Implementing Low-Cost e-Gov Solutions in Europe, in Africa, All over the Globe: Report on Experiences Marios Chatzidimitriou, Adamantios Koumpis ALTEC S.A. Research Division Greece

Our central position: Public sector in Europe had the luck to receive huge amounts of funding from different sources:  European Commission Programmes  Structural Funds  National Community Support Framework Programmes  Etc..

On the other hand… However this plethora of resources did not result into successful project implementations. The treatment to this was also not the best: people simply increased the budgets in their projects while similar or even bigger scale suboptimalities emerged.

Need for low-cost solutions in Africa Africa cannot afford this type of behavior  simply because there is a lack of funding resources. The adoption and deployment of low-cost solutions is a must  We need to achieve more (outcomes, results, impact, change, etc.) with less (resources, budgets, etc.).  But is it possible?

About knowledge capital… Know-how has not been treated as an important factor in many EU members  Especially for employees in public sector organizations This behavior seems now to come to an end:  Public entities become interested in supplying their employees with increased skills and capacities.  For sure, this is treated as a new market, for various actors such as companies, academic or research institutions

Has investment on knowledge helped? Not necessarily... Employees are exposed to a set of information and content sources, without necessarily getting an idea of how they can employ them in their own environment. Deployment of the acquired skills is not regarded as a success indicator  Impact of an eLearning project is usually correlated with the amount of hours allocated to it or the covered topics.

eLearning and eGovernment Low cost budgeting procedures, easy to plan, program and implement methodologies using the Internet and the direct linkage to adoption and deployment will be the motivating factor for the next years. In this picture, the following has to be taken into account:  To produce a study on the principles of such low-cost eLearning procedures and practices in the Government sector, including potential, benefits, barriers, key success factors etc.  To study existing process models for eLearning as well as processes in the participating public authorities  To derive organisational process re-engineering models as well as process adaptations and improvements in order to accommodate the existing as well as the future needs of Government authorities  To produce a roadmap and a set of guidelines for public authorities wishing to introduce eLearning initiatives in various levels (small-scale, big-scale, vertical or horizontal, pilot, etc.)

Our proposal: Low cost generic e- Government solution Our main idea is for an eGov product and service suite that can be purchased and used with low cost  something similar to the 100 dollar laptop The successful realization of our vision, depends on  marketing a cheap product  ensuring that the process of its adaptation by the potential customer will stay on affordable levels.

100 dollar Laptop features = our low-cost eGov features Can use it everywhere Can be used by anyone Low-cost Easy to use Easy to setup Easy to maintain It does not provide admirable features - but it does the job!

Our goals for a low-cost solution Our priority is simply to have something that works, and not a sophisticated solution that will stay in papers. We need a simple cheap solution that works anywhere  No costly adoption feasibility studies for Public Authorities  No need for building costly infrastructure  And easy and cheap to learn

A framework for e-Government Our proposal includes an overall framework that will provide clear guidelines and recommendations for adapting our e- Government solution. This framework includes:  A description of government principles, its benefits and barriers  A roadmap and guidelines for public authorities at all levels wishing to realize e-government

..and the software considerations Flexible modular architecture  That covers the absolutely necessary functionality, and any additional built on it Open architecture, allowing Public Authorities to change/build on it on their own Able to integrate with existing back office having minimum requirements In any case, our eGov product suite will provide a solution simple to deploy, use and maintain for any Public Authority with minimal effort.

..and....thank you!