GovTech: Putting People First

Some of the main findings of the 2022 GTMI update can be summarized as follows:

• Despite progress in online service delivery and underlying shared platforms, the digital divide widens. Adequate resources should be allocated by the governments for investments on shared digital public infrastructure (with a focus on interoperability, digital ID and payments and more) and the performance and use of existing/new platforms should be monitored and reported regularly.

• There is a clear overall increase in the number of economies that improved their GovTech maturity in various groups. 136 economies (69%) remain in their GTMI group, whereas 52 economies (26%) move up and 10 economies (5%) move down one level. Improvements in the GTMI key indicators and additional sub-indicators, direct participation of countries through an online survey and the adjustments in GTMI group calculations resulted in a comprehensive dataset and more detailed measurement of the GovTech maturity levels based on the evidence collected and additional information provided.

• Regional disparities persist. Economies in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA), South Asia (SAR), Middle East and North Africa (MNA), and Latin American and the Caribbean (LCR) regions generally registered higher GTMI scores while those in the Sub-Saharan Africa (AFR) (followed by the East Asia and Pacific/EAP) region recorded the lowest scores. Large-scale GovTech challenges are still more evident in Sub-Saharan Africa region, and more resources should be allocated to address digital divide, infrastructure, and governance issues compared to other regions.

• GovTech maturity is higher among higher incomes, as expected. High-income economies and upper-middle income economies dominated Group A (at 58% and 26% respectively), whereas only 16% of both lower-middle and low-income economies were represented in the Group A.  The correlation of income and GovTech maturity implies that earmarking adequate finances for GovTech activities is essential to public sector digital transformation.

• There is room to improve on Digital Citizen Engagement. Among GovTech’s four focus areas, online public services recorded the highest average score (PSDI, 0.649), whereas digital citizen engagement scored lowest (DCEI, 0.449). This indicates that economies focused relatively more on improving core government systems and shared platforms for public service delivery than digital citizen participation and feedback globally.

• Most of the FCS countries (86%) are in the bottom half in terms of GovTech maturity. This has important implications for designing and implementing GovTech reforms and ensuring that GovTech solutions remain fit-for-purpose and effective in FCV settings.

The conclusions and recommendations of the 2021 GTMI Report are still valid. Key messages of the 2022 GTMI update are listed below:

• Commitment at high government levels and the allocation of necessary resources are crucial for launching and sustaining priority GovTech initiatives to address the widening digital divide.

• Large-scale GovTech challenges are more visible in the Sub-Saharan Africa and more substantial resources are needed to reduce the gaps in digital public infrastructure, skills and governance compared to other regions.

• There is a substantial room for improvement in most of the economies regarding the interconnectivity and interoperability of existing systems and services benefiting from cost-effective shared digital platforms such as government cloud, service bus, and application programming interfaces (APIs) as in future GovTech initiatives.

• Online service portals could be enhanced to increase the availability of citizen-centric transactional services and the actual use and access to critical services (life events) could be monitored and reported to improve the quality of services for citizens and businesses.

• Multifunctional citizen participation platforms could be developed to deepen the citizen-government relationship, improve accountability, and build public trust in government.

• Further investments in digital skill development and innovation in the public sector are crucial to supporting the transition to data-driven culture and building strong technical skills.

• Governments could provide more incentives and financial support to GovTech startups/SMEs to promote the private sector involvement in addressing public sector challenges.

• Governments could promote the use of public data to create added economic value by establishing public data platforms that individuals and firms can access.

• The use of frontier and disruptive digital technologies can greatly improve core government operations and online service delivery once the GovTech foundations are in place.

• Governments could focus more on measuring the performance and utilization of existing digital platforms and monitor/report the adoption and use of new policies and frameworks to improve the visibility and impact of ongoing digital transformation activities.

The GTMI Team^[1] followed a different approach for the 2022 GTMI update.

• First, the GTMI indicators were revised and extended to explore the performance of existing platforms and cover less known areas in consultation with 9 relevant organizations (UN/EGDI, OECD, ITU/GCI, EU, UNU, CAF, IMF, GDSI, Oxford Insights ) and 10 World Bank practices/groups (DD, ID4D, G2Px, MTI, ITS, DEC, SPJ, EDU, LEGOP, DGRA) from November 2021 to January 2022. 

• The 2022 GTMI survey includes 40 updated/expanded GovTech indicators measuring the maturity of four GovTech focus areas. Additionally, 8 highly relevant external indicators measured by other relevant indexes, including all three components of the United Nations (UN) e-Government Development Index (EGDI), the UN e-Participation Index (EPI), the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) and three relevant indicators from the Identification for Development (ID4D) dataset, are used in the calculation of GTMI.

• For the 2022 update, a Central Government (CG) GTMI online survey was launched in March 2022 and 850+ officials from 164 countries agreed to join this exercise to reflect the latest developments and results of their GovTech initiatives. Additionally, a Subnational Government (SNG) GTMI online survey was launched in parallel as a pilot implementation for interested countries. Finally, a data validation phase was included to benefit from the clarifications and updates of all survey participants while checking the survey responses and calculating the GTMI scores and groups.

• The data collection and validation phases of the 2022 GTMI surveys were completed by the end of August 2022.The CG GTMI data was collected through the direct participation of 135 country teams and remotely for 63 non-participating economies. Additionally, 122 subnational government entities (states, municipalities) from 17 countries submitted their SNG GTMI responses in addition to their CG GTMI data.

• A data validation phase was included to benefit from the clarifications and updates of all survey participants while checking the survey responses and calculating the GTMI scores and groups.

[1]  The GTMI Team members include Cem Dener (TTL), Kimberly D. Johns (Co-TTL), Asami Okahashi, Çağla Giray, Freida Siregar, Susie Youngyun Lee, Charles Victor Blanco, Gustavo Alonso Zanabria Gainza, Hubert Nii-Aponsah, Hunt La Cascia, João Ricardo Vasconcelos, Till Hartmann, and Youngseok Kim.