ICT for Local Governance: A Case Study on the Application of ICTs on LifeEvent Services at the Kebel

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ICT for Local Governance A Case Study on the
Application of ICTs on Life-Event Services at the
Kebeles of the City Government of Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
LOG-IN Africa Workshop June 6 - 5, 2008 Cairo,
EGYPT

• Solomon Atnafu, Dessalegn Mequanint and Yigeremew
  Adal
• Department of Computer Science
• Addis Ababa University 

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Outline

• The Research Problems
• The Objectives
• Methodology
• Results and Findings
• The Prototype System-KLESS

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The Research Problems
The research questions addressed

• What is the level of ICT usage for local
  governance purposes at the Kebeles of the CGAA?
• What is the e-local governance readiness status
  of the Kebeles of the CGAA?
• How can the application of ICTs on local
  governance bring the participation of citizens
  into a higher level?
• What policies and strategies are needed for the
  application of ICTs on local governance at the
  Kebeles of the CGAA?
• What are the key factors and drivers that impact
  the successful implementations of e- local
  governance at the Kebeles of the CGAA?
• What is the reaction of the Kebele staff and
  end-users on the prototype system?

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2. Objectives

• to identify the key drivers/factors for
  successful implementation of e-local governance
  at the Kebeles of the CGAA
• to identify policy and strategy-related fields
  for successful implementation of e-local
  governance
• to propose a roadmap for an effective
  implementation of e-local governance at the
  Kebeles of the CGAA
• to identify priority areas on life-event services
  where ICTs intervention is required, and
• to develop a prototype system that serves as a
  showcase on the application of ICT on local
  governance.

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3. Methodology

• Data collection
• Analysis of the data collected
• Desk/Literature review
• Prototyping

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Document Search
Activities Conducted

• Literature on e-Governance and related areas
• Proclamations (Sub-cities, Kebeles)
• Documents about the Organizational Structure
• Guidelines and Procedures
• Various Forms
• Documents related to Existing Practices

• Data Collection ( from Key-Informants)

• Level of ICT usage for local governance purposes
  at the Kebeles
• e-Local governance readiness of the Kebeles
• Services to citizen (Life-Events services)
• ICT Policy and Strategy

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Focus Group Discussion

• Data Collection (from Kebele Residents)

• Level of ICT usage
• e- Local Governance Readiness
• Services to Citizens Life-event Services, etc.

• Life-events service team
• Services to citizen (priorities, problems, the
  experience, the environment)
• Level of ICT usage and e-readiness for local
  governance purpose
• Revenue Collection Team (experience sharing)
• On Services of the revenue administration,
• The success story and the challenges
• EICTDA e-Government team

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• Consultative Workshop

• Kebele life-event service employee,
• Sub-cities Capacity building officers,
• Representatives from CGAA and EICTDA

• Prototype System Development

• Requirement identified,
• Tools selected,
• System designed,
• Developed,
• Tested and demonstrated

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4.1 Findings and Analysis based on the Data
Collected from Key Informants
4. Results and Findings

• a) Level of ICTs usage
• ICTs equipments currently being used by theKebele
  offices are Fixed phone, Mobile phone,
  Computers, Radio and TV
• Purpose of use
• Computers are mainly used for revenue
  administration, However, at present no computer
  systems are in use for the delivery of life-event
  service.
• Fixed telephones are used for the day-to-day
  activities of the Kebeles.
• Televisions and Radios are used only for
  refreshments.
• ICTs skills of Kebele staff
• No formal training on ICTs particularly, No
  Computer use has been given to both Kebeles
  staff, particularly those employees working on
  life-event services did not get the opportunity
  of training on Computer use.
• Kebele administrators believe that ICT equipments
  usage can make a difference.

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b) Local e-governance readiness

• At present both Kebeles do not have Internet
  connectivity, and have also no web presence,
• Except in the revenue administration unit,
  computers available at the resident services of
  both Kebeles are not wired
• The staff of both Kebeles are not trained on
  Computer use.
• Aside from their fiscal budget allocated to them
  by the sub-city, Kebeles have no other financial
  support or means to acquire and use ICTs for
  their day-to-day activities.

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c) Services to Citizens

• There are a number of life-event services
  rendered at both Kebeles.
• Kebeles collect and keep information about
  residents,
• However, information about residents is not up
  to date

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d) ICTs policy and strategy

• No ICTs policy tailored made to Kebeles there is
  a draft ICT policy at CGAA level,
• both Kebeles are planning or finding ways to use
  ICT-based life-event services in the immediate
  future

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4.2 Findings and Analysis on the Data Collected
from Kebele Residents

• 4.2.1 Information on the Respondents

Table 01 Background information about the
Kebeles considered for the case study

• Two Kebeles with a total population of about
  100,000 are selected for the initial survey

Table 02 ICTs equipments available in the two
Kebeles
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4.2.2 Level of ICT Tools Usage by the Residents
Table 05 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
by usage and place of ICT Equipments
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Table 06 Distribution of Respondents who took
Training on computer applications by Educational
Status
Table 07 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
who took Courses on computer by Type of Training
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Table 08 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
by Level of Competence in Using Computer
Table 09 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
who did not take Courses on computer by Reason
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4.2.3 e-Local Governance Readiness

• Table 10 Distribution of Respondents by Access
  to Internet and Employment Status

Table 11 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
who have Access to internet by Place of Access
n88
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Table 12 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
who have Access to internet by Reason for use
n88
Table 13 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
by Means of Communication with the Kebele
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4.2.4 Services to Citizens Life-Event Services
Table 14 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
by type of Services they get from the Kebele
n200
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Table 24 Percentage Distribution of Respondents
by service efficiency rating
Table 28 Problems identified by Respondents
related to service delivery
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Table 29 Opinions of Respondents on which of the
services require improvement.
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Focus Group Discussion
Life-Event Services (prioritized list)

• ID Card new, replacement, lost, renewal.
• Issuance of Testimony Letters
• For free medical services to those who have
  financial problem
• For marital status
• Court related cases of Kebele residents
• Recommendation letters for scholarship/tuition
  fee exemptions
• Letters on housing conditions

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Problems Encountered

• Incomplete information
• Rules are not flexible particularly with issuing
  ID card
• Residents record is not current, misplacement,
  oldness
• Lack of uniformity among Kebele in offering some
  services
• Oral instructions are hard to deal with, use of
  unwritten rules,
• etc.

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Revenue Collection

• Resources could be shared
• There is a server being used for the revenue
  administration system which could be used for the
  envisaged automated system of the life event
  services as well,
• Lessons can be learned
• Passed a long way to arrive to the current
  status,
• Human resource usage,
• Basic data to use in common,
• Process of system development,
• ensuring data quality is a daunting task, which
  has to be seriously considered from the outset.

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e-Local Governance Functional Model tailored to
Kebeles
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5. The Prototype System - KLESS

• A showcase for the automation of life-event
  services at Kebele level,
• Develop in line with the proposed e-government
  functional model,
• Bi-Lingual,
• Uses open source software, Development
  Environment
• Apache web server
• MySQL- DBMS
• PHP- scripting language
• The ultimate owners of the product were highly
  involved
• Iterative approach

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Functionalities of the Prototype system

• Basic Functionalities
• Capturing basic residents information
• Issuing new ID card
• Renewal
• Issuance for lost ID card
• Provision of testimonial services such as
• Testimony on marriage
• Testimony for school fee exemption
• Testimony for support on free medication
• etc

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Some screen shots of the system

• Registration of the Kebele Residents

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• A Screenshot for Editing or Updating Residents
  Information

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• A Screenshot for Serving ID Card Request Ordered
  Online

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• A Screenshot for housing Information Registration

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• Report Generation set-up interface

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• Search Interface

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Reaction of Kebele Employees and Officials on the
Prototype System

• A demonstration conducted to capture the reaction
  of Kebele employees and officials,
• Over all positive reception,
• They want to see such kind of system implemented
  sooner

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Future works

• Scaling up the prototype system into a more
  usable one- the anticipated LOG-IN Phase II
• Working more on Partnership

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??????? ? Thank You ?