lectronic
government or e-government is the strategy launched by Mexico’s
federal administration to bring services to citizens in their homes
in a speedy and efficient manner.
|
||
 |
Abraham
Sotelo, Coordinator General of the e-government programme,
says: “E-government is intended to strengthen the framework of
professionalism in public service as well as lower government costs.
It will help create a more deregulated government and eliminate a lot
of paperwork and bureaucracy. The main objective is to create a high
quality government service that is also honest and transparent.”
The federal administration includes about
300 institutions, of which 60 have embarked on a social programme called
Contigo to promote sustainable development among marginal communities.
The new technology is also being deployed in the area of public security,
including action against drug trafficking, kidnapping and car robbery.
The federal government is setting up a national car register to replace
individual state registers that are not available country wide.
One task for Mr Sotelo is to align the
varying systems among Mexico’s different states. Mr Sotelo says:
“There are states that have an advantage, such as Baja California,
Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Colima, Guanajuato and the State of Mexico, who
set up IT systems before the term e-government was invented.”
All the states, in turn, face the challenge of integrating their own
municipalities. For the government’s part, some federal services
are aimed directly at citizens, but in the main it is a matter of communication
with state administrations.
Mr Sotelo says that there is already an
active network for international cooperation and links to other countries.
“A trilateral group with Canada and the United States meets to
discuss electronic commerce and progress towards common standards.
[email protected]