Smart Buenos Aires: Developing Better E-Governance for Government to Citizen Interactions

The increasingly rapid growth that cities face today creates diverse challenges and opportunities. Having entered the “information revolution,” local governments around the world are using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to develop new strategies and solutions in policymaking, internal processes, and citizen engagement. The low barriers to entry that can characterize these digital technologies help democratization by allowing people to connect with each other – and with their governments – to spread ideas that can then be immediately translated into action. ICTs also allow governments to become more effective and efficient in providing needed services. Benefits are not only social and political, but also economic. According the World Economic Forum’s Digitization Index, countries that have best adopted digital technologies derive 20 percent more economic benefits than those countries that are at initial stages of digitization.

To address these issues, the City of Buenos Aires commissioned a team of graduate students from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (the Capstone team) to conduct an extensive study of its efforts in becoming a leading digital city. The Digital Roadmap for the Government of the City of Buenos Aires (GCBA) that the Capstone team produced, “the Roadmap”, seeks to outline a path towards becoming a leading 21st century city – one where individuals and government have efficiently adopted the use of ICTs and applications to improve the quality and sustainability of urban life. The Digital Roadmap outlines and evaluates the modernization initiatives that the City of Buenos Aires has undertaken in the past few years, and addresses six key program areas: Access, e-Government, Open Government, Citizen Engagement, Education, and Industry. Each area includes a progress report of the current programs implemented and future projects that will be launched. It then addresses the challenges that are being faced, and identifies benchmarks from leading cities and various countries around the world. Finally, short term and long term recommendations are offered to address the challenges. By addressing these six policy areas individually and holistically, the Roadmap seeks to help the citizens and government of the City of Buenos Aires realize the benefits that other cities enjoy through increased digitization.