Activity File
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in e-Government
A knowledge map and toolkit
Summary
PPPs are often essential to the efficient and sustainable design and delivery of e-government services and programs. What can we learn about the substantial experience with such partnerships in a wide range of countries in recent years, and how can these lessons be adapted to the specific needs and constraints of developing countries? A recently commissioned infoDev knowledge map and toolkit is designed to answer these questions.
Background / Terms of Reference
e-Government initiatives in developing countries are constrained by lack of financial resources, low level of skills and capacity within governments, and the absence of incentive structures for rewarding performance. PPPs in e-government can help overcome many of these constraints, while at the same time increasing opportunities for the private sector.
PPPs, however, are complex in both their execution and in the issues they raise, especially because they are in many cases an alternative way to obtain goods, services, expertise and capacity building that might otherwise be acquired through traditional procurement processes. PPPs raise critical issues not only of implementation but of legal frameworks, concordance with procurement rules and anti-corruption efforts, principles of selection (including the relative priority given to local and international partners), and methods for assessing public costs and benefits in both the short and long term. e-Government projects, in short, themselves raise governance issues that must be thoughtfully addressed.
What is most needed for practitioners in developing countries is a starting point for addressing these op-portunities and challenges -- where to begin when it comes to PPPs in e-Government, and what experiences may be most relevant for their particular circumstances and needs. infoDev has recently commissioned a study that is directed towards developing a knowledge map, training material, and a toolkit on e-Government. To supplement this work, infoDev has commissioned an in-depth study of the potential for, and constraints to, the implementation of PPPs for e-Government initiatives in developing countries, and of the issues they raise for developing country governments.
This study will identify and describe international best practices regarding experiences in the use of PPPs for e-Government. The study will also develop a practical toolkit, that will become part of the overall e-Government toolkit that infoDev has commissioned. This toolkit on PPPs will provide guidance to governments, practitioners, and team leaders in development institutions, and the private sector on key issues, challenges and models on how to decide upon, select, design, implement, and monitor and evaluate e-Government PPPs.