E-Government
Overview
Currently, there are several branches of the government that offer information regarding their services and projects online. Many of them have downloading capabilities, but most of them do not offer transaction capabilities yet.
Government Branches, Institutes, and Agencies
The Regulating Entity of Panama: an autonomous board that closely monitors, controls, and regulates services such as water, electricity, radio and television, and telecommunications.
Transit and Transportation Department
National Institutes of Culture, Tourism, and Sports
Police Department
Public Registry
Presidency: www.presidencia.gob.pa
Ministry of Agricultural Development: www.mida.gob.pa
Ministry of Commerce and Industry: www.mici.gob.pa
Ministry of Economy and Finances: www.mef.gob.pa
Ministry of Education: www.meduc.gob.pa
Ministry of External Relations: www.mire.gob.pa
Ministry of Government and Justice: www.mire.gob.pa
Ministry of Health: www.minsa.gob.pa
Ministry of Housing: www.mivi.gob.pa
Ministry of Labor: www.mitradel.gob.pa
Ministry of Public Works: www.mop.gob.pa
The plan is comprehensive and incorporates information and telecommunications technology, focuses on social and economic development, and seeks to increase participation of the population in issues of national importance. The e-panama plan includes e-government, e-education, e-economy, e-health, and e-democracy.
The objectives of the plan include:
1. Making public services offered to citizens and business more effective and efficient
2. Strive to reach an optimum level of economic productivity
3. Increasing the quality of education
4. Strive to make all public health programs beneficial to all segments of the population
5. Achieve higher levels of competitiveness in both national and international commerce
6. Achieve greater transparency
Fifteen specific projects have been planned for 2003, and 13 for 2004.
2003 Projects
8 projects aimed at improving the quality of government services provided to citizens and businesses
4 educational projects
4 projects aimed to increase economic efficiency and competitiveness, focusing on small and medium sized businesses
3 projects aimed at building and integrating digital strategies and programs
1 telemedicine project
1 project aimed at improving society's quality of life
2004 Projects
3 health projects dealing with improvement of administrative services
3 projects that will offer public access to social and economic information
3 projects aimed at improving public security
1 project that aims to inform the public about the offerings of the e-Panamá plan
1 housing project
Some of these projects are to:
Provide an interactive portal for public schools
Offer virtual training/distance learning in technical areas of study, for remote locations online. These would include plumbing, electricity, mechanics, electronics, gardening, dressmaking, etc.
Implement telemedicine projects at different areas of the country
Completing links to portals for all government institutions
Create an electronic payments system, accessible to all citizens
Create transaction capabilities enabling citizens to pay their monthly water bills online, at the IDAAN portal
Handle import/export permits and licenses of specific products online, throughout the Ministry of Agricultural Development website.
Create a web presence for the Public Registry, and allow transaction capabilities so that citizens can order documents online.
Allow renewal of driving licenses online
Allow for payment of fines online (such as speeding tickets)
Optimize, and increase security features on the national passport
Report on the technical infrastructures of all public entities
The government has made an effort to provide information to the population online. The most important ministries and departments are online and provide basic information about their services. However, since such a small percentage of the population have computers it is difficult to assess to what extent this will provide benefit to citizens. It is important for the government to provide access to the internet to the least affluent sectors of the population, in order for them to benefit of online government capabilities. This is incorporated into the e-government initiatives, e-panama.gob.pa. The e-government initiatives are to be implemented in steps. The government first developed portals for all government branches, agencies, and organizations. Other parts of the plan will be implemented in the upcoming two to three years. For example, the first step is to provide internet capabilities to all public schools. This will prove to be a big task, since many schools in rural areas do not even have access to electricity. A second initiative in the plan is to train individuals in technology related fields, in order to provide the unemployed with the skills necessary to find employment in available sectors. A third initiative in the plan is to develop and implement an e-procurement website for the government to purchase all the necessary goods and services for the public sector. A fourth initiative is to actually provide transaction capabilities to all government branches, agencies, and organizations.