HI everyone - after quite some time away from being active in PFM Board discussions, I wanted to provide some thoughts and question marks regarding an increasingly important topic in Public Finance Management (PFM): digitalization and its relationship with governance and PFM performance.
Digitalization is now becoming a central priority in Governance and PFM. Governments are investing heavily in:
- IFMIS platforms
- e-procurement systems
- AI tools
- interoperability frameworks
- digital reporting, and
- data analytics
At the same time, frameworks such as PEFA continue to assess core dimensions of PFM performance:
- Budget reliability
- Transparency
- Asset and liability management
- Policy based fiscal strategy and budgeting
- Accounting and reporting
- External scrutiny and audit
This raises an important question:
Are current digitalization reforms actually strengthening PFM performance, or are they mainly modernizing administrative processes?
Some questions worth discussing:
- Should PFM digitalization be designed around technology architecture or around governance outcomes?
- Are interoperability and data governance recieving enough attention?
- Can AI-based tools function effectively where financial data structures are inconsistent?
- Should PEFA assessments place greater focus on digital maturity and system integration
- Are digital reforms helping institutions make better decisions, or mainly improving reporting interfaces?
- Are government investing sufficiently in institutional processes before investing in technology?
- Can digitalization improve accountability if underlying controls and data quality remain weak
- Are donor-supported digital projects sometimes creating parallel systems instead of integrated public financial governance
Pėrhaps the broader issue is this:
Can public finance management truly become "digital" without first becomming institutionally integrated?
Interested to hear perspectives from colleagues working in:
- PFM
- treasury
- budgeting
- audit
- procurement
- Governance Technology, and
- PEFA-related reforms
Looking forward to hearing different perspectives and practical experiences from colleagues across institutions and countries.
