Around the world, the drums of innovation are beating the loudest. The resulting lyric is transformational, as technological innovation continues to facilitate the process of socio-economic development of nations. The anchor driver – information and community technology (ICT) – is enabling new ways of exchanging information, transacting businesses, and serving citizens, efficiently and cheaply.
This driver has also changed the dynamic natures of all major industries and some government systems, by providing better means of using the human and institutional capabilities of nations in both the public and private sectors, radically altering the ordinances of trade, commerce, and public governance, at state, national, regional, and international levels.
As technology transforms economies into knowledge-based economic systems, and data societies, made up of citizens, organisations, and states, entwined in electronically linked interdependent relationships, the constructs of market systems and public service will never be the same.
Indeed, delivering services to citizens by governments could be improved through world-class technology systems, deepening productivity at scale. Technology provides a better way to organise factors of production more efficiently, enabling a symphonic arrangement between people, processes, and tools. Nigeria’s public service has served the nation, but as the population continues to grow even as economic growth stays largely frozen, one way to look for higher productivity will be to deploy technology.
With better technology, public-sector workers will see improved productivity, and that will be good for the nation. Already, some critical sectors like banking and insurance in the nation have demonstrated the immense value derivable when essential technologies are deployed to improve operations and broad service delivery to customers. The public sector must follow that trajectory by automating and digitising processes, which are core enablers for the delivery of social services and powering the economy.
Every citizen or organisation understands the efficient public sector’s catalytic role in any economy. It is also well known that no grand national vision can be realised without a dynamic civil service. Indeed, a competent, values-driven, and results-oriented public sector that delivers world-class services to its citizens will remain the bedrock of any functioning society.
But in a time when the budget is constrained due to many economic upheavals, how can this playbook be achieved? The simple answer is to explore public-private partnerships where institutions can work with governments to fund and support the digitization and process improvement of bureaucracy.
As part of digitization, the workers must be trained and retrained, the processes upgraded and reformed, and the right tools provided to turn policies into services for the citizens. In other words, the architectural design of the partnership must go beyond the mere supply of technology to include redesigning processes and equipping the workforce with the capabilities they need to play critical roles in the economy.
Fascinatingly, there are institutions that are interested in seeing this improvement in the public sector; I will cite the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, which is working with the Nigerian government via a strategic partnership with the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).
The Foundation, through Microsoft’s implementing partner, is spearheading a digital upskilling programme that aims to equip civil servants with essential digital skills, creating a digitally competent workforce capable of driving innovation within the civil service. Besides the knowledge component, it was reported that OHCSF, supported by the Foundation, implemented an Enterprise Content Management Solution (ECMS) that has automated important work processes in line with the federal government’s e-governance drive. The overriding goal of this triple-agenda model is to improve innovation in public service delivery by empowering people, advancing processes, and improving tools.
Nigeria needs a dose of that redesign since public sector transformation and fostering a culture of digital innovation and efficiency will advance the nation. Doing that via a public-private partnership (PPP) becomes very strategic in an era where public resources are limited.
Digitisation brings transparency and collaboration across departments, enhancing efficiency and broadening public service delivery while facilitating the capture and retention of institutional knowledge, ultimately paving the way for improved welfare for citizens.
One important lesson from the highlighted Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and OHCSF partnership is that this can be replicated across the MDAs (ministries, departments, and agencies) within governments. And the arrangements do not necessarily have to be between governments, non-profit organisations, and foundations.
I envisage a situation where for-profit entities like banks and telcos can partner with special government institutions, deepening their capacities and deriving value from them. For example, a bank equips and modernises one of Nigeria’s Federal Schools of Statistics and works with that institution to train its staff in that domain. Possibly, the government could also deliver additional benefits to the bank by making the investments tax deductible. Largely, if that does that, more PPPs will begin to happen at scale.
In summary, Nigeria will accelerate its economic performance when we have a more effective, values-driven, and results-focused public sector with the capacity to deliver enhanced outcomes for the citizens. Building that future must not wholly be funded and supported by the government, as demonstrated by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and OHCSF partnership.
The implication is that MDAs must explore new capacity-building models with foundations, non-profit organisations, and for-profit institutions to support their missions towards improving the welfare of Nigerian citizens through world-class service delivery.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe is the Lead Faculty of Tekedia Institute
