SDNP Guyana: Pushing public access to information
"…a Government of Guyana-UNDP initiative…to make relevant information on sustainable development readily available…"
Guyana is a small developing country in South America and one of the last one to be connected to the Internet in the region. When the Internet finally arrived in Guyana, an SDNP initiative was already planned and started up a few months later in July 1997. The initiative was sponsored by UNDP and the Government of Guyana with an initial funding for US$ 150,000.In common with most developing countries Guyana had a problem with public access to information. Information generated by public agencies including government ministries was not readily available. Reports produced become almost inaccessible after a short time. Details of services available and requirements for paying taxes, investing and other transactions was time-consuming to acquire. Information was stored mainly on paper and subject to deterioration and loss.
For examples requests for information such as statistics on the education system or investments policy had to be received by phone, regular mail or fax. The information required had to be photocopied and mailed or faxed back to the inquirer. Methods were slow and had not changed much in decades.
SDNP answer to information access problems
During the 1998 SDNP offered free Internet service to any government agencies that requested it. Most government Ministers were personally briefed about the possible uses of the Internet as a medium for sending and receiving information. The response was not immediate or universal, but many did take up the offer and began to process learning about this technology. Help was given in an informal one-to-one style as needed.
After beginning to use the services these clients were encouraged repeatedly to consider a web page so that information they had could become more accessible to the public.
Most of the agencies, which took up the offer, are now daily users of e-mail and the web. The use of phone and fax is now giving way to e-mail.There were no web pages hosted locally when SDNP started except for the state-owned newspaper. There are now some fourteen web pages belonging to government agencies hosted by SDNP plus two or three hosted elsewhere. More are in preparation. Statistics produced by the Ministry of Education and information for investors are now available on-line.
When possible the design of web pages is done by staff from agency with help from SDNP. The training has been one-to-one usually working on their own web site. The result may lack some of the polish of sophisticated design but more learning take place and more responsibility rests with the agencies themselves.
Looking at the future
Guyana is still in the early stages of using the Internet (and IT in general) but real progress has been made. Up to now SDNP Guyana has about 200 clients, about half of whom are in the government sector. A number of Ministers have become regular Internet users. Other clients included NGOs, schools and funding agencies. Requests from home users and private business had to be referred to commercial ISPs due to limited capacity.
Even tough, as a senior Government Officer stated "I look forward to the continued high service from SDNP. Your service has made a tremendous impact on the EFFECTIVENESS and EFFICIENCY of my Department.", the future of the initiative is uncertain. The high leased line cost (US$ 5,000 + per month for 128K) is a continuing problem.
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