2007年VOA标准英语-Africa Tries Upgrade to E-Government

By Naomi Schwarz
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
14 June 2007

African governments looking for ways to decrease corruption¹ and improve the lives of their citizens are increasingly turning to the idea of e-government, the use computers and the Internet to exchange information and services directly with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.  Naomi Schwarz reports from a conference in Burkina Faso, where experts from African countries came to share some of the recent developments in the field.

Governments hope to reduce lines by putting services on the Internet

Aliyu Aziz, a technology advisor² to Nigeria's government, has a goal.

"We should be able to improve our organizational effectiveness and then make the government more open and accountable and improve the service delivery, and in the end we hope to engage the citizen," he said.

Aziz, along with Nigeria's government, hopes to do this through what they call e-government.  They want to use computers, telephones, and the Internet to automate³ government services that used to be done with people and on paper.

In the region around the capital, they have already started.  They built a web site where citizens can go to look up information, send messages to the government, and apply for jobs.

"And also we have a contact center whereby people should telephone and leave their complaints," he added.

The complaints cover a wide range of issues.  One that he says comes up frequently is from people who live in government-subsidized housing, where they pay a low rent over a period of years, at the end of which they will own the home.  If they fail to make the payments, however, the government will put the house up for sale.

If someone in this situation thinks there was a mistake or wants to appeal to the government, they used to have to go in person and wait in line.  Aziz says the line can sometimes take days.

Now they can call a special hotline or send a message over the web site, and someone will begin helping⁴ them immediately.

He says the call center gets around 200 calls per day, but he expects that number to increase as more people learn about the service.

Such e-government services are spreading around the continent.  In Cape⁵ Verde, they have developed a program to tally⁶ votes and publicize up-to-the-minute results by computer and text messages, also called SMS.

Helio Varela

"Everybody was putting the results as they were coming in," said Helio Varela, the assistant director of Cape Verde's information technology agency.  "And in the case of the Internet, every five minutes, and the case of the SMS every 30 minutes we would publish them."

Other countries in Africa are working to computerize their accounting⁷ services.  In Burkina Faso, government ministries⁸ know exactly what money they have collected and which departments need to use it that day.

Cheick Diarra, chairman of Microsoft in Africa, which helped Burkina Faso develop their financial computer system, says these types of innovations would also help governments in Africa collect money they are owed.

"We are not so poor," he explained.  "Maybe it is because the states usually do not have the ability to collect all the funds that are due to the state.  Whether it is through the customs or tax system."

Public kiosks offer telephone and Internet service

But although Africa seems to be investing in high-tech⁹ government, challenges remain to implement¹⁰ technology on a wide scale.  In Cape Verde, one of the more developed countries in Africa, less than five percent of the people have a computer.

Varela says this is why they are trying to make the high-tech services available over cell phones as well.

"We should not see e-government solutions just thinking about computers, this is not true," he noted¹¹.  "We must think about cyber places, and we must think about mobile.  Because a mobile can give you the same kind of relationship that the Internet can give."

But in Africa's poorer countries, even a cell phone can be hard to come by.

Jacques Van Schalkwyk, general manager in Africa for Intel, an international company that manufactures computer chips, says it is important that governments do not focus solely¹² on creating information and communication technology, what he calls ICT solutions for government.

"Any ICT development plan within a given country consists of multiple factors that need to be there," he explained.  "You have got to have connectivity, you have got to have infrastructure¹³, you have got to have accessibility, so people have to get access to the devices.  You have to have relevant content.  You have got to educate people on how to use these devices effectively."

Intel has a program to distribute low-cost computers to African schools at under $200.  Microsoft has another program, which it launched at the conference in Burkina Faso, to make low-cost refurbished computers more widely available.  And other organizations, including the United Nations and African governments, are working to increase access to technology on the continent.

But these programs, like the e-government initiatives, are still in very early stages, and face many challenges, including a lack of electricity and low literacy rates.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

7 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

8 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

9 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

13 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。