National E-Government Portal (PNG0014)

Problem/Issue to be addressed The Freedom of Information cluster commitment in Papua New Guinea aims to create an enabling environment for citizens to use public information to hold the government accountable. All the government websites are not coordinated through any central E-Government Portal and require every government department or agencies to provide access to any data and information that is deemed public including corporate plan, organizational structure, annual reports, among others through their authenticated websites which needs to be coordinated through a central E-Government Portal. In PNG, the data or information is scattered and is not coordinated through a central government data repository. There is no Central Government Data Repository System that stores and processes data or information deemed public where it can be pushed out to the public through the central E-Government Portal where information can be easily accessible to the public. As a result, some of the policies are formulated based on less to no data.

Main Objective To coordinate flow of data or information through a coordinated approach where all the websites can be converged through a single central e-government portal so that government data and information can be made available to the public. Hence, for that matter, data collection, storage, processing or computing, and dissemination through a centralized portal or one-stop-shop for ease of access to various government information that is deemed public. It also enables the Government to take advantage of the available digital platforms to conduct its usual business of serving the citizens better. This also enables the various agencies and departments who have custody over public data such as Annual Labor Data and Gazettal Data such as CPI, among others to be pushed out to the Central Government Data repository so that it can be accessible through the central e-government portal so that it can be coordinated and pushed out from there.

Brief Description of Commitment NEC Decision No. 252/2020 directed for development of a National e-Government portal which shall provide information services deemed public including but not limited to Policy Library, Gazettal notices, press releases, Annual Labor Data and Gazettal Data such as CPI etc… The National E-Government Portal is committed to;
● Facilitate a central coordinated approached and provide seamless access to all digital services
● Facilitate sharing of data amongst public bodies’ system to deliver digital services in an effective manner
● Provide share digital services to public bodies and
● Maintain a secure Data or information exchange system as a shared digital service
● Enable government to citizen interaction online
● Enable government to government, government to businesses and government to citizen collaboration and interaction online.

OGP Challenge address by the Commitment OGP grand Challenge 1, Improving Public access to government information. This lack of funding and data centralization results in a bottleneck when information requests are not made known or accessible to the public. It is difficult for the ordinary citizen to access information if government agencies do not share information for public access. E-government Portal will be a one-stop-shop information hub for the public to have easy access to information where security of the shared information will be well taken care of by the secure data exchange (SDE) platform so that seamless data integration among government and businesses can happen. Also, it will facilitate the dissemination of public information such as Annual Labor Data and Gazettal Data such as API among others that will be made available from the Central Government Data Repository through the e-government portal.

Relevance Briefly describe the way in which this commitment is relevant to further advancing OGP values of access to information, public accountability, civic participation and technology and innovation for openness and accountability. The cluster is relevant to provide more convenient access to various government services and information which can be delivered more conveniently and can promote transparency, accountability and open governance of the public services. It further improves efficiency, reduces cost and facilitates better and secured communication among government, business and citizens and enables easy access to online services and promotes transparency in the government system.

Ambition Briefly described the intended results of the commitment and how it will either make government more open or improve government through more openness The central e-government portal is a part-way for good governance and allows for higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency in governmental tasks, improvement of processes and procedures, and increase in the quality of public services. It also improves the use of data and information in the decision-making processes and allows for better communication among different governmental

Milestones Activity Descriptions Start Date End Date

Phase 1: Establishment of the Government Mandated Platform

2.1 Concept Paper Formulate a Concept Paper to establish a Central Data Centre/Government Cloud April, 2022 April, 2022

2.2 Terms of Reference and Work Plan for the Consultant Formulate ToR and Work-plan for the Consultant to establish the National Data Centre/Government Cloud May, 2022 May, 2022

2.3 Advertisement for the Consultant Advertisement made and consultant recruited May, 2022 June, 2022

2.4 Research and Information Conceptualization Conduct research and conceptualized to establish the Data Centre/Government Cloud June, 2022 June, 2022

2.5 Workshops and Meetings Conduct Workshop and Meetings and proceed with the actual work on establishing the National Data Centre/Government Cloud July, 2022 July, 2023

2.6 Launching of the National Data Centre/Government Cloud Launch the National Data Centre/Government Cloud for the Country. August, 2023 August, 2023

Phase 2: Establishment of Central Government Data Repository System subset to the National Government Mandated Platform (Alignment)

2.1 Alignment Workshops and Meetings Conduct alignment workshops and meetings for all government agencies to establish their database link to the National Government Mandated Platform (GMP). August, 2023 August, 2023

2.2 Agency Database Encourage Agencies push out any data or information deemed public through the link to the Central Government Data Repository housed at the Government Mandated Platform (GMP) Cloud so that it can be accessed by the public through the e-Government portal. September, 2023 September, 2023

2.3 Awareness Conduct awareness on the importance of establishing their own mini data centers/cloud so that any information and data deemed confidential depending on the departments/agencies policies and laws must be kept but which is deemed public must be published through their website or pushed to the repository so at the National Data Centre/Government Cloud October, 2023 October, 2023

Phase 3: Establishment of Secure Data Exchange (SDE) Platform subset to national Government Mandated Platform (GMP).

2.1 Onboarding of the departments/ Agency’s meetings Departments and Agencies to onboard to the National Government Mandated Platform (GMP). November, 2023 November, 2023

2.2 Alignment Workshops and Meetings Conduct alignment workshops and meetings for all government agencies to exchange their data through a Secure Data Exchange platform that will facilitate the seamless integration of data and information to and from the National Data Centre or government cloud or mini data centers at their own departments/agencies as well as from the Central Government Data repository within the Government Cloud. December, 2023 December, 2023

2.3 Awareness Conduct awareness on the importance of standards and guidelines so that departments are aligned to the best practice with the National Government Mandated Platform (GMP) and how important it is to exchange data through SDE considering the security risk associated with the exchange of data unguarded. December, 2023 (Concurrent Activity - will run parallel with the alignment workshop and meetings) December, 2023

Action Plan Review

7. National E-Government Portal

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● This commitment has been clustered as: Digital Government (Commitments 7, 8, 16 of the action plan)

● Potential for results: Modest

For reference in Papua New Guinea’s 2022-2024 National Action Plan, see Cluster 3, Commitment 2.