Tunisia Embarks on Digital Transformation
Tunisia has long discussed digitization, and it is finally taking steps to organize it. With the National Digital Strategy, the state is attempting to turn a slogan into a public policy and a promise into a method.
A New Approach to Governance
The President of the General Committee for Controlling Public Expenditures (Cgcdp), Kaouther Néji, stated that the country is not inventing anything new, but rather trying to catch up and develop a model where digital technology is no longer a luxury, but an instrument of governance, economic efficiency, and social equity.
The President of the High Committee for Administrative and Financial Control, Imed Hazgui, emphasized that this strategy, often mentioned but rarely explained, is based on a simple idea: digital technology is no longer a sector, but a national infrastructure, as essential as electricity or roads. Tunisia is now trying to rebuild its administration and capacity for action based on this principle.
A Simpler and More Transparent State
The first ambition is clear: to modernize the state. For decades, Tunisia's administrative complexity has stifled users and slowed down businesses. Digitalization means simplifying procedures, creating online portals, electronic payments, reducing paperwork, and improving interoperability between ministries.
The administration would gain in efficiency what it loses in complexity. Citizens would finally have access to a state that is available 24/7. Tunisia, which has already initiated electronic signatures and dematerialized several certificates, wants to take a step further: towards a functional, coherent, and interconnected e-government.
Transparency and Governance
The digital strategy also encompasses another crucial issue: transparency, according to various speakers from the finance and public expenditure control sectors. Digital technology leaves a trail, and that's exactly what the state is looking for: traceable workflows, open data, and budget dashboards that can be consulted in real-time.
This approach reduces areas of opacity and strengthens control tools. Having an administrative apparatus that documents every decision constitutes a profound change. Digital technology becomes a form of technical and permanent counter-power.
A Six-Pillar Architecture
The strategy is divided into six structuring axes:
- Digital Administration: simplifying procedures and creating online portals
- Digital Economy and Innovation: promoting economic growth and innovation through digital technology
- Infrastructure and Connectivity: developing the country's digital infrastructure
- Skills and Human Capital: training citizens and public officials in digital skills
- Legal Framework and Regulation: establishing a clear legal framework for digital technology
- Digital Security and Data Governance: ensuring the security and integrity of digital data
These six pillars form a coherent action plan, which is still demanding in terms of resources, but essential for the modern state that Tunisia wants to become.
The Role of Control Institutions
In this transformation, control institutions, particularly the Cgcdp, are not on the sidelines, but at the heart of the system. The dematerialization of visa circuits, interconnected platforms, digital audits, electronic archiving, and data analysis provide them with new tools. Public control, long perceived as slow and formal, can become faster, more analytical, and more reliable.
Digital technology, when properly deployed, does not replace control, but rather reinforces it. The National Digital Strategy plans for high-speed internet in interior regions, online public services accessible everywhere, and training programs for citizens and public officials.
