世界銀行-印度：阿薩姆邦利用政府技術(shù)解決方案進(jìn)行公共財(cái)政體制改革（英）-2024

GOVERNANCEEQ

U

I

TA

B

L

E

G

RO

W

T

H

,

F

I

N

A

N

C

E

&

I

N

S

T

I

T

U

T

I

O

N

S

N

OT

ESGovTech

Case

Studies:

Solutions

that

WorkIndia:

Public

Finance

Institutional

Reformsusing

GovTech

Solutions

as

an

Enabler

inAssam

StateSimple,

E?icient,

and

Transparent

Government

SystemsSupported

bythe

GovTech

GlobalPartnership:/govtech?

2024

International

BankforReconstruction

and

Development/

TheWorld

Bank1818H

Street

NWWashington

DC

20433Telephone:

202-473-1000Internet:

This

work

is

a

product

of

the

staff

of

The

World

Bank

with

external

contributions.

The

?ndings,interpretations,

and

conclusions

expressed

in

this

work

do

not

necessarily

re?ect

the

views

of

TheWorld

Bank,

its

Board

of

Executive

Directors,

orthegovernments

they

represent.The

World

Bank

does

not

guarantee

the

accuracy,

completeness,

or

currency

of

the

data

includedin

this

work

and

does

not

assume

responsibility

for

any

errors,

omissions,

or

discrepancies

inthe

information,

or

liability

with

respect

to

the

use

of

or

failure

to

use

the

information,

methods,processes,

or

conclusions

set

forth.

The

boundaries,

colors,

denominations,

and

other

informationshown

on

any

map

in

this

work

do

not

imply

any

judgment

on

the

part

of

The

World

Bank

concerningthelegalstatusof

any

territory

ortheendorsement

or

acceptance

of

such

boundaries.Nothing

herein

shall

constitute

or

be

construed

or

considered

to

be

a

limitation

upon

or

waiver

oftheprivileges

and

immunities

of

TheWorld

Bank,

all

of

which

are

speci?cally

reserved.Rights

and

PermissionsThe

material

in

this

work

is

subject

to

copyright.

Because

The

World

Bank

encourages

disseminationof

its

knowledge,

this

work

may

be

reproduced,

in

whole

or

in

part,

for

noncommercial

purposes

aslong

as

full

attributiontothis

work

is

given.Any

queries

on

rights

and

licenses,

including

subsidiary

rights,

should

be

addressed

to

World

BankPublications,

TheWorld

Bank

Group,

1818HStreet

NW,

Washington,

DC

20433,

USA;fax:202-522-2625;

e-mail:

pubrights@.IntroductionTo

respond

to

citizen

expectations

and

deliver

on

their

development

objectives,

governments

in

India

are

making

signi?cantimprovements

in

service

delivery,

for

example

with

notable

improvements

in

direct

cash

bene?t

transfers

and

the

services

providedby

the

revenue

administration

based

on

simple

and

ef?cient

government

systems.

At

the

subnational

level,

governments

areincreasinglyadoptingdigitaltechnologiesforreforms,includinginthedomainofpublic?nancialmanagement(PFM),inresponsetobudgetand?scalconstraintsandcitizens’

demandforfasterservicesreducedphysicalinterfacewiththegovernment.InIndia,various

types

of

businesses

have

transactions

with

governments

on

several

fronts,

so

digitalizing

the

revenue

administrationservicewasoneofthetopprioritiesformoststategovernments.>>>Figure

1:

State

of

Assam

–

Facts

at

a

Glance1Location:North-EastIndiaPopulation:31.2millionArea:78,438km2Gross

Domestic

Product:Expenditure:Total

revenue:INR4.09trillion(US$54billion)INR1,152billion(US$14billion)INR897billion(US$11

billion)in

2020-2021April

2022

-

March

2023April

2022

-

March

2023Assamisthebiggeststateamongtheseveninnorth-eastIndia,withapopulationof31million.

TheGovernmentof

Assam(GoA)has

pursued

digital

transformation

to

strengthen

PFM

in

the

state

and

enhance

its

information

and

communication

technology(ICT)

systems

for

large

scale

digital

governance.

The

GoA

initiated

and

scaled

up

a

range

of

reforms

in

2016,

targeting

two

aspectsof

public

sector

modernization:

reinforcing

core

government

systems,

including

strengthening

its

PFM

systems,

and

enhancingpublicservicedeliveryusingGovTech

enablers.1.Source:Assam

at

a

Glance,

.in/stateportal/about-us/393;

andAccounts

at

a

Glance

(March

2023),

.in/uploads/state_accounts_report/account-report-MKI-MARCH-p-2023-0646e0abab02434-40109701.pdfINDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<3Problems

and

ObjectivesThe

GoA

published

a

White

Paper

in

2016

highlighting

the

key

constraints

to

the

state’s

?nancial

performance:

a

ballooning

of

thebudget

without

adequate

resources,

dependency

on

the

central

government

allocated

funds,

stagnating

own-source

revenues,reduced

access

to

central

grants

due

to

their

own

delayed

reporting

on

utilization

of

prior

grants,

and

relatively

higher

committedliabilities.2There

were

challenges

in

budget

preparation,

its

distribution

and

execution;

information

systems

were

outdated;

several

criticalprocesses

in

expenditure

management

and

tax

administration,

including

taxpayer

interfaces,

were

manual;

and

human

resourcecapacity

in

these

agencies

was

limited.

Previous

attempts

to

use

ICT

to

strengthen

PFM

systems

had

met

with

limited

success,resultinginamodestandincrementalapproachforadoptingICT

solutions.Following

the

2016

White

Paper,

the

GoA

developed

an

aspirational

plan

under

a

program

called

ReSTARTAssam

–

RestructuringSystemsand

Technology

for

AugmentationofResourcesfor

Transformed

Assam–basedonfourpillars(Figure2).>>>Figure

2:

Four

Pillars

of

ReSTART

AssamReSTARTAssamImplement

large

scaleRationalize

revenuecollectionMobilize

additionalresourcesImprove

PFM

underASPIRe

projectIT-enabled

systemswith

“near-zero”

humaninterfaceA

team

from

the

WorldBank’s

Governance

Global

Practice

in

India

engaged

with

the

Finance

Department

of

the

GoA

to

study

theexisting

PFM

systems,

identify

gaps,

and

de?ne

possible

solutions.

Based

on

deliberations

and

diagnostics,

theAssam

State

PublicFinanceInstitutional

Reforms(ASPIRe)Project

wasconceptualized;itwasapprovedbytheBank’sBoardin2017withanoriginalprojectcostofUS$44millionincludingaWorldBankloanofUS$35million.3The

project

development

objective

of

theASPIRe

Project

was

“to

contribute

to

the

improvement

in

predictability

and

transparency

inbudget

execution

and

to

ef?ciency

in

tax

administration

in

Assam.”

The

reforms

hinged

on

GovTech

solutions,

including

developingand

modernizing

ICT

applications

supported

by

suitable

policy

and

process

reengineering;

automating

manual

processes

andstrengthening

controls;

and

consolidating

core

areas

of

PFM,

including

cash

and

debt

management

and

government

procurement(Figure

3).

The

areas

identi?ed

comprise

the

critical

functions

both

on

the

expenditure

and

revenue

sides.

The

project

incentivizedthe

full

use

of

an

existing

e-procurement

application

and

focused

on

addressing

the

gaps

in

institutional

strengthening

and

capacitybuilding.2.3.Governmentof

Assam,WhitePaperon

AssamStateFinances,May24,2016.TheBankloanwasreducedduringimplementation(2021)byUS$3milliontoaccountforexchangeratesavings.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<4>>>Figure

3:

GovTech

Solutions

supported

under

ASPIReIntegrating

with

e-Payment

SystemFinancial

Management

InformationSystemCommon

e-Collection

Systemof

India’s

Central

BankGovernmentrevenuecollectionsmadeelectronically/onlinethroughauni?ede-collectionplatformintegratedwithGoA’s

treasurysystemGovernmentpaymentsmadeelectronicallythroughthecentralbank’scorebankingsolutionandintegratedwithGoA’s

treasurysystemReplacingandscaling-uptheexistingoutdatedtreasurysystemtoacomprehensiveintegratedFMISNew

ICTApplication

for

CommercialTaxese-GovernanceApplication

forExciseDigital

Infrastructure

for

DirectBene?ts

TransferReplacingthefragmentedandoutdatedtaxinformationmanagementsystemandmanualprocessestoanintegratede-governmentapplicationComprehensiveandtransparentwork?ow-basede-governanceapplicationtodigitalizethemanualdecentralizedprocessesUni?edplatformforonboardingandfulllifecyclemanagementofcashtransferprogramsAssociated

ServicesBusiness

ProcessRe-engineeringCloud

ServicesConnectivitySecurityHardwareIn

the

higher

echelons

of

the

State

government,

the

approach

was

clear

–

unless

ICT

systems

were

built

back

better,

the

GoAwould

continue

to

be

plagued

by

process

inef?ciencies.

The

GoA

recognized

the

need

to

learn

from

its

earlier

reform

initiatives,

andthe

need

to

adapt

ICT

solutions

and

their

implementation

to

meet

the

state’s

speci?c

context.

Various

mitigation

measures

wereundertakentoaddressrisks

thatcouldariseindevelopingICT

solutions.

Thedeputationofaseniorcivilservantwithexperiencein

the

IT

sector

in

the

initial

project

phase

set

the

basis

for

the

PFM

reforms

and

facilitated

decisions

around

procurement

andimplementationapproaches.Despite

the

solid

analysis,

the

new

plan,

and

the

identi?cation

of

a

champion,

the

road

to

reform

and

its

implementation

havenot

been

easy.

Multiple

issues

and

challenges

emerged

during

project

implementation,

which

were

exacerbated

by

COVID-19-induceddelays.Forexample,theprojectleadershipwaschallengedduetomultiplecompetingresponsibilitiesandshorttenures.Similarly,

familiarity

and

comfort

of

the

technical

cadres

with

old

legacy

ICT

applications

required

overcoming

resistance

to

changethat

the

reform

champions

had

to

contend

with.

Finally,

the

reluctance

of

consultants

to

participate

in

procurement

opportunities

intheNorthEasternstateswasachallengingaspectoftheproject.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<5Solutions

and

ApproachesThere

was

a

need

to

make

informed

choices

on

technical

approaches

and

technology

options,

factoring

in

the

capacity

constraintsandpastexperiences.

Thisrequiredextensivedeliberationswheretheteamsoughttoresolvecon?ictingviewsandreconcileriskaversions.

Thus,

solutions

were

identi?ed,

agreed,

approved,

and

revised

based

on

protracted

deliberations

and

discussions

overthethreeandahalfyearsimplementationperiod.4Building

capacity

and

supporting

the

GoA

teams

to

be

ready

for

identi?cation,

assessment,

and

implementation

of

theICT

solutionsYears

with

limited

exposure

to

holistic

reforms

or

digitalization

and

use

of

ICT

solutions

had

created

a

gap

between

the

skillsrequired

and

those

available

in

the

government.This

required

not

only

for

staff

to

be

willing

to

go

the

extra

mile

to

enhance

theirskills

but

also

availability

of

an

adequate

number

of

staff

able

to

devote

time

to

project

activities

and

take

ownership.

Severalfactorswerekeytosuccess:?To

mitigate

capacity

constraints

and

increase

domain

knowledge,

the

GoA

teams

visited

other

Indian

states

to

study

their

PFMsystems,

particularly

Financial

Management

Information

System

(FMIS)

and

excise

systems,

to

understand

procurement,implementation,andmaintenancemodalities.?Virtual

meetings

were

organized

with

global

experts

in

the

World

Bank.

A

team

of

senior

of?cials

from

the

GoA

also

visited

theRepublic

of

Korea

as

part

of

a

collaboration

with

the

Korean

Public

Finance

Information

Service

to

learn

from

the

experiencesinimplementingdBrain,theFMISinKorea.??Engagement

of

design

and

business

process

reengineering

consultants

to

identify

gaps

in

the

existing

systems

and

suggestimprovementsinprocessesandprocedures.Engagement

of

project

management

consultants

to

support

the

internal

teams

and

oversee

the

performance

and

deliverablesofsystemsintegrators.4.The

e-collection,

e-payment,

excise,

DIDS

and

commercial

tax

solutions

have

been

rolled

out

and

are

operational.

Legacy

commercial

tax

systems

have

been

phasedout.

SubstantialmodulesofFMIShavebeenrolledout.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<6Choice

between

modernizing

the

existing

ICT

solution

and

developing

a

new

solutionFor

treasury

and

commercial

tax

systems,

the

GoAhad

legacy

applications

that

were

outdated,

fragmented,

and

dependent

onmany

manual

processes.

Accordingly,

the

GoA

had

to

decide

whether

to

modernize

the

existing

systems

or

build

a

completelynewsystem.?In

the

case

of

the

treasury

system,

the

GoA

had

engaged

a

small-sized

software

developer

to

incrementally

develop

modulesfor

some

of

the

critical

budget

and

expenditure

processes

(collectively

called

FinAssam)

around

the

existing

core

treasurymodule.

Based

on

the

technical

assessments

and

an

objective

analysis,

the

GoA

decided

in

favor

of

scaling

up

the

existingFinAssam

solution

to

a

full-?edged

FMIS.

It

was

assessed

that

discarding

the

existing

modules

for

a

green?eld

solution

wouldbeahugerelearningexerciseforapproximately10,000endusersbesidesdevelopmentrisks.?A

similar

assessment

was

done

for

the

existing

solution

in

commercial

tax,

but

in

this

case,

it

was

decided

to

create

acompletely

new

e-governance

application

to

replace

the

obsolete

and

fragmented

system.

The

key

decision

point

was

the5disruptivechangebroughtinbytheintroductionofanation-wideGoodsandServices

Ta

xinIndiain2017.

Thisheralded

anewindirecttaxregimethatwasuniformacrossthecountryandusedacommonIT

platform.5.A

Goods

and

Services

Tax

(GST)

system

was

introduced

in

India

in

2017

and

this

was

a

disruptive

event.

Pursuant

to

this,

an

institutional

assessment

of

the

commercialtax

department

was

completed,

and

an

action

plan

was

developed

on

organizational

restructuring,

augmenting

staf?ng,

and

strengthening

of

the

functional

areas

of

audit,dataanalytics,andlegal.

Additionally,

trainingonservicetaxaudit,astudytoevaluateoptionsfordataanalytics,andexposurevisitstootherstatestolearnfromgoodpracticeswereplannedandundertaken.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<7Choice

of

technology

versus

the

economics

and

legacy

practicesSoftware

development

requires

making

decisions

that

could

affect

the

sustainability

of

the

solution

and

the

cost

of

running

andmaintenanceifthetechnologyortheapproachisnotchosenappropriately.For

the

excise

department,

a

bespoke

solution

was

the

most

responsive

bid

built

on

a

similar

solution

developed

on

the

speci?cDatabase.

It

has

been

successfully

running

in

another

state

which

could

reduce

the

development

and

roll

out

time.

The

governmentconducted

a

cost-bene?t

analysis

to

decide

whether

to

go

for

a

solution

based

on

the

speci?c

Database

or

to

require

the

applicationto

be

repurposed

using

an

open-source

database

which

would

have

eliminated

the

license

cost.

Based

on

the

analysis,

thegovernmentdecidedtoimplementthesolutionbasedonthespeci?cDatabase.In

the

absence

of

a

functional

State

Data

Center

in

the

initial

phase

of

development

and

roll

out

of

various

applications,

the

GoAadopted

an

interim

approach

to

host

most

of

the

new

solutions

on

the

Cloud

and

planned

to

transition

to

State

Data

Center

inthemediumterm.

Thisdecisionwasalsodrivenbyacost-bene?tanalysisoftheupfrontcapitalcostofprocurementofhardwareversusapay-as-you-goCloudServiceProvidermodel.

AllapplicationsarenowbeingtransitionedtotheStateDataCenter.DIGITAL

SOLUTIONSMultipledigitalapplicationsweredevelopedasGovTech

solutionsinthePFMreform.

These

includedtheFinancialManagementInformationSystem(FinAssam);ane-paymentsolution,e-GovernmentReceipt

AccountingSystem(e-GRAS);e-Governancesolutionsforcommercialtaxandexciserevenuemanagement;andtheDigitalInfrastructureofDirectBene?t

Transfer(DIDS),anapplicationcurrentlyinthe?nalstagesofdevelopmentandrollout,whichwillalsoenablethecreationofabene?ciaryregistryandfacilitatecashtransferstothecitizens.Allapplications,excepte-GRAS,weredevelopedascustom/bespokesoftwarebyprivatelocal?rms,andthesourcecodebelongstotheGoA.

Thee-GRASwascustomizedfromanexistingsolutionbytheNationalInformationCenter(NIC),anagencyoftheGovernmentofIndia,sothesourcecodeiswiththeNIC.

Allsystemsareweb-basedapplicationsandsomemodulesofDIDSaredeployingmobileapps,suchassurveytools.

Also,FMISandDIDSsolutionsarebasedontheopen-sourceplatform.Thedurationsandcostsofsoftwaredevelopmentanddeploymentareasfollows:?FMISisbeingupgraded(bothfunctionalityandarchitecture)andscaledup(newmodules)basedonanexistingsoftwareandthe?rstreleasewentliveinOctober2021.

ThetotalcostwasUS$5.5million,includingmaintenance.??eGRASwentliveinJune2018withacustomizationanddeploymentperiodof30months.Thecommercialtaxapplicationcostapprox.US$6million,includinghardwareandmaintenancecosts,andtheexciseapplicationcostUS$2million.BothapplicationsbeganoperatinginSeptember2021after18monthsofdevelopment.?ThecostofdevelopingDIDSanditsoperations/maintenanceisuptoUS$1.5million(includingmaintenancecosts).DIDSwentlivefromJanuary2023;itsdevelopmentperiodwas13monthsandoperations/maintenanceisexpectedtobeforthenext26months.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<8ResultsThe

overall

objectives

of

the

PFM

reforms

are

to

transform

government

service

delivery;

strengthen

institutions,

accountability,

andtransparency;andpromoteeaseofdoingbusiness.

Thefollowingresultsareexpected.??????Deliverservicestocitizensandbusinesses,aswellasstategovernmentemployees,withspeedinnearreal-time.Improvestakeholderengagementbymovingtodigitalservices.Developconnectedplatformsforgovernmenttransactions.Supportimprovementofthedecision-makingmanagementbyensuringtimelinessandintegrityofdata.Enhancetransparencyanddisclosurepractices.Enhanceownsourcerevenuebypluggingleakages.Bene?ts

from

GovTech

Transformation

in

PFM

inAssamThe

Excise

Department

has

transitioned

from

complete

manual

operations

to

near

full

automation

through

the

new

e-Governancesolution

thus

achieving

digital

transformation

in

a

short

period.

For

instance,

now

all

liquor

registration,

renewal

of

licenses,

andtransport

permits

are

issued

electronically

in

line

with

established

service

standards.

The

new

commercial

tax

solution

replacesthe

existing

obsolete

and

fragmented

solutions,

covers

all

the

?ve

taxes

administered

by

the

department,

and

digitalizes

severalclient

services

processes

which

were

previously

manual,

including

electronic

return

?ling,

online

scrutiny

of

returns,

and

generationof

tax

arrears

certi?cates.

The

DIDS

solution

has

on-boarded

three

cash

transfer

programs

and

1.9

million

bene?ciaries

arereceiving

monthly

cash

transfers

of

US$25

million

directly

into

their

bank

accounts

since

January

2023.

All

the

solutions

–

FMIS,Commercial

Tax,

Excise

and

DIDS

–

are

or

will

be

integrated

with

the

common

e-collection

portal

(e-Gras)

and

the

e-paymentssystem(e-Kuber)ofthecentralbank—theReserveBankofIndia.Bene?ts:

Signi?cantimprovementinservicedeliveryandturnaroundtimeofservices;bettercompli-ancebycitizensandfollow-upbythedepartmentwithreducedhumanintervention;reducedleakageofrevenue;revenueaugmentation;andbetterdeliveryofselectedsocialprotectioncashtransfers.TheeGRAS(electronicrevenuecollectionsolution)wasrolledoutin2019-20andnowcoversover66departmentsincludingexciseandcommercialtax,thetwolargestrevenuedepartments.Nowover95percentofexciseandcom-mercialtaxrevenuesarecollectedthrougheGRAS.

ThisapplicationsupportedtheGoA

inrevenuecollectionduringtheCOVID-19pandemic.Exciserevenuehasshown300percentincreaseover?veyearsatacompoundannualgrowthrateof20percentandcommercialtaxhasaddedmoretaxpayersandcollectedadditionalrevenuebasedonuseofdataanalytics.Bene?ts:

Reducedtimeandeffortforbusinessesorcitizensinpayinggovernmentdues,contributingtostrength-enedservicestandardsforenhacingeaseofdoingbusiness;reducedidlecash?oatenjoyedbythecollectingbanksandsigni?cantincreaseinownsource.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<9Over

98

percent

of

government

payments

are

made

electronically

through

e-Kuber,

which

is

the

Central

Bank’s

core

bankingsolution.Bene?ts:

Moresecureandfasterpaymentsandreporting,minimizingreconciliationbetweencollectionsmadebydepartmentsandthataccountedfor;lowtransactionfailure;eliminatingtransactionfeepayabletocommercialbanks.FinAssam,thestate’sFMIS,willbecomethecoreapplicationintheGoA’s

day-to-dayoperations.?????BudgetallocationanddistributionareonlinethroughtheBudgetModuleandisdoneinthe?rstmonthofthe?nancialyear,

asopposedtothelagoftwotothreemonthsunderthepreviousmanualprocess.SalaryBill/Payrollnowautomatedforover350,000employees.

Additionalemployeeself-servicefeaturesareinthepipeline.Over95percentofpaymentbillsaresubmittedbyspendingauthoritiesonlineandelectronicallypushedtothecoretreasuryapplication.Administrative(softcommitment)and?nancialsanctions(paymentauthorizations)thatweremanualarenowfullyautomated.ProcurementplansarenowpreparedintheFMIS.Bene?ts:

AchievedSingleSourceof

Truthfordataaccuracyandintegrity;enhancedef?ciencyingovernmentop-erations;timelyandadequateinformationtoof?cialstooptimizedecisionsrelatingtocashanddebtmanagement;accuratecapturingofcommitmentsbasedonadministrativesanctionswhichwillinform?scalandbudgetmanage-mentdecisions.Thesesystemswillhelpminimizethegapsindisclosingin-yearbudgetreportsandtimelysubmissionofmonthlyaccountstothe

AccountantGeneral.Bene?ts:

Availabilityofreliableandfasterinformationwillenhanceaccountabilityandtransparency,includingpublicdisclosure.INDIA:PUBLIC

FINANCE

INSTITUTIONALREFORMS

USINGGOVTECH

SOLUTIONS

INASSAM

STATE

<<<

10Lessons

learnedThe

government’s

ownership

of

the

reform

process

and

the

appointment

of

reform

champions

were

key

toensure

participation

of

frontline

staff

and

leadership

at

all

stages

including

technology

development.

Whilethisapproachmayseemtodelaytheimplementationat?rst,itbuildsgreaterownershipoftheentireprojectandgeneratesacceptanceofthechange.It

is

also

important

to

engage

stakeholders

to

ensure

a

thorough

understanding

of

the

“as

is”

situation

withinthe

jurisdiction.

A

comprehensive

pre-study

and

consultations

on

institutional

arrangements,

an

assessmentof

technical

and

absorptive

capacity

of

the

staff,

and

review

of

processes

identi?ed

the

gaps

in

capabilitiesandhelpedtheimplementationteamtoarriveatconsensussolutionstailoredtothecontext.

ThiswasdoneforalltheareaswheretheGoA

initiateddevelopmentofICT

solutions.A

bespoke

(or

custom

developed)

ICTsolution

may

be

appropriate

where

the

speci?c

processes

are

highlyentrenched

and

speci?c

to

the

jurisdiction

rather

than

customizing

a

COTS.

Technical

aspects

such

as

optingfor

open-source

software

or

cloud

hosting

solutions

need

to

be

duly

deliberated

to

lower

risks,

decreaseupfront

capital

cost,

and

minimize

future