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State of Information Security in Zanzibar’s public sector
1. Challenges faced in Zanzibar as well as in one other exemplar “developing country” as regards the evolution, and adoption of IT/Corporate Governance standards in the public sector.
Information systems have made way of operating public organizations in developing countries simpler something that developed countries went through many years ago. Services carried by the information systems are, tax collection, immigration, public finance, voter registration, birth registration among others. As a developing country, Zanzibar is adopting the use of Information Systems it is facing several difficulties; inadequacy of skilled personnel, financial problems, national culture and underdeveloped infrastructure. (Jensen, 2002)
To maintain information systems then the system has to be secured from hackers, malicious threats and careless employees. Information security protects and prevents information systems from the security factors. There are certain measures that are taken to ensure information security and confidentiality of the information.
In Zanzibar research was carried out to see how the society will respond to information systems and information security. From the results we see that the country is hindered by finances a problem that is experienced by so many developing countries. For a country to adopt the use of information systems it has to create a budget and allocate money for the project and its maintenance. (Jensen, 2002)
Another factor that hinders evolution is the personnel, in Zanzibar 54% of the people chosen during the research strongly disagree that they often receive training on information security meaning their skills are inferior for the project at hand. For information security to be effective the personnel ought to be skilled and ready to carry out their duties and ensure information security. (Jensen, 2002)
The management and control of IT in the country is not up to standard, there is no separation of development, test and operation facilities in the IT sector. There were no guidelines for acceptance of the new information systems and there was also no policy that prevented the use of unauthorized software.
2. To what extend can Corporate Governance operate as a reliable “proxy” for trust as regards E-Governance?
Corporate Governance is the structure within which a corporate entity receives basic orientation and direction. It is also the heart of market economy and democratic society. Most business and organizations are embracing technology in carrying out their operations, these organization establish e-governance so that it is responsible for the design, budget, implementation and organization of information security.
Corporate governance serves as “proxy” to e-governance by doing the following; the legislators could come up with an employment contract that should have terms and conditions that reflect with working with information systems. The administrators should also introduce the use of CCTV and electronic locks to ensure information security.
The corporate entities, especially public, should ensure the personnel is qualified and this should be achieved through training of their employees regularly on information systems, security and usage of new software. Public organizations should also ensure that their IT staff members are kept motivated by increasing their salaries and benefits to match that of their private sector.
For public organizations to maintain data protection they should develop access control policies and encourage the use of biometric authentication. Each employee should have unique identification for accessing the information systems. This will help to ward off unauthorized users and cyber crimes.
The organizations should have a contingency plan that should be tested frequently; they should also have a place where backup of data is stored. All these practices if put in place will help in the adoption and maintenance of e-governance.
3. How does E-Governance and Data Governance regulation of the public sector as regulated for example by the NAO (National Audit Office) in the UK differs from that of Zanzibar? Is the UK under-mature or over-mature in terms of regulation and self-regulation?
E- Governance is defined as the use of ICT to offer better government services and allow the public access to information. Data governance is the informal and formal process of managing data within an organization. Regulation of e-governance and data governance has been carried out by the two nations differently. Regulations are effective in times of recession globally since it supports economic adjustment. (Schizas, 2010)
The UK is acknowledged as a global leader in regulatory reform but its government has achieved very little in terms of improving businesses’ perceptions of regulation. Although improving regulation could result in substantial savings there’s an important but often ignored shortcoming that is the distinction between regulatory costs and burdens which can easily test the credibility of regulatory reform. The UK is trying to get a step further in the regulatory reform by trying to manage the Better Reform agenda. To do this it has to seriously rely on flawed measures of the regulatory quality and progress. ((Schizas, 2010))
Though the UK is ahead of Zanzibar in regulatory reforms, the latter is picking up. In Zanzibar the regulations cover, starting and closing a business, construction permits, getting credit, protecting investors, payment of taxes and trading across borders. This applies to both small and large businesses. Although small and medium-sized companies are the key factors of competitive growth, excessive bureaucracy and regulation may be placed in order to prevent firms from entering the formal sector.
Currently in the globe both developed and developing countries are experiencing challenges in regulatory reforms due to the worldwide financial crisis. All these countries have to come up with ways of creating better investment environment and business regulation reforms.
4. What role might International E-Governance standards have to play in the future evolution of E-Governance both in developed and in developing countries? Refer to evolving standards in your answer as necessary.
E-Governance has been received positively around the world and its transforming methods of governance radically. It ensures democratic governance and the access of the citizens to their governments functions. Despite this there is a drawback, not all places have accesses to computers and there are some places where though they have the computers they lack the appropriate technologies.
Globally nations are embracing the transition from analogue to digital both even possibly in education then the setback would be overcome and hence e-governance will be all over and efficiently carried out. The initiatives of e-governance shift and change frequently, one of those initiatives is the use of an electronic ID card which is a means of crime control and security when it comes to e-voting. This use of electronic ID cards has been implemented in the UK.
Another function of e-governance is to soften bureaucratic administrative boundaries. This would highlight the distinction between e-commerce and e-governance, the public and the private sector. In its evolvement e-governance has partly failed to achieve its set goals, the hoped-for benefits of a democratic renewal are yet to materialize. This partial failure can become better in future with better technology, better funding and better co-ordination.
References
Swanson,C.B. Evolution in State Science Education Standards (November, 2005) Editorial projects in education research center
Schizas, EComing of Age: What next for the UK Regulatory Reform Agenda (2010) the association of chartered certified accountants
Schwab, K Global Competitiveness Report
2009–10 (Geneva, World Economic Forum). <http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2010-11.pdf>.
Jensen.M Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as Tools for Improving Local Governance in Africa(September 25,2002)
Casmir, R And Yngström, L “Security dimension of IT in developing countries: risks and challenges,” Journal of Information Warfare, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 38-46, 2003.
Mundy ]D. and Musa, B. “Towards a framework for e-government development in Nigeria,” Electronic Journal of e-Government, 8(2), pp148-161, 2010.
technology — security techniques — information security risk management, ISO/EIC 27005:2008, 2008.
