Remarks by The Honourable Damien Gomez MP, Minister of Legal Affairs
The Annual Bahamas Institute of Financial Services Bankers Week
Thursday, May 16th 2013
The British Colonial Hilton
Nassau, Bahamas
The Commonwealth Bahamas
12:30 pm -2:30pm
Topic: E- Government and Financial Services
MEMBERS OF THE BAHAMAS INSTITUTE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
DISTINGUISHED GUEST,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
GOOD EVENING
INTRODUCTION
It gives me great pleasure to bring a presentation to you on e-government and financial services at this year’s seminar. It is interesting that this year’s seminar is entitled “resilience to meet 21st century challenges” because that’s exactly what is at the core of our governments attention in transforming the Bahamian economy through enhancement to the ease of doing business in the bahamas.
Resilience means the ability to recover readily from adversity. And the ability to rebound, – to bounce back… it simply means to recover.
But what exactly are we recovering from? The Bahamas is recovering from a local and global recession. This has afflicted us for a protracted period and continues to threaten us. The fragile global economy is a reality that cannot be ignored. We are a small economy and we ought to accentuate the advantages of speed and flexibility which arise from our size. We are a young independent nation and we ought to emphasise the ingenuity and inquisitiveness associated with youth, as we mark and celebrate. Our 40th year as an independent nation we must grasp the opportunities of the dawn of the 21st century..
My topic for this evening was e-government and financial services, but I have chosen to expand the limits of that discussion to cover what e-government means to the competitiveness of the Bahamas at the global level. I will of course, keep the lines of my reasoning within the scope of the financial services sector, but we must be cognizant of the fact that the role of government in providing e-government services expands well beyond the coverage of a single sector.
Indeed, there are a lot of sectors that we can begin to look at when it comes to providing services. In the past year the office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Legal Affairs have been hard at work drafting bills which will set the legislative platform for several new sectors and industries in the Bahamas. Some of which are already being discussed in public fora such as intellectual property and oil exploration.
It is important that we revise and update existing Information, Communications and Technology platforms which have a direct impact on the efficiency and productivity of the Bahamian economy. This process of transforming central government ICT infrastructure is an on-going process and it will require that government, industry and civil society collaborate to improve government services. A government must always look for opportunities to develop new sectors in an economy and in the world.
Today, having a strong ICT platform is an important aspect of sector development strategy.
When we refer to sector development strategy we are referring to a structured framework for new sectors to be built and managed. This framework requires planning and analysis at several levels:
At a governance/ administration level: where the focus is on improving the quality of public goods or services being offered.
At a legislative and regulatory level: where the focus is on improving the legal limits in which new sectors are meant to operate.
At a national fiscal and macro-economic level: where the focus will determine what impact a new or existing sector will have on the existing economy?
At an industry, international, or global standards level: where the focus will be on benchmarking quality standards (* note: implementation of a national quality infrastructure) for public goods or services which a government provides.
At a strategic marketing level: where the focus is on competitiveness. To determine what the short, medium and long term strategic goals of the sector should be and how to engage or target audiences and markets
At an ICT level to determine in what ways can technology assist in the development of the new or existing sector?
This list is not exhausitive
We can use other matrices to frame strategy on how to develop new and existing sectors but for the most part these are critical inputs into sector development policies. When we talk about ict and how it can assist the Bahamas in becoming more competitive in existing sectors, we do so in the context of a complete framework of considerations.
We must always remember that ict is only one part of that framework and though it is very important to discussion on sector development it is influenced by other factors. In monitoring and evaluation of ict policies it is important to know that ict alone cannot solve critical issues in government. Solving our competitiveness issues will require a multi-tiered approach.
WHAT IS E-GOVERNMENT?
What is meant by the term “e-government”? The world bank defines e-government as: –
“The use by government agencies of information technologies (such as wide area networks, the internet and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with its citizens, businesses and other arms of government.”
Let us break this definition down in technical terms and what it means from a practical perspective.
First ICT in the context of e-government encompasses several interconnected mediums. Each medium specifically addresses an audience for instance the wide area network will address internal government ICT concerns such as payroll, emails etc. The internet as will address the information needs of investors and citizens and it will also provide access to essential government services. And mobile computing will allow business persons to receive and process critical information which may be unavailable when an investor or citizen is away from the office. Each medium should allow the user to immediately access the data needed.
Second each medium must have the effect of transforming the relationship between the government and the user. The aim from this perspective is to increase efficiencies, lower cost and to increase accessibility of government to its citizens and its investors who may not be able to physically interact with central government.
When we came into office there was a promise to our family island citizens to improve infrastructure in each island. The expansion of the ICT platform will benefit both family islanders and our winter residents vacationing in our family islands. For our citizens this will represent significant cost savings in that they can access essential public services without having to travel to Nassau. Similarly winter and summer vacationers, yachting enthusiasts will all be able to benefit from access and amenity of paying for government services from their mobile devices wherever they are in the Bahamas. This is our vision for the central ICT platform in the Bahamas.
E-government seems to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days but it is in no way a new concept. This concept has been around for at least a decade in the developed world. It started with the promotion of “digital government strategies” which were meant specifically to transmit government information over the internet to citizens. There was no interactivity between the citizen and the state. The internet was used as a way to inform anmd notify the public. Since then the concept has become more interactive as a result of the evolution of tech devices and the expansion of the internet into commerce and everyday living. As a result of the technological boom goods and services are now bought and used over ICT platforms and mediums. These goods and services are accessible almost immediately by anyone with access to a mobile device. Speed, availability of information and increased usage patterns require that we re-evaluate how a government should provide information and services to its citizens and investors.
The proliferation of fraud, cybercrimes and piracy are also the result of this increased usage. These are areas of concern for the government of the Bahamas. The information held by government on behalf of its citizens and investors has to be held in a secure and confidential location. This requires that the government acquire suitable data management policies which will require training public officials and departments the complex aspects of data and systems management. This training will ensure that we maintain secure ICT networks and that confidential user information is protected from deviants who would seek to exploit sensitive profile information.
We will have to begin to address these areas of concern by engaging the necessary stakeholders in the industry to develop a national cybercrime policy and eventually specifically national cybercrime legislation. These matters will gain priority on our national e-government agenda as the ICT platform continues to evolve. Investor confidence is a top priority for this government.
In the first Christie administration we appreciated the significance of introducing and expanding e-government and electronic technologies as a tool for development. On the 18th October 2002 the ministry of finance published the first policy statement enabling legislative framework for e-commerce in the Bahamas and the establishment of the e-business development office. Concomitantly the following legislation was introduced, the electronics communications and transactions bill 2002, the computer misuse bill 2002, the data protection (privacy of person information) bill 2002 and the unfair terms in consumer contracts bill, 2002. This legislation was all enacted in 2002.
Additionally, aggressive steps were taken to provide in numerous family islands local access at the administrators office to certified copies of birth and death certificates, marriage certificates. Ragged island, Exuma, Eleuthera, Abaco and even the far flung islands comprising MICAL, were connected electronically to the registrar generals department. The 2007 general election however introduced a five year hiatus in which these grandiose plans were shelved and abandoned. I am happy to report that with the election of the second Christie administration there is a renewed focus on the importance of e-government as a developmental tool for these islands comprising the Bahamas. Indeed I look forward with anticipation to the publication of the second ICT sector policy statement.
Also ensuring the veracity of the information on the Bahamas means that the Bahamas as a country must develop a secure cyber identity to ensure that both citizens and investors have access to legitimate unbiased information about government activity, services, policies and legislation. These days you can go on a search engine and pull up a website which represents facts about the Bahamas which are not supported by any source located in the Bahamas. The government cannot bring a suit or legal challenge against every website as to the veracity of its information. Neither can we afford to have our investors being supplied with erroneous information. The one thing a government can do is establish a e-government strategy and platform which can provide the investor and the citizen with accurate facts and information on doing business in the Bahamas. This is critical to our economic development and this is important to the preservation of our democracy.
The data gathered from users of the central ICT platform will also provide us with information on how efficient central government operations are. In a paper system it is more difficult to measure efficiencies in government.
In an electronic government system we will be able to measure how many applications are made within specific time frames. We will be able to determine the speed in which applications are being processed and we will be able to identify areas where central government can improve.
Technology by its very nature is a very transient thing. It has no relevance today. If you purchase the IPad 4 today you may be disappointed when apple brings out the IPad 5s or IPad 6 in the first quarter of 2014 with a completely re-hauled IOS system. What it does mean is that the speed of doing business has increased exponentially with the speed of technology.
The e-government platform must evolve at the pace of ICT platforms around the world. Our e-government platform competes directly with other major financial centres.
COMPETITIVENESS
The world economic forum has defined a countries competitiveness as:
“the ability of a national economy to achieve sustained rates of economic growth as measured by the annual changes in per capita GDP.”
This is a very technical definition but when one observes the global competitiveness report, an annual revered report of the world economic forum the idea of competitiveness emerges from consideration of 12 pillars of competitiveness:-
Institutions
Infrastructure
Macro-economic environment
Health and primary education
Higher education and training
Goods market efficiency
Labour market efficiency
Financial market development
Technological readiness
Market size
Business sophistication
Innovation
From the perspective of infrastructure I mentioned earlier in my presentation that there are several levels of a country’s sector development strategy. E global competitiveness report indicates to analysts, ratings agencies and investors a country’s level of competitiveness relative to several benchmarks that drive a country’s economic performance over the course of a fiscal period. In simple terms the competitiveness serves as an advertisement for investors seeking stable economies and predictable markets. Having a strong e-government platform and innovative policies have been found by several studies to be directly correlated to a country’s rating in this regard.
SINGLE ELECTRONIC WINDOWS AND GOVERNMENT PORTALS
Single electronic windows and portals are examples of ict platforms being used successfully in developing countries around the world to improve their competitiveness.
A clear example of this is Singapore whose ICT policies have made it a major player in global logistics and trade facilitation.
E-government platforms are a government’s way of telling the world, this is what we have to offer to you. Simply it’s the point of sale between the investor and the state. The e-government platform is a living and evolving medium filled with information and access points to critical information and government services which investors live and thrive off. These access points into our country result in expectations from investors and citizens alike.
The World Bank suggests that technologies used in providing e-government services can serve a variety of different ends to both citizens and investors.
Better delivery of government services to citizens
Improved interactions with business and industry
Citizen empowerment through access to information
Efficient government management
It is not a secret that the government of the Bahamas and the private sector have always been collaborators in improving central government infrastructure ( i.e policies, legislation and regulation). Developing the right approach to ICT platforms should be no different.
This government has taken several steps to encourage participation between the public and private sectors in this regard. The most recent attempt to include industry and civil society in public sector ICT capacity development and outreach was the hosting of the first e-government seminar by the ministry of finance on the 21st of March 2013. This forum which I am certain a few if not the majority of you must have attended was held to review the benefits of conducting business through the existing government portal. Several panellist from customs, ministries and central government agencies answered questions posed concerning:
The modernization of government services
Implementation of technological solutions
Lowering the cost of doing business in the bahamas
Transfer of public services from paper process to electronic processes
New online services which will be coming online shortly
I am informed that the forum was well attended by the general public many of whom represented several professional groups within civil society and industry. The forum i understand is just the first of many consultative activities which will be hosted by the ministry of finance through the department of information.
Already the office of the attorney general and the ministry of legal affairs has begun to examine its own internal processes and has made significant progress these last few months in addressing some of the issues faced by members of the public. I can assure you today that there will be a significant improvement in the operations at the registrar generals department due to the fact that a significant aspect of the change management activities we are conducting is premised upon the increased use of the existing ICT platform. The aim is to increase the ease of doing business for practitioners and citizens. In this regard modules are being developed in several areas. Aside from the re-examination and improvements to the internal processes and the training of staff members in specialized areas, we are developing electronic modules in the following areas:-
Companies registration
Births and deaths registration
Deeds and documents registration
Maritime marriages registration
Intellectual property registration
Of course the development of a few modules will not automatically solve the problems in the internal processing of applications. In this regard we have engaged several practitioners and luminaries in civil society to assist our ministry in the transformation exercises at the registrar general department.
The process has not been an easy one due to the practical realities of transforming paper processes to electronic processes .there is significant cost involved in terms of scanning documents, verification procedures and enlisting the necessary manpower from existing human resources to assist in the transformation exercise. However we are making significant progress in some modules more than others. For example i am advised that our companies subcommittee has suggested that by the end of this month, the companies registration module will be beta tested among a few selected banks and law firms to ensure that the module is properly up and running for launch this year. These beta testing activities are on-going in all the modules.
Some modules have more challenging issues than those which can be solved by implementation ict solutions. Some areas such as intellectual property suffered from antiquated laws which needed to be revised and updated in order to provide ip rights holders with the requisite level of protection. In this regard the office of the attorney general and the ministry of legal affairs in collaboration with the ministry of financial services have updated local ip legislation which is about to be laid in parliament next wednesday. This is an achievement of which we can be proud considering that this new ip legislation was outstanding for at least ten years.
But the laying of the legislation is just phase one. We intend to afford intellectual property the same if not better treatment that we provide to promoters of companies. We have already expanded the space for the intellectual property office within the registrar generals department to accommodate the processing of applications and improve the quality of services in this regard. We have initiated training for all staff in the area to examine intellectual property applications. What we are doing is setting the foundation for a fully functional ip office which will effectively have awareness campaigns which will seek to promote innovation and ingenuity in our society.
One can appreciate how significant ip can be to a small country seeking to develop new industries by protecting local innovation. When we use the term local innovation we refer to any novel act of ingenuity which occurs within the commonwealth of the Bahamas. They must be first protected locally. This will build investor confidence. The prime minister has discussed the business potential for the new stem cell legislation which will attract direct foreign investment into the commonwealth of the Bahamas and create new revenue streams in terms of health tourism. The impact of these new industries will attract different types of investors to the Bahamas seeking new financial vehicles to protect and fund their investments.
Speaking more specifically in the context of financial services, many natural persons and legal persons (companies) not resident in the Bahamas engage in cross border business activities and investments through various ICT platforms and for the most part the local private sector has within the existing technological infrastructure kept pace with most of the global players in the financial services sector. As a result of the ingenuity of the sector in terms of creating new products and services and the ability to conduct satellite boutique operations over the internet and using various ICT platforms.
We have found a way to remain strong players in the financial services industry. But what is government doing to assist the financial services sector. Well one of the most important things the government can do to build investor confidence is to be transparent.
Our investors and your clients require the government to be transparent. One of the ways a government can accomplish this is by providing information on its ict platform and this is being done by providing information in an easily accessible manner on the e government of the Bahamas website (www. Bahamas.gov.bs/).
CONCLUSION
The government of the commonwealth of the Bahamas has a duty to its citizens and investors to improve administrative systems and governance platforms towards improving competitiveness. Even more fundamental to the function of an elected government in the Bahamas is its duty to its citizens to provide access to all essential public goods and services.
In the words of the opening sentence of our first policy statement “ the rapid development in information and communication technologies in the past decade, the exponential growth of the internet and the world wide web as a commercial medium globalization and trade liberalization have made it imperative for governments to incorporate these factors as fundamental items in national economic and social planning. Hence the last five years has seen an unprecedented focus by nations on leveraging ICT to create meaningful viable and competitive opportunities for their citizens. Compared to competitor jurisdictions the Bahamas has been late in bringing the desired urgency of focus to the global digital agenda and a national e-commerce strategy.”
The policy statement is as appropriate today as it was when first published. I end as i began that in this our fortieth year of independence we must grasp the opportunities of our size and innovation through the appropriate utilisation of available technologies.
Thank you
