Governance and Management
The central implementation and oversight agency to be identified by Government and designated to manage
national E-Government initiatives is expected to take the lead role in giving effect to this policy statement.
Ministries, departments, and agencies of Government responsible for delivery of social services, including health
care and education, will play subsidiary roles in this regard.
5.0
E-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
No policy framework can be effective or sustainable without viable mechanisms for programme management to
give life to the policy design. This section suggests a structure for managing the E-Government Policy that
designates a Champion at the highest level of Government; and establishes an Inter-Ministerial ICT Council of
Cabinet to oversee and drive the overall National E-Government and ICT Innovation agendas for Belize. Among
other responsibilities, this Council will be responsible for policy-level decision making, budget provisioning, and
monitoring and accountability related to the national E-Government and ICT Innovation Policies.
It is further recommended that Government establish Expert Working Groups (EWGs) to guide activities related to
the various thematic areas of the National E-Government Agenda. These would be made up of representatives
from business, government, academia, and civil society, as well as other key constituencies. They would assist in
validating plans, programmes and activities, as well as public and/or online consultations at the national and local
levels. The Chairpersons of the EWGs will form a True North Group conceptualised to sign off on plans,
programmes and activities before these are presented to Cabinet, report to the Inter-Ministerial ICT Council of
Cabinet through CITO, and form part of the governance framework for implementation of E-Government
strategies.
5.1
E-GOVERNMENT MODELS
Global E-Government best practice suggests success is based not simply on
automating existing systems and deploying sophisticated infrastructure. In order to
be effective, E-Government must be built with people in mind, designed from the
ground up in a continuous process that involves the implementation of systems that
might be characterised by the following four (4) main models:
Communicative Systems
These embody an established online Government presence that disseminates
information about e-services and their requirements. This model has potential
limitations despite the presence of dynamic websites. Essentially, portals provide
information about all Government services but these services are mainly
independent of each other and any efforts at integration.
Transactional Systems
In this model, a Government’s online presence is upgraded to provide full electronic
transactional services. This represents an enabler stage aimed at empowering users
57