The Public Sector after the Coronavirus Pandemic: The Need for Modern ICT-linked Public Services (Health, Education, and Social Services as a Model)

Governments worldwide seek to ensure that the flow of development-oriented services is stable and invulnerable to disruptions by any pandemic, disaster, or emergency situation, which requires enhancing the ability of digital technology to respond to challenges and reducing the social costs associated with delayed digitization of services. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in disparities between countries regarding their ability and preparedness to smoothly transition to a digital public services system for development activities directly affecting citizens’ daily lives. In the Palestinian case, similar to the rest of the world, the pandemic has led to the disruption of public life in several sectors, including the provision of public services to citizens, companies, and institutions in the majority of sectors, such as the health, education, and social services. One of the main factors exacerbating the crisis was the slow response to the pandemic, the absence of digital readiness, and the weak infrastructure supporting the ICT sector.

Chapter two, the study opens with a literature review of international digital transformation experiences in the field of public services provision by governments, especially in the health, education, and social services sectors. It goes on to examine mechanisms for bridging the digital gaps at the public level, with a focus on different Palestinian communities (such as urban areas, rural areas, and refugee camps) and population groups (at gender, age, and educational levels). This helped assess these communities and groups’ access to the internet and electronic services, as examined in chapter three.

Palestinian statistics showed the need to bridge certain digital gaps by expanding the capabilities of and empowering women, refugee camp residents, the Gaza Strip, the elderly, and those with low educational attainment to access and use the internet.