The Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan shared its experience in the use of open standards (OS) and open source software (OSS) within African parliaments at the international workshop “Leadership Capacity-Development for Improved Delivery of Public Services in Africa using Information and Communication Technologies”.

The workshop, held from 23 to 25 July 2012, was organized by Conference of African Ministers of Public Service (CAMPS) with the support of the Division of Public Administration and Development Management of UNDESA in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Ministry of Civil Service of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa.

The overall objective of the workshop was to contribute to the development of  leadership capacity of African governments to improve effectiveness, transparency, efficiency, openness and accessibility in the delivery of public services using the opportunities currently offered by ICTs.

During the different sessions, the importance of increasing human capital, including leadership capacity, for effective use of OS and OSS in the African Public Service was highlighted, and the opportunity to establish Centres of Excellence and networks for effective development and use of OS and OSS, connecting Public Service Institutions with Universities, was also put forward.

As the conclusions of the workshop underline, if the MDGs are to be met within the set deadlines, it is crucial to deploy modern ICTs across the continent, improving equitable delivery of public services and bridging the digital gap between African countries. To this end, a clear African public service OSS strategy will have to be developed and implemented engaging all relevant stakeholders.

In the final communiqué it is stated that in order to achieve greater efficiency and accountability in public institutions the use of OS and OSS should be considered a strategic opportunity. Being Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan working on these issues with Bungeni and Akoma Ntoso, we believe our work in promoting the use of OS and OSS begins also to gain support within the wider public administration. This will surely enhance new and existing opportunities of collaboration, also strengthening the sustainability of Bungeni and Akoma Ntoso.

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