The Ministry of Digital Transformation needs digitization.

Agadir 24 | Agadir24

One of the most important tasks assigned to the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Administration Reform is keeping pace with the Kingdom of Morocco’s large project in digital transformation and the country’s entry into the world of digitization, as one of the strategic options emphasized by the new development model. However, the Ministry’s announcement of the opening of nominations for the position of Director of Simplification of Procedures and Digitization of Administration, and the request to deposit 5 paper copies of the nomination file with the Ministry’s General Secretariat, as stated in the circular opening nominations, makes us ask for the blessing of the Moroccan example that says, “The jurist who we ask for has entered the mosque in his language.” Projecting this popular proverb onto the case of the Ministry of Digital Transformation makes us say: The ministry that we wanted to change the monastery of digital transformation has its own interests.

The first principle in digitization is to combat paper files and replace them with digital files that are stored electronically. The Ministry requested a paper file and printed it in 5 copies. This is something that if environmental conservation organizations had known, they would have been struck by forest epilepsy. If she had known that it was a ministry overseeing the digital transformation of an entire country, she would have had a heart attack.

The second principle in digital transformation is adopting digital platforms to collect data. A ministry called “Digital Transformation” was required to create a digital platform that every candidate for the position could access. The data is collected in electronic files that make the selection process smooth and easy, and what is more, which is the bottom line, is a transparent process, because among the advantages of digitization is shortening the time for administrative reform, and strengthening transparency to achieve the principle of equal opportunities as a basic lever in achieving development.

The third principle on which digital transformation is based is the possibility of working from any spot on the earth, and eliminating the concept of distance and geographical distance. But digitization, according to our esteemed ministry, which is responsible for digital transformation, requires candidates to go to the library, prepare 5 copies of the required file, and then take a car, bus, train, or plane, each candidate according to his or her geographical location, to reach the capital, Rabat. Then search for the location of the ministry, and wander between its offices, to reach the known office. The candidate will be lucky if he finds someone in the office to receive the file from him without returning it to his city to return a paper or replace a file on the grounds that the copy is not readable, which is known in traditional administration language as a copy illisible.

A question that really confuses any follower of digital transformation in our country: Does the ministry charged with keeping pace with digital transformation in our country not believe in digitization? Or is it clinging to paper management and “Jeep Sir” or “Return Simana Al-Jaya”, which is a language that no longer exists in many of the countries that preceded us in the digital transformation.

Digital transformation experts are sounding the alarm due to our country’s significant lag in the field of digital transformation. With a simple comparison with emerging countries like Rwanda, for example, we discover this clearly. Creating a company or enterprise in this African country, which witnessed the largest civil war of ethnic cleansing, is done via a digital platform and this is done in less than two hours. But what the Ministry of Digital Transformation announced in the search for a director of digitization for the administration leaves us facing a real problem, because it is a ministry working to accomplish the digitization of the turtle and not the digitization of the express train.
When we hear that the respected Ministry of Digital Transformation operates on the “zero paper” principle, then we can say that the digital transformation in our country is fine. But will we wait for the time of the turtle or the time of the bullet train?

This is our obsession and fear, because the age of digitization is merciless, and there are countries that until recently were less than ours, and now they are superior to us, because they have accelerated their digital transformation.

Saeed Al-Ghamaz