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

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

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.

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.