and promote new hires under cyber talent management system, August 26, 2021. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/hiring-retention/2021/08/dhs-details-how-itll-recruit-pay-and-promote-new-hires-under- cyber-talent-management-system/; Why the new DHS cyber talent management system was nearly 7 years in the making, November 30, 2021. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2021/11/why-the-new-dhs-cyber-talent-management-system-was-nearly-seven- years-in-the-making/. Borrow new labor market entrants. For example, Singapore has the Smart Nation Fellowship Programme which offers three- to Digital skills gaps can also be bridged by adopting temporary six-month fellowships for data scientists, engineers, software measures to obtain or borrow the needed digital skills. This developers, technologists, designers, or applied researchers. can include directly engaging temporary staff or contracting a Even if individuals cannot commit to the three to six months, firm to provide the digital skills that are needed for a specified the Government Technology Agency can offer part-time time. It can also include redeploying existing staff within consultancies or even a role as a technical mentor to provide the organization or seconding staff from other public sector technical guidance to project teams.43 organizations, who have the relevant skills, to higher priority roles or projects that need specific digital skills for a defined The key advantage to the borrow approach is the speed at period of time. This approach can include implementing which the skills, which may not be available elsewhere, can be other specific, short-term employment arrangements such available. Subject to any specific recruitment (or procurement) as “Digital Fellowships,” which can help to attract advanced requirements, bringing temporary or contract staff onboard skills through dedicated and expedited hiring arrangements. can be very quick. Many public sector organizations will These could be particularly attractive to recent graduates or already have systems and processes in place to facilitate 42. https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/apprenticeships/ 43. https://www.tech.gov.sg/careers/smart-nation-fellowship-programme/.. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 66 temporary employment and contract arrangements which should understand their obligations under the contract. Public will not rely on complex HRM systems and practices. Over sector organizations must ensure that the services delivered the short-term, “borrowing” digital skills may be cost-effective are those that are specified in the contract and not additional when compared to the costs involved in delayed projects ones. Public sector organizations should also ensure that they or the unavailability of existing systems. It can also provide understand any costs in the contract, particularly in the event public sector organizations with access to in-demand skills that any changes to scope are required. that may not be otherwise be possible through standardized recruitment processes. There is considerable flexibility with CHALLENGES using temporary or contract staff, as organizations are able to adjust their staffing needs as workloads requires. However, Attracting and retaining employees with in-demand knowledge over the long-term, this approach can be much more costly and skills is a global challenge for private and public sector than recruiting permanent staff. organizations, and this challenge seems particularly acute in relation to digital skills. In 2020, 78 percent of global IT The main disadvantage of “borrowing” digital skills is that it decision-makers reported skill gaps and 45 percent of IT does not contribute to building skills beyond the immediate leaders reported talent attraction and retention as their biggest needs. While temporary or contract workers may contribute challenge.45 Many of the digital skills that are needed in order to building some digital skills for existing staff, unless this is to support GovTech are in short supply and have been the part of a structured and deliberate training and development subject of considerable focus and work within the private strategy, this is likely to be ad hoc and may rely on the sector and many high-income economies. While the research individual contractor as to its effectiveness. Temporary and and evidence base for low- and middle-income countries is contract workers are often paid on an hourly or daily basis weaker, anecdotal and comparative experience signals these and these costs are typically more than civil service wages. challenges are likely to be even more acute. The public sector Contractors are not entitled to other employment benefits may be an employer of choice in more traditional areas, such as sick leave, annual leave, or retirement contributions. such as public administration, but in many countries where Entitlements for temporary workers will depend on country competition from the private sector is strong, the public sector employment regulations. It is important to ensure that an struggles to attract employees with specific technical skills. inclusive approach to taken to any contingent staff to ensure that all staff are treated similarly when it comes to issues of Compensation organizational culture. If an inclusive approach is not taken, there is a significant risk that the separate groups of staff will Compensation is a key factor because private sector not work cohesively together, which will impact teamwork and competitors generally pay more than the public sector, organizational performance. and this tends to be especially true for jobs that require scarce skills such as digital skills. Beyond pay disparity, There are additional risks associated with outsourcing the civil service also competes with the private sector in arrangements for highly skilled digital talent.44 Firstly, there are terms of innovation, infrastructure, opportunities for career risks associated with the work that contractors may perform. advancement, and social mobility. In Argentina, for example, Organizations will generally have less control over how the Secretariat of Modernization attributed high employee the work is performed because often the reason to engage turnover within its digital and innovation agencies to the more contractors is that the organization lacks the specialized skills alluring opportunities and salaries in the private sector as well to perform the work. There is also a risk that the contractor as its more agile and innovation-driven mindset and culture may not be sufficiently qualified, as their selection is often (OECD Argentina). done by the contracting firm. This can lead to disputes over work quality. Secondly, there are risks associated with There are a variety of different approaches to managing contract management and the relationship between the compensation for digital talent. In Australia46 and Canada,47 public sector organization and the contracting firm. The digital professionals are compensated using standardized governance arrangements for contracts should be clear public sector pay scales which are linked to job evaluation and both the public sector organization and contracting firm and job classification frameworks. The United Kingdom has 44. This is not an exhaustive discussion of the benefits and risks of outsourced arrangements. 45. 2020 Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report, accessed August 9, 2021. https://go.globalknowledge.com/2020salaryreport. 46. https://www.apsc.gov.au/remuneration-reports/australian-public-service-remuneration-report-2020 47. https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/topics/pay.html. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 67 adopted a digital data and technology pay approach.48 The • Wellbeing – activities to your mental and physical pay approach uses a capability/skill-based mechanism where wellbeing, including yoga, meditation, circuits, knitting … staff are remunerated based on their capability, aligned to you name it. We want you to be able to be you three levels – developing, proficient, and accomplished. The • Training budget – We have budget for you to be your best approach sets a maximum pay for each level of capability, professional self, which you can use for training courses, with agencies free to make decisions for each staff member. books or conferences The pay approach seeks to improve access to fair reward • Community feel – There’s a network waiting for you. and is based on market benchmarking and demand across Share an interest with others, you’ll be supported and government. In addition, to support critical roles, there is also a even encouraged to do so separate pay framework which includes enhanced pay ranges • Civil service pension – This scheme has an average and additional allowances. This pay framework is also closely employer contribution of 27 percent aligned to capability and skills assessments. The Department • In-year bonus scheme – To recognize when you’ve of Homeland Security (DHS) in the United States has performed well in your roles and responsibilities year adopted a more market-based approach to employment and on year compensation for cybersecurity skills. Due to long-standing • Flexible working – Hybrid working with opportunities to challenges recruiting staff with cybersecurity skills, the agency work flexible or compressed hours, part-time working and has given the agency the authority to design its own talent job sharing management system, including compensation rules. • Parental leave – 12 weeks of full pay for maternity, paternity or adoption leave, to help you balance work with Younger generations, such as millennials, can also be family life motivated by specific incentives (Zahree et al, 2018) which • Supportive financing – for season ticket travel, eye-care, the public sector may not offer. Advanced economies, such as cycle-to-work and much more Australia and the United States of America, have developed • 25 days annual leave – plus an extra day off for the specific programs to attract and retain digital skills. Bartlett Queen’s birthday. (2020) describes how ICT experts in Australia are offered more structured careers in the federal public service, in order Evidence of the competition between the public and private to retain and attract more skilled personnel. The United States sectors can also be seen in the views of civil servants. Digital Corps49 targets early career technology talent with Perception surveys of government workers in Indonesia and skills in software engineering, data science and analytics, the Philippines show that many workers believe that the most product management, design, or cybersecurity with a two- competitive university graduates would rather work in the year fellowship program. The fellowship includes a dedicated private sector, and that their co-workers, in the public sector, learning and development curriculum and mentorship. are often not productive (UN E-Government Survey). Most staff also hold that promotions happen on political bases Surveys and focus groups show worldwide consensus that rather than on merit (UN E-Government Survey, 2020). highly skilled digital professionals tend to place factors beyond Anecdotal evidence suggests that these problems appear to compensation at the top of what they want from work; work- be more severe in low-income countries (World Development life balance, learning and entrepreneurial atmosphere, and Report, 2016). culture of innovation are often top of most lists (BCG 2019, CapGemini, HBR, Deloitte, The journey to government’s However, issues of talent cannot be addressed in a vacuum. digital transformation). In addition, issues such as flexible It is critical that public sector organizations develop strategies work options, collaborative work teams, and accessible to attract and retain staff as well as consider the image and management are also in demand. branding of the public sector as an employer (Weske et al, 2019; Keppeler, 2020). The public sector offers a unique For example, the Government Digital Service (GDS) in the opportunity for potential employees to contribute to projects United Kingdom describes the following benefits to working and work that can make a difference to the lives of citizens. for GDS:50 However, public sector organizations need to more clearly 48. UK Government Digital Service, Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Profession Starter pack, May 2020. 49. https://digitalcorps.gsa.gov. 50. Career at Government Digital Service, https://gdscareers.gov.uk/. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 68 communicate this, together with the other benefits that public A digital talent study in Morocco51 highlighted that the digital sector employment offers. This employee value proposition, skills gap is complicated by a “fracture in levels of awareness or EVP, is one way that the public sector can compete more between stakeholders.” More than 85 percent of the Chief effectively with the private sector for digital talent. Human Resources Officers reported that the need for ICT talent will increase in the next five years. However, 38 percent Inadequate Downstream Digital Skills Education and of people already in the job market and 50 percent of students Training Leads to Ill Prepared Workforce reported a negative outlook about the job market. Only three percent of respondents had a clear idea about the existing The availability of digital-ready workers is a prominent issue, jobs in ICT. particularly for developing countries. Commonly, only a relatively small share of the population attends post-secondary In Argentina, in response to inaccurate data on public sector education – whether technical and vocational education and employment, the Secretariat of Public Employment (SEP) training (TVET) or university – and the relevance or quality of launched the Integrated Public Employment Database (Base learning is low even for those that do. Efforts to introduce even Integrada de Empleo Público, BIEP) initiative in 2019. The basic digital or computer content downstream at secondary or goal of the BIEP is to aggregate and improve the quality of even primary levels are often stymied by poor infrastructure information and data sources on public sector employment and lack of connectivity, inadequate or outdated curricula and to support decision-making. As a part of the project, software materials, or ill-prepared teachers. Given that foundational solutions were developed to facilitate the sharing of public learning – literacy, numeracy, science – is critically linked to sector employment information including with other human computational thinking and digital skills learning, education is capital management systems. particularly important for the success of digital transformation efforts, and educational attainment is one of the strongest Emigration and Demographics indicators of digital skill proficiency. Countries with larger segments of the population having access to higher education Emigration poses another challenge for developing countries, tend to have higher digital skill levels (ITU 2018). as rising numbers of youth are searching for better education and employment opportunities abroad, with low rates of It is estimated that only 50 percent of African countries have repatriation. This “brain drain” phenomenon is especially computer skills as a part of their curriculum and that only two robust in ICT and among digital talent. There was a net outflow percent of university students pursue a STEM degree. Equally of at least 70,000 ICT workers from low- and middle-income crucial is the often-low quality qualifications of university countries to high-income countries from 2015 to 2019. This faculties in the region as well as the lack of industry experience. was due in large part to pay gaps, salary differentials of five Most universities are unable to keep up with the fast-changing to 10 times between data scientists in low- and high-income environment of digital technologies and are still offering countries(WDR2021). In Africa, the brain drain challenge is outdated courses in computer science, telecommunications, further exacerbated by estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa and information management systems. Specializations that alone will have around 230 million jobs that require digital are considered critical for a “broad and deep digital economy” skills (IFC, Sub-Saharan Africa Report). such as cybersecurity, digital multimedia, and data analytics, are still missing (World Bank, Digital Skills: Frameworks and Underdeveloped local digital infrastructure, limitations on the Programs 2020). supply of training at the local level, and the availability (or lack) of suitable jobs when compared to wealthier nations, Poor Labor Market Information and Translation also contributes to the ICT-related migration. In 2018, ICT professionals accounted for 2.1 percent of total employment There can be barriers to effectively using labor market in high-income countries, versus 0.1 percent in low- income information and data on skills for government policy purposes. and middle low-income countries. (Choi et all, 2020). Some of these are concerned with a lack of stakeholder involvement, the absence of consensus around skill needs, Insights from Morocco show that more than 70 percent of poor dissemination, and the scattered nature of the policy students express their intent to leave Morocco in the short- response (ILO/OECD). These challenges can be acute to-medium term.52 They are mainly motivated by the lack of for digital skills labor markets where data is often limited or opportunity in the near-term, need to learn novel skills, and quickly outdated. slow career progression. In 2017, 25 percent of the managers 51. https://www.huawei.com/minisite/future-talents/assets/files/dtr_v2eng_2020.pdf. 52. https://www.huawei.com/minisite/future-talents/assets/files/dtr_v2eng_2020.pdf. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 69 in the ICT sector left Morocco for opportunities abroad. Elevate the Importance of and Investment in Digital Skills Similarly, in 2018 around 8,000 managers and technicians, 1,200 entrepreneurs, and 600 engineers left the country. While digital skills have generally been recognized as critical to the overall success and sustainability of GovTech, more Progress Monitoring specific and actionable planning and investment is needed The final step in digital workforce planning is to ensure that to make progress on capacity building and skill development. there is regular monitoring of the implementation of the digital Digital skills should be a key and specific component of any skills action plan to ensure that it is meeting its objective of digital infrastructure or systems development project to ensure narrowing or closing the digital skills gaps. There is a range of that the digital skills required to effectively support and sustain data that can be used as part of any monitoring: the technology investment can be built and sustained during the project period. Finally, ensuring that a sufficient budget is • HRM data such as: available to support digital skill and capacity building is critical and demonstrates the importance of digital skills to public • Recruitment times (number of days from vacancy sector leaders. to advertising; advertising to shortlisting; shortlisting to longlisting; longlisting to interview; interview to The critical actions for public sector organizations are: appointment decision; appointment decision to commencement). • Ensure that addressing the supply and demand of • Length of time that critical digital positions are vacant. digital skills are included in any Digital Strategy that is • Staff turnover rate, particularly for digital positions. developed including identifying any critical skills gaps and • Performance appraisal results including identifying committing to reduce this gap through the development trends of skills for further development/training. and implementation of a Digital Skills Strategy for the • Staff profile information including age, gender, Civil Service. educational qualifications. • Develop a Civil Service Digital Skills Action Plan based on the results of a digital skills workforce planning exercise. • Monitoring issues raised in staff grievances/complaints. • Ensure a digital skill and capacity building component • Conducting exit interviews for staff who leave/resign from is included in any digital infrastructure or systems digital positions. installation project. • Regular staff surveys. • Allocate sufficient budget and include results indicators • Results of training evaluations from staff and managers that are focused on digital skill building. including specific questions on skill improvement and • Encourage the sharing of global best practices and work performance. resources across government including subnational. A regular progress report, including a summary of key data, Modernize HRM Policies and Practices should be provided to senior leaders to ensure they are informed of achievements and challenges. An effective and responsive HRM system is needed to underpin and support actions to build digital skills in the public sector. HRM policies and practices in attraction, retention, recruitment, job design, training, promotion, and Emerging Lessons for Building Digital compensation are all key components to ensure that the Skills in GovTech required digital skills are available within the organization. Public sector HRM is often governed by complex regulations and legislation designed to support underpinning principles of In order to improve and strengthen the availability of digital open and merit-based employment. skills for digital government transformation, there are four key areas that public sector organizations should focus on. The critical actions for public sector organizations are to: Under each area we have identified a range of critical actions for public sector organizations. We understand that every • Assess the maturity of existing HRM systems to highlight government has a different level of GovTech maturity and not areas for strengthening including streamlining recruitment all actions will be relevant for the context in all countries. processes and assessing the flexibility of employment EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 70 modalities to contemplate multiple ways of engaging staff. it is contemporary and incorporates digital elements • Take action to streamline or reform any regulatory or legal (both in delivery modality as well as content); implement barriers to support the adoption of more contemporary continuous professional development for instructors to HRM practices. ensure that training participants receive high-quality • Identify which digital skills are needed and the proficiency training experiences and review training institutions to level required in civil service roles (basic to advanced). ensure they are organized and resourced appropriately. Revise (or develop) competency frameworks to ensure • Consider adopting a learning and development approach that digital skills are incorporated for all civil service with a greater emphasis on on-the-job experiences roles and revise job descriptions to include digital skills (experiential learning) and utilize multiple options to make necessary for all roles. training available to staff including online and face-to-face • Develop talent strategies to support build, borrow, and buy as well as full-time and part-time options. approaches as part of a digital skills workforce planning • Implement continuous monitoring and evaluation of training exercise, for inclusion in a Digital Skills Strategy for impact including assessment of short and medium-term Civil Service. training effectiveness, integrating multiple feedback loops • Consider any incentives or special arrangements that and instituting longer-term impact evaluation of training might be necessary to ensure the effective recruitment programs. and utilization of digital talent (specialized roles). This may include special measures such as establishing Support Continued Research and Data on the Digital special pay scales, additional employment conditions Labor Market and Skills for Public Administration beyond the usual civil service conditions, special digital career pathways and the use of a centralized digital unit Quality and relevant data is important to support effective to work across priority digital projects to maximize the use monitoring of digital skills initiatives. Better quality public sector of scarce digital skills and improve technical opportunities workforce data will enable organizations to better understand for staff. the profile and dimensions of the workforce including existing digital talent. Additional data to help inform the effectiveness of Incentivize Quality and Sustainable Learning, Training current strategies can be gathered through surveys of existing and Development and potential staff. Improving learning and development opportunities for staff is The critical actions for public sector organizations are to: not only a key staff retention strategy but can also help public sector organizations to respond more quickly to changing • Strengthen the collection and analysis of workforce data, skills demands. Strengthening the quality of learning and including learning and development, skills/qualifications, development options will ensure better quality training and and training priorities. development outcomes for staff as well as being able to more • Gather and analyze the views of the existing workforce effectively evaluate the impact of training investment. on digital skills, learning and development, and career options for digital roles. This data should also be broken The critical actions for public sector organizations are to: down by age and gender dimensions. • Specifically focus on analyzing the profile of existing • Encourage managers and staff to adopt a lifelong learning digital talent (specialized roles) including staff views on approach which recognizes the need for ongoing, career options, retention, and learning and development. voluntary and self-motivated learning. In the workplace, This should include age and gender dimensions. this should include continuous training on digital skills • Survey a broader range of potential civil service staff along with professional, management & leadership skills. including unsuccessful applicants, digital skills students, • Identify priorities for digital skill learning and development returning expats, and other groups who may be potential based on individual and organizational needs and digital talent to gather data on what are they looking for in risk to the achievement of GovTech priorities. These employment and whether they would or would not work in priorities should also be linked to individual performance the public sector. development plans and the Digital Skills Strategy for the • Encourage public sector organizations to gather better Civil Service. data on digital labor markets through instruments such as • Strengthen the quality of learning and development labor force surveys and business surveys. options, including revising learning content to ensure EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 71 Annex 2.1: Summary Table on Country Examples Issue Country example More information Build United Kingdom (Government Digital https://gdscareers.gov.uk/ Service careers) Australia (Digital Profession training) https://www.digitalprofession.gov.au/digital-profession-training Canada (Canadian Digital Service) https://digital.canada.ca/careers/ Borrow Singapore (Smart Nation Fellowship https://www.tech.gov.sg/careers/smart-nation-fellowship- Programme) programme/ Buy United States (Department of Homeland https://dhscs.usajobs.gov/Home Security) United States (United States Digital Corp) https://digitalcorps.gsa.gov/ HR reforms Philippines (Civil Service Commission, http://www.csc.gov.ph/2014-02-21-08-16-56/2014-02-21-08- PRIME-HRM program) 17-24/2014-02-28-06-36-08.html Digital skills/ European Digital Competence https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/ competency Framework (DigComp) JRC106281/web-digcomp2.1pdf_(online).pdf frameworks Skills Framework for the Information Age www.sfia-online.org/en (SFIA) United Kingdom (Digital, Data and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digital-data-and- Technology Profession Capability technology-profession-capability-framework Framework) Australia (Digital Professional Stream https://digitalprofession.gov.au/ EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 72 References Aral, S., E. 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Zahree, M., T. Lipkie, S. Mehlman, and S. Neylon. 2018. “Recruitment and Retention of Early-Career Technical Talent: What Young Employees Want from Employers.” Research-Technology Management 61(5): 51-61. doi:10.1080/08956308.2018.1495966. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 76 3. >>> Leadership and Culture for Innovation Zahid Hasnain, Wouter Van Acker, Galileu Kim Introduction How can managers and staff in the public sector initiate and sustain public sector technological innovation? What aids organizations, departments, and units to adopt new technology? What lessons can be learned from the experiences of governments that both succeeded— and failed—in promoting digital innovation in the public sector? This chapter aims to provide a conceptual framework and empirical evidence on the role of organizational leadership and organizational culture in driving the adoption and sustained implementation of technological innovation in government, and to identify priority reforms that can incentivize and capacitate public organizations to innovate and achieve digital dividends—as much of the private sector is doing. The focus of this chapter is leadership and culture within organizations to complement the inter-organizational and whole-of-government factors that were detailed in Chapter 1. The chapter is organized as follows. The first section presents the conceptual framework, discussing issues of definition, scope, and analog complements to public sector innovation and technology, drawing on the large academic and policy literature on leadership and culture, and their role in fostering innovation in the public sector. The next two sections present empirical evidence on the importance of these analog complements, drawing on surveys conducted by the World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab and case studies of select World Bank digital technology projects. The final section concludes with policy recommendations. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 77 Conceptual Framework complements box in Figure 16 below, specifically the two interrelated and complementary concepts of “leadership” and “culture,” which have been emphasized in a growing body of literature as driving technological innovation in the public This chapter uses the framework of a government agency sector (Van Wart 2003, De Vries, Beckers and Tummers 2015). production function for conceptualizing the analog and digital Managers affect staff through their human resource practices drivers of innovation (Figure 18). A production function is such as performance evaluation and training, in addition to the process by which “inputs,” or the human and financial determining the organizational practices that structure the day- resources available to a public sector organization, are to-day work, like setting organizational goals, aligning staff to converted to “outputs” that citizens and businesses care those goals, and regularly monitoring their achievement. about. These public sector outputs can be for example, the Also, they have at least a partial impact on the culture of the number of children educated, kilometers of roads built, the department, unit, or team that they lead. Staff, on the other amount of revenues collected, or the type of regulations hand, implement the tasks and have significant discretion enacted. These outputs will, in turn, influence the long-term over how to do so (Lipsky, 1980). This means that, even given outcomes in education, health, and infrastructure. Innovation the instructions received from their managers, parameters is defined as the use of new digital technologies with the aim of set by regulatory frameworks and the culture in which they improving these outputs of government agencies. Innovative find themselves, they still have a large degree of freedom agencies are not only those with enough inputs but, more to choose if, or how, to act. It is through these mechanisms importantly, those that are efficient in converting these inputs that we determine that management/leadership and culture into outputs through effective utilization of digital technologies. are relevant for the adoption, fostering and sustainability of While bureaucracies do not operate in a vacuum and may be technological innovations, and that both managers and civil subject to external influence from political officials, this chapter servants play an important role in this. will examine the internal factors of government agencies only. The focus of this chapter is therefore on the analog > > > F I G U R E 1 8 - Conceptual Framework Available inputs (staffing, budget, infrastructure,...) Digital technologies + Analog complements Government agency Leadership Performance Training and Goal setting Goal alignment feedback development Culture Motivation Teamwork and Openness and Ethics and trust and effort collaboration experimentation Outputs (Children educated, revenues collected, regulations enacted...) Source: Authors. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 78 Leadership staff to understand their “impact-creation” logics to embed how innovation can make the organization more effective in delivering its core mandate and affect the lives of the communities it served. The academic literature on innovation in public and private sector organizations has emphasized the role of leadership in innovation (Orazi, Turrni and Valotti 2013; Drucker 1994). Transformational leaders understand that technological Culture innovation requires changes in the implementation of existing tasks and play a proactive role in ensuring that organizations adjust their ways of doing things to the requirements of the new Civil servants play a crucial role in promoting innovation technology (Ebrahim and Irani 2005). Additionally, effective in the public sector. In contrast to managerial approaches managers employ a dynamic mindset in innovation, identifying to innovation, civil servant-led innovation depends on windows of opportunity for innovation where the likelihood of mechanisms such as organizational practices that can create success is high (Teece, Pisano and Shuen 1997). the necessary environment (or climate) for this type of bottom- up innovation. “Innovation climate” describes the “employees’ The attributes of leadership that the literature identifies as perception of the degree to which an organization supports important for innovation are: and encourages its staff to take the initiative to explore creative ideas that foster innovation within the organization.” (Chan, • Mission orientation and goal setting, or identifying Liu, & Fellows, 2014). organizational results that managers and staff will prioritize and will be held accountable for, and regularly monitoring Innovation climate is often cited as a predictor or enabler of the accomplishment of these goals. innovative work behavior. The most often used definition of • Aligning staff to these goals so that they have clear line of this behavior comes from Janssen (2000): “the behavior of an sight on how their individual tasks contribute to the goals individual that is intended to intentionally create, introduce, of the organization. and apply new ideas, processes, or products.” The employee- • Providing regular feedback to staff, both formal and driven innovation process consists of three separate stages: informal. idea generation, idea promotion or championing, and idea • Training staff so that they have the capacity to deliver on implementation (Reuvers et al., 2008). these goals. By shaping organizational practices, managers can generate While the first two aspects of this definition relate to the organizational environments that encourage teamwork key concept of a mission- and results-oriented leadership, and collaboration, which in turn increase the likelihood the remaining two concepts relate to how leaders facilitate of civil servants to both accept and propose innovative dialogue within the organization and with staff and support ways of accomplishing tasks. This is how leadership and them in achieving their individual results. Ultimately, effective culture shape the possibilities for successful technological leadership is a relationship between managers and staff, innovation at the level of the individual civil servant. Laursen requiring a dialogue between management and those and Foss (2003) highlight how organizations in which there responsible for implementing and adopting these technological is a greater degree of autonomy and knowledge sharing innovations. In the public sector, that requires that leadership among individuals, employees feel empowered to propose engages with the civil servants responsible for implementing new forms of technological innovation. These human the task, ensuring that they have the resources required (time, resource management (HRM) techniques can create an budget, technology, skills, etc.) to adopt the new technology. environment that invests in employees, as they make Innovative organizations are constantly raising their better use of their existing skills and apply them in the work ambitions and collectively monitoring the achievement of environment (OECD 2017). their ambitions. A study of non-governmental organizations in low-income countries revealed that the innovative ones, such Having an environment that facilitates this form of idea as BRAC, were upping their targets in their program areas, experimentation and collaboration, enabling learning through in consultation with their community beneficiaries, but were trial and error, can promote this route to innovation (Parna and also regularly critically reviewing their progress in achieving Von Tunzelmann 2007). As noted in chapter two of this report, their goals through internal research (Seelos and Mair, the recruitment and training of staff with the necessary skills for 2017). The leadership in these organizations encouraged digital technologies can increase the likelihood of innovation. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 79 Additionally, studies have pointed out that collaborative for management and leadership, in terms of communication environments can foster innovation, by promoting collective and convincing their employees, in the most important factor gains in learning and adoption of technologies (Bland et explaining technology adoption. In a similar vein, Dasgupta al. 2010). and Gupta (2019), found that Indian civil servants are more likely to use new technology if the organizational goals and The above shows how an organizational culture can impact the objectives are clearly linked to the new technology. success and sustainability of technological innovations. This means that for World Bank GovTech projects to be successful, The previous chapter described in detail how important skills culture should also be considered, and investments made to are for the successful implementation of GovTech projects. develop and sustain a more innovative culture. Task teams Cost expectancy is a concept as more and better training and may ask, how open is an organization to new ideas and skills imply lower costs and higher chances of adoption and ways of doing things? Will mistakes be penalized, or used as usage. De Vries et al. (2018) find that ‘supportive leadership’ learning opportunities? is strongly correlated to the adoption of innovations. Such leadership includes listening to the needs of employees, and thus relate to skill improvement if found to be necessary. It How Leadership and Culture Impact takes the right kind of managers and management to deliver the right support for staff, thereby sharply increasing the likelihood Successful Technology Adoptions of technology adoption and usage after implementation. In the previously mentioned analysis of over a hundred There exists a significant body of research on the issue technology adoption studies, Gagnon et al. (2010) identify of technology adoption. This issue relates not only to why both culture and management as important factors organizations adopt technology, but what it takes for individuals determining technology usage, besides perceived usefulness. to actually adopt and use it in their day-to-day activities, and The two issues are further linked, as was found in research what prevents them from doing so. Studies on individual- by Melitski et al. (2010), who find that not just culture, but “a level innovation have primarily adapted insights from UTAUT culture creating a perception of supervisory support” is related (Universal Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) to individual willingness to adopt technology. Dasgupta and outlined by Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003), which Gupta (2019), furthermore stated that individual civil servants breaks down the choice to accept and use technology into a who work within an organizational culture they characterize as set of four factors: one of “adaptability,” are more likely to use new technology. “[O]rganizational culture and all its constituent traits need to • Performance expectancy or perceived utility: degree to be managed carefully to enable successful acceptance of which using the technology provides benefits. information technology.” Wang and Feeney (2016), and De • Cost expectancy: how difficult will it be to use the Vries et al. (2018) also established that the organizational technology? culture surrounding risk is also pertinent in predicting technology • Social influence: do other people expect them to use the adoption. More specifically, the higher an organization’s risk technology? averseness, the less adoption of technological innovations. • Facilitating conditions: does the user believe there will be resources available to deploy the technology. In their systematic analysis of over a hundred studies, Gagnon Empirical Evidence: Findings from and his colleagues (2010) found that the “perceived usefulness” Bureaucracy Lab Surveys of the innovative technology is the biggest factor among healthcare workers determining adoption and usage. De Vries and her colleagues (2018) found the same result for public Surveys of private sector firms reveal the importance of sector innovation acceptance. Perceived usefulness from the management and organizational culture in the effective use of side of the user (more specifically: individual civil servants) can technology and data on the job. The OECD’s Survey of Adult largely be attributed to communication. In more plain terms: Skills (PIACC)1 conducted in 40 countries, measures workers’ was the sales pitch done well? This shows an important role proficiencies in information processing skills, including the use 1. PIAAC – The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies is a program of assessment and analysis of adult skills. The major survey conducted as part of PIAAC is the Survey of Adult Skills. The Survey measures adults’ proficiency in key information-processing skills - literacy, numeracy and problem solving - and gathers information and data on how adults use their skills at home, at work and in the wider community. See https://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 80 of digital technologies on the job. The survey found that “High a variety of management aspects, including goal setting and Performing Work Practices,” defined as including aspects of how these are communicated to staff; the extent of monitoring organizational culture, such as teamwork, job rotation, applying of the achievement of these goals; how managers distribute new learning, and mentoring; and the quality of management, tasks across employees, involve staff in problem solving, such as performance incentives, work flexibility, and training and give staff the autonomy to carry out their tasks; and the practices; were more important than individual competencies regularity and robustness of performance evaluations. In the in driving the use of digital technologies in daily work (OECD, surveyed countries, these questions on management practices 2016). Another large survey of firms found complementarities were aggregated into an overall “management quality” index. between the use of management information systems, In Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria, for example, the index performance pay, and human resource data analytics; the varied considerably across departments, ministries, and local adoption of human resource management software was administrations (See Figure 19 for Ghana). This dispersion highest in firms that have also adopted performance pay and in management quality implies that the experience of being HR analytics practices (Aral et al., 2012). a civil servant, despite a common regulatory framework, is highly dependent on the organization that the individual is The World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab surveys reveal that the employed in and underlines the importance of local context on quality of management varies considerably across public government capability. sector organizations within countries. The surveys measure > > > F I G U R E 1 9 - The Quality of Management Varies Considerably across Government Organizations within Countries DIVERSITY IN MANAGEMENT SCORES ACROSS DIVISIONS IN GHANA’S CIVIL SERVICE 1 .5 Management score 0 -.5 -1 -1.5 0 10 20 30 Ranking of organisation Organisation average Division average Source: Rasul, Rogger, and Williams (2017). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 81 Another robust finding is that the quality of management is did not evaluate performance (World Bank, 2020). Another correlated with employee motivation. One study, based on survey of civil servants in Romania similarly revealed that a survey of 23,000 civil servants across countries in Africa, alignment between individual and organizational objectives Asia, Europe, and Latin America, found that higher levels of and regular performance feedback from managers was self-reported performance orientation in public administration correlated with employee motivation. Respondents who rated (civil servants reporting that performance mattered for their organization as scoring highly on various dimensions of promotion and rewards) were correlated with higher levels leadership – for example, clarity of organizational objectives of self-reported satisfaction and work motivation (Meyer- and targets, making employees feel proud of their organization, Sahling et al. 2018). A Bureaucracy Lab survey of public supporting career development, and regularity of performance servants in Liberia revealed that staff who reported having conversations – were also more likely to self-report higher managers that regularly evaluated their performance were levels of motivation (Figure 20). more motivated and satisfied than staff whose managers > > > F I G U R E 2 0 - Correlation between Leadership Quality and Staff Motivation 1 .8 Leadership practices .6 .4 .2 0 100 110 120 130 140 Motivation, Start of career = 100 Sub management HRM Fitted values Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Survey of Romania public administration employees. The survey in Romania also revealed that key elements of organizational culture such as teamwork and trust were correlated with employee motivation. The survey explored work environment and inter-personal relationships through a variety of statements which asked about communication and cooperation within the team, being able to rely on team members in difficult situations, being valued for one’s own work, and the encouragement of innovation. An index of team experience was created from these questions, and this index correlates positively with motivation, job satisfaction, and job engagement, and negatively with a desire to leave the public administration. Respondents were also asked the extent to which they trusted employees within their institution and there was a strong positive relationship between an organization’s levels of trust and employee motivation. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 82 Findings from Kosovo and Argentina percent in Argentina), and they perceived new practices as not being implemented uniformly or fairly in similar proportions GovTech Surveys across countries (25.4 percent in Kosovo and 29 percent in These two surveys asked managers and staff a limited number Argentina). Respondents in Argentina and Kosovo differ in of questions on the quality of management, and several their assessment on whether staff or managers are more questions to assess openness and changes in work practices, resistant to change. While in Kosovo, respondents consider and determinants of the adoption of digital technologies in the managers more resistant to change (18.1 percent) than staff workplace. The importance of these analog complements, and (14.2 percent), in Argentina, respondents consider that staff of skills, was underlined by responses to a question on listing resist change (35 percent) more than their management the main constraints to implementing new digital practices counterparts (18.1 percent). These findings suggest that in (Figure 21). Most respondents in both countries point to a different contexts, different types of civil servants may provide lack of training in the new practices as the biggest constraint more resistance to change and innovation. to digital technology adoption (44.7 percent in Kosovo, 55.4 > > > F I G U R E 2 1 - Main Constraints to Implementation of New Digital Practices (Argentina and Kosovo) In your experience working in your organization, what are the main constraints to implementing new digital practices and e-government solutions? 54 Not enough training in the use of new practices 44.7 New practices are not implemented 29 uniformly or fairly 25.36 25 Staff lacks the necessary skills 24.36 35 Staff is not receptive or resists change 14.17 18 Requires multiple administrative steps 28.97 20 Requires authorization 24.92 22 Management is not receptive or resists change 18.1 New practices are not enforced or 15.77 uniformly enforced Others 10.51 0% 20% 40% 60 Percentage Country Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). Focusing on the different perceptions of management and staff, the survey findings show that the perceptions do not differ significantly, except with respect to fairness in the implementation of new practices and perceptions on management’s receptiveness to change. For both Kosovo and Argentina, staff find that management is less receptive to change (23.9 percent in Kosovo and 29 percent in Argentina) as compared to managers views of themselves (18.8 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively), a difference that is not found with respect to staff’s receptiveness to change. Additionally, managers in both countries (32.7 percent in Kosovo and 31.5 percent in Argentina) report greater levels of difficulty with respect to superior authorization and administrative steps, suggesting that management has greater difficulty with permissions to innovate than their staff counterparts. (see Figures 22 and 23 below). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 83 > > > F I G U R E 2 2 - Perceptions of Management and Staff on Constraints - Argentina Based on your experience in your current job, what are the three main obstacles to implementing new work practices? 62 Not enough training in the use of new practices 61.6 New practices are not implemented 38.8 uniformly or fairly 21.92 27.32 Staff lacks the necessary skills 32.88 40.44 Staff is not receptive or resists change 38.36 18.58 Requires multiple administrative steps 27.4 20.22 Requires superior authorization 31.51 28.96 Management is not receptive or resists change 16.44 0% 20% 40% 60 Percentage Position Staff Manager Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Argentina GovTech survey. > > > F I G U R E 2 3 - Perceptions of Management and Staff on Constraints - Kosovo In your experience working in your organization, what are the main constraints to implementing new digital practices and e-government solutions? 57 Not enough training in the use of new practices 47.43 New practices are not implemented 32.67 uniformly or fairly 27.93 30.6 Staff lacks the necessary skills 28.33 15.3 Staff is not receptive or resists change 20.16 35.81 Requires multiple administrative steps 33.99 32.67 Requires superior authorization 26.61 23.9 Management is not receptive or resists change 18.84 New practices are not enforced or 23.08 uniformly enforced 12.12 13.23 Others 11.33 0% 20% 40% 60 Percentage Position Staff Manager Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Kosovo GovTech survey. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 84 Difficulties in attracting digital talent, and lack of training on staff skills (Figure 25). In Argentina, respondents had a opportunities have been identified as major bottlenecks more negative assessment, with only 16.7 percent stating to GovTech implementation, as detailed in Chapter Two. that their institutions have detailed staffing plans and 29.33 Respondents were also critical of the quality of human percent of saying that their organization gathers information resource planning around these skills. In Kosovo, while on staff skills. These findings point to major deficiencies in a staffing plans are widely believed to be available in their critical aspect of leadership regarding staff skills, with clear institutions (83 percent yes, see Figure 24), only 55.4 percent implications for GovTech implementation. of managers believe that their institution gathers information > > > F I G U R E 2 4 - Managers’ Views on Information Gathering on Staffing Plans (Kosovo and Argentina) Does your area of state agency work on detailed staffing plans? 16.67 Yes 83 83.3 No 17 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Percentage Country Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). > > > F I G U R E 2 5 - Managers’ Views on Information Gathering on Staff Skills (Kosovo and Argentina) Is this information about staff skills collected in the area of the state sgency in which you currently work? 29.33 Yes 55.43 70.6 No 44.57 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Percentage Country Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 85 To assess the relationship between organizational practices and use of digital technologies, an index of digital adoption was constructed for respondents in Kosovo and Argentina (Figure 26).2 The index is a simple sum of a set of digital technologies for which respondents consider themselves advanced, scaled from 0 to 1. The first empirical fact identified is an inverted U-shape for the distribution of digital adoption. The majority of respondents are found on one of the extremes: either they are highly skilled in digital technologies or do not use them at all. > > > F I G U R E 2 6 - Distribution of Index of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) a. ARGENTINA b. KOSOVO 20.0% 15.0% Percentage 10.0% 5.0% 0 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Index digital Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). Gender and age were identified as factors that influence the These differences are statistically significant. This polarized use of digital technologies. Evidence suggests that younger distribution of digital skills suggest that a highly skilled, young, respondents tend to be technologically savvier, a trend that is and technologically savvy cadre of civil servants coexist with more pronounced in Kosovo than Argentina, and women civil an older population that is less technologically skilled, and servants tend to use more digital technologies than their male which could benefit from additional assistance. counterparts for both countries (Figures 27 and 28 below). 2. The index is a simple sum of all digital technologies for whom the respondent feels they are “Advanced,” rescaled to a 0-1 index. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 86 > > > F I G U R E 2 7 - Gender Correlates of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) a. ARGENTINA b. KOSOVO 1.00 .75 Index digital .50 0.25 0.00 Male Female Other Male Female Other Gender Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). > > > F I G U R E 2 8 - Age Correlates of Digital Adoption (Argentina and Kosovo) a. ARGENTINA b. KOSOVO 1.00 .75 Index digital .50 0.25 0.00 20-39 40-59 60 or more 20-39 40-59 60 or more Age gen Argentina Kosovo Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab GovTech surveys (Argentina and Kosovo). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 87 Evidence suggests a correlation between the use of digital of statistical tests that the multiple questions indeed captured technologies and organizational cultures open to innovation. the same underlying concept of innovative work behavior, In the Kosovo survey, respondents were asked whether an index of openness to innovation was constructed, with their institution encouraged innovation, either through direct the same methodology as the index of digital technologies encouragements or rewards. After verifying through a series (Figure 29).3 > > > F I G U R E 2 9 - Histogram of Index of Openness to Innovation 20.0% 15.0% Percentage 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Index open Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Kosovo GovTech survey. There are no significant differences in the index of openness to innovation across genders and age groups, in contrast to the index of digital adoption. However, there is a statistically significant, positive correlation between the two indices, as presented in Figure 30. 3. A Cronbach Alpha test was performed as well as factor analysis. Details can be found in Annex 3.1. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 88 > > > F I G U R E 3 0 - Positive Correlation between Index of Openness to Innovation and Index of Digital Adoption 0.8 0.7 Index digital 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Index open Total 600 400 200 Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Kosovo GovTech survey. To test the robustness of this finding, a simple OLS (Ordinary more digital technologies. Age is negatively correlated with the Least Squares) regression of the Index of Digital Adoption on adoption of digital technologies, as well as being located in a Index of Openness to Innovation was performed, controlling local level government. Higher education levels are positively for education, age, gender, and level of government (Figure correlated with the adoption of new technologies, with 31). A positive and statistically significant correlation between respondents who hold an undergraduate or graduate degree both indices was found, suggesting that respondents who adopting more technologies than their baseline counterparts. find their environment more open to innovation tend to adopt EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 89 > > > F I G U R E 3 1 - Regression of Index of Digital Adoption on Index of Openness to Innovation Index openness Female Undergraduate degree Graduate degree Age Local level -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Estimate Source: World Bank Bureaucracy Lab Kosovo GovTech survey. Overall, the GovTech survey results in Argentina and Kosovo and opportunities for training. Finally, there is suggestive point to actionable items that can be addressed to improve evidence that agencies that are open to innovation also the adoption of new government technologies. Staff request benefit from greater adoption of digital technologies. While the more uniformity and fairness in the rollout of technologies, direction of causality is not clear, further studies could explore while managers would benefit from less red tape to push for the relationship between organizational cultures that promote innovation. Adoption of digital technologies is highly polarized, innovation and their adoption by staff. with older and male civil servants in need of greater assistance EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 90 Empirical Evidence: Findings from e-government projects are successfully implemented they may worsen outcomes as, without proper regulatory safeguards in World Bank Projects place, automation may even make it easier to perpetrate fraud and corrupt practices, and to erase records or avoid capturing them altogether, thereby eroding transparency mechanisms Public sector digital technology projects have a high failure (Lemieux, 2016). rate. Although the evidence is limited, one comprehensive review of more than 1300 public sector ICT projects (primarily Even in World Bank-funded digital technology projects, 34 in the US and high-income countries) found an average percent of the 839 information technology projects funded time overrun of 24 percent, with 18 percent of the projects from 1995 to 2020 were internally rated by the World Bank going over budget by 130 percent, posing “systemic” fiscal as “satisfactory” or “highly satisfactory,” 27 percent were rated risks (Budzier and Flyvbjerg, 2012). In some cases, even if “moderately unsatisfactory” or worse – see Figure 32. > > > F I G U R E 3 2 - DGSS 1995 - 2020 (Approved FY) 100% 0.03 0.31 75% Frequency 50% 0.39 25% 0.17 0.09 0% 0.01 Rating X IEG out Highly satisfactory Satisfactory Moderately satisfactory Moderately unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Highly unsatisfactory Source: Authors calculations based on WBG Digital Projects Database. EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 91 There are several reasons why public sector digital technology Carrera 2013; Fountain 2001; Heeks 2006; Bhatnagar 2009). projects may underachieve outcomes. First, digital technology In the private sector, executives can choose vendors based projects are vulnerable to the same psychological biases on personal experience and jointly determined guidelines of all complex projects, such as “optimism bias” that tends that are deliberately kept vague to allow flexibility during to underestimate costs and unforeseen events that delay implementation. Ministers and senior officials, by contrast, implementation, and overestimate benefits (Flyvbjerg and are explicitly forbidden by government rules to exercise this Bester, 2021). Second, these projects require customization level of discretion and instead must purchase on the basis to local context and there is often a gap between the of detailed specifications. Third, is bureaucratic resistance to institutional and skill realities of government and the ambitions change and status quo bias, possibly for nefarious reasons but of the projects (Okunogbe and Santoro, 2021). Important also because of limited incentives to change work processes sources of this gap are government procurement rules, IT to take full advantage of digital technology (Mayega et al. vendors’ lack of understanding of government processes, and 2019, Ligomeka 2019). Fourth comes lack of adequate skills a failure to understand the country context (Dunleavy and and training, as discussed in detail earlier. > > > B O X 9 - Interviews with World Bank GovTech Project Teams During discussions with TTLs of different GovTech teams, issues of management, leadership, and culture often turn out to be of key importance in change management strategies. Whether or not the project succeeds, whether or not the technology is actually implemented and used, is greatly dependent on these issues. A GovTech project in Cambodia1 decided to focus on creating a network of change agents. Although such agents do not necessarily have an organizational leadership role, they can take up such a role with regards to particular projects. “Innovation champions,” is another term often used for them. These leaders received specific coaching about the upcoming changes. Their role was to safeguard sustained communication to the other staff members about the project. In a project in Zambia,2 managers were aided in navigating the many changes that accompanied the new technologies. This created a much more gradual implementation process. Managers can often function as influential blocks on a projects progress if they are not on board. This guidance took away a lot of resistance among them, and enabled them to communicate with their staff more effectively. In a project in Panama,3 resistant managers created a significant problem for the project’s implementation. This was largely due to a culture of conflict aversion, showing that culture is an important element of GovTech implementation, necessitating consideration by the project team. In the previously mentioned project in Panama, the project team could make use of the strongly improved work culture which was established through a previous engagement. 1 Cambodia PFM Modernization Project (P143774). 2 Public Financial Management Reform Program Phase I (P147343). 3 Enhanced Public Sector Efficiency Technical Assistance Loan (P121492). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 92 Recommendations conditioning managers’ own performance evaluations on the regularity and quality of the performance feedback that they provide staff, through the annual performance appraisal system and, more importantly, through regular performance This chapter has argued that impactful Gov Tech adoption conversations. Increasingly, managers in OECD countries requires an effective personnel ecosystem in organizations, have a different performance appraisal system than the rest zeroing in on good quality management and an organizational of the civil service, with an emphasis on their achievement of culture conducive to innovation. The policy recommendations, strategic organizational goals as well as their managerial and therefore, are on how to improve management and encourage leadership skills (Kuperus and Rode 2016). an innovation culture, using a combination of capacity building and incentives. Digital technologies offer new approaches and opportunities to improve both training and incentives, creating a CULTURE virtuous circle between Gov Tech and its analog complements Greater Citizen-Orientation that can lead to potentially transformative changes. Greater citizen orientation and having a clearer link between LEADERSHIP how a bureaucrat’s day-to-day work impacts the lives of citizens can have a powerful impact on organizational culture. Training Digital technologies provide a variety of tools to incorporate citizen feedback into an organization’s work practices, Improving management will require training on the core including proactive feedback where organizations send short attributes—goal setting and monitoring, goal alignment, surveys to get granular and actionable information on the performance feedback, and supporting staff to enable them to quality of their outputs. This feedback is most easily done for deliver on their goals—necessary to develop a performance- organizations involved in delivering services, such as social oriented bureaucracy that encourage innovation and the security administration, business licensing and registration, use of Gov Tech. Organizational performance management, tax and customs administration, schools, and hospitals. It with goals and targets identified in strategic plans or budget can also improve goal setting, goal alignment, teamwork, documents, is necessary for creating a common vision for and motivation in organizations that are more removed from all staff and creating line-of-sight on how an individual’s citizens by reinforcing the overall purpose of daily work and work contributes to corporate goals. Moreover, a training underlining the importance of citizen-orientation as a core program that helps managers develop these goals, if done in job competency. a participatory way by involving staff, can improve both the quality of organizational plans and staff understanding and Improving Within-Organization Communication commitment to them, and help underscore the importance of innovation and Gov Tech to achieving the goals. To be Digital technologies can be used to improve goal setting, goal effective coaches, managers will also need targeted training in alignment, and performance feedback between managers assessing employee skills, mastering difficult conversations, and staff. Many private sector organizations use regular, short, and giving constructive feedback. For example, in Ireland, “pulse” staff surveys to get rapid responses from employees managers need to undergo 30 hours of training specifically on a variety of areas, to gauge employee motivation, and to on performance appraisal and, in Canada, managers measure collaboration (Ewenstein, Hancock, and Komm 2016). receive special training on performance management from The ubiquity of smartphones makes such within-organization the Canada School of Public Service. Equally important is feedback channels feasible in even low-income countries. The mentorship, ideally by high-performing managers in the public important point is that this technology-enabled communication administration, who can provide hands-on coaching that can should not be about monitoring staff performance, as that can potentially have more impact given their embeddedness in the create perverse incentives, but instead be about eliciting staff local context. views on issues and involving them in solving organizational problems. Communication in the form of open debate, where Incentivizing Better Management employees are comfortable talking about problems and disagreements, is furthermore important in the success of Managers also need to be incentivized to improve innovations (Van Acker and Bouckaert, 2017). management practices. These incentives can include EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 93 Training up a supportive environment for the trainees’ transition back to their offices as they apply their training towards achieving the The surveys in Argentina and Kosovo, and the public employee reform the training intended. surveys conducted by the Bureaucracy Lab in general, underscore high demand for digital training from public Innovation Awards sector personnel. Equally important for digital innovation and utilization of digital technologies at work are cognitive and Encouraging innovations through leadership and culture can socioemotional skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, be complemented by the organization of innovation award communication, teamwork, and creativity, skills that are not programs. These awards can help in attaining two goals: on adequately imparted in the general education system in many the one hand, they may form an incentive for employees to low and middle-income countries (World Bank, 2016). The innovate, and on the other hand they can function as platforms public administrations of these countries, therefore, must for employees and organizations to learn about others’ develop curricula for civil servants to impart and receive these innovations. To create internal incentives to innovate, internal skills, and may also consider ways to tailor training to those who innovation awards are most suitable where only internal need it most. Singapore, for example, has a comprehensive applicants are eligible. To function as learning platforms, “life-long” learning program for civil servants where a variety external innovation awards are most suitable where applicants of online courses are available to develop technical and from outside the organization are eligible – for example, the socio-emotional competencies. India’s ambitious “Mission United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA), the European Karmayogi” is a capacity building reform program where civil Public Sector Awards (EPSA), or the Harvard Innovations in servants will similarly be able to use a comprehensive online American Government Awards. training portal to flexibly meet their diverse training needs. Considerable thought ought to go into the design of such Beyond imparting technical, cognitive, and socio-emotional an award program. Although awards can form an extrinsic skills, training can also be an avenue for cultural transformation. motivation for individual employees, poorly designed programs Training can be designed to include motivational elements, may lead to resentment and apathy towards future innovation such as a film about how colleagues changed their team for the amongst non-winners, especially in internal innovation awards. better, or a module on the trainee’s potential role in changing And although award programs are relatively easy to create, team culture. They can add a practical planning element to they need to be substantial enough (either in monetary or that motivation that explores how to overcome resistance status terms) to be regarded as desirable (Rosenblatt, 2011). and bottlenecks to reform. Trainees can define an action plan Even if awards may highlight and encourage innovation, they that identifies the obstacles to a change in the procedures are no guarantee for continued success. Research has shown they have just been trained in and articulate how they will be that awarded innovations can still fail later on if they are not overcome. Beyond the training sessions, the training could set properly attended to (Van Acker and Bouckaert 2017). EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 94 Annex 3.1: Surveys of Public Sector Employees to Measure Analog Complements of GovTech The World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab surveys designed for the main modules that have worked well in other surveys to measure public sector employees’ experiences and and does not include any context-specific questions. In perceptions of the three sets of analog complements that this general, the surveys take from 20 minutes (online surveys) to report has highlighted. Below are some indicative questions 45 minutes (in-person surveys) to complete. Module Demographics and work history Section 1 Basic demographic information Example questions Age, gender, educational background Section 2 Employment history Example questions Current contract (civil servant, contract worker) Position title Years in current position Prior work experience Module Building and retaining digital skills Section 1 Use of digital technology in the workplace Example questions What proportion of your regular work tasks involve the use of a computer? How would you rate your level of proficiency in each of the following tools? [list office applications] Section 2 Training Example questions Have you received training in the last 2 years? Overall, how would you rate the quality of the most recent training you received on… How relevant/useful was the training on […..], to your day-to-day job? Which factors prevent you from participating in more training opportunities? Thinking about your current roles and responsibilities, what type of training would be most helpful and relevant to you? Section 3 Building digital skills Example questions Does your institution gather information on staff skills? What are the new skill requirements of your institution? Does your institution use consultants or temporary staff to help fill any digital skills gaps? EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 95 Module Building and retaining digital skills To what extent do you agree with each of the following statements: There is a clear system for identifying staff skills in my institution Individual training needs are adequately identified and addressed Digital skills (e.g. skills relating to the use of IT and related software) are a key priority for me as a manager Digital skills (e.g. skills relating to the use of IT and related software) are a key priority for this institution as a whole My institution has strategies to retain critical skills Section 4 Attracting and retaining candidates with digital skills Example questions In your experience, how easy or difficult is it for your institution to attract candidates with strong digital skills? What is the reason it is not easy for your institution to attract candidates with specialized digital skills? (Answers have multiple options) What is the reason there is more turnover of staff with specialized digital skills? (Answers have multiple options) Module Leadership and culture for innovation Section 1 Management quality Example questions Does your organization have a clear set of goals and targets? How related are core tasks of individual staff members to the overall objectives of the organization? How does your organization track and measure how well it is performing? Has your performance been formally evaluated during the past two years? To what extent do you agree with the statement that performance reviews are fairly conducted? Section 2 Adoption of new practices Example questions Should they wish to, staff in my institution have plenty of opportunities to speak up about new ideas or suggestions for improving existing processes The management of my institution actively encourages the introduction of new ideas and processes Staff in my institution are rewarded (through a bonus or award) for coming up with ideas for new processes or process improvements EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 96 Module Building and retaining digital skills Section 3 Agility and flexibility Example questions On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate each of the following in your institution: Speed of decision-making Speed of authorization processes Speed of institutional response to new opportunities Speed of institutional response to a crisis or negative development Section 4 Teamwork and collaboration Example questions In your view, how often do employees of this organization trust one another to fulfill the commitments they make? Agree/Disagree: Working with my team helps me work faster, not slower. Agree/Disagree: My team operates as efficiently as possible, given our resources. Module Whole-of-government coordination Section 1 E-governance strategy Example questions To what extent do you agree with the following statements: My institution has a well-defined e-Governance strategy: My institution’s e-Governance strategy was developed taking the following into consideration (list options): Section 1 Coordination challenges Example questions Thinking about the introduction of e-government, to what extent do you agree with each of the following statements: My institution has been invited to discussions on e-government strategies My institution has been consulted on how to implement the e-government strategy There is adequate government infrastructure and support for the development of digital solutions My institution has been kept informed and engaged on developments related to e-government I am convinced of the importance of pursuing the national e-government strategy My institution has the resources and capacity to implement the new e-government strategy. 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EQUITABLE GROWTH, FINANCE & INSTITUTIONS INSIGHT <<< 100 Supported by the GovTech Global Partnership - www.worldbank.org/govtech Republic of Korea