Providing quality training in public administration and management

Promoting & disseminating best-practice in the region

Improving organisational performance primarily in the public sector

Improving the skills of practising administrators and managers

Increasing the number of trained personnel in the region

Ensuring a continuing supply of highly trained graduates in public administration and management

Contributing toward improved performance of the economies of the SADC member states

In attaining these objectives, the programme will take into consideration the relevant developments that have taken place in the region. These include, amongst others:

Changes in administration and managerial roles and styles

An emphasis on policy analysis and coordination

The shift in emphasis from procedural enforcement to effective service delivery to private enterprise and to the public at large

An emphasis on public sector reform

The privatisation and commercialisation of public entities

The change from central planning to sectorial planning

A general emphasis on political and economic liberalisation

The emphasis on good governance, accountability, ethics, leadership and codes of conduct

Concerns with value for money and performance management

Activities

CESPAM undertakes the following activities:
Training

This consists of two components:

Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA)

Short-Term executive programmes (STEPS)

Research

Research is conducted into those primary areas and issues which will:

Lead to improvement in organisational performance primarily in the public sector

Contribute toward improved performance of the economies of SADC member states

Improve feedback to training materials development for the enhancement of public administration and management

Consultancies

Consultancy services are provided by CESPAM as requested by SADC member states, public and private sector insitiutions, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.
Networking

CESPAM networks and creates linkages with institutional and relevant professional organisations, both within and outside of the SADC region, to deliver cost-effective programmes. These services are being enhanced by the use of the Internet and Web-based resources offering:

Content on Institutional Development, Public Service Management, Human Resource Development and E-Government

Links to the world-wide information resources in the area of Public Administration and Management

Directories of useful contacts

Moderated electronic discussion and expert advice on topical issues affecting policy-makers and senior management

Information on educational and consultancy programmes offered by CESPAM and other relevant institutions

Governing Structures

CESPAM is housed in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies of the faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Botswana. It is headed by a Director and two bodies are responsible for governing it.

A Management Board and

An Advisory Committee

The Management Board advises and supports the Director in dealing with the day to day management of the Centre and the Advisory Committee is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate link is maintained between CESPAM and SADC and that all regional aspects of CESPAM’s mandate are taken on board. The Advisory Committee meets at least once per year to review the work of CESPAM.
Funding

CESPAM received seed funding from the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Belgium and other donors.
Partners

Partnerships are being developed to reinforce the breath and depth of treatment of those areas of interest to the SADC community. CESPAM’s current partners include the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) and the Commonwealth Network of Information Technology for Development (COMNET-IT).

Public Sector Performance Management and Best Practice 
November 2-8 2003, Gaborone, Botswana.

The proposed executive training programme for public management will provide, to a certain extent, the blueprint and the formula for public sector reform. It will enable senior officials to benchmark best practices in the design, development, implementation and delivery of enhanced government programmes and policies. To take place at Fairground Holdings, Gaborone,Botswana the programme represents a collaborative effort between CESPAM,  the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Schulich School of Business, Toronto, Canada. This course builds on the successful programme implemented five years ago by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The programme has been delivered in Toronto, Canada for five consecutive years. It has trained over 150 senior Commonwealth civil servants.

In attaining these objectives, the programme will take into consideration the relevant developments that have taken place in the region. These include, amongst others:

• Changes in administration and managerial roles and styles

• An emphasis on policy analysis and coordination

• The shift in emphasis from procedural enforcement to effective service delivery to private enterprise and to the public at large

• An emphasis on public sector reform

• The privatisation and commercialisation of public entities

• The change from central planning to sectorial planning

• A general emphasis on political and economic liberalisation

• The emphasis on good governance, accountability, ethics, leadership and codes of conduct

• Concerns with value for money and performance management

Applying Geographic Information Systems to SADC Development 
14 – 17 February 2006, Cape Town, South Africa

CESPAM is organising this activity within its ongoing Executive Training Programme. The seminar will treat the subject of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and its application to development particularly in the SADC region including the agriculture, environment, water management and urban planning sectors. This intensive management-development programme will assist delegates in:

• identfying and understanding the sectoral applications of GIS and its potential benefits to the SADC region,
• positioning GIS in the development process and the provision of e-Government services,
• reviewing international case studies as well as regional developments and SADC targets in this area,
• proposing national and SADC actions in support of models of good practice and intra-regional information-exchange, and;
• understanding the potential role for private-sector partnerships in this area.

Accenture

http://www.accenture.com

The website of Accenture, a management and technology services organisation. The e-government page leads to Accenture’s Global government group. The group provides services to governments – in countries where it operates. Sectors of specialisation of the group include Defense, Education, e-democracy etc.

This e-government website presents case studies on the group’s work with various organisations – like the Australian Taxation office, Office of Native American Programmes, the Portuguese National Treasury Department and the South African Electoral Commission – in the Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.
These case studies outline solutions worked out by Accenture in areas like Human Services e.g. work, income, housing; Postal; Revenue and Defense. Cases deal with topics like:

• Customer Relationship Management

• Strategy Development

• Finance

• Performance Management

• Supply Chain Management

The section ‘Research and Insights’ contains publications in various areas, one of them being e-government.

In the last couple of decades organisations have tended to ride over several management movements like management by objectives, zero-based budgeting, decentralization, right sizing; reinventing government to bring in incremental change but almost all of these movements have failed to deliver on their full promise. Would E-Government turn out to be yet another buzzword or can it truly transform Governments in their dealing with different stake holders? Perhaps e-government is different as it uses as one of its foundations, a truly discontinuous innovation in technology i.e. a marriage of Internet, the World Wide Web, and mobile computing. It rests on both vendor/consultant push who stand to benefit from increased investments in hardware and consulting but also benefits from a growing demand for better services from citizens, who now experience vastly improved services from the private sector. The benefits of a changed way of doing things accrues to all stake holders: citizens, businesses, and Government employees. The motivation to adopt is therefore stronger as almost all supporting technologies and infrastructure are in place. The biggest barrier in is managing change. The developed world continues to be concerned with issues of security and privacy of information. In the developing world these issues are less important but the necessary infrastructure is not always in place.

What is E-Government

Specifically, e-government harnesses information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.

E-government is about a process of reform in the way Governments work, shares information and delivers services to external and internal clients. Specifically, e-government harnesses information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.

E-Government applications range from the very simple (web pages with information) to complex (processing payments or interactive services). E-Government is in the early stages of development in both developed and developing countries. A number of developing countries from Asia and Latin America are implementing e-Government applications as part of improving public sector management and being more responsive to the needs of citizens. In some cases, the e-Government initiatives have been supported by public sector reform and improved service delivery – while in other cases the initiatives have been designed to encourage investment or quell criticism about transparency issues. A plethora of developing and middle income countries are now preparing e-Government strategy plans.

E-Government comprises alignment of IT infrastructures, business processes and service content towards provision of high-quality and value-added e-services to citizens and businesses. Ubiquitous e-Government services require relaxation of time, place and other accessibility constraints and compliance to architectural principles such as true-one-stop services and life-event orientation. Critical issues arise with respect to prioritization and pilot scoping of e-Government services projects, exploitation of multi-device/multi-channel access technologies, re-engineering and security of back-end IT infrastructures as well as evaluation of operational schemes.

Different models (as compared to developed countries) of service delivery are being explored. Unlike the self-service model where citizens interact with a portal, many developing countries deliver on-line services at public kiosks where government or private sector employees interact with citizens and computer screens to process transactions.

How prepared are Developing Countries to Implement e-Government

Preparedness of a Government to implement e-Government initiatives effectively depends upon:

• Support from the political establishment
• Frameworks for improving or reforming public administration
• Human capital
• Financial capital
• Demand
• Technology infrastructure
• Enabling policy and legal framework

Developing countries need various types of technical assistance in implementing e-Government:

• Assessing e-Government readiness
• Developing an e-Government strategy which outlines an application portfolio,
• Assessing impact of e-government applications
• Design and building of secure data networks
• Design of Government on-line Portals
• Re-engineering administrative processes within departments and re-organization of information ownership and flows to promote sharing across departments
• Setting up a certification authority, payment gateways and an enabling e-commerce legislation
• Sourcing packaged solutions for generic e-Government applications like e-procurement, on-line portals, processing customs duty and property sale transactions.
• Software development, implementation and change management

Why are Developing Countries adopting e-Government quickly?

Interest in e-Government within developing countries is growing exponentially. These countries already expend 1-2 % of their GDP on ICT, largely in the private sector. Investments in ICT by Governments are likely to increase because of the factors outlined below.

Aggressive Marketing by IT vendors: Most large IT vendors have established a significant presence in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Spending on ICT by Governments has lagged behind that of the private sector. IT vendors have been conscious of this fact and have created specific initiatives on e-Government to open up the market. With the recent slow down in the US economy, these IT have vendors are likely to become even more aggressive in their marketing pitch to Governments in developing countries.

Citizen Expectations: Citizens in developing countries are also experiencing a significant improvement in service levels in e-commerce, vis à vis the private sector. They feel that if the private sector can make systematic improvements in service delivery, why can’t the government use the same technologies? So, the citizens in some countries are, in fact, asking the government to go online.

Economic and Institutional Reform: In the last decade, many countries have gone through a process of economic liberalization and economic growth. Many large countries like India and China have grown at 6 to 10 percent over the last decade. Having accomplished the first phase of economic policy reform, the next phase of reform is really governance reform. E-Government pilots have demonstrated a positive impact on corruption, transparency and quality of service. In fact these early successes have spurred competition amongst states and countries to go on-line.

National/Community Pride: These successes are also a source of pride. Some countries have already demonstrated that as a consequence of their experimentation and innovation in this field, there is a competition taking place with developed countries. So, for example, Brazil launched an electronic voting system: they are very proud that it is a better system than that of the United States, and it seems this has become an incentive for these countries to catch up with the developed world

Expansion of service, not cost reduction as a prime motivator: Initial fears that ICT use in Government will lead to unemployment is turning out to be unfounded. To date, increased efficiency through e-government has not led to unemployment in developing countries. In developed countries, the focus of e-government is mainly on productivity, including the capacity to cut costs of public administration. In developing countries, however, the net is being used not only to become more efficient, but also to expand the coverage. Many countries are now delivering services to areas that could not be served in the past, and this was made possible by the use of the net. So, e-government is a real opportunity as it allows you to do more, as well as work more efficiently.

Critical Mass of Internet users: The spread of the Internet in the urban areas of many developing countries is starting to create a critical mass, not as considerable as in most developed countries, but large enough to lead the government to deliver online services. In the large and highly urbanized countries in Latin America or Asia, it has become possible to deliver these services. In some places where e-government has been introduced, it has shown that it can work, and it can have a wide impact on government efficiency and effectiveness.

Future Challenge

In isolated pockets, innovative e-government applications have already been implemented. However, the real challenge is to have a wide-scale impact and that means that the digital divide problem will have to be solved, the net access will have to be taken to many rural areas, and many more kiosks will have to be created. A few political leaders and civil servants who believed in the idea of reform have innovated, but the vast majority have not. A major task is to build institutional capacity for governance reform, because once the capacity is there, people will use the technologies to deliver services and information.

An important challenge is to create a greater awareness about e-government within the multilateral institutions. Application of ICTs in sectors like education, health, agriculture or transportation, is not being deployed as it ought to be. Another challenge is to motivate civil servants and project leaders in developing countries to be more involved with reforms and to use IT as an enabling technology for innovation in their own spheres of work.

Web Resources Accessible Through this site

Different types of institutions are actively engaged in work related to e-Government. There are a large number of web sites that publish material related to e-Government. Click on Information Sources for a selection of these sites and brief descriptions of their content.

Human Resource Development (HRD) is the integrated use of training, organisation as well as career development efforts to improve individual, group, and organisational effectiveness. HRD helps:

• In developing key competencies which help individuals in organisations to perform current and future jobs, through planned learning activities;

• Initiate and manage change in groups within organisations;

• To ensure a match between an individual’s and organisational needs.

Manpower is recognised as one of the most valuable resources for any organisation. Most organisations have realised that the way they take care of the personnel has a direct bearing on their effectiveness and success.

HRD in the Public Sector

Typically, the HRD function includes recruitment, salary administration, training, staff welfare, industrial relations, and the drafting and implementation of rules and regulations. Training is particularly neglected in Government. Training activity begins with the identification of a skill gap which occurs when the skill set of the staff does not match that required by the organisational functions that the staff are required to carry out.

HRD in the public sector covers the following important issues:

• Recruitment: job description and wage determination

Defining job descriptions is an important part of the recruitment process. It involves preparation of a summary of the job; outlining essential duties and responsibilities; demarcating supervisory responsibilities, if any; outlining requirements in qualification; education and experience; language skills; reasoning ability; physical demands and the work environment. Such an exercise carried out for an entire department helps in rationalising and redefining jobs.

Determining wage levels is also a critical component as it determines the calibre of people that can be attracted and the burden that the wage bill would impose on budgets when aggregated over large a number of employees. Data on public sector employment and wages is comparatively rare. Establishing the basis for a comparison in government employment and pay is also a complicated and time-consuming endeavor. Internal comparisons can sometime provide information regarding employment levels and wage adequacy.

• Individual performance management

Most organisations – public and private, find it necessary to have some mechanism to manage the performance of employees. The meaning of the term “performance management” has changed over the years. In the past it was often taken to mean rating employees using a trait-based instrument – one looking at factors such as neatness and punctuality, as opposed to focussing directly on work output. The evaluation process also tended to be secretive. The employee did not participate and was not told what rating he or she received.
This style of performance appraisal is no longer considered good practice. There is general agreement that performance management should be:

• Task-oriented: Based on results as opposed to personal traits, and measuring results against pre-defined goals and targets

• Participative: Involving the employee as well as his or her supervisor, both in the setting of goals at the beginning of the rating period and in appraising results at the end

• Developmental: The evaluation process should do more than rate employees – it should assist them to improve their performance, and to identify training or other support that may be required to this end.

Establishment Control and Pay Determination
All employers, including the government, need to control their employment costs. However, partisan political motives often lead governments to hire more public employees than the budget can reasonably sustain, placing downward pressure on wages and upward pressure on inflation. Meanwhile, the ability of public sector managers to fire public sector employees is often constrained to protect against politically motivated dismissals.
Governments have devised various institutional arrangements to ensure that the right number of public sector staff is hired, at the correct grades and with the right mix of skills for the tasks at hand. This is conventionally referred to as establishment control.

Enforcement and Disciplinary Issues
The separation of public and private interests in the conduct of all public officials is a precondition for accountable and transparent government. The decisions and actions of an office holder should not be affected by private interests. If they are, there is said to be a conflict of interests between public duties and personal interests.
States have adopted a series of countermeasures ranging from laws, regulations and codes of conduct, to offices of public ethics to commissions and special courts, in recognition of such conflicts.

Employment relations
The employment relationship needs to be built on good faith behavior. This would basically mean understanding that employment is not only an economic exchange, based on contract, but is a human relationship involving issues of trust and confidence without room for deception.

Pension Arrangements
Provision of old age, disability and death benefits for civil servants pre-dates the establishment of national social security schemes for private sector workers in many countries. Special pension privileges are sometimes granted to other occupational groups – the armed forces, police and workers – in the public sector also. Historically, these benefits were granted as a form of reward for long service. Lifetime employment had been the norm in the civil service, and the prospect of receiving an adequate pension upon retirement has traditionally been viewed as an inherent attraction for employment in the public sector.

Downsizing
State-led development strategies often lead to over-staffing in public enterprises. Often reducing the total wage bill is a key concern. Components of government employment include both permanent and temporary employees. General government employment covers offices that are instruments of the Central government or local authorities; accounted for or financed in, ordinary or extraordinary budgets or extra-budgetary funds.
Serious downsizing could be politically unviable if it were to rely on involuntary dismissals. Hence the increasing popularity of a voluntary approach to reductions in public sector employment among developing country governments, multilateral organisations and donor countries. The idea is to offer severance pay to encourage the redundant workers to quit, thus overcoming their resistance to downsizing, restructuring, and privatisation. In many developing countries “buying out” redundant workers is in fact the only way to bypass the legal obstacles to the dismissal of public sector employees.

Web resources on Human Resource Development

We have attempted to identify several web resources that could be useful for analysts and planners working in the areas related to HRD. Different types of institutions are engaged in work related to HRD. These have been classified as:

1. Multilateral Institutions and aid agencies which publish material that will be helpful to their  managers in supporting HRD in client countries;

2. Academic/research institutions that publish papers on methodologies for development and   evaluation, critical success factors in implementation and impact on society;

3. Federal/State/Local Governments which have implemented HRD applications/on-line portals. Such sites discuss HRD strategy followed by the institutions;

4. Other web-sites that provide HRD-related resources which could be useful to practitioners in both private and public sectors.

Click on Information Sources for a selection of these sites and brief descriptions of their content.

Goals & Objectives

CESPAM aims at:

• Providing quality training in public administration and management

• Promoting & disseminating best-practice in the region

• Improving organisational performance primarily in the public sector

• Improving the skills of practising administrators and managers

• Increasing the number of trained personnel in the region

• Ensuring a continuing supply of highly trained graduates in public administration and management

• Contributing toward improved performance of the economies of the SADC member states

In attaining these objectives, the programme will take into consideration the relevant developments that have taken place in the region. These include, amongst others:

• Changes in administration and managerial roles and styles

• An emphasis on policy analysis and coordination

• The shift in emphasis from procedural enforcement to effective service delivery to private enterprise and to the public at large

• An emphasis on public sector reform

• The privatisation and commercialisation of public entities

• The change from central planning to sectorial planning

• A general emphasis on political and economic liberalisation

• The emphasis on good governance, accountability, ethics, leadership and codes of conduct

• Concerns with value for money and performance management

Activities

CESPAM undertakes the following activities:

Training

This consists of two components:

• Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA)

• Short-Term executive programmes (STEPS)

Research

Research is conducted into those primary areas and issues which will:

• Lead to improvement in organisational performance primarily in the public sector

• Contribute toward improved performance of the economies of SADC member states

• Improve feedback to training materials development for the enhancement of public administration and management

Consultancies

Consultancy services are provided by CESPAM as requested by SADC member states, public and private sector insitiutions, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

Networking

CESPAM networks and creates linkages with institutional and relevant professional organisations, both within and outside of the SADC region, to deliver cost-effective programmes. These services are being enhanced by the use of the Internet and Web-based resources offering:

• Content on Institutional Development, Public Service Management, Human Resource Development and E-Government

• Links to the world-wide information resources in the area of Public Administration and Management

• Directories of useful contacts

• Moderated electronic discussion and expert advice on topical issues affecting policy-makers and senior management

• Information on educational and consultancy programmes offered by CESPAM and other relevant institutions

Governing Structures

CESPAM is housed in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies of the faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Botswana. It is headed by a Director and two bodies are responsible for governing it.

• A Management Board and

• An Advisory Committee

The Management Board advises and supports the Director in dealing with the day to day management of the Centre and the Advisory Committee is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate link is maintained between CESPAM and SADC and that all regional aspects of CESPAM’s mandate are taken on board. The Advisory Committee meets at least once per year to review the work of CESPAM.

Funding

CESPAM is currently receiving financial support from the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Belgium and other donors.

Partners

Partnerships are being developed to reinforce the breath and depth of treatment of those areas of interest to the SADC community. CESPAM’s current partners include the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) and the Commonwealth Network of Information  Technology for Development (COMNET-IT).