Establishing a data analytics unit
The policymaking process in Iraq is disjointed and lacks rigour. The country cannot transition towards evidence-based policymaking without sound data-collection infrastructure, which offers Iraq’s leaders a clear and measurable overview of the challenges at hand. Currently, the primary body responsible for data collection is the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) located within the Ministry of Planning. However, because ministries tend to operate in silos, data are inefficiently shared across government and the CSO’s limited authority restricts its ability to consolidate information from other parts of the government. For instance, a detailed breakdown of federal budget spending is closely guarded by the Ministry of Finance whereas essential epidemiological data can only be accessed through the Ministry of Health. Officials at the highest levels of government lose valuable time trying to obtain credible and up-to-date information before making decisions.
This impediment has thwarted previous attempts at rejuvenating the policymaking process. Under the government of Haider al-Abadi, economic recovery was vital to advancing the war effort against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Consequently, the administration established the Economic Reform Unit (ERU) within the office of the prime minister and tasked it with working alongside the World Bank and UNDP to carry out internationally funded reform initiatives. But instead of dedicating their time to implementing these programmes, exhaustive efforts were spent on trying to obtain crucial data from various ministries.15 Often the officials would need to verify the accuracy of the data because ministries would provide questionable figures, which had to be corroborated through other means.
The country cannot transition towards evidence-based policymaking without sound data-collection infrastructure, which offers Iraq’s leaders a clear and measurable overview of the challenges at hand.
A data analytics unit linked directly to the Council of Ministers could resolve this issue for policymakers. This unit would have the authority to consolidate institutional data collection across the government, offering impact analysis and enabling policymakers to understand the efficacy of policy decisions in real time. Placing the unit within cabinet, and at its disposal, would engender trust among ministers to share information and utilize the unit’s resources for their own work.
A functioning data analytics unit would require the establishment of e-government platforms across all key ministries and agencies. Past attempts at e-government were overambitious and most faltered. Some services have been successfully digitized, such the application procedure for the new national identity card and the online platform for checking traffic fines. The data unit would not only improve evidence-based policymaking, but it would contribute to bridging the divide between state and citizens by enabling ordinary Iraqis to make informed judgments about the government’s performance.
It is unlikely that a data unit would yield any immediate benefits to public service delivery. This approach is rooted in the notion that while many ambitious reform measures are currently not politically or institutionally feasible, it is important to lay the technical groundwork for what may become possible further down the line.
By 1985, Egypt had already established a data analytics unit known as the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), which was designed to improve decision-making at the highest level of government on socioeconomic development planning. The IDSC operates on three levels. First, it provides data and modelling to the cabinet to inform policymaking and support crisis management efforts. Second, it connects the cabinet with Egypt’s ministries, agencies and research centres. And third, it has an established link with international organizations and their databases, which further bolsters the IDSC’s information pool.16
Egypt’s advances in e-governance pre-date many efforts in the region and this policy has been widely acknowledged as the driver of major reforms since 2001. The UN’s 2008 e-Readiness Report ranked Egypt 28th out of 192 countries.17 E-government tools have improved services at the local level by streamlining processes and enabling remote access for citizens. In Egypt, there are some 80 different services available to citizens at the district council and city levels. Online platforms that were initially piloted in Alexandria were subsequently rolled out to 21 governorates by 2009, leading to an estimated 30–60 per cent reduction in service processing times.18
Likewise, a data analytics unit in Iraq would consequently spur on broader e-government practices vital for the country’s reforms. This prospect also applies to the fourth assumption noted above as it is an indirect approach to tackling corruption.
Collaboration across institutions, including the sharing of information, can only overcome resistance if it is led by the highest executive authority. As digitization of the public sector progresses, it is likely that the efficiency of service delivery will improve.
15 Author interview with a former ERU official, who wished to remain anonymous, in Baghdad, 19 February 2020.
16 Sharif, K. (1994), ‘IT Diffusion and Socio Economic Change in Egypt’, in Khosrowpour, M. (ed.) (1994), Managing Social and Economic Change with Information Technology, London: Idea Group Publishing.
17 OECD (2010), Progress in Public Management in the Middle East and North Africa.
18 Ibid.