Several priorities are driving the move towards the ‘single public sector’ concept.

Most notably, these include the need to reduce costs and remove duplication, improve customer service and drive transparency between government departments.

Ashraf Patel, head of consulting at ForgeAhead says that additionally, centralised services will allow government to improve economies of scale and leverage resources to fulfil service delivery functions.

“This technology-dividend is essential in contributing to the improvement of service delivery and a citizen-centric culture that gives concrete meaning to the Batho Pele e-government gateway project,” he says.

”The quest for integrated e-government and efficient government has also given rise to new models in service delivery that are fundamentally changing the way government operates,” he continues.

One such model is the Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC).

“The centre represents the vision of the Gauteng Provincial Government of having an efficient support service that focuses on quality delivery,” Patel opines.

“The GSSC will consolidate internal support services into a single organisational unit, which will treat service provision to other government departments as its core business.

“The GSSC is an important case study for South Africa,” he adds, “since shared services are a proven solution for organisations. Once the GSSC is operational, it will be one of the first public sector shared services centres in the world.” Ultimately, Patel believes that the long-term goal for government should be to lead the charge in the deployment of ICTs and e-government into its business model.

“If government is to obtain the real benefits of the information age for better service delivery, better procurement, efficient working, and better communication with citizens and businesses, its departments need to work together to formulate and implement an integrated e-government strategy,” he concludes.