Government Reform

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

Factors to be considered in creating an ideal administrative organization include international trends and public service requirements, as well as the re-evaluation and integration of government functions and authority. Experiences of government reform in advanced countries and public responses to them have also to be taken into account.

The ROC has placed government reform at the top of its administrative agenda, with the aim of establishing a highly efficient, responsible, and adaptable entity that can cope with different changes. Government reform is a comprehensive plan, engineered as the basis for enhancing national competitiveness, a prerequisite of advanced national development. It seeks to transform the entire streamlined government into a flexible, innovative, and resilient organization that functions as a well-managed private company. To achieve this goal, government agencies will be streamlined to about two-thirds of the present size and the organization and functions of the central government will be modified to suit current needs. The government also plans to promote a more flexible hierarchy and personnel structure for bureaucratic organizations and modify the budgetary system.

As early as the 1970's, the lack of a systematic and standardized hierarchical structure posed problems to the ROC government. Little substantive change was made, however, because existing legislations bound personnel-related considerations to the structure of government organization. Any adjustments in the bureaucratic structure required legislative approval, therefore. Personnel changes and government restructuring are two necessary components of reform.

In 1993, comprehensive reviews were carried out on the personnel ranking structure and functions of government agencies. These included the range of authority entitled to the agencies designated; the size and structure of the agencies, including the administrative clerks and designative staff; as well as a formal establishment of task force. The National Development Council held in 1996, and the passage of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China on July 21, 1997, provided the legal basis for government organization re-structuring.

According to Paragraphs 3 and 4, Article 3 of the Additional Articles, the Executive Yuan formulated the draft "standard organic act of central government agencies" and the draft "act governing the total number of central government employees".

The draft standard organic act would be commonly applicable to all government agencies. Its 28 articles are placed under five chapters: the general provisions; the organic laws and names of agencies; the establishment, adjustment, and abolishment of agencies; internal units [of a government agency], and the appendant provisions. The personnel-related draft asked for the entrusted power-in form of administrative decree-from the Legislature to allow the Executive Yuan to re-assign employees to different agencies according to their needs.

After the change of the governing party, the Economic Development Advisory Conference held between August 24-26, 2001, proposed the establishment of a government reform commission to promote and consolidate a consensus on government reform. The National Reform Commission (NRC), chaired by President Chen Shui-bian, was set up on October 25, 2001. Its members were selected from different government departments, academia, and the private sector. The missions of the NRC are:

• research and planning of government organization;
• research and discussion on the functions and responsibilities of government agencies, and resources;
• legislative reform on personnel; and
• other issues relevant to government restructuring.

The first phase of government reorganization would involve drafting the Amendment of the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan to downsize one-third of the central government. This Act and the Temporary Regulations for Restructuring the Functions, Responsibilities and Organization of the Executive Yuan, designed to guarantee the rights of civil servants, were submitted to the Legislative Yuan for approval.

The Council of Organizational Reform under the Executive Yuan was established in May 2002 to coordinate administrative departments in attaining reform goals. The Premier chaired the council of five Cabinet members (heads of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission; Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics; Central Personnel Administration; Ministry of the Interior; Council for Economic Planning and Development; and the Committee of Laws and Regulations). Governmental reform focuses on three aspects: partnership between the government and society; partnership between central and local governments, and central government restructure. Deregulation, decentralization, corporatization, and agency or business outsourcing are the four methods used to assess government transformation for the needs of the 21st century.

Current Electronic Government Development

The ROC is taking advantages of the Internet and other information and communications technologies by further integrating systems and deploying online digital applications to advance towards electronic government (e-government). The following is an overview of e-government progress to date:

1. The Government Service Network (GSN) has been developed to link up all government organizations/agencies. By the end of 2002, 97 percent of government organizations were connected to the Internet.

2. By the end of 2002, 4,863 government agency websites had been established.

3. To encourage citizens to use computers and the Internet, the government has set up Internet access/service points nationwide in conjunction with the private sector. Moreover, the government has helped 6,500 villages establish their own web pages. To alleviate the digital divide between urban and rural areas, the government is establishing Internet service points in remote areas, with 73 such points set up by the end of 2002.

4. The government has developed an interdepartmental e-mail delivery infrastructure as well as a CA (Certification Authority) mechanism for government organizations. All levels of government agencies/organizations are consequently able to deliver official messages via electronic delivery system not bound by time or geographical constraints. It is expected that this will sharply improve the efficiency of the communication between government organizations.

5. Promotion of administrative applications of the Internet includes:

• The electronic interchange of official documents began on a trial basis in July 2000, and today all ministries, local governments, and major agencies have implemented electronic official document interchange. As of the end of 2002, electronic document interchange was used 57 percent of the time at central government agencies under the Executive Yuan.
• The completion of an online procurement and government tender announcement information system, and online catalog, price quotation, and bidding systems, has made government procurement much more open, transparent, and efficient. By the end of 2002, government agencies had posted 970,131 public bid request announcements via the system, an average of 500,000 queries were being made every month, and a cumulative total of 15.11 million queries had been made.
• The government has promoted online access to laws and regulations by compiling a national legal database; this has greatly increased the transparency of information on government laws and regulations.
• The government has also increased its administrative efficiency by implementing online personnel affairs, project management, and government publication services.

6. Development of online public service applications includes:

• The government has developed an online tax reporting system, an online income tax system, a business income tax system, a business tax system, and a tax examination system to provide businesses and the public with faster and better tax services.
• An online motor vehicle services system provides 21 applications and payment services, including payment of traffic fines, payment of auto fuel taxes, reporting of stolen motorcycles, and reporting of change of motor vehicle ownership or address.
• A database for job vacancies and job applicants has been completed and is used to provide online employment services. Online public safety, business and industry, health care, and utilities service systems provide convenient 24-hour public service.

7. The government has established a centralized government portal site (http://www.gov.tw/) to integrate all online government services and information. This site provides search engine queries, website and web page searches, agency phone books, public opinion mailboxes, personal web pages, and real-time government agency news. More than 1,300 application forms were available for downloading and 183 online application services were offered by the end of 2002. In addition, the government portal site also provides general basic service for government agencies, including electronic certificates, payment methods, form generators, and work flow utility systems to speed up the development of online application services.

8. The government has established an Internet certificate mechanism to provide network identification services. A Government Certification Authority (GCA) was established in February 1998. In October 2002, a Government Root Certification Authority (GRCA) was established as well. The GCA has issued 430,000 certificates for a range of Internet-based services, such as online tax reporting, motor vehicle services, online disbursements, online procurement, and electronic document interchange. These services provide the public, businesses, and government agencies with secure and error-free means of making online applications and transmitting data. To ensure the security of online information, the government has set up auditing standards and information security norms for its subordinate agencies, and holds training classes for auditing personnel.

9. The government has deployed a Gateway System and an E-government Common Platform Guideline to integrate interdepartmental information and simplify related operating processes. The purpose of this is to lessen the need for redundant copies of official documents and to improve the efficiency of administrative procedures.

• Query inspection, and file transmission functions relating to company information and for-profit business registration data (implemented on a trial basis in five counties and cities) had been completed by the end of 2001, enabling government agencies to share information and sparing bidding vendors the inconvenience of attaching redundant copies of corporate information.
• The Inter-county (-city) Land Title Transcript Application and Checking System went into use in May 2001 throughout Taipei City, Taipei County, Taichung City, and Kaohsiung City. Other trial Internet gateway systems include the residential and conscription information system providing online data query services for police, taxation, legal affairs, immigration entry and exit, road management, fiscal administration, and health care/National Health Insurance information. The motor vehicle information system provides online data query services for taxation, legal affairs, police and judicial system. The industry and commerce information system provides online access for tariffs, investigations, and public construction.

Future Prospective

Responding to these rapid development, the government will continue to promote and improve e-government infrastructure and services in the following areas:

• Connection of all government agencies to the Internet;
• Enrichment of the contents of Internet-based government information and resources;
• Expansion of government information service channels;
• Promotion of Internet-based government application services;
• Consolidation of government information security management;
• Review of the government information related legislation and regulations;
• Enhancement of Internet application competency of the government workforce;
• Enhancement of electronic government promotion and IT human resources allocation; and
• Expansion of the government's IT budget.

As a result of e-government development, not only will the government perform more efficiently but the general public will also be able to enjoy convenient government services. The dream of an e-society can be materialized sooner with the assistance of an e-government.