Document(s) 9 de 16

5.1. CONTEXT AND POLICY

5.1.1. The decentralisation policy in Senegal

Since its independence in 1960, the Republic of Senegal has committed to a comprehensive process of reform of the State. Crucial to this reform is the policy of "progressive" decentralisation that seeks to empower local government and support local development.

This process had been started by the establishment of the "Rural Communities" in 1972, (Law 72-02), and completed in the '90s by the several laws and legal acts that led to the Law 96-06, "Code of Local Government"¹, and related laws and legal acts. In addition to the Rural Communities, the local governments in Senegal are the "Regions" and the "Communes" (or Municipalities).

The policy of decentralisation is designed in a way that should ensure participation by people and their representatives in the management of public affairs, and this participation should be enhanced as these levels of government become progressively more independent vis-à-vis the central power. Moreover, to implement the decentralisation, in 1998, an Agency for Regional Development (ARD – Agence Régionale de Développement) was established. Its aim is to stimulate regional and local development by supporting the elaboration and implementation of regional and local development plans².

At present, there are 441 local governments in Senegal; they are composed of 11 Regions; 110 Communes and 320 Rural Communities. They are supposed to be governed according to the basic principles underpinning the process of decentralisation, which are: free administration, devolution of power and solidarity. It means that, in addition to administrative decentralisation, there is also a strong process of "deconcentration" of functions from central to local level, and a consequent need of resources, both financial and human, to effectively manage the twofold effect of decentralisation policy.

But yet there are many obstacles to the effective transfer of these powers. Most local elected officials have no access to legal texts and they have neither the means nor the capacity to play their roles fully.

These constraints prevent them from clearly understanding the legislation on decentralisation and empowerment of local government and thus acting effectively and according to the capacity of the local government. This situation is of particular concern because the working instruments (codes, regulations, laws, decrees) are in French, the country's official language, while most local officials are illiterate or able to operate only in the dialect of their region, albeit that the new Constitution indicates that all elected representatives should be able to read and write in the national language (i.e. French).

If we consider then the situation of basic equipment and the capacities of managing ICTs, this is even more limited, and in some cases local governments have not even access to basic infrastructures such as electricity or telephony.

5.1.2. The National ICTs Policy and the Senegal ACACIA Strategy (SAS)

The African Communities and the Information Society programme, better known simply as ACACIA, is an IDRC initiative aimed at "promoting the use of ICTs in African communities, in order to prevent them from being increasingly marginalised from the information society, and also to help them achieve their development objectives".

The ACACIA programme seeks to establish a reliable knowledge base by identifying the most appropriate policies, techniques, applications and contents, approaches and methodologies for promoting the appropriation of ICTs by disadvantaged communities, and in particular by young people and women, by providing ready access to these tools and putting them to effective use.

In Senegal, ACACIA has been underway since 1997, in a context that has seen growing empowerment of development players as the state has withdrawn from productive activities.

In this regard, nevertheless, the Senegalese authorities were quick to recognise the importance of ICTs for economic and social development, as confirmed by the Prospective Study: Senegal 2015, which foresaw the emergence of the communication society based on the development of ICTs and which proposed as a strategic objective "strengthening and facilitating access to information and promoting social communication", there was not a coherent framework for introducing ICTs, despite the existence of some of Africa's most highly developed telecommunications infrastructure. In fact, despite the beginnings of what we might call a national policy for ICTs were apparent as early as 1985, with establishment of the National Telecommunications Company (SONATEL), reflecting the determination of the Government of Senegal to give priority to development of the telecommunications sector; and despite the many players involved in the field of ICTs, it was only in 1996 that the government issued its first statement on telecommunications development policy (1996-2000).

Moreover, considering that local governments were taking increasing responsibility, and several policy areas have been transferred to them: education, health, governance, etc., it was pivotal to take into proper consideration the need expressed by local communities in developing strategies and implementing national programmes.

It must also be noted that, despite the interest in ICTs on the part of government and even of the private sector, there was a glaring lack of expertise in this field, particularly when it came to research, while, at the same time, civil society organisations were becoming increasingly active in economic and social life at the local, national and international levels, and through their actions, discrete but often highly visible, there was the clear opportunity to influence the state in its definition of national strategic priorities.

In this context, the process of preparing the Senegal ACACIA Strategy (SAS) was highly participatory, thanks to which the programme has indeed taken account of the needs expressed by the people, but within an overall framework of development priorities identified by the authorities, consistent with the sectoral approach of the country's development strategy. These priorities relate essentially to education, employment and entrepreneurship, natural resource management, governance and health. The Acacia programme therefore reflects the sectoral approach to development in Senegal, through its focus on these key sectors, with due regard of course, to the needs and priorities expressed by the people themselves.

5.1.3. The current framework: the National Programme for Good Governance

Following the previous experiences and considering the different sectoral policies underway, the new Government "Gouvernement de l'Alternance" elected in March 2000, committed itself to strengthen the "good governance" of the country, engaging in a global reform of the state and a modernisation of the public sector.

This commitment, with the support of the development partners, has been institutionalised and designed within the framework of the "National programme for good governance"³, which is a comprehensive programme coming from the previous "Integrated Programme of Public Sector Reform" (PIRSP), more coherent with the "Strategic Document for Poverty Reduction" (DSRP) and in line with the vision of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the orientations identified in the "Economic and Social Development Plan: 2002-2007" (PDES).

Among the strategic lines of the "National programme for good governance", decentralisation is indicated as a central issue for state reform. In fact, it is not only seen with regard to the organisation and execution of local government affairs, but, more generally, with concern about the "functional relations" of power (devolution/transfer of competencies) and the consequent capacity of the state to adapt to evolving society, and the needs of responsibility, proximity and participation of people in the management of public affairs.

The national programme, based on the weaknesses that have been identified in its analysis, indicate three lines of action with regard to local governance: 1) Improving the institutional and organisational framework and the capacity of human resources; 2) Strengthening the co-ordination of activities among different levels of government and development partners; 3) Improving the public finance system at a local level and decentralising the management of public expenditure.

With regard to the role of ICTs, whilst underlining the insufficient and incoherent state of deployment of ICTs in the public administration, it stresses the potential role in supporting the modernisation of the state and the promotion of good governance with a particular focus on providing "quality" information to citizens.

5.1.4. e-Senegal: a Strategic Vision and Action Plan

In January 2002, in an official report, the President of the Republic, H. E. Abdoulaye Wade, expressed the vision of the national e-government, based upon the conviction that ICTs are a great lever for economic development in Africa.

The vision of President Wade for Senegal, is to pass "from Senegal to e-Senegal, that includes the passage from Government to e-government, and from Citizen to e-Citizen".

To manage this transition, in July 2004, the President established the "State Informatics Agency" (ADIE)⁴. This new structure, that followed on from the activity of the previous Direction for State Computerisation ("Direction Informatique de l'Etat"), was created in order to better co-ordinate, monitor and support the implementation of the ambitious programme of computerisation of public administration, and make the national e-government strategy a reality.

In addition to marketing purposes, also being the "champion" of NEPAD's ICTs component, the objectives of e-Senegal were identified and the strategic plan initiated already in 2000, in partnership with the World Bank. In fact, since 2000, the "Programme of modernisation of the Administrative Information Systems" (PMSIA) was launched and implemented according to six action lines: 1) Information Systems Coordination, including an ICTs Needs assessment and provision of ICTs necessary equipment; 2) Government ICTs Infrastructure: development of the Government Intranet, including the creation of a "Resource Centre" and an advanced network linking key institutions and Ministries, as well as some applications for communication and management of human resources and material; 3) Computerisation and development of key applications of the Ministry of Economics and Finance; this included the provision of equipment and the development of specific applications and support of already existing systems; 4) Computerisation of a main public service: the Postal Service; 5) Computerisation of a main Academic Centre: the University "Gaston Berger"; 6) Modernisation of the structure of the Ministry of the Interior.

This last action line was directly connected to the process of decentralisation and strengthening of local governance systems. The Ministry of the Interior was already providing basic equipment to the "Prefecture" (local delegations) and supported the establishment of Regional Units of Informatics for Development (Unités Régionales d'Informatiques pour le Développement – URID).

More generally, as underlined during the inauguration of the "Intranet of the Government", held in Dakar, 15^th. March 2005, in the presence of H.E. the President of the Republic⁵, the objective of the Government was to expand the communication system to link all the different levels of government with a particular focus on remote and disadvantaged areas.

It was clear to the government, in fact, that the success of the e-Senegal strategy would be based upon the effective and efficient utilisation of ICTs to support local governance systems.

5.1.5. The way forward

In this context the Government now considered the revision of the National Programme for Good Governance, in order to strengthen the component related to local governance and its relation with ICTs. A national workshop on "ICTs for local governance" to provide input to the "Roundtable of development partner" was held in June 2005 to revise the PNBG⁶.

This is also connected to the renewed role and mission that the government was giving to the competent authorities at central level, which are the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Government and the Ministry of Regional Planning and Decentralised Co-operation.

It is clear to all the actors of development in Senegal that despite the availability of financial and technical resources and the strong leadership and commitment by the Government, there was a lack of co-ordination and a weak strategic plan with regard to the issue of local governance, and in particular how to make best use of ICTs for local development.

5.2. SAFEFOD'S PROJECT ON "THE ROLE OF ICTS IN DECENTRALISATION POLICY"

5.2.1. Background and Justification

The strategic justification of the Senegal ACACIA Strategy (SAS), preparation of which started in October 1996 and which was completed in March 1997, was the decision to make ICTs available to communities, in particular poor communities, and to see how these ICTs could contribute to their development.

The SAS sought to foster co-ordinated activity in policymaking, infrastructure, technologies, and applications and contents in order to promote a true national strategy for using ICTs for development. The objective was to encourage establishment of an independent framework for concerted action in the field of ICTs, a framework that would provide the political authorities with a solid basis for their ICTs policy. This was based essentially on a series of experimental demonstration projects. These pilot projects were undertaken in order to verify the hypotheses underlying the Acacia programme, as well as to derive lessons that could be applied on a broader scale, and that would be of use to policy-makers.

For this purpose, the preparation of the programme was made with the participation of various institutions, national and local, representing government and civil society, researchers, and development players. This consultation process included, in addition to a Permanent Secretariat and some horizontal and co-ordinating committees, five sectoral working groups (health, education and training, employment and income generation, natural resource management and governance).

These were standing fora for consideration and discussion among agencies and individuals: each group was supposed to oversee the research priorities in its respective field.

An important point to be considered is the profile of the members of the various SAS structures. These members come from different key sectors of the country (universities, private sector, NGOs, civil society) and are involved in research, the economy, health, governance etc. These are supposed to be people who have the capacity to exert direct or indirect influence on policies, or who are aware of the usefulness of ICTs for development.

Therefore, considering the increasing importance of the role of local governments, and the great potential of ICTs in improving the performances of any modern administration, the Working Group on Governance which was co-ordinated by Prof. Yero Sylla, identified the role of ICTs in decentralisation policy as one of the priority areas to be explored.

In fact, despite the, at that time, recent advent of the Internet and of high-capacity processing and storage technologies, it was clear to the working group that ICTs could enormously support the needs of management of local governments, as well as the potential for increasing the participation of citizens in decision making with regard to public affairs at local level. At the same time, this could support local economic development. But the situation of local governments, and in particular the awareness and capacities of elected representatives was negligible and, in the majority of local governments, there was a lack of basic infrastructure and conditions (such as electricity for instance) for the introduction of ICTs at local level. Specific tools to support management of local government were also non-existent.

In the face of this situation, the SAS Working Group on Governance proposed to launch a research project, to raise awareness about the potential of ICTs for local governance, and to develop and test some pilot applications to sustain the daily management of local authorities.

It was proposed that the project be co-ordinated by SAFEFOD (African Society of Education and Training for Development) with financial support from IDRC/ACACIA.

5.2.2. Strategy and Objectives

The global objective of the project was to inform and sensitise local officials, elected representatives and the government about the role and impact of ICTs on decentralisation policy, and, at the same time, create the enabling environment for the implementation of an "Observatory of Decentralisation and Local Governance".

To attain this goal, the specific objectives of the project were to:

1. Build a partnership between the government, the local elected representatives and the civil society;
   
   
2. Assess the "state of the art" of ICTs integration in local government operations;
   
   
3. Establish a "research-laboratory" to develop and test ICTs applications to support local government operations;
   
   
4. Disseminate the results of research and laboratory tests through a National Campaign of awareness and communication on the role of ICTs for local governance;
   
   
5. Study the feasibility of the "Observatory of Decentralisation and Local Governance".

The project was expected to increase the awareness of the "actors of decentralisation" on the possibilities and potential of ICTs to support local governance and sustain the decentralisation process, as well as establishing a permanent mechanism for consultation among all the stakeholders involved in this policy.

To achieve this result, the methodology to be followed implied a strong participatory approach, in order to effectively involve all the necessary experts and representatives of governmental and non-governmental authorities and bodies concerned.

Moreover, in order to provide a strong demonstrator effect, it was decided to give high visibility to the output of the research by organising practical demonstrations for the benefit of all interested stakeholders, both at local and central level.

5.2.3. Rationale and Structure

Before the implementation of the project, during the activities of the SAS working group on governance, a preliminary analysis of the main problems related to the introduction of ICTs at local government level, was carried out.

This preliminary activity, mainly based on the experience of the members of the Working Group, was further reinforced during the first phase of activity of the project.

The main elements identified as weaknesses for local governments, can be summarised by the following:

• Many local governments have no access to basic infrastructures, including electricity and telephones, so that the potential of using ICTs cannot possibly even be considered;
  
  
• Even where possible, there is a very limited use of basic ICTs in the management of local governments. This is due to several reasons, including financial limitations, limited management skills and in particular a weak capacity in the management of ICTs.
  
  
• In addition to these factors, there are other important issues that emerged in analysing the situation, such as the fact that there was a very limited awareness of the capacities of ICTs, and consequently a potential reluctance to innovate, as well as more concrete constraints due to the comparison of this issue with the other priorities of the different communities.
  
  
• Moreover, following the introduction of the new law of decentralisation that foresaw a different administrative organisation and devolution of important functions and power to the local governments, there were no effective changes to support its operational implementation. In particular, notwithstanding the complexity of the management of the local government, and especially considering the new functions to be executed, all activities were performed in a traditional way, with very little use (if any) of ICTs.

Based upon the above mentioned preliminary analysis and the strategic options identified, the project was structured around a period of one year, with a number of activities to be conducted in parallel. These activities included the following timetable (the number representing the month):

1. Launch of the project and establishment of the institutional partnership;
   
   
2. Launch of the study on ICTs and decentralisation;
   
   
3. Establishment of the laboratory;
   
   
4. Conclusion of the study on ICTs and decentralisation;
   
   
5. Analysis and exploitation of the results and data acquired with the study;
   
   
6. Preliminary test of basic products in the laboratory;
   
   
7. Test and demonstration of basic products with other experts and partners;
   
   
8. Inclusion of feed-back of the demonstration and comments by other experts and partners;
   
   
9. Preliminary presentation of results and products among key gstakeholders;
   
   
10. Dissemination of results and public demonstrations of products;
    
    
11. Study of feasibility of the Observatory of local governance and decentralisation;
    
    
12. Final Report and Evaluation.

The structure of the project shows that the process that the research had been designed to undertake could not be fulfilled without the active participation by the representatives of all the stakeholders, directly or indirectly, involved in decentralisation.

For this reason, particular importance was given to the involvement of experts coming from different institutions in the analysis of priorities and the development of the products, as well as to the dissemination of results and the public demonstration that was supposed to coincide, during the ninth month of the project, with the electoral campaign for the regional and local elections.

The principal players involved during the project were:

• Associations of local elected representatives: Association of Rural Community Presidents, Association of Mayors of Senegal, Association of Regional Council Presidents;
  
  
• Central Administration: Ministry of Local Governments; Directorate for State Registry Management; Ministry of Research and Technological Development; Ministry of ICTs; Prime Minister's Office; Presidency of the Republic;
  
  
• Local Administrations: some local governments and municipalities, and the Association of Municipality Development (ADM);
  
  
• University and other Civil Society Organisations;
  
  
• Resource Persons and Experts recognised at national level, including the IDRC/SAS Working Group on Governance.

Active involvement of these players was expected to result in the appropriation of the approach and the outputs of the project, with a view to improving implementation of the decentralisation policy.

5.2.4. Organisation and Management Arrangements

Given the specific objectives attained by the project, and considering its conception within the framework of the SAS working group on governance, it was decided that the project would be executed by SAFEFOD (African Society of Education and Training for Development).

SAFEFOD, in fact, is a Senegalese non-governmental organisation with an tradition of experience in local development and governance. It was created in 1991 with the aim of promoting a democratic and developed society in Senegal, but also with a pan-African horizon.

It is apolitical and non-profit making and, during the years of activity it developed and tested an integrated and participative model for Local Governance centred on education and training, communication and development support.

The target of the activities of SAFEFOD has always been the grassroots communities, including the local elected representatives. But to make good governance emerge, there is the need that governments, both at local and at central level, and civil society, play their roles fully, and in partnership with each other.

The model of local governance instituted by SAFEFOD is based upon the assistance of the three partners of local development (state, local governments and grassroots communities/civil society) to face the major challenges constituting impediments to good governance: poverty, illiteracy and lack of communication.

To achieve this, the SAFEFOD model of local governance, tested in the field since the early 90,s, consists of three main strategies:

• Training and Capacity Building;
  
  
• Dynamic Interactions and communication;
  
  
• Development Support.

As indicated by Prof. Yero Sylla, Executive Secretary of SAFEFOD, "the originality of this model derives from the fact that it views the "dynamization" of people and institutions through the deliberative organs of the local governments. Indeed, these entities are rarely taken into account, least of all involved, by the various intervening parties of the civil society. Yet they constitute the link between the state and the citizens, since they are the most decentralized politico-administrative centre from which it is possible to stimulate a purposeful and a behaviour likely to give thrust to lasting development at the grassroots".⁷

Early in the development of the "local governance model", it appeared clear that ICTs could play an important role in reaching the objectives assigned to local governments, as well as sustaining their achievements, and so SAFEFOD decided to integrate ICTs in the centre of the model itself. Thus, the project on "The role of ICTs in decentralisation policy", gave SAFEFOD the opportunity to achieve this option, as early as in 1997 in Africa.

Since the project was a research activity, and also considering the preliminary, and perhaps even too advanced subject of research identified, it was decided to invest a relatively small amount of financial resources, that is, a total budget of 101,276 Canadian Dollars ($CAD). The resources were distributed as indicated in the following table.

SAFEFOD's Project The Role of ICTs in decentralisation policy – Budget:

Source: IDRC, Dossier n.97-8153-01.

The project was therefore conducted with a reasonable investment in computer hardware and the participation of local human resources. In particular, in addition to its Project Manager, Prof. Yero Sylla, Executive Secretary of SAFEFOD, two principal and experienced consultants were hired to conduct the studies on ICTs and decentralisation, and to present their findings to a national workshop to launch the project. Moreover, other technical consultants were hired to develop the specific products and organise the research and tests in the laboratory. At the same time, to support the research activities and also as a way to improve the research capacity in this area, it was decided to hire some young researchers as trainees, from the University.

In addition to the principal consultants specifically hired for the project, other resources were dedicated to the project among SAFE-FOD's staff. This was in particular with the objective to develop a sustainable laboratory of research usable after the end of the IDRC's funded project, and to utilise the "network" of contacts and presence that SAFEFOD already had in the field, to test the products output of the research and to disseminate the results and findings of the project.

Thus, the project, notwithstanding that much of the research was developed in the laboratory, also involved a continuous contact with representatives of the central and local administrations and institutions identified, as well as many tests and demonstrations in the field.

With regard to the timing of the project's activities, it should be noted that, as the phase of preparation, started in July 1997, lasted longer than expected, the project itself started officially only in December 1997, therefore becoming effectively operational in January 1998.

In the same way, since the release of the outputs of the research were not immediately successful, the dissemination of results and demonstration of the products, as well as its update and improvement, continued also after the end of the project (the final workshop was held in March 1999, with three months of delay) as a self-sustained activity by SAFEFOD. In this regard, it should also be underlined that the human resources dedicated to the project, and especially to its follow-up, have been changed from a more researchers profile to the team that is now taking care of the results of the research and is much more market-oriented (see the next section).

Finally, with regard to monitoring and evaluation of the Project, IDRC established a Committee for monitoring the progress of the project, also aiming at supporting the executing agency in its activities. In many cases, IDRC supported the activity of disseminating the results of the project, by inviting SAFEFOD to demonstrate the products in workshops, organised by IDRC, which were not part of the project's budget⁸.

Figure 1. SAFEFOD's stand at an International Fair in Dakar, 1999

5.2.5. Activities and Results

a) The Study on ICTs and decentralisation and the "Partnership-Workshop"

The activities of the project followed the structure proposed in the project document and attained all the achievements and expected output of the research.

In the first phase of the project, a more detailed and in-depth research of the "state of the art" and the situation of ICTs and decentralisation in the field was undertaken, in the period January-February 1998, by the two principal consultants. The two consultants focussed their analysis on not only the general theory of decentralisation and ICTs, but also on the practice and concrete application at the local level, also providing some comparisons and examples from other cases at the international level.

Next, the study, in two different reports, was presented to the "Partnership-Workshop on the role of ICTs in the implementation of decentralisation policy in Senegal", organised by SAFEFOD and IDRC on the 25th. February, 1998 at the Savana Hotel in Dakar.

The workshop was attended by all the stakeholders (actors in the decentralisation), including representatives of the Central and Local governments, of the local elected representatives; media and civil society organisations. To mark the importance of the event, the workshop was opened by the Minister of Decentralisation who observed that the workshop was "a fundamental step for the implementation of an observatory of decentralisation and local governance".

After presenting the objectives of the project and launching it officially, the findings of the two studies on Decentralisation and ICTs were presented. In particular, they underlined the three-fold relationship between participation, local management/administration and responsibility and the functional relationship that exists between decentralisation-policy and ICTs in the governance arena.

Having this relationship in mind, the objectives of the workshop were to highlight the relations of causality, interdependence and complementarity existing between the problems faced by the policy of decentralisation and the management of local governments, and the solutions that ICTs can provide to them. For this reason, the working activities of the workshop were divided into three working groups, each of them focussing on the specific aspects faced by the different categories of Local Government: Regions, Municipalities/Communes; Rural Communities.

The conclusions of the workshop helped the project management team to better identify the matrix of problems, infrastructures and roles of actors in the management of local government; to elaborate the Questionnaire for the survey; orientate the laboratory tests; and enable the implementation of the Observatory for local governance and decentralisation.

In this connection, once the laboratory was established and exploited the findings and data acquired with the studies, the following phase of the project focussed on the research in the laboratory and the preliminary test of basic products was developed. In this regard, given the results of the studies and the conclusions of the workshop, the research identified priorities and conducted the following experiments and activities:

1. Design of a Web Site;

2. Development of two software applications for

a. management of the budget and

b. the management of the registry system;

3. Conception of an interactive multi-language vocal server.

Figure 2. Partnership-Workshop

From left to right: MM. Cheikh Sadibou Fall, Association of Mayors of Senegal (AMS), Moussé Daby Diagne, Association of Regional Council Presidents (APR), Pr Yèro Sylla, Executive Secretary of SAFEFOD, Macky Sall, Minister in charge of Ministry of Local Government and Decentralisation, Djilali Benmouffok, Representative of IDRC and Aly Lô, President of the Association of Rural Community Presidents.

b) The output of the laboratory research:

1. The Web Site - Observatory on Local Governance:

The designed website is bilingual (French and English) and provides information about decentralisation laws and legal and administrative acts; as well as information on local governments and their councils, and a press review on decentralisation policy.

The Web site also contains several publications, including the summary of each issue of the "Journal of Local Governance", edited in French by SAFEFOD⁹.

Of course, if we look at the web site today, it may appear to be not a great innovation, but if we consider that the idea of using Internet technology was conceived in a project for local governance in Africa in 1996, and the web site designed and developed in 1997/98, when the Internet was still a new technology not yet widely diffused even in industrialised countries, then the innovative role of this activity is quite obvious.

The web site has been operational since 1998 and it has been continuously updated and managed by local resources at SAFEFOD. Its address is: www.safefod.org

2. Management software applications for local governments:

The software applications designed and developed during the research project were focussing on two basic operations executed by local government, and which were not yet computerised: the management of the budget; and the management of the civil registry.

Therefore, the technological solutions adopted as software at the beginning were based on simple existing, proprietary systems, such as Microsoft Excel and, in a second version, Microsoft Access. The preliminary versions also had a low level of security and resulted in some problems of management and sustainability. After several revisions, tests, demonstrations, and advanced releases, and especially after the update undertaken in partnership with a private company, in 2004 the software was revised completely in order to have improved performance and taking into account users' requirements with regard to security and "user-friendliness". From a technical perspective, the systems are designed with up-to-date IT tools, involving relational database manager programmes (Microsoft SQL, Access or Oracle), and the applications can be installed on Stand Alone Systems or Local Area Networks (LAN).

The functionalities of the software, in their current version, are the following:

a. CAURI: Budget Management Software;

The software allows the management of the entire administrative accounting system for local governments, providing the possibility of supporting the preparation and execution of the budget in accordance with the prevailing regulations and, at the same time, to produce the Administrative Account Statement as required by the authorities. In this regard, it also allows recording, but without the possibility of modifying, the approved budgets of the previous years. It is therefore a statistical analysis tool which provides performance indicators indispensable for decision-making.

b. CIVIS: Civil Registry Management Software:

The software includes all the functionalities required for the management of a registration centre, providing the necessary functionality for the management of the registries of births, deaths and marriages, including marginal notes and explanations. It also provides for the possibility of editing all registration forms, in different versions, as required by the regulations and to produce statistics and reports. Integrating a large number of parameters to be adapted to all the cases evoked by the regulations regarding the registration systems, the application is flexible and secure, since it includes an advanced system to manage users' accounts allowing different and specific functionalities based on groups of users.

3. Vocal server:

The Vocal server was designed and programmed to be multilingual, with the possibility of using French, English and six local languages spoken in Senegal: Fula, Wolof, Joola, Sereer, Mandinka and Soninke).

The vocal server was designed to provide information about decentralisation, local governments, civil society organisations and donor agencies, available anytime and from anywhere in Senegal and throughout the world, by only a telephone call at the server number. The server provides a voice mail message system to allow communication between the different "actors of decentralisation" (state, local governments, civil society organisations, donors, etc.). The vocal server was tested successfully at the end of the project, and it is still available, but its implementation was not continued after the project due to the high cost of implementing its content and the limited response by the potential users.

c) Demonstration activities and Dissemination of results:

Once the products output of the research in the laboratory were developed, the project started the phase of demonstration to disseminate the results of the research, verify the usefulness of the products and, with particular regard to the management software, to test their applicability to local governments. For this purpose, in addition to a number of communication activities which also included many press-releases about the project and its results, a Final National workshop to present the results of the research was organised by SAFEFOD and IDRC, on 9th. March, 1999.

Figure 3. Final National Workshop

The workshop was attended by many practitioners and representatives of all the different stakeholders involved in the process of decentralisation.

Many other public demonstrations were also organised in the following months, including presentations to the President of the Republic Abdou Diouf, many Ministers, and other high level personalities and representatives of authorities at local, central and international level.

Among the different activities, the output of the project was also presented as a case of success of the ACACIA Programme, to the former Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien, accompanied by the former Prime Minister of Senegal, Mr. Mamadou Lamine Loum, during a visit to Senegal on 9th. November, 1999, to participate in an event organised by IDRC/ACACIA.

Finally, as a result of the research project, what cannot be forgotten is the high awareness raised about the potential of ICTs for local governance, as well as the needs and challenges to face in successfully implementing the decentralisation policy. As a consequence of this, the main objective of the project, to establish an Observatory of local governance and decentralisation, in addition to being a result of the research, was necessarily also identified as a required mechanism to be further developed and monitored continuously by all the different stakeholders, but in particular by the civil society.

Figure 4. Demonstration to the President of the Republic Abdou Diouf

The former President of the Republic of Senegal M. Abdou Diouf visit the stand of SAFEFOD for a demonstration during the exposiion organised beside the General Assembly of the Association of Mayors of Senegal (AMS), 22nd and 23rd July 1999, Hôtel Méridien Président (Dakar)

5.3. CONCLUSIONS

5.3.1. Impact on decentralisation policy

As indicated by the project manager, Prof. Yero Sylla, "the research project was designed in a way to provide the local authorities with instruments for managing local government. But it was up to these authorities to decide how to use these instruments". An example might be a government decision to adopt the tools (budget and civil registry software) developed by the project for local government management. The project manager believes that with this strategy, the decentralisation policy would have become more effective over time, because those responsible for implementing it would be better equipped.

Figure 5. Demonstration to the Prime Minister of Canada M. Jean Chrétien, and Prime Minister of Senegal, Mr. Mamadou Lamine Loum,

IDRC/ACACIA Exposition on ICTs and decentralisation, 7th 9th November 1999, Dakar

According to the Acacia programme officer at that time, Mr Alioune Camara, "the project's objective was not to amend the decentralisation law, but to show how ICTs can help improve its implementation, through partnership between the government and the various players".

This was confirmed by the project manager, "the project was not intended to influence decentralisation policy directly, but to develop tools that, if used by local officials, could lead to changes in that policy, specifically through transparent management of local budgets, and through access to official documents on decentralisation".

Nevertheless, we may say that, even if the project was not intended to influence decentralisation policy directly, it has produced tools that, if put to use, could improve its implementation, something that is a strategic development objective of the government.

As indicated in the evaluation report of the SAS, three major mechanisms were included in the project for influencing decentralisation policy:

1. Capacity building:

This involved producing knowledge, by developing applications to meet different management and organisational needs generated by decentralisation (software for local government management, local budget management, civil registry management, etc.); publicising the results and outputs of the project among local officials; and undertaking a study on implementing the observatory on local governance and decentralisation.

2. Broadening the project's influence:

This was done essentially by publicising information and documentation on decentralisation by posting online the major legislation and regulations governing decentralisation, and information on the field of local government.

3. Sensitisation and information for local officials, elected representatives and citizens:

In this connection, the project provided information about the major laws and regulations governing decentralisation, translated them into national languages and posted them online. Moreover, the results were highly disseminated by demonstrating the products to organisations and potential users.

All these activities were conducted during the last phase of the project and continued afterward. But, the products and results of the project have not been used with any noticeable impact on public policies at the local level, reflecting in part, according to Mr. Lô, at that time National President of the Rural Community Presidents' Association, and one of the key players in decentralisation policy, and currently President of the Association of Local Elected Representatives, "the communications gap, and the absence of public activities for disseminating those results and products".

5.3.2. Obstacles and challenges from Research to Practice

But in reality, as we have seen, the project has involved, since its conception, various players in the decentralisation policy and many authorities have been in contact with the products developed by the project, nationally and even internationally, on the occasions of visits, tests and demonstrations. Moreover, numbers of players and political authorities have used the voice server or have consulted the project's web site. All of these authorities and policymakers found the project's products to be useful.

In particular, following several presentations of the products and a successful test in the Records Automation Division, the Minister of the Interior, at the time, proposed the use of the civil registry software. In the words of the Director of Local Government at the time, Mr. Mamadou Diouf, "the civil registry software is a good product that should be made available to the communes". But no steps have been taken as yet, however, to follow through with this initiative.

At the same time, with respect to the software on budget management, the Associations of local officials welcomed the products. Therefore, the Agency for Municipal Development (ADM) invited SAFEFOD to test the software in three municipalities of different sizes: Dakar, Joal-Fadhiout and Kaffrine. The tests were conducted successfully with the Agency experts, and they decided to acquire the product. Being supported by the World Bank, ADM asked its donor to authorise the purchase of the budget software for the communes. But this recommendation has not been followed up.

After that, another international donor was contacted by SAFEFOD and was ready to provide all the municipalities/communes with basic computer equipment and the budget management software. However, a request from the President of the National Association of Mayors was required. According to the Project Manager, the President of the Association did not want to sign the request, apparently without any specific reason for not doing so.

With regard, to the vocal server, the then chief of staff of the Minister of Scientific and Technical Research, noting that it could be used to access a database with administrative, economic, political and cultural information on various local governments, went so far as to ask that SAFEFOD products be incorporated into the government's "voice and data" project in late 1999.

But none of this happened, why? Which are the main obstacles that, although national and local decision makers were informed of the applications developed during the project and some of them attended the demonstration sessions and showed their interest, impede the products of the project to be systematically used in the daily activities of local governments?

Why, although the results of the research were considered successful, the output, and in particular the management software, were not applied?

From analysis of the interviews and discussion with the key actors involved in the project and in the decentralisation policy at large, it emerged that the unsuccessful transition from research to action was in part because of the changes that happened in the political regime in 2000.

In fact, in 2000, after national elections, the so called "alternance era" in Senegal arrived and a new government was established. This of course caused, as in many cases when there is a change of government, a delay in reorganising all policies, as well as a change of orientations and the will to start everything from zero.

Therefore, SAFEFOD, changed its approach and established a "joint venture" with a private company (namely OCTIS) to have a more market-oriented strategy and to negotiate commercial agreements with the key Ministries involved in the decentralisation process.

Yet during the interviews with representatives of the current Government and the newly established Association of Local Elected Representatives (that associates the representatives of the Association of Rural Community Presidents, Association of Mayors of Senegal, and Association of Regional Council Presidents), they expressed an interest in examining these products to see how useful they might be for local governments.

In fact, to date, there is still no concrete advance in the use of ICTs at local government level. A recent survey conducted by the SAFEFOD/OCTIS joint-venture in 43 municipalities in the main region of Dakar shows that none of them uses a computer to manage the registry system, and there is no specialised software used for the budget management (only a minority of them use Excel software). The results of this survey confirm the same conclusions that were reached by the IDRC SAS in 1997. This is also a confirmation of the difficulty of applying the results of research, especially if innovative due to the context, to produce concrete changes in the governance system.

In the light of its results, SAFEFOD's project can definitely be considered "pioneeristic", and in fact, the needs that were explored during the research phase are still required today.

There are some attempts to fill the gap, but still a lot needs to be done, especially the following of an integrated and co-ordinated policy. For example, according to Mr Mohamadou Kabir Sow, the new Director-General of the Agency for Municipality Development (ADM), following the demonstrations of SAFEFOD's products, the ADM decided to develop its own software in-house, and at present, with the support of the World Bank, it is installing basic computer equipment in all the 110 municipalities in Senegal. After being equipped, at least with a Personal Computer, the ADM intends also to provide the budget management software currently under testing and revision. It was in fact developed from an existing product in MS-DOS.

This is witness to the fact that, according to Mr Cheickhou Amadou Diop, Senior Financial Analyst Expert of ADM, thanks to ACACIA and SAFEFOD's Project, the not yet clearly expressed needs of local governments were taken into effective account, and the possibility of providing a solution by developing ICTs tools was analysed as a concrete option.

If we consider that, even and especially at local level, governance is a highly information-intensive practice, notwithstanding the limitation of government structures, ICTs can be highly beneficial, providing a service to local administration by making management simpler and more transparent.

In this regard, one of the issues that is not easily discussed, but that is clearly part of the problem under analysis, is the fact that, especially at local level, there is a widespread bad practice of "charging" users for normally due administrative services, or just to facilitate a procedure.

This abuse, would of course be more difficult to do in the presence of automised and transparent ICTs tools. But, according to the majority of the interviewees, the so called by some "collateral costs" on public management, are not the main obstacles to introduce ICTs in government at local level. In fact, it seems that, even if this practice is still a "rule" in many cases, there is less and less resistance to change and, actually, there is a growing awareness by local elected representatives of the benefits that ICTs can bring to support local development.

5.3.3. Lessons Learned

The main objective of this project was to explore how ICTs could help local officials improve local government management and to broadcast the results of this research. It is a clear and necessary goal especially if we consider the products that have been developed. They are very simple but extremely useful software products to help manage daily procedures. As indicated by a statement by Prof. Sylla, "they represent les fundamentaux....(the fundamentals) for any public management. And that was the starting point for SAFEFOD's Project".

"How can you govern any administration if you cannot manage correctly and in time the budget, or you don't even know what is the population? Which is the civil status of citizens, and so on?"

But, as it emerged in the analysis of this case, in many local governments, there are many other issues that may be considered more important, and so introducing ICTs cannot be considered a "priority among priorities". This is especially true where financial resources are limited and the purchase of ICTs, even if basic, would at the beginning bring more problems than solutions. Who will use it? How will people be trained? What about the costs and time of maintenance and repair if there are problems? How fast do these ICTs become obsolete? What about the cost of replacement?

All these questions pose the problem of the return on investment on ICTs that each local administrator has to face when making a decision and, at the same time, facing the consensus of the population that, in many cases, has other more concrete difficulties to solve.

In addition to this, these local governments, it must be remembered, are answerable to the central government and must apply policy measures decided at the national level. Moreover, the local level must adapt these policy measures to the conditions in the communities they represent. And as we have already underlined, in many cases there is a lack of basic infrastructures and therefore the decision of the local government to buy computer equipment could be seen as a nonsense.

In this regard, moreover, there is another psychological or cultural aspect to take into consideration. As in many other developing countries, Senegal in particular, benefits from a large amount of aid for development. Going around Dakar you can see a representation of almost all the development agencies and donors, from Canada to the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.... As well as many local governments from industrialised countries that are willing to participate in decentralised-co-operation initiatives. This situation, according to some of the interviewees, could hide a sort of "culture of assistance"... thus making administrators or elected representatives, especially at local level, looking for aid instead of investing in their own future. And in the case of ICTs, in particular, it is rare to find a local government that purchases its own equipment instead of waiting for a donation or the intervention of the central government.

All this of course is enormously delaying the process of integration of ICTs into local governments, although, according to the majority of interviewees, it seems that local governments and their populations are "ready" to introduce and use ICTs.

Of course it is a readiness in terms of not being reluctant, but there is still not readiness in terms of capacity to manage the ICTs, and especially the changes that ICTs bring about. In this regard, it still requires a lot of training, not only at the technical level, but also with regard to reorganisation and communication skills. For this reason, a specific Unit of Technical Assistance to the National Association of Local Elected Representatives (CAEL) has been established and, according to its Director, Ms Sall, many activities are now underway to build the capacities of Local Elected Representatives and support the transition into the Information Society.

At the same time, this project that was based essentially on creating applications and contents which could be used by decision makers at the local level, thus helping to bridge the communication gap and provide access to useful information, was not aimed directly at changing policies. But, as we have seen, the use and adoption of its products could help local decision makers to take better account of the needs of their voters, particularly in terms of sound planning.

There is therefore a great potential impact of this kind of activity for local governance development and in particular in making policy-makers aware and capable of better managing public affairs, with an increase in transparency, accountability and participation of the citizens, thus strengthening public sector efficiency and democracy.

In particular, ranked within the category of policy-makers, we can differentiate between politicians or officials, in the light of the degree of their involvement in the policy preparation process. The present case indicates clearly that the successful introduction of ICTs in governance, at local level, needs the clear commitment and involvement of both categories. A strong leadership at the political level is required, to champion and take the correct decisions, but at the same time, the participation of the administrator, both in developing the applications and contents in the phase of research, and in managing the transition from research to practice is fundamental.

Without this mixed approach the difficulties that we have seen in this case, in solidly implementing the solution, can be experienced. In addition to this, and to better face the obvious problem of resistance to change that is implicitly connected to any innovation, there is the need of an effective and strong communication policy to disseminate the results of the research and immediately apply, if useful and agreed. Otherwise, there is the risk that too many research activities remained "locked in the drawers" and the potential benefit for communities is not exploited as it should be.

In this connection, a clear recommendation that emerged from analysis of the interview, and in particular discussing the issue with representatives of the Delegation on Public Management, of the Presidency of the Republic, Mr Tidiane Sow, Adviser in Management, and Mr Amadou Sadio, Advisor in Organisation and also Mayor of Thionck-Essyl, is the need of a more effective coordination of the activities related to decentralisation and local governance, especially when it comes to a significant investment such as the introduction of ICTs.

In fact, the role of ICTs for local governance being well established, the issue is now how to efficiently manage this process in a cost-effective manner, and how to integrate and coordinate the efforts of all the different stakeholders involved in the implementation of the decentralisation policy. In this regard, even if it resulted in being not completely successful, the project under analysis demonstrated an interesting approach, where participation and discussion were open and a mechanism of partnership was established to share experiences and ideas and find common solutions. A possibility for the successful implementation of the decentralisation policy in Senegal, as well as in many other African countries, should definitely take into consideration this recommendation.

As for the technical aspects of the project, it should be noteworthy to emphasise the local-based development of contents and applications, and the importance given to the "language-divide". Often, in fact, solutions are just imported from elsewhere and they result in not being in line with local requirements or not at all compatible with the technical systems in place. The issue of language and the capacity to access (accessibility), including the costs, are important factors that, if not solved, can prevent any introduction of ICTs at local level. They should be considered as a "pre" condition for any local governance activity.

5.3.4. Towards a local governance observatory

The long-term objective of the IDRC's funded project was the institution of the "Observatory on Local Governance and Decentralisation". After its establishment, and despite all the difficulties that we mentioned before in relation to the concrete application of the products developed during the research, in the years that followed, SAFEFOD continued working on the development of the observatory, monitoring the implementation of the decentralisation-policy in Senegal and supporting some of the activities undertaken at local level, especially in the rural communities, in partnership with the local and central governments and the civil society, trying to adopt its "model of local governance" which it had developed.

Moreover, during the elaboration and first investigations of this "model of local governance", it appeared that what could not be ignored were the realities of development problems and which are of concern to all the actors involved. It is for this reason that the model, while giving priority to training, needed to take into consideration the necessary contribution to removing certain institutional and material obstacles at the level of deconcentrated structures (deputy prefects) and decentralised structures (local representatives) and community organisations, for a more effective development, which is sine-qua-non for the smooth running of governance.

Development support, which goes with training in project conception and implementation, targets not only these institutional constraints, but also productive investments, women groups and youth organisations, as well as various programmes such as health and the registry system.

In this regard, according to Ms. Soukeyna Ndiaye Ba, Minister of Decentralised Co-operation and Regional Planning "we still have to improve communication in all directions (grassroots communities, government, development partners), educate local elected officials (literacy problems), associate ICTs with traditional means of communication".

Yet, Prof. Sylla and SAFEFOD's team are confident that the potential effects of the project on public policies should become evident with a further communication campaign to inform the new local leaders elected in 2001, who would be more open to innovation, especially through instituting the civil registry software in all municipalities in Senegal.

In addition to this, and thanks to OXFAM/America, SAFEFOD established in 2003 the first antenna of the observatory implementing a project in the rural community of Barkedji, in the Louga Region in Senegal. This first "pilot" of a local observatory on local governance was aimed at ensuring the follow-up of experiences and strengthening the capacities of decentralised authorities and the civil society with a view to effectively promoting good governance through an optimal use of ICTs and media channels.

In the long-term, the observatory on local governance was intended to develop and manage data bases on decentralisation and local governance, on the basis of an exhaustive collection of the most pertinent information on decentralisation in general and the management of renewable natural resources and services, in particular local democracy, the functioning of local institutions, budget management, reports and decisions of local bodies, local development plans, etc. This information would be e-processed, translated into the national dialects and appropriately stored, with a view to circulating it widely to grassroots actors, policymakers and other national and international partners. This would be done through adapted and appropriate information products and services (reviews, films, soundtracks, interactive CD-Rom, etc.). In the pilot experience in Barkedji, a newspaper, called "Eerango", was published in the Fula language.

At the same time, the observatory was intended to accompany the process of ICTs appropriation by local governments, and disseminate information and sharing experiences, through organising fora in which all stakeholders could exchange their views, ideas and practices.

In this way, the intention of establishing an observatory bolstered by the civil society was to ensure the setting up of an information system on local governance that would support local governance development and strengthen local democracy.

Notes

¹ Loi n° 96-06 du 22 mars 1996 portant code des collectivités locales.

² The programming documents are the following: Plan Régional de Développement Integrée (PRDI); Plan d'Investissements Communaux (PIC); Plan Locaux de Développement (PLD).

³ Le Programme national de Bonne Gouvernance (PNBG), Délégation au Management Public, Secrétariat Général de la Présidence de la République, Janvier 2003.

⁴ L'Agence De l'Informatique de l'Etat (ADIE), established by Presidential «décret: n° 2004-1038 du 23 juillet».

⁵ Inauguration de l'Intranet Gouvernemental, Projet Intranet Gouvernemental (PING), Dakar, 15 mars 2005.

⁶ This workshop was jointly organized by the Presidency of the Republic, Delegation on Public Management, Ministry of Local Government and Decentralisation, and the SAFEFOD Project and recommendations for incorporating its results into the PNBG were presented by G. Misuraca.

⁷ Prof. Yero Sylla, Executive Secretary SAFEFOD, "ICTs and Local Governance in Senegal: a Challenge to Civil Society Organizations", Presentation to the IDRC/UNECA Workshop on "Innovative applications of ICTs for local governance in Africa", Addis Ababa, 7th.-9th. June, 2004; and Interviews by Gianluca Misuraca.

⁸ A specific evaluation of the overall ACACIA activities in Senegal was conducted by IDRC in January 2003, while a more detailed study of the impact of SAS was got under way by an independent consultant and was to be available before the end of 2005.

⁹ La Revue de la Gouvernance Locale, published every three months by SAFEFOD.

References

CRDI/IDRC, Working papers of the ACACIA Working group in Governance, 1997;

CRDI/IDRC, Introductory Note of the President of the ACACIA Working group in Governance, Prof. Yero Sylla, 1997;

CRDI/IDRC, Document de Projet n. 65199/97-8153-01, «Le rôle des technologies de l'Information et de la communication dans la mise en ouvre de la politique de décentralisation au Sénégal», 1997;

CRDI/IDRC, Fiche de Projet 97-8153-01, Rôle des TIC dans la mise en oeuvre de la politique de décentralisation au Sénégal 1997;

CRDI/IDRC, Financial and Monitoring Reports of the Project n. 65199/97-8153-01, «Le rôle des technologies de l'Information et de la communication dans la mise en ouvre de la politique de décentralisation au Sénégal», 1998;

CRDI/IDRC, Senegal Strategic Assessment, The policy influence of projects financed by IDRC's Acacia program: The Case of Senegal, by Mr. Khamathe Sene, and Ms. Ramata Thioune, January 2003;

République du Sénégal, Loi n° 96-06 du 22 mars 1996 portant code des collectivités locales;

République du Sénégal, Délégation au Management Public, Secrétariat Général de la Présidence de la République, Programme national de Bonne Gouvernance (PNBG), Janvier 2003;

République du Sénégal, Présidence de la République, Décret: n° 2004-1038 du 23 juillet sur l'Agence De l'Informatique de l'Etat (ADIE);

République du Sénégal, Présidence de la République, l'Agence De l'Informatique de l'Etat (ADIE), Présentation de l'INTRANET Gouvernemental, pendant l'Inauguration du Projet Intranet Gouvernemental (PING), Dakar, 15 mars 2005;

République du Sénégal, Discours Inaugural sur l'INTRANET Gouvernemental, de S.E. Maître Abdoulaye Wade, Président de la République du Sénégal, Dakar, 15 mars 2005;

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SAFEFOD, Rapport du Séminaire de Partenariat organisée par la SAFEFOD et le CRDI sur le rôle des technologies de l'Information et de la communication dans la mise en ouvre de la politique de décentralisation au Sénégal, 25 février 1999;

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SAFEFOD/OXFAM-America, "Décentralisation, Gouvernance Démocratique et Participation en milieu rural", 2003, 2004;

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Union des Associations d'Elus Locaux, Cellule d'Appui aux Elus Locaux, «Rapport Annuel 2003-2004» et présentation, 2004;

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