Yolanda Martinez, National Digital Strategy Coordinator, MexicoDigital, Mexico
By Chia Jie Lin
Women in GovTech 2018 Special Report.
I was the National Digital Strategy (NDS) Coordinator at the Office of the President until 30 November 2018. At the NDS, we use ICT to impact people’s lives. We unified our web presence into www.gob.mx as a single point of access to government information, services, citizens participation, and open data.
We designed digital services based on user needs and preferences, democratising access to them from anywhere, any time, on any device. Today, www.gob.mx has reached more than a billion pageviews, provides access to more than 5,000 digital services, a citizen’s participation platform and an open data portal focused on the use and reuse of public sector information in an open data format.
What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in 2018?
The launch of two high demand digital services: the first one is online birth certificates after two years of collaboration with 32 state governments and the Ministry of Interior to standardise the process and transition from paper to 100% interoperable service. The second one is digital professional practice licenses. A service with a very high rate of corruption and a legal framework dating from 1946, it is now available 100% online, has a new legal framework that allows the standardisation of Electronic University Certificates as the basis for obtaining the Professional Practice License.
We also launched two new Digital Service Centres, one for all services related to opening, operating and closing a business 100% online, and the other one for all services related to finding a job and knowing your rights when working, training, and retiring procedures.
And we also led the integration of four use cases of distributed ledger technology in public sector procedures, two of them in procurement, one in public land registry and the last one on teacher training certification traceability, all of them agency and local government driven, developed in conjunction with universities, technical community, civil society or local think thanks.
Finally, we presented a Country Report, “Towards a National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence”, done as part of the consortium on www.ia2030.mx and the consultation process for our AI Principles and Impact Assessment on Automated Decision Systems.
If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2018, what would it be?
Just do it. Choose your battles carefully and focus your efforts on what has the greater impact for the people.
What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2019?
The convergence of disruptive technologies in public sector innovation and an adequate implementation framework.
What are your priorities for 2019?
Share knowledge, and enhanced collaboration between eGov Teams around the globe.
What is one skill that has helped you the most throughout the course of your career?
Listening and understanding user needs, focus on delivery, and building diverse and inclusive teams.
What advancements do you predict will happen in your field in the next ten years?
Customisation and personalisation of government services based on user needs and preferences, radical transparency and traceability through the use of distributed ledger technology, integrated regional digital services that facilitate and makes the flow of talent, services, capital and data across regions more efficient.
Coffee, yoga, music… what powers you through your day?
Yoga, coffee, music, teamwork and collaboration!