Project description

Developing a National Policy for Introducing IT in the Work of the Government of Ukraine
 

Objective

Ukraine faces great challenges in the rapid introduction of an “information society” and in building on the achievements and leaving behind the outmoded ideals of industrialisation. Along this path, Ukraine has experienced great difficulty in transforming its post-industrial society, despite its great human, scientific, and institutional potential, in the area of information technologies (ІТ). So far, national policy in this area has been based on the old, sector-oriented divisions of the economy that were relevant to the industrial society model. The continued reliance on this old institutional structure has eased the pressure on inefficient sectors and redistributed limited social resources to their benefit. At the same time, IT sectors have not been sufficiently represented in the process of developing state policy. Moreover, policymaking mechanisms do not take into consideration public participation in the policy process that could take advantage of information technologies.

As a result, only about 370,000 Ukrainians (0.8% of the population) have constant access to the Internet, according to the State Statistics Committee; by contrast, according to the International Union for Electronic Telecommunications (МСЕ), this figure in Poland is 7%. МСЕ also states that in Ukraine there are only 7 web-hosts per 10,000 population, while there are 22 in Russia, 88 in Poland, and 248 in Germany.

Modern communications (first of all the Internet) can potentially play an important role as an institution of Ukrainian civil society by (1) providing Ukraine’s citizens with better access to information, (2) giving them additional possibilities of free public expression and interaction, and (3) facilitating their participation in the public policy process by making the work of government more transparent.

According to the President’s Address to the Verkhovna Rada “On the domestic and international situation of Ukraine in 2000”, Ukraine has established 62 servers, which are used to inform citizens about the activity of government agencies. Among those with their own web-pages are the Administration of the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Cabinet of Ministers, the Council for National Security and Defence, the Higher Court of Arbitration, and 11 ministries, 17 state committees and other central executive government bodies, and 6 oblast and 10 municipal and raion state administrations.

During the last year several improvements have been made, among them:

• the Cabinet of Ministers has started to publish an agenda of its meetings beforehand, making the work of the government more transparent (http://www.kmu.gov.ua).
• an open discussion of the Tax Code drafts has been launched on the web-site supported by the Cabinet of Ministers (http://www.tax.com.ua).

However, the information content on these sites often does not correspond to the needs of users, and feedback mechanisms are weak. Moreover, government bodies do not, in fact, use the Internet to provide any of their services, or to involve citizens in the process of developing policy. Actually, the problem is not so much in the absence of funding to ensure the technical equipment for such work; rather, the old totalitarian procedures and means of communication of government bodies are incompatible with a democratic informational society.

The main problems that hinder the growth of Internet usage in Ukraine are:

• relatively low levels of personal incomes;
• technical ignorance of many citizens, caused by inadequate levels of education in the area of computers and Internet usage;
• lack of legislative acts necessary for development of e-commerce and e-government (especially a law on electronic signatures).

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian share in the Internet is increasing quickly, with the number of hosts increasing by 29% in 2000, while revenues from ISP services jumped by 76% compared to 1999, making up 2.1% of all revenues from telecoms services (1.6% in 1999). According to the State Statistics Committee, as of the start of 2001 information resources in Ukraine were offered on 9,268 web-servers, while at the start of 1999 the number of servers did not exceed 1,400.

This dynamic testifies that even in the absence of a comprehensive state policy on developing an information society, the attractiveness of the market combined with increasing demand and existing human resources potential are promoting the rapid development of ІТ in Ukraine. Such favourable conditions should be supported by a state policy directed at transforming Ukraine from an industrial to an informational society.

Goal

The aim of the project is to increase the effectiveness and transparency of government activity by introducing ІТ in its work, which can become a modern informational and technological foundation for the administrative reforms being carried out in Ukraine.

Using modern ІТ in the public administration system should ensure public access to government bodies and their participation in policymaking, as well as being able to receive required information and services. In turn, this will promote improvement of the investment climate, as well as increased flow of capital from domestic and foreign sources into the Ukrainian economy.

Outputs

• Developed recommendations on a comprehensive policy for “informatisation” (automation) of Ukrainian society and introduction of ІТ in the work of the government;
• Development of the capacity of government bodies to more effectively carry out their functions, using modern IT;
• Informing Ukrainian politicians, experts, and the public about various alternatives for social development, the costs and benefits of transforming Ukraine into an informational society, and international experience in similar processes.

Products

• Report on the research on the strategy for achieving the “informatisation” of Ukrainian society (in the form of a White Paper).
• A pool of specialists who are interested in the development and introduction of state policy on transforming Ukraine into an informational society.
• Discussion of various alternatives for the “informatisation” strategy for society, and distributing the results of the research to all interested parties and the public at large.

Methodology

During the project we plan to apply the most effective and tested approaches to analysing state policy:

• determining social goals in the sphere of state policy;
• defining the problems hindering the achievement of these goals;
• prioritisation of the problems;
• defining decision alternatives;
• analysis of the consequences, plusses, and minuses of each option.

Project implementation will be based on the following principles:

• studying the interests and positions of all interested parties;
• representing all positions and analysing them in the research
• independence of the research results.

We plan on dividing the project into the following stages:

• creating a group of experts;
• conducting preliminary research;
• organising a seminar for all interested parties and taking into account their proposals in the final report;
• supplementary analysis and report preparation;
• presentation of the report;
• preparation of proposals on introducing the recommendations, applying the methods of public policy.

Activities

Preparatory work

• determining sources of information
• determining the pool of experts, and talks with them
• developing the general framework for the research.

Preliminary research

• determining the analytical approach which will take into account existing knowledge gaps and establishing spheres for making strategic recommendations;
• determining the strategic goals for the state policy on the “informatisation” of society and the key problems hinder the achievement of these goals;
• studying international and regional experience; resolving problems and achieving the aims of the policy;
• collecting and analysing information—working with sources;
• collecting and analysing information—interviews with experts;
• processing the materials received and preparing a preliminary report.

Expert seminar

• define interested parties;
• distribute preliminary report among interested parties;
• present preliminary report;
• discuss specific questions in working groups;
• collect information for the final report.

Preparation of report on research results

• take into account the results of the expert seminar;
• develop and analyse possible consequences of strategy options for informatisation of Ukrainian society; compile recommendations;
• obtain commentary on specific questions from interested parties;
• prepare final version of the final report and publish it.

Dissemination of final report

• prepare a distribution list and disseminate the report;
• conduct a presentation seminar on the final report, inviting the press and interested parties;
• post the report on a web-page.

Preparation of proposals on implementing recommendations

• analyse reaction to the report;
• develop proposals on implementing recommendations, using public policy means;
• prepare a plan for informing the public at large and interested parties on the informatisation strategy for Ukrainian society.

Overall duration of the project

The overall term for all project stages will be 10 months.

Key questions to be answered in the report (preliminary view)

• How to increase competition in the ISP market
• What are the legal and regulatory barriers for conducting business using ІТ
• How to apply national ІТ regulations and e-business to international standards being currently developed for Ukraine
• How to increase public access to the Internet at home, at the workplace, and within communities
• How to introduce educational programmes on information and communications technologies in the educational system and training programmes to requalify workers
• How to ensure information security in networks
• How to increase the motivation of people to use the Internet to satisfy their social and cultural needs
• How to assist small business to use the potential of ІТ and the Internet
• How to promote the availability of the greatest scope of government services via the Internet
• How to liberalise access as much as possible to state information via the Internet
• How to conduct government procurement and tenders using the Internet
• How to assure knowledge and information exchange between government agencies by using ІТ and the Internet
• How to increase the participation of citizens in democratic procedures (e.g., elections) and in developing state policy using the Internet
• How to create and introduce a reliable system for identifying persons while providing government services in the Internet and exchanging information within the government
• How the state can promote increasing the informational content of the Ukrainian segment of the Internet network
• How to introduce a strategy for transforming Ukraine into an information society
• How to co-ordinate efforts of central and local government bodies in the informatisation of society
• Description of the nationwide campaign for informatisation of Ukrainian society, who is to finance and organise it, and how to assess its effectiveness
• How to measure the informatisation of society and its consequences for prosperity and satisfying social demands of citizens, and how to assure the veracity of these indicators.

Implementation

Recently the President of Ukraine signed a decree establishing a working group whose objectives include:

• setting up mechanisms for government bodies to provide informational and other services, primarily those concerning the realisation of their constitutional rights and satisfying their needs and interests;
• determining effective mechanisms for involving the public in processes of forming and implementing state policy, preparing and adopting draft laws and other normative-legal acts and decisions of government bodies, as well as feedback on the work of said bodies on implementing adopted decisions;
• providing support on creating and developing informational and consulting centres in government bodies, and also a national component in the global Internet network, ensuring broad access to this network in Ukraine.

During the research conducted for this project, I plan to work in close contact with the members of this working group, as well as with the IT Department of the State Committee for Communications and Automation, in order to ensure that the results of the research can be directly submitted to the officers responsible for developing policy in this area.