Recently, the technology community gathered with public sector technology leaders at the GovTech summit to focus on the government’s technology plans.
According to those who attended, Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies Khumbudzo Ntshavheni outlined the South African government’s paperless vision.
About 2 500 delegates were told that digitisation programme aims to have 80 percent of citizen-facing services to be online by 2025.
Whenever people dream about a paperless world it reminds some of a period when this was a wish of many in tech and those in the know understand that the opposite has happened.
The introduction of technology in many spheres of our lives has instead of reducing the use of paper increased it. One can therefore understand the gasps in the GovTech Durban gathering when this government leader painted this paperless future.
Many doubt that a paperless future is possible in society and one has to ask, is it possible for the government to deliver a paperless future by 2025.
The simple answer is that, yes, it’s possible.
The not-so-simple answer is that a paperless South African government will probably be a reality through digitisation accompanied by systems that are online and sometimes off-line. If this is the future, we then have to ask, is it necessary to have a paperless government? Again, the answer to that is yes, it’s necessary.
Birth, criminal and health records need digitisation for the smooth functioning of governments.
When such information is stored digitally it allows for better access to information, better security of records and in some instances ease of collaboration between government entities. There’s therefore no doubt that there’s value in the digitisation process of government records.
This however does not mean the goal should be to create a paperless government or society.
Paper is a physical object that is a replica of a digital record. Its existence serves an important purpose when technology fails.
History of technology has taught us that technology will fail for many reasons. When it does fail we need to have non-digital means of accessing the same information.
Paper serves this purpose. In other words, the digitisation of government services does not have to end the need to have paper. Of course, there’s an environmental concern about paper which needs to be taken care of by the type of paper produced.
There’s a need to be careful about creating a digital world that seeks to do away with physical objects. Digital can work well with physical objects if they complement each other.
As we build towards the metaverse, we need to realise physical objects will still be required. In some instances physical objects will serve a purpose of a proof when the digital version is not functional.
Plans to digitise should take into account that there are some non-digital solutions that are still useful. When these physical objects are enhanced by digital means they are better protected and can function much better.
We’ve tried the paperless dream and it was proven futile, it’s time to stop imagining a paperless world and dream about a digital and paper-enabled world.
Some media companies have tried to exist only in digital form only to realise that there’s value in still maintaining a paper version.
Some media case studies on paper and digitisation can provide a great lesson on whether the government should pursue a paperless vision.
At the same time, government should be encouraged to pursue its digitisation project for all the good reasons that come with the digital world. In doing so, some things that work should not be thrown away for digital sake.
Wesley Diphoko is the Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA)
magazine.
* Wesley Diphoko is the Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company (SA) magazine. You can follow him on Twitter via @WesleyDiphoko
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or Independent Media.
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