The world has come to expect that people can easily access government-related services from the comfort of their homes, whether that’s through their laptops or phones.

This new digital trend—known as digital government—has revolutionised the way governments and citizens interact with each other, especially when it comes to administrative processes such as applying for permits, taxes, and voting in elections. 

For much of the last two decades, the Colombian government has been looking for ways to increase transparency and public participation in a way that can be easily scaled at a low cost.

Creating a digital government

Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) is one of the pillars of the information society in Colombia. It was established in 2009, and now it aims to develop a competitive, innovative and prosperous information society that is fully integrated into the global information society. 

The effort to digitally transform Colombia’s government has been in progress since 2000, but it wasn’t until 2008 that then-President Alvaro Uribe Vélez made it one of the country’s top priorities. 

The National Plan for Digital Government was drafted and approved by Congress, followed by additional pieces of legislation—such as an ICT law that came into effect in 2010—that solidified digital government as a national initiative. These efforts have propelled Colombia toward regional leadership in IT.

However, 2018 was the turning point for Colombia, and that’s because of the National Development Plan 2018-2022. 

Digital transformation -a prerequisite of economic and social development

The digital transformation is an opportunity to modernise, simplify and promote efficiency in government institutions and services, and to improve them continuously. Likewise, it is essential for greater transparency and accountability to reinforce trust in citizens of the country. 

In July 2018, President Iván Duque was elected promising more public action on digital. Digital government encompasses three main areas: information society (with open data portals), eGovernment (online interactions with public organisations) and eCommerce. 

The National Development Plan 2018-2022 (NDP) responds to the challenges of adapting the country’s economy and society to the digital transformation. It aims to connect all nine sub-national territories in the country by focusing on digital inclusion and blockchain, IoT and AI. 

Connectivity in Colombia

Connectivity is quickly becoming a given in developed countries, but it can be costly or unavailable in others. But what’s true for connectivity is also true for government services—not all Colombians are online, and many who do have internet access don’t want to trust or use it to interact with their government. 

Among other OECD countries, Colombia currently has the lowest fixed broadband dispersion. That’s why it is looking to connect 80% of the population and 70% of households by 2022. 

Colombia aims to close the digital gap by rolling out high-speed internet nationwide at affordable prices. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, connectivity was essential, especially for low-income households and rural areas.

The achievements the government has made over the years have not gone unnoticed. According to the EDGI index 2020, Colombia has improved its ranking by six places compared to 2018. 

It has created a comprehensive strategy that involves many stakeholders to develop a leadership structure, enabling the delivery of digital processes within all levels of government.

Considerations for the future

According to a recent OECD report, the government must create sustainable connections within the digital ecosystem. Colombia currently has many digital government projects in motion that are moving forward, but many of them are independent of one another. 

A lack of cross-agency collaboration makes these initiatives far less efficient than possible. To get things moving faster, agencies need to link up and work together. 

The new strategies must also include plans for sustainability and coordination into the future; if current projects end before new ones begin, there won’t be enough momentum to sustain meaningful progress.

Moreover, the government efforts are mostly focused on larger cities, with little attention given to smaller municipalities. This is partially because connectivity projects in larger cities are easier to achieve from an infrastructure point of view. However, this should be a critical focus for the following years.

The government must demonstrate the impact of citizen engagement by increasing transparency and accountability. The administration needs to provide frequent updates on issues such as how much is being invested in technology projects, where they are taking place, their status and any delays they may be experiencing. This would instill confidence among its citizens in the government’s commitment to digital government services.

Sources: 

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/4de9f5bb-en.pdf?expires=1639564959&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=71883E611F9D25244280DAA2728B1A79 

https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data/Country-Information/id/37-Colombia

https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2020-Survey/2020%20UN%20E-Government%20Survey%20(Full%20Report).pdf 

https://www.oecd.org/gov/digital-government/Digital%20Gov%20Review%20Colombia%20[Eng]%20def.pdf 

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/781185b1-en/1/1/1/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/781185b1-en&mimeType=text/html&_csp_=2e55b885b2f1f6b5f49b8e209518fce4&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book