Citizens at the Center: How Tunisia is Embracing GovTech through Life Events and Citizen Barometers

Tunisia continues making important progress in the digitalization and strengthening of its public service delivery, an ongoing reform process that has been supported by the World Bank for several years. Read this article to find out more about the user-centric approaches being implemented for citizens.

I.  Public Service Delivery and Trust in Public Institutions

The quality and performance of Tunisian public institutions has declined since 2010. While Tunisia had ranked 23^rd globally in terms of its public institutions in 2010, Tunisia had tumbled to the 73^rd position globally by 2019, falling behind MENA peers such as Jordan and Morocco according to the World Economic Forum. There has also been a decline in Tunisia’s public sector performance, with its percentile ranking in terms of “government effectiveness” dropping from 63 in 2010 to 51 in 2018. [1] At the same time, public trust in government institutions has suffered. Only 42% of Tunisians trusted their national government in 2020, a much lower percentage than in Algeria (70%), Jordan (71%), and Morocco (76%). [2] At the same time, improving its governance and public service performance is central to Tunisia’s renewal of the social contract. The transformation of the Tunisian state, or lack thereof, will have a strong impact on the trajectory and pace of the country’s post-revolutionary transition.

In Tunisia, public service delivery is held back by three structural and interrelated problems:

• A complex and inefficient service delivery system. Administrative processes tend to be inflexible, slow, and are not citizen-centric. Many procedures continue to be paper-based, while information is fragmented across different databases. Service delivery lacks sufficient access points and does not generally adapt to beneficiaries’ needs, particularly to vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities.
  
• A lack of public and private sector capacity to enable a more responsive, user-oriented, and coordinated service delivery. For example, there are limited mechanisms for strengthening accountability and citizen engagement. There is a need to further build the capacity of the public sector to implement the modernization and digitalization of its services, while opportunities must be created for the private sector to improve internet connectivity and participate in solving public service delivery problems.
  
• The inequitable access to, and weak quality of, broadband connectivity. A lack of connectivity at the level of frontline service providers perpetuates a reliance on paper-based and manual processes, limiting the adoption of new digital solutions. Moreover, unequal connectivity at the level of users reflects and sustains the “digital divide” – connectivity challenges tend to be most acute for vulnerable groups and in the less economically prosperous parts of the country.

Globally, the digitalization of the public sector correlates with better public services and improved perceptions of corruption. [3] As the provision of public services becomes more data-driven, governments can more easily enact evidence-based policies, set measurable administrative goals, improve public service delivery, and ensure greater accountability and transparency. [4] The GovTech approach emphasizes universal accessibility and better targeting, promotes a ‘whole-of-government’ approach, advances citizen engagement and two-way communication, and can ultimately contribute to improved public trust in government.

Tunisia has made progress in the digitalization and strengthening of its public service delivery. Conversion to e-services has started in certain sectors. Around 2015, a national program to develop a unique identification system was launched, and the implementation of a comprehensive connectivity program in underserved regions has been initiated. In 2016 Tunisia adopted an Access to Information Law and, in 2017, joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Investments have been made to provide broadband coverage to under-served areas as well as investments in the national network of the public administration, connecting public offices to the internet. Nonetheless, further progress is needed.

II.    Supporting the Digitalization of Public Services in Tunisia

The Tunisian government has embarked on a path of GovTech reforms, with active support from the World Bank. A US$100 million loan to finance a Digital Transformation for User-Centric Public Services project (“GovTech project”) was approved in 2019, with implementation starting in 2020. The World Bank also continuously provides technical assistance and further financial support to this initiative through its Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTF), particularly through the Moussanada MDTF, and with recent complementray support form the Compact with Africa (CwA) MDTF.

The GovTech project and associated trust fund support are helping government to adopt a life-events approach to selected services, identifying the needs and problems in the public service delivery chain from the user's perspective. Life events map the user's journey to access a given service and focus on the different points at which the user interacts with the service providers. The next step is to find solutions to identified bottlenecks. Tunisian service users have identified four broad challenges: unequal access, poor quality, weak accountability, and poor user-orientation.

The Tunisia GovTech project is supporting a broad range of sectors, including education, social protection, health, and business. The Tunisia project initially focused on four key life events in social protection and education, namely: “I need a social assistance benefit”; “I need a social security benefit” plus “I need to enroll my child in school”, and “my child leaves school”. To better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was also expanded to the health sector, particularly to support the vaccination rollout and the underlying EVAX system. A further expansion to support seven additional life events in the business, health, transportation, and social security sectors has started – see more information in the Next Steps section below.

III.    Achievements

Three of the four life event action plans have been approved by the government and are being implemented. Two education life events (“I enroll my child in school” and “my child finishes school”) plus the social protection life event (“I need a social assistance benefit”) were approved by the Council of Ministers in October 2022. Implementation of these plans began shortly after.The social security life event ("I need social security benefits") action plan has been finalized and is awaiting approval.

The life event approach has been incorporated into Tunisia's reform agenda. The GovTech project has had an important spillover effect as the Council of Ministers adopted a pplan to generalize the life-event approach to simplify administrative processes across the government. An additional seven life event action plans are to be prioritized for a phased roll-out in other sectors (see the Next Steps section below for more information).

Tunisia’s social protection sector has been strengthened through different digital initiatives. The "I need social assistance" life event action plan has been approved and is making progress in its implementation, achieving a 40% completion rate as of July 2023. Significant advancements primarily revolve around initiatives aimed at improving the identification of households eligible for social assistance, enhancing citizen access to information, and improving the working conditions of social workers. Moreover, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) has increased the number of social surveys to establish a database of vulnerable households through the acquisition of IT equipment. A framework has been signed between MoSA, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Technologies, which will enable data exchange for the unique social identifier and platform interoperability. A total of 274 local social protection offices have been assisted with broadband connectivity.

The education sector has advanced in its digitalization and simplification reforms. The two education life event action plans were approved and are already being implemented, resulting in significant progress. The first plan, focused on school enrollment, has made impressive strides, achieving a 61% completion rate as of July 2023. Notable advances include the successful integration of students from private educational institutions into the online enrollment system, streamlining the process for payment of enrollment fees, and enhancing the identification of students and parents involved. Similarly, the second plan targeting school dropout rates has made significant progress, achieving a 45% completion rate.

Substantial improvements have been made, such as improved governance at the central, regional, and local levels, the establishment of regulatory frameworks that enable data collection for at-risk students, and the structured organization of second-chance schools, with the aim of expanding their reach. Overall, the Ministry of Education’s technical capacities have been strengthened, which should improve the connectivity of educational institutes. Different platforms to better manage school operations are being developed and should become available to teachers and parents soon. A total of 591 high schools have been connected by fiber optic cable, with hundreds of other schools also in the process of also receiving connectivity support.

The health sector successfully registered all vaccinated individuals into its new vaccination platform. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GovTech project was restructured to support the new ‘Evax’ vaccination platform. This initiative was a success, as all vaccinated individuals were registered and managed through Evax. Building on this success, the Ministry of Health is now in the process of building a central health register, which will improve health service delivery and the exchange of data with other sectors in a secure manner.

The public service delivery barometer has been launched, with the first results and accompanying action plans completed. The first perception surveys on the four pilot life events took place in 2022 and were shared with the Council of Ministers, together with the recommended actions to be taken, in October 2022. The findings were published on the respective government websites and made available to the general public in December 2022. Additional life events are expected to be added, and the exercise will be repeated on an annual basis.

IV.   TERI Umbrella Support
 

Since 2019, the Moussanada MDTF has been instrumental in supporting the Tunisia GovTech project by:

• Assisting the overall implementation of the GovTech project, particularly by financing support for the coordination, project management, change management, communication, and capacity building needed to advance the project and its objectives.
  
• Enabling the life event approach through the development of tools, methodologies, and training sessions. This has facilitated the implementation of the four pilot life event action plans as well as the development of an action plan to mainstream the approach across the whole public administration.
  
• Supporting the establishment of the Public Service Delivery Barometer by facilitating a benchmark study and an implementation plan. Moussanada will also finance the 2023 iteration of the public barometer.

In 2022, the Moussanada MDTF further expanded its support to the Project. Moussanada supported the initiation of the simplification process for an additional set of five new life events. This endeavor was further bolstered by funding from the Compact with Africa MDTF, specifically allocated for adapting the approach to enhance enterprise services.
 

V.    Next Steps            

The following actions are planned to advance the program’s initiatives:

Life-Event Approach: Moving forward, the TERI Umbrella MDTF is committed to continue supporting the simplification of public services and the enhancement of users experience through the Life-Event Approach. A comprehensive support for the simplification of seven new life events in the business, health, social security and transportation sectors, encompassing both citizen-oriented and business-oriented scenarios is being implemented: "I receive medical treatment", "I get vaccinated", "I drive a car", "I get my healthcare expenses reimbursed", "I start my own business", "I explore new investment opportunities", and "I retire."

By prioritizing these events, mapping customer journeys, and designing action plans for approval, the objective is to streamline processes and effectively address the specific needs of public service users. In addition, the support is also dedicated to adapting the Life-Event Approach to cater specifically to business-oriented life events. This involves the current development of a methodological guide as well as a three-year action plan aiming the industrialization of the approach to business services within the Administration.

Public Service Delivery Barometer: A second version of the Public Service Delivery Barometer is scheduled to be launched by September 2023. This initiative will be financed through the Moussanada MDTF to assess user satisfaction regarding the four education and social protection life events being implemented. The objective is to measure the evolution of satisfaction since the first version and update the action plans for these life events based on the recommendations derived from the new version.

Additionally, funding is currently being allocated through the GovTech loan for survey purposes with two primary objectives:

1. Completing the barometer’s second version by conducting surveys on other prioritized life events for this year, including "I get vaccinated" and "I am starting a business." These life events complement the sectors that were recently added.
   
2. Continuously conducting annual surveys until 2025 to evaluate both the existing and upcoming life events, ensuring a comprehensive and ongoing assessment.

Through these initiatives, the aim is to enhance the Tunisian Government’s understanding of user satisfaction and make informed decisions to improve the effectiveness of public services. The ongoing support currently funded by the TERI Umbrella MDTF are scheduled to be completed by December 2023, but discussions are underway to secure new funding to continue supporting these significant efforts for the digital transformation of user-oriented public services.

References

[1]    Source: govdata360. This indicates the rank of a country among all the countries in the world. 0 corresponds to the lowest rank and 100 to the highest rank.

[2]    KAS PolDiMed Survey 2020, Trust in Political Institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.

[3]    GovTech: The New Frontier in Digital Government Transformation, November 2020.

[4]    https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/digitaldevelopment/brief/digital-government-for-development.  

[5]    World Bank Website, “About GovTech”, https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/govtech/priority-themes