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Tunisia

Developing Mobile Applications Which Could Be Downloaded on the Mobile Phone to Reinforce Transparency of Government Activities and Participatory Approach (TN0033)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Tunisia Second National Action Plan 2016-2018

Action Plan Cycle: 2016

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Civil Service, Governance and Fight against Corruption (e-Government unit)

Support Institution(s): NA

Policy Areas

Capacity Building, Public Service Delivery

IRM Review

IRM Report: Tunisia End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Tunisia Mid-Term Report 2016-2018

Starred: No

Early Results: Did Not Change

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Not Relevant

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Developing mobile applications which could be downloaded on the mobile phone to reinforce transparency of government activities and participatory approach

IRM Midterm Status Summary

13. Create mobile applications to reinforce transparency of government activities and participatory approach

Commitment Text:

Recognizing the potential of m-services for improving the transparency, accountability and efficiency of public services, the fulfillment of this commitment tend to facilitate access to, and the use of, mobile ICT services in several fields such as education, transport, health, etc.

Milestones:

  • Defining a list of public services that will be developed through mobile phone technology,
  • Developing the selected mobile ICT services,
  • Promoting the developed m-services.

Responsible institution: Presidency of the Government

Supporting institution(s): Tunisian association for development and training

Start date: October 2018       End date: August 2020

Context and Objectives

The Presidency of the Government prepared a 2020 strategy that aims to modernize the administration and the use of e-government principles. To reinforce this strategy, the E-Government Unit decided to develop a series of mobile applications that would improve service delivery to citizens. Tunisian citizens are not very familiar with the use of technology for service delivery, and the uptake on digital service delivery is usually low.

Commitment milestones do not specify which apps will be developed and what specific functionalities they will have. Without these details it is impossible to say whether this commitment contains any elements that will make it clearly relevant to any of the OGP values. The apps that would be developed are using a series of already existing services. If completed, this commitment could have a minor potential impact on improving citizen interaction with online government services.

Completion

The E-Government Unit commissioned a private company to develop 10 applications that they selected. The apps developed include: Madressati, an app for parents and schoolchildren to follow their academic performance timetables, weather forecast data and an app for postal service geo-localization. One of the apps also includes SNCFT, which allows users to submit complaints about train services, for example, when reporting delays. Therefore, the completion of this commitment is substantial.

The apps are available on IOS and Android, however, they are not functional due to a problem of server hosting. The E-Government Unit did not receive sufficient funds to host the apps on an application server.

Next Steps

While development of apps is useful for solving citizens’ everyday problems, the next action plan should include commitments that clearly articulate activities and results contributing to opening government.

To open government, it would be more beneficial if the Tunisian government considered developing technological tools that allow citizens to provide feedback to government on various public services, such as schools and transport.

IRM End of Term Status Summary

13. Developing mobile applications which be downloaded on the mobile phone to reinforce transparency of government activities and participatory approach

Commitment Text:

Recognizing the potential of m-services for improving the transparency, accountability and efficiency of public services, the fulfillment of this commitment tends to facilitate access to, and the use of, mobile ICT services in several fields such as education, transport, health, etc.

Milestones:

  • Defining a list of public services that will be developed through mobile phone technology,
  • Developing the selected mobile ICT services,
  • Promoting the developed m-services.

Responsible institution: Presidency of the Government

Start date: June 2016 End date: December 2017

Editorial Note: This is an abbreviated version of the commitment text. For the full commitment text from the Tunisia National Action Plan, see here.

Commitment Aim:

The commitment aimed to reinforce the government’s “E-Government 2020” strategy by providing mobile apps that would increase service delivery to citizens using mobile technology.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

The commitment was substantially implemented by the midterm. The E-Government and Open Data Unit shortlisted 12 mobile apps and developed them through a private company. The applications covered areas such as weather forecast, a postal service, train services, and a school-parents communication. These applications were developed by the E-Government Unit on behalf of the agencies that needed them. However, when the applications were handed to the related government institutions, some did not take the necessary steps to offer the applications to their intended users. Some of these government agencies or institutions lacked funding while others did not have the required technical capacity. As a result, these applications did not become available online.

The E-Government and Open Data Unit first tried to address this challenge by taking over the responsibility of hosting process, but later faced financial difficulty and therefore deserted the idea. [61]

End of term: Substantial

The completion of this commitment did not advance since the midterm assessment. The E-Government and Open Data Unit is working with the public institutional partners (such as the train company) that are supposed to use the apps to improve their service delivery. The government considered the completion of this commitment substantial as two of the three milestones [62] were completed. However, the apps were not functional since they were not uploaded on a server to become available for users.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

Civic Participation: Did Not Change

Public Accountability: Did Not Change

Since the apps were not functional and downloadable, it was not possible to assess how they would function. In addition, the commitment lacked clear relevance to OGP values. Therefore, the commitment did not change government practice.

Carried Forward?

This commitment was not carried forward.

[61] See the Tunisia IRM Mid-term Report 2016-2018 for more details.
[62] Interview with Khaled Sellami.

Commitments

  1. Right to Information

    TN0036, 2018, Access to Information

  2. Open Data Framework

    TN0037, 2018, Access to Information

  3. Access to Geographic Information

    TN0038, 2018, Access to Information

  4. Open Transport Data

    TN0039, 2018, Access to Information

  5. Improve Water Resource Governance

    TN0040, 2018, E-Government

  6. Join EITI

    TN0041, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  7. Open Contracting in Hydrocarbons

    TN0042, 2018, Access to Information

  8. Anti-Corruption Framework

    TN0043, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  9. Participatory Budgeting

    TN0044, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  10. Youth Participation

    TN0045, 2018, Marginalized Communities

  11. Implement Initiatives to Apply the OGP at the Local Level

    TN0046, 2018, E-Government

  12. Online Administrative Services

    TN0047, 2018, Capacity Building

  13. Access to Civil Service

    TN0048, 2018, Capacity Building

  14. Joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative "EITI"

    TN0021, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  15. Modernizing the Regulatory Framework to Enforce The Right To Access to Information

    TN0022, 2016, Access to Information

  16. The Completion of the Legal and Regulatory Framework of Open Data at the National Level

    TN0023, 2016, Access to Information

  17. Improve the Transparency and Local Gov Openness

    TN0024, 2016, Access to Information

  18. Enhance the Transparency in the Cultural Sector : “Open Culture”

    TN0025, 2016, Access to Information

  19. Enhance the Transparency in the Environment and Sustainable Development Sector

    TN0026, 2016, Access to Information

  20. Enhancing Transparency in the Transport Sector

    TN0027, 2016, Access to Information

  21. Promoting Financial and Fiscal Transparency

    TN0028, 2016, Fiscal Openness

  22. Elaborating a Legal Framework for Citizen’S Petitions

    TN0029, 2016, Capacity Building

  23. Developing an Integrated Electronic Civil Petition and Corruption Reporting Platform

    TN0030, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  24. Developing New Mechanisms to Promote Interaction with the Youth and Enable Them to Pursue Dialogue About Public Policies

    TN0031, 2016, Capacity Building

  25. Adopting the Corporate Governance Referential on the Sectoral Level

    TN0032, 2016, Capacity Building

  26. Developing Mobile Applications Which Could Be Downloaded on the Mobile Phone to Reinforce Transparency of Government Activities and Participatory Approach

    TN0033, 2016, Capacity Building

  27. Enhancing Access to the Archive

    TN0034, 2016, Capacity Building

  28. The Development of an Electronic Mechanism to Ensure Transparency of Public Servants Recruitment

    TN0035, 2016, Capacity Building

  29. Strengthening Legal Framework for Corruption Fight

    TN0001, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  30. Developing an Integrated Electronic Civil Petition and Corruption Reporting Platform

    TN0002, 2014, E-Government

  31. Publishing an Annual Report on Audit Activities in Public Sector

    TN0003, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  32. Review of the Legal Framework of Personal Data Protection and Ensuring Conformity with Article 24 of Tunisian Constitution

    TN0004, 2014, Access to Information

  33. Developing an Open Data Portal

    TN0005, 2014, Access to Information

  34. Preparing a National Corporate Governance Repository

    TN0006, 2014, E-Government

  35. Establishing a Legal Framework That Regulates Communication and Interaction Within Public Sector and Between Public Structures and Citizens with Usage of ICT

    TN0007, 2014, E-Government

  36. Simplifying Administrative Procedures

    TN0008, 2014, E-Government

  37. Develop a Number of Administrative Services On-Line

    TN0009, 2014, E-Government

  38. Enhancing People Participation in the Decision-Making Process

    TN0010, 2014, E-Government

  39. Capacity-Building of Civil Servants and Citizens in the Area of Open Governance

    TN0011, 2014, Capacity Building

  40. Creation of a Structure Specialized in Training in the Governance Area

    TN0012, 2014, Capacity Building

  41. Publication of Budget Reports

    TN0013, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  42. Development of the Open Budget System

    TN0014, 2014, Fiscal Openness

  43. Use of the Data Extracted from the Application Dedicated to Budget Management (Adeb) in Public Sector

    TN0015, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  44. Publication of Reports Related to Attribution and Execution of Public Procurement and Audit Results

    TN0016, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  45. Publication of Recommandations Included in Audit Reports of Public Procurement

    TN0017, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  46. Development of an "Open Data" Platform Dedicated to Information Dealing with Oil and Mine Sector Investment

    TN0018, 2014, Access to Information

  47. Improve Transparency in the Area of Infrastructure Projects

    TN0019, 2014, Access to Information

  48. Devoting Transparency in the Environment Field

    TN0020, 2014, Access to Information

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