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COMPARATIVE LEGAL RESEARCHDEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC
Development of electronic government in Kazakhstan
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14420/en.2015.2.9
Nurtas Kusherov, candidate for Master's Degree at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation, nurtas55@gmail.com
Forming the electronic government in Kazakhstan is a complex and multiaspect process. On the one hand, we must take into account its peculiarities; on the other hand, a significant role is played by its internal and external content that lay the basis, on which it is being formed. The article pays special attention to development of electronic government in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is characterized with the following main features: transparency, availability, mobility, little chance for corrupt practices. In its turn the said set of features facilitates the perspective of quick and efficient rendering public services, and more effective work of authorities. The author analyses practice of applying different forms of electronic government in Kazakhstan and shows the impact of new information and communication technologies (also called infocomm technologies) on quality of state administration. The presented analysis also reveals reasons and consequences of ineffective implementation of electronic government in the republic of Kazakhstan. electronic government, electronic control, information-oriented society, state administration, electronic document management, information and communication technologies, civil officers, index of e-participation of citizens, effectiveness of authorities, Internetportals.
Development of electronic government today appears one of important conditions for the functioning of a modern state. It became urgent to introduce electronic government in the face of an evident crisis in work of the state as a bureaucratic machine, which manifests itself in constant increase of the number of civil officers, and the fact that state operations are consuming more and more financial and time resources1.
At the same time it is well known that any management decisions are
Abstract.
Keywords:
1 Styrin E.M. Elektronnoe pravitel'stvo: strategii formirovaniya i razvitiya. -Government: Formation and Development Strategies].
Moscow, 2012 [Electronic
Nurtas Kusherov. Development of electronic government in Kazakhstan
doomed to certain grave difficulties or even failure if they do not And support among those who will implement them. In this context perception issues are of acute significance, especially in cases when civil servants tend to oppose and reject the policy designed to launch electronic government.
Formation of electronic government in Kazakhstan is a complex and manifold phenomenon. First of all we must bear in mind peculiarities of its development, but it is also important to consider its internal and external content that form the basis on which e-government is being developed.
The process of formation of electronic government in Kazakhstan is conventionally divided into 3 stages.
At the first stage (2005-2007) development of electronic government mainly consisted in establishing the infrastructure: web-portals and communication servers, electronic interdepartmental flow of documents, certifications centres, an integrated environment. Also in 2007 throughout the country there were put into constant operation state databases of natural and legal persons incorporated into unified registers.
During the second stage (2008-2010) the target was to develop different services designed for all spheres of people's life and state agencies' functions, and also to carry out a full-scale revision of administrative procedures. At this stage such systems as the state database "e-License", the e-government communication server for payments, and the unified notarial system "e-Notariat" were launched, people were given electronic digital signatures.
The third stage (2010-2015) is aimed to create an information-oriented society embracing all sides of state activities and services rendering.
In addition, formation of the infrastructure of electronic government is based on two interrelated, but functionally independent contours1.
Firstly, the internal contour, which stipulates interrelations «government to government» (G2G), and includes information systems that facilitate interdepartmental and administrative procedures. Within the framework of formation of the internal contour of electronic government there were developed an integrated system of electronic document management of state agencies, the Internet-portal of state agencies and other initiatives.
Secondly, the external contour, which covers interrelations «government to citizens» (G2C), and «government to businesses/commerce» (G2B), and correspondingly facilitates interaction between the state and citizens and businesses. In order to form external contour of electronic government it was necessary to develop the portal of electronic government, the portal of local executive organs, the call-centre, the following databases «e-License», «Register of Real Estate», «Legal Entities», «Natural Persons», «Address Register» and implement other projects.
The objective of above-listed measures that were taken over a period of last years was to provide transparency of civil servants' activities, raise effectiveness of the document control and quality of public services, and on the whole they should have resulted in achieving a lower corruption level.
1 Merekeshova A., Zhumanov Zh. Elektronnoe pravitel'stvo: shagi na puti k ego formirovaniyu v Re-spublike Kazahstan, 2013 [Electronic Government: Steps on the Road of its Formation in the Republic of Kazakhstan].
According to the United Nations Organisation, the index reflecting the quality of relations between citizens and state structures and servants, referred to as the e-participation index (EPI), was significantly improved in the country, and allowed Kazakhstan to take the second position in the world according to its EPI (it shares the position with Singapore)1.
In the United Nations E-Government Survey a special attention was given to if heads of state agencies interact with citizens through their own Internet-blogs (primeminister.govern-ment.kz), thus giving citizens a possibility to ask questions and to receive answers.
One further peculiarity of electronic government is that it contributes to a greater involvement of citizens in the process of making management decisions. The prime means that facilitates such interaction is the parliamentary website, designed to enable sharing information between deputies and citizens by providing detailed information about legislative process, to enhance public control over the state policy, and therefore to raise the level of responsibility of elected politicians before their electors2.
The conducted analysis showed that it was the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan (www.parlam.kz) that succeeded most in this sphere in comparison with local representative bodies, some of which even do not have web-sites of their own.
At the same time it should be pointed out that efforts aimed to implement the principle of transparency in activity of civil servants can either be inefficient or meet insurmountable resistance, when they are intended to countermeasure corruption.
Inefficiency can be exemplified by state tenders carried out in electronic format in the field of state purchases. By introducing such tenders the state strived to secure their transparency and objectivity. However, the poll conducted among representatives of businesses, showed that only 6 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the effectiveness level of the e-form in the tendering process. That is to say, even in the context of electronic format tenders there occur corrupt practices, and thus the ultimate purpose is not achieved.
Resistance on the part of civil servants can be evidenced by futile efforts made to furnish the free public access to income declarations of civil servants, when civil servants were forced (without any effect) to publish in the Internet their declarations completed for taxation authorities.
Internal flow of documents at civil service. Use of information and communication technologies as a means of increasing labour productivity can manifest itself in different forms, one of which is automation and simplification of procedures in state institutions. First and foremost, applying information technologies reduces expenses connected with data transfer, increases the operation speed of communication facilities, and extends their reach. For these very reasons in 2009 Kazakhstan converted the interdepartmental flow of documents in electronic form. Literally translated the programme received the name of «Integrated System of Electronic Document Management», in
1 United Nations (2012). E-Government Survey 2014
2 Bhuiya S.H. (2010). E-government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development. Public Organization Review, 10(1): 31-47.
Nurtas Kusherov. Development of electronic government in Kazakhstan
Russian abbreviated as ЕСЭflО, which is now commonly referred to as «Single e-Workflow System»1.
According to state agencies, in central governmental agencies electronic document management came up to 100 per cent by 20 1 42.
Still, results of the research the author pursued suggest that the electronic document management as a rule has a formal character. The fact is pointed out by more than 87 per cent of respondents; the poll was conducted among civil servants. The phenomenon accounts for reluctance on the part of executive personnel to change the usual form of work (with hard copies), which in the long run has become sort of «the deskbound tradition, a ritual». In actual practice the paper flow of documents is still in place, while electronic document management is merely a formal addition.
Consequently, people started to perceive electronic document management as an unnecessary burden, which only interferes with work. 68 per cent of civil servants voted flatly against electronic document management. At the same time, 72 per cent of respondents believe that document control would be more effective if the documentation is maintained only in the electronic format. It should be noted that the poll was conducted among administrative civil servants, i.e. among those who practically perform necessary operations.
Hence, it may be concluded that electronic document management meets resistance in the face of executive civil servants who head state agencies.
Judging by Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) prepared in 2011 by the organisation «Transparency International», Kazakhstan was ranked 120, whereas in 2010 its rank was 105, in 2009 - 120, in 2008 - 145.
The fact that the situation with corruption is getting worse can be caused by different factors. For whatever reasons it happened, it clearly points to the fact that the measures that the state authorities have taken to introduce electronic government and thus to decrease corruption, as of today prove to be inefficient.
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