Government Performance Management is considerably more difficult than in the private sector. Does this mean that instituting performance management tools effectively is more difficult in developed or developing countries?
Technology Leapfrog
The notion of a technology leapfrog is that developing countries can skip the incremental steps taken for developed countries to modernize. Open systems and open standards can be used. Client/server and wired internet stages can be avoided. The classic example of technology leapfrog is Estonia which now has one of the world’s most sophisticated digital governments according to the GovTech Maturity Index.
Yet, isn’t government performance management too complex for developing countries? Not necessarily – as we have seen in Timor-Leste where performance dashboards are used and government results are provided to the public.
Advantages in Developing Countries
There may not be sufficient capacity in some governments to fully leverage budget-centric performance management tools. But there are advantages:
- Centralized information: Developing countries tend to have fewer information systems with more centralized systems. Data from sub-national entities is more accessible. And, governments in developing countries are more likely to support public sector and information technology standards to facilitate data collection.
- Holistic understanding: Managers in developing countries look at performance and the nature of government in a more holistic way that those in the “West”. Performance Management tools differ from traditional Business Intelligence through a holistic view of performance. In particular, Ministers and senior managers are attuned to macroeconomic effects like commodity prices.
- Development effects: The impact of improved performance is more significant in developing country. Government performance improvements positively affects development results, business confidence, investor Investment, aid effectiveness, remittances and citizen wellbeing.
- Competitive differentiation Improving government performance has a more significant impact for developing countries in the global economy. Governments are more motivated to improve their PEFA assessment scores and rankings in the Corruption Perception, Open Budget or World Happiness indices to create a better business and development environment.
Transparency is Aligned to Performance
The key first step to government performance management is transparency. Transparency is one of the measurements used in international government performance assessments like Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA):
B. KEY CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: Comprehensiveness and Transparency
PI-5 Classification of the budget
PI-6 Comprehensiveness of information included in budget documentation
PI-7 Extent of unreported government operations
PI-8 Transparency of inter-governmental fiscal relations
PI-9 Oversight of aggregate fiscal risk from other public sector entities.
PI-10 Public access to key fiscal information
Transparency is more than a superficial step to government performance. It motivates accountability which improves performance.
FreeBalance Customer Performance
Not only do our our implementations have higher success rates and our software costs less, but FreeBalance customers score better in their PEFA assessments and improve wellbeing faster.
For more information on how FreeBalance can help improve Government Performance Management in your country, please get in touch.