Marcel Thaens, a partner in the Ordina group and a professor at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University, holds clear views about the strategic role played by IT in relation to innovation in the public sector.
“Although IT often comes as an afterthought in processes of change in government organisations, the fact is that IT can drive innovation in public services. Here at Ordina, we demonstrate to our clients that a completely new system delivers far more in terms of quality than just greater efficiency: a carefully planned IT solution also offers all sorts of intangible benefits.” As an added advantage, it can also boost public confidence in government schemes, Thaens claims. “By taking a broader view of the potential offered by automation, an organisation can take advantage of systemic change to launch other innovations. If you think things through carefully, you can raise public support for your preferred policies at the same time.”
Interactive policy-making
In January 2006, Marcel Thaens accepted a special chair at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University, where he combines teaching with research into IT and strategic innovation in the public sector. He believes that linking different databases would make it much easier to fine-tune both policy-making and operational management. “For example, we could gain a much clearer understanding of hospital waiting lists, combat fraud more effectively and respond more quickly to grant applications from firms with investment plans. The links that are needed are fairly simple, and would not lead to any violations of personal privacy.” Thaens also reckons that the latest technology offers an ideal opportunity to encourage the general public to get involved in government. “One of the possibilities is interactive policy-making, in which the government would draw up detailed plans in partnership with interest groups and citizens. Applications like this could help to narrow the growing gap between government and the general public. This is known as e-democracy.”
Public confidence at stake
Marcel Thaens claims that big public-sector projects are often conceived to meet demands for speed, harmonisation and ease of use for the general public. Paradoxically enough, research shows that what happens in practice is often the opposite: citizens see the gap widening between themselves and the government as personal service takes a back seat. “Most applications are designed to raise the standard of service. But this is just one aspect of the relationship between the government and citizens. In order to boost public confidence in the government, and hence the government’s legitimacy, we now need to come up with systems that can empower citizens to devise their own solutions,” is Thaens’ theory.
Self-regulation within communities
“With accountability being such a hot issue at present, big government organisations are spending more time tightening up reporting and other procedures, including in relation to IT applications. We are now seeing the first signs of a movement in the opposite direction among new web-based communities, though. This is where shrewd, articulate users are organising their own operating environments,” says Thaens. The same is true in sectors such as healthcare and spatial planning, he claims, where civil-society organisations and interest groups are wielding more and more influence. “These are networks whose members devise their own regulations and supervisory structures. This really is a fundamental change. Government institutions would be well-advised to look at these trends when designing their future IT infrastructures.”
Next Chapter: Government sees Ordina as a partner in transformation 
