Information System Strategic Planning (ISSP)
Preface
The baseline mapping study concluded that the use of information systems as part of your knowledge society will be the major driver of your wealth and economy (see reference 3,4). This is described as recommendation four of the ICT baseline mapping study undertaken in 2024 (see reference 1). The following blog will describe the actions you will need to take in order to develop a sustainable strategic plan (ISSP) for implementation to achieve it.
Even recently I have walked into government offices in the Caribbean with new workstations and high resolution monitors connected to a LAN with high speed internet without a file server or MIS system. These offices are still paper based (hardcopy). Functionally these organizations are no further ahead than they were 30 years ago, with the exeception that they can initiate and participate in remote virtual meetings with applications like Teams and Zoom.
The goal of this blog is to show you how you can derive as much economic benefit as possible through the optimum utilization of information systems in your government organization(s), and to do so in a sustainable way. This blog will outline the best practices and lessons learned over the last 30 years on how we can achieve this through the development and implementation of an Information System Strategic Plan (ISSP).
Background
Over 30 years ago the Global Affairs Canada (GAC), formerly known as Canada International Development Agency (CIDA) undertook a number of 5 year bilateral projects in the Philippines in support of local governance. I was involved in the second one called Local Government Support Program II (LGSPII) as the ICT specialist. This project involved around 200 Local Government Units (LGUs) in Mindanao. An LGU in the Philipppines includes provinces, cities and municipalities. My task was to help the LGUs build sustainable capacity in information technology specifically in their Management Information System (MIS) and Geographic Information System (GIS).
The term 'sustainable' is an important one because many bilateral projects attempt to build capacity in MIS and GIS but inevitably these attempts have failed to sustain the completed project. It is not uncommon to find an MIS system inoperable, or is no longer used, because the equipment and/or system become obsolete and/or the trained staff are no longer working in the organization. Another common issue is competition between donor agencies/countries replicating efforts of others without consideration of cooperation or sustainability. Even with MIS systems that succeed at an LGU there is no way for that system to be replicated and used by others.
During my work on LGSPII we found some LGUs were using a template supplied by their National Computer Center (NCC) for the creation of an Information System Plan (ISP). This was one of many plans they had to develop as a requirement by the national government. NCC is now part of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DITC) of the government of the Philippines. This template was derived from the national government's ISP for their agencies with some minor modifications. It essentially provided an LGU with a 5 year procurement wish list for their information system hardware, software and training with no requirement for actual implementation.
In 2009 the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) approached Catalyste+ formerly CESO (Canadian Executive Service Organization) to help their LGUs with eGovernance to implement digital technology in the delivery of government services and processes. Specifically it was to help the roll out of open source MIS systems from NCC on Linux servers using the MySQL database. Two of the key applications were business permits and licensing (eBPLS) and real property tax system (RPTS).
In the Philippines local government is divided into three levels: provinces, cities and municipalities. The size and population of an LGU can vary from a few hundred thousand to ten thousand; their budgets and capability to implement information systems will vary significantly. Therefore it was necessary to determine whether the LGU had the abiltiy to sucessfully implement the MIS system that was part of their eGovernance program.
Catalyste+ advisors determined that participating LGUs should complete an assessment based on the ISP guide in order to guage their ability to implement the MIS system. The ISP was modified to include a strategic component. The addition of the term 'strategic' is to identify long-term overall IS goals and the means of achieving them. A new guideline for the creation of the ISSP was established. It was also determined that the LCE (local chief executive) and council needed to be committed to the ISSP in order to obtain the sustained funding for the five year plan to be successful. The original ISP was primarily used for one time budget funding for computer hardware with no consideration of replacement or staff training needs.
Guidebook on Model ICT Organizational Structures for Local Governments
The National Association of Local eGovernment Champions Inc. (NALeGoCI) recognized that the most important issue with implementing ICT concerned people (human resources). Where can they find the people who will manage and operate their ICT projects. What kind of competencies are needed, and how can they set up and retain a dedicated unit for these highly sought after professionals.
The association also recognized that it is not possible to establish a full-blown ICT unit overnight. The process is gradual and incremental. The unit can only grow with the level of involvement (comittment) of the Local Chief Executive (LCE), the funding support provided, the availability of ICT management and technical expertise matching the complexity of the MIS being used.
As a result the association developed the Guidebook on Model ICT Organizaitonal Structures for Local Governments in 2007 with the help of the Asia Foundation and the British Embassy in Manila. This Guidebook and the ISP Template by NCC was combined and used by Catalyste+ advisors for the implementation of eGovernance with 200 LGUs in Luzon in 2009 for the development of the ISSP plan for participating LGUs.
Combining the ISP and Guidebook in the ISSP process proved to be a successful way governments and organizations can develop sustainable multi-year work plans to implement digital technologies in their organizations. This approach was applied successfully by Catalyste+ advisors on other assignments in Africa and Asia including projects in countries like Tanzania and Mongolia.
Information System Strategic Planning Consideration
1. What is the annual budget for ICT in your ministry?
- Minister/PS needs to understand that a long term annual budget % is needed for sustainability.
- Life-cycle replacement of computer equipment is affected by the % of sustained funding.
- Do you have a robust ICT unit? See item 8 below.
2. Establish an ISSP Management Team.
- Undertake a baseline inventory of your ICT system, computer equipment, LAN, servers, etc.
- Include each computer, age, capacity, etc., printers, etc.
- Application software used by all staff and any in-house MIS systems, e.g. civil registry, etc.
- Strategic Planning - survey needs by department, working units, get list. include training needs.
- Prioritize which model your ministry is at.
3. Cost alternatives for new computer equipment, etc.
- specification and costs for basic workstation, advanced workstation, laptops, servers, etc.
4. List and Cost training alternatives.
- Decide on type of ICT training: office automation, application training
- In-house or outside training requirements
- Train-the-trainer T3?
5. Infrastructure including satellite offices.
- LAN cabling, wifi, etc.
- whole ministry, one or two departments, etc.
- is a network needed to access the internet?
- is a network needed to share files?
- department or ministry wide?
6. Cost the hardware, software, training on a life-cycle costing model. A decision needs to be made on the life cycle of computer equipment (5 years, 10 years or something in between).
7. Policy and Procedures
- Networking, server, data management
- software installations
- data security - antivirus, malware
8. ICT Unit and Manager
- Size of the ICT Unit
- casual or permanent
- authority to implement policy
- generally an ICT Unit should be separate from any department - they serve all departments.
9. ICT Committee
- depending on the situation an ICT Committee may be considered that includes middle managers to help with the implementation of the ISSP. This group could also be involved with the development of the ISSP.
The above considerations will be key tasks that would be undertaken for each ministry or agency. The resultant template will form the framework to be used by others.
2024.10.29
Next Steps TBD with Team
References
1. Suriname ICT Baseline Mapping Report 2024
2. Guidebook on Model ICT Organizational Structures for Local Government 2009
3. National Digital Strategy 2023 - 2030
5. Multi-Annual Development Plan 2022-2026 of the Republic Suriname
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