The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be an important tool to support government efforts to make services more efficient, better able to respond to the needs of citizens, and more accountable to the public.
But the use of ICTs in the public sector in Argentina has only recently become a reality, particularly as compared with Latin American countries that have made significant strides in this area.
Can Argentina catch up? And if so, how?
Off to a rough start
All countries face challenges in bringing about the digital transformation of the public sector.
However, the challenges Argentina has had to overcome to begin its digital transformation journey have been especially acute.
Located in the southern part of South America, Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world and the fourth largest country in the Americas in terms of mainland area.
It is also one of the largest economies in Latin America.
However, when it comes to digital government, Argentina has had to build much of its infrastructure and legislation from the ground up.
Previous administrations did little to construct and support the necessary strategies, governance structures, ecosystems, and legal frameworks to build a solid foundation for a responsive and user-driven digital government.
Until several years ago, coordination between different government agencies was limited, as was the use of digital technologies.
Modernisation efforts were ad hoc and sector-focused.
Processes – including public procurement – were largely paper-based.
Public agencies used different formats and standards for their websites, and the information flow between different organisations just wasn’t possible.
There was a need to make information management more strategic and systems more secure.
By the end of 2015, only three cross-government information systems were established and even those had limited coverage for their respective focus areas across government.
This made it challenging to streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and use evidence to support policy- and decision-making.
Making digitalisation a priority
In 2015, Argentina took a portfolio approach to public sector reform, intending to build a national public policy framework that moves the country forward in a consistent and united way.
The Argentinian administration that came in after the elections in 2015 saw strengthening digital government as a keystone in the broader context of its reform agenda, along with public sector integrity, open government, and regulatory policy reform.
Argentina’s government prioritised digitalisation, and developing the Digital Agenda brought greater clarity to the policy agenda.
The central administration designed key initiatives to:
Increasing interactions between citizens and the government
In 2019, the government launched the Federal Digitalization Plan.
This plan established a strategy to use open source solutions for all government agencies and similar institutions.
It required collaboration on an unprecedented scale between municipalities, agencies, and provinces, including citizens, who were invited to provide feedback and submit ideas.
The ability to scale and grow, and create interoperability between disparate agencies, would ultimately benefit millions of Argentina’s citizens—many of whom are in isolated areas.
The transition to paperless infrastructure was a qualitative leap for the agencies, both at the national and sub-national levels.
The COVID-19 pandemic really led to increased demand for digital services and pressure on delivery systems.
The e-filing system supported business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the public sector to operate smoothly.
From 2020 to 2021, e-filing registered users increased by 73%
The single governmental website argentina.gob.ar is a platform for citizen and business digital services which provided safe and timely access to government services during the pandemic.
MiArgentina is a citizen dashboard that has become the single starting point of any interaction with the government.
Think of it as a digital one-stop shop where citizens can access public services and receive notifications (for example, driver’s license expiration, vaccination schedule, or upcoming national holidays).
Millions of people have registered for Mi Argentina, and several different services are accessible online.
Recently, Argentina’s new Open Government Federal Program (Programa Federal de Transformación Pública Digital) aims to enhance collaboration between national and local governments.
This program aims to promote the implementation of open government projects at the local level, strengthen capacity-building, diversify the open government community, and promote collaborative public policy design.
Looking toward the future
The progress Argentina has achieved has been impressive, but some challenges still remain.
Argentina needs to focus on the long-term sustainability of the results achieved so far.
The country needs to move towards a more structured policy framework that fosters a more mature digital state.
A more thorough digital government strategy and a complementary national data strategy will definitely improve policy accountability, ownership and sustainability.
It’s also important to draw on talent from outside the public sector while reinforcing public sector digital skills.
If Argentina can scale up the initiatives to design and deliver digital services that focus on citizens’ needs, manage and share data in pursuing good governance, business digital innovation and social impact then it will move in the right direction of becoming a leader in this space in the region.
Sources:
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/e090fd51-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/e090fd51-en
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/the-plans-for-digital-transformation-in-argentinas-public-sector
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/programa-federal-de-transformacion-publica-digital
https://olc.worldbank.org/system/files/Argentina-ID-Case-Study-The-Evolution-of-Identification.pdf
