Governments ICT strategy and the Transparency Expenditure - Coursework Example

Government’s ICT strategy and the Transparency Expenditure: Issues Pertaining to Lack of Information Introduction Information is a powerful entity in the modern day governance. Knowledge management is a concept that refers to the systematic means of gathering and management of information and knowledge within all levels of organizations (McAdam & Renee, 2000; Laudon & Laudon, 2002; Awad & Ghaziri, 2004; Liew 2007). As a general conception, the specifics of information and knowledge management are a fundamental to the effective service delivery in the public realm. The importance of knowledge management lies in the public good through efficient public policy development. Scholars (Denhardt & Grubbs 2003) argue that this ultimately culminates in improved means of access to IT supported services and shaping the domestic technological environment. Better governance is thus achieved evidenced by the IT reforms A number of studies point out that the public sector has lagged behind in terms of information technology and knowledge management as “administrative, executive and judicial bodies continue to evolve into an electronic work environment pushed by paperback” (Arora, 2011). As a case example, a report by the House of Common’s Public Administration Select Committee recognizes the setbacks of the government’s development and implementation of IT systems. It has been more specifically been pointed out that there exists insufficiency of IT skills in the public domain as well as over-reliance on the private sector outsourcing (Awad & Ghaziri, 2004). Moreover, there has been minimal information that is allocated to the knowledge systems and technology. In the light of the above acknowledgement that the government has failed to step up its efforts in betterment of the ICT infrastructure, a rigorous reform process is a necessity ( Awad & Ghaziri, 2004). (Wettenhall, 2001) points out that there has been pressure from the society, from time to time, for the government to scale up effectiveness of its ICT sector while minimizing costs for the good of the public. Two emerging facts are, firstly, the public sector is generally non-profit motivated and does not require profits to stay running. Secondly, its organizational structure is characterized by general bureaucracy. These two factors are seen as a hindrance to the efficiency of information and knowledge management (Denhardt and Grubbs, 2003). This paper evaluates the ICT strategy of the government as well as the aspects of effectiveness in the transparency expenditure. The subject of lack of information by which the government relies to reach sound IT decisions is thoroughly brought under light and its seeks to identify the need for reforms in information and knowledge management in the perspective of value creation to the stakeholders. This goes a long way in enhancing IT services in the public sector as well as the information and knowledge management. The Missing Information and the Impact In the advent of digital connectivity, governments all over the world are utilizing IT applications to improve service delivery, reform the public sector and scale up accountability (Yien, 2003). As a growing priority for many governments, it is unfortunate to note that according to PASC (2011), “Having access to up-to-date and accurate information about government IT is essential if the Government is to reform its IT successfully” (p.10). To the contrary, as the report notes, this is a major problem. The Public Administration Select Committee itself had a problem finding the data necessary to make an accurate assessment of the government IT systems. Even in response to questionnaires that the committee sent out to various government departments (and which were willing to release such information), the data the committee requested did not exist. In the absence of such information, it is quite a challenge to know what and how much needs to change, as well as determine the basis for assessment and evaluation. In other words, without this information, any such efforts at change are without direction, which is the beginning of failure in the effort(s) toward information and knowledge management. The government has a role to play to ensure societal success and insufficiency of such information is a setback as there is an expectation to demonstrate transparency and accountability (Riege and Lindsay, 2006). The IT procurement system has been unreliable causing inflation in the IT budgets. The very insufficient state of the information inhibits the transparency and accountability. For instance, a desktop computer is procured for 3,500 pounds on average. The budgetary reforms in IT and information and knowledge management should be initiated and sustained. The overblown and wasteful budgets limit the chances by which the governments can save on the taxpayers’ funds and enable savings. This way has given rise to the public debate on the expenditure decisions by the departments as well as the central governments (Roland & Maria 2003). The government is one of the biggest producers and consumers of information and knowledge. Moreover, it is a key policymaking body and has an interest in promoting knowledge for human development. (Broadbent,1997). Therefore in a sustained effort to uphold accountability, data on the expenditure should be made available to keep track of spending decisions. The lack of information has made the government’s effort unsuccessful in benchmarking of prices it pays on services as well as goods in the IT department. A fruitful benchmark process calls for centrally gathered data that is essential for its ICT and Transparency initiative breakthrough (Liew, 2007). This data will form a basis by which the government attains best prices for IT goods and services. In maintaining transparency, external consultations are key aspects of the IT reform process. Expert knowledge will be of the great beneficiary in maintaining a vigorous Knowledge Management (KM). On a wider scale, all stakeholders will be involved in channeling their viewpoints to ensure effective information management. Diversity shall be recognized, and everyone shall be part of the IT reform agenda (Jain, 2009). There will be enhanced partnerships and responsiveness that enables the government to catch up with the dynamic public needs. E-government will be boosted new approaches such as electronic services, more reliable security policies, and public outreach features such as email to keep constant communication with the public (Cong and Pandya, 2003) Organizational Structure, and Availability of and Access to Information To solve the problem of information and knowledge management in the public sector, it is important to identify the genesis of the problem. Information is the source of knowledge. In other words, without information, there is no knowledge to manage to start with. Therefore, the availability of information is central to knowledge management (Bhojaraju, 2005). On information availability, the question is not whether there is information (for that is given), but whether the available information can be accessed. In other words, the issue in this case is the harvest of information. To collect information effectively, it is necessary to: first, know where to get the information (i.e. the source of information); and second, know how to get the information (i.e. the tools for getting the information, as well as creating an environment that makes harvesting information possible) (Liew , 2007). Human resource (i.e. stakeholders) has been recognized as the primary and most important source of information (Lawler 2008; Tabara & Chabay, 2013). According to Aziri et al. (2013), the most important aspect of knowledge management is the ability of the organization to capture selectively, archive, and access the best practices of work-related knowledge and decision making by employees and managers, as well as other stakeholders, for both individual and group behaviors” (p.1040). Besides, knowledge, mostly, lives in the mind (Aziri et al. 2013). In other words, the best answer lies in how the organization leverages the human capital for information access and knowledge management. A knowledge-based or learning organization facilitates the dissemination and utilization of knowledge. Decision-making in such an organization involves various people; not just the top management, but also workers at all levels. An organizational structure is the critical influence on the dissemination and utilization of information and knowledge organization-wide (Laudon & Laudon; Zack 2003). Therefore embracing diversity and involving people on a wider scale plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of their knowledge management (McAdam & Reid 2000). On the general scale, public sector has stuck with the bureaucracy of the hierarchical structure. In the public sector, the top management is widely separated from the lower ranks, leading to a significant information gap. There are also inter-agency and inter-departmental politics that are hampering the sharing of information (Mahapatro 2010). The same problem may be what is affecting the UK government in its IT and knowledge management efforts. There is enough information, but the various departments do not cooperate to share and learn from one another. Redesigning of interdepartmental IT goals and strategies will help alienate the problem. Recommendations Indeed, there are a lot of strategies that the public sector could employ to deal with the problem of lack of information, reform IT strategies and ensure transparency in the IT expenditure. These strategies include, among others; a) The development of new research and development (R&D) department to enable decision makers to find out reliable and relevant information on IT and knowledge management. This plays a key role in determining the key sources of information and knowledge, and the right means and tools for harvesting knowledge. Most importantly, public organizations should find the right strategies to leverage human resource for information access and knowledge management. b) Distinguish between e-government and knowledge management, and leverage the former (e-government) for the latter (knowledge management).As noted above, many public organizations equate the many e-government systems as knowledge management. But these two are not the same. However, e-government is an important platform for information dissemination and sharing. In other words, -e-government can facilitate knowledge management. Making this distinction is important for public organizations in their knowledge management efforts. c) Decision makers in the public sector can adopt the throughput model initiated by (Rodgers, 1997). The model enables them to deeply evaluate information and cognitive processes in different philosophical approaches. This is a multistage process that helps policymakers arrive at sound ICT strategies. It involves unveiling of the ‘black-box” and in-depth study to acquire knowledge, solve problems as well as behavior learning through establishing of models. d) The UK government departments should adopt the appropriate organizational structures for effective IT goods and service delivery. Public sector organizations should move from the traditional bureaucratic and inflexible hierarchical and adopt structures that can optimize the ability to utilize human capital. At the moment, the public sector is not utilizing its key source of information appropriately. Conclusion Information and knowledge are valuable for organizations in the contemporary world. While IT is important in this regard, without proper knowledge management, the IT may not be so. For example, without realizing that e-government tools can enhance access to information and, therefore, utilizing them to enhance the availability and dissemination of information, such tools may not realize their full potential. The government ought to change its IT strategies , collect data centrally and ensure transparency and value creation through the information and knowledge management. It could establish research and development department, involve all stakeholders, loosen its bureaucratic structure or embrace throughput model approach to better delivery of IT goods and services and thus improve its governance. References Arora, E 2011, ‘Knowledge management in public sector’, International Refereed Research Journal, vol.2, no.1, pp.165-171 http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:w9PGqlBkFRgJ:scholar.google.com/+Arora,+E+2011,+%E2%80%98Knowledge+management+in+public+sector%E2%80%99&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_vis=1 Nawi, H. S. A., Shukor, N.S.A., Basaruddin, S., Rahim, N.M., Hassan, R.A., & Jusoff, K. 2012, Determining The Existence Of Knowledge Management Processes Among Academicians.Knowledge management. http://www.tlainc.com/articl299.htm Vol 13 No 2, pp.2-3 Denhardt, RB & Grubbs, JW 2003, Public administration: an action orientation, 4th Edition. Thomson Wadsworth House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) 2011, Government and IT- “a recipe for rip-offs”: time for a new approach. Twelfth Report of Session 2010-12 Broadbent, M 1997: The emerging phenomenon of knowledge management : The Australian Library Journal, http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Broadbent,+M+1997:+The+emerging+phenomenon+of+knowledge+management&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=86g0Vb24ENHtar-kgPAM&ved=0CDgQgQMwAA Feb 6-24. Liew, A 2007, “Understanding data, information, knowledge and their inter-relationship”, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, vol.8, no.2. http://www.tlainc.com/articl134.htm McAdam, R & Reid, R 2000, “A comparison of public and private sector perceptions and use of knowledge management”, Journal of European Industrial Training, 24(6), 317-329 Tabara, JD & Chabay, I 2013, “Coupling human information and knowledge systems with social-ecological systems change: reframing research, education, and policy for sustainability”, Environmental Science and Policy, vol.28, pp.71-81 Jain, P, “Knowledge Management In e-Government,” Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 10, No. 4, December 2009 Riege A. and Lindsay N. “Knowledge management in the public sector: stakeholder partnerships in the public policy development,” Journal of Knowledge Management j vol. 10 no. 3 2006. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13673270610670830 Cong X., and Pandya K.V., “Issues of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector,” http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13673270610670830 2003 Rodgers W. 2009 .“Three Primary Trust Pathways Underlying Ethical Considerations” Journal of business ethics. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-009-0069-1#page-1. Read More