Tony Trew
Briefing to Portfolio Committee on Communications
10 May 2002
GCIS budget vote: Communication Service Agency, Government & Media
liaison, Policy & Research, Information Technology and Resources,
and International Marketing and Mobilisation
When certain Deputy Chief Executive
Officer functions were grouped together as a branch tasked with
Strategy & Content Development, it was in order to achieve greater
coherence and effectiveness in the various kinds of information
and communication coming from GCIS and from the government communication
system generally.
The activities that constitute this
branch are set out in the report under the headings: Communication
Service Agency; Government & Media liaison; Policy & Research;
Information Technology and Resources; and International Marketing
and Mobilisation, which will be the subject of a full presentation
on its own. In the short time available it seemed most useful to
illustrate the integrated way these different components have been
and will be working amongst themselves and with others.
Nothing perhaps illustrates this better
than Imbizo. As communication that is both interactive between government
and public and integrated with respect to different departments
and spheres of government, it is also more than merely communication.
Assisting in the Presidential Imbizo
Visits and providing national co-ordination for the Focus Weeks
require intense organisational work, done largely through our National
Liaison section both through the forums it convenes and through
the initiation of new structures, national and provincial, linking
all three spheres of government. Such is the enthusiasm of the public
for this kind of communication and the commitment of government
that the 100 events of the first focus week in November 2001 become
300 in May this year – and the objective must be at least one
in every local government area in October this year.
While the interaction at an Imbizo
event is critical, media understanding and publicizing of the process
ensures that others still to be reached are aware of what they have
a right to. The presence of the media at events also adds force
to issues raised by the public. Our Media Liaison section has therefore
been very active around Imbizo. The President’s recent visit
to the Free State was used as the first, pilot, run for the Presidential
Press Corps, providing useful experience for the development of
this new media institution in the coming months.
Since Imbizo started early last year,
a certain cynicism that was there in the media has been superseded
by understanding of the nature and importance of such interaction
as a way of improving the effectiveness of government in meeting
the needs of the people.
Research confirms the importance of
direct communication. A regular part of the work of the Research
Directorate is to assess the information needs and preferences of
the public. This work indicates that a quarter of South Africans
say they would most like to receive information from government
face to face – and in rural areas and amongst the poor that
\rises to over fourty per cent, on a par with radio.
The purpose of such interaction is
to check on the effectiveness of government in performing its functions
and to take action where there are shortcomings. Imbizo therefore
requires that where issues raised cannot be addressed on the spot,
systematic note be taken of them and that the appropriate authorities
take action. To help address this challenge our Policy Directorate
has been working with the Policy co-ordination and Advisory Service
in the Presidency to both to establish a system for this work and
to process the concerns raised. The experience of the last Focus
Week is currently being reviewed so that improvements can be made
in the effectiveness of follow-up and feed back.
Finally, accounting to the public on
what government is doing requires that the interaction of executive
and public be accompanied by the dissemination of clear information
about government’s programme of action and what progress is
being made. Material produced by our Communications Service Agency
that has served this purpose includes the Mid Term Report; radio
dramas presenting the programme of action; facilitating the broadcast
through community radio of phone-in programmes which allow the public
to put their concerns and ideas directly to members of the government.
Naturally the Multi Purpose Community
Centres and the Provincial & Local Liaison section have also
played an integral part in Imbizo and can be expected to do so to
an even greater extent as the MPCC programme rolls out further.
This is one illustration of how GCIS
is seeking to work in an integrated way oriented towards meeting
government’s communication needs and the information needs
of the public, and giving concrete meaning to the ideal of two-way
communication.
The second illustration comes as it
were from the opposite end of the scale, much less visible and behind
the scenes. It concerns the requirement on our Chief Information
Officer to ensure the most effective use of information and information
technology by GCIS. That work affects everything we do profoundly,
but amongst others it relates to a commitment made to this committee
a year ago. That was that amongst our targets for 2001/2002 was
on-line access to continuously updated information that had until
now been published in traditional and periodic ways, such as our
directories of contacts. That work is complete and the new online
directories will be launched on the day of the GCIS Budget Vote
next week, at a function at the Bonteheuwel MPCC following the debate.
Savings on paper and photocopying alone by this project and another
which replaces our paper and fax-based clippings service to government
by an electronic one, will amount to almost half a million rand
a year. Those savings will free resources for expanded work and
further investment in technology to raise productivity. Equally,
if not more important, people who need the information will always
be able to find it in an up to date version. For those who still
need it on paper, it can be downloaded and reproduced by our regional
structures and GICs, by MPCCs and by provincial government communication
departments.
This is one of many projects in the
field of information and communication technology, amongst them
redevelopment of the Government On Line web-site During the coming
year we expect the recent establishment of a Chief Information Office
bringing together technology and information resources under one
strategic management, to lead to further improvement in the way
that GCIS serves both government and the public.
Presentation by Tony Trew, Deputy
Chief Executive Officer: Strategy and Content Development, GCIS
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