As the COVID-19 pandemic forces more people to do less face-to-face interaction when conducting business, a digital services consulting firm is warning Barbados and other regional governments to move swiftly to modernize and transform their business processes.
Naveen Bhat, Vice President for the Caribbean at CrimsonLogic, cautioned that putting digital transformation of the public sector on the back burner could prove detrimental to Barbados and the rest of the country.
Stating that now as an opportune time to pursue full digitization of its public sector, Bhat said while there were pockets of e-Government it was happening slowly.
He said: “Especially with this pandemic situation I think the governments are seriously looking automating or digitizing some of the services. But generally speaking, I think the pace of the transformation could be accelerated.
“It is a long journey. The transformation journey is not easy. It is challenging. But we need to start somewhere. We have to start small and then have that vision, what is that you want to achieve from this whole digital transformation.
“We have seen pockets of e-services being developed . . . here and there, but somebody should work out an overall vision of what Barbados digital transformation journey should look like from a high-level point of view and then target individual areas as to how you can achieve that vision. This is not only for Barbados but for any Caribbean country that is working on transformation.”
The executive of the award-winning multinational firm with offices in Trinidad, Suriname and the Bahamas, said the company has been engaging Government on the possibility of transforming some processes in various ministries and agencies.
“We are in advanced discussions with some of the Government ministries to provide some of the solutions that we offer that would definitely help them cut down the red tape that is there in the Government processes,” he said.
Bhat said the company currently had projects in several countries in the region including Trinidad and Tobago where it is headquartered for the Caribbean, the Bahamas and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Pointing to the benefits of having a digitally advanced public sector, Bhat said it would limit the need for individuals and businesses to visit Government buildings during the pandemic and thereby limiting associated risks.
He also explained that doing business remotely with government agencies would help companies and individuals save valuable time and money.
The time spent on getting Government services is significantly higher in the Caribbean that in countries where they have digital services available to the citizens,” he said.
“So providing digital services for the citizens is the right way to go for all the governments in the region.”
Stating that digital transformation was simply a tool to help optimize various processes, he acknowledged it was not the remedy for everything, but it was a critical component in the transformation of the public sector.
Bhat said: “Our experience in the region has been that yes, the governments have the intention of delivering e-services or digital services to its citizens, but more often than not the technical aspect seem to be the lesser challenge.
“The most challenging part is the processes within the Government and the laws that govern these processes.
“If you want to implement e-Government or e-service without actually looking at the processes itself it will fail because you are basically automating inefficiencies.”
Recognising that data security should always remain top of mind when implementing technological changes, Bhat said there was “a high chance if you don’t have the governance in place data may get a leak and fall into the wrong hands”.
He continued: “There are certain tools and techniques that you can use to prevent that from happening but the most important thing is the governance that covers this whole data privacy aspect of it.
“A citizen always feels the government is taking my information and may misuse it. So you need to allay this fear in the mind of citizens that their data is well protected and these are the rules we put in place to protect your data.”
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
