Editorial | Just standing in line

Efforts by the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) to speed up business registration is adding further momentum to the idea that technology can transform the public sector by making it more efficient and user-friendly.

We were drawn to a recent news story that an Electronic Business Registration Form kiosk was introduced at the COJ’s New Kingston office in April 2019, to facilitate business registration, thereby eliminating long lines and wait times for business people. It will be of paramount benefit for persons without Internet access.

Similar kiosks are to be installed at the Tax Administration Jamaica offices at Constant Spring, St Andrew, Spanish Town, St Catherine, and Montego Bay, St James, and also at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation office in St James. Already, persons can register their businesses online from anywhere in the world.

For the business person, it is a truism that “time is money” and so any opportunity to save time will enable him or her to maximise efficiency.

These small, positive developments seen in the COJ and other public-sector entities serve to shine the light on other companies which do not seem to be placing enough emphasis on improving business efficiency as we enter this new decade. By improving business efficiency, we will achieve greater productivity and higher economic growth.

Standard procedure

Long serpentine lines are, unfortunately, standard sights for some industries, including banks, retail stores, restaurants, and other consumer-related entities. Some professionals, including doctors, are also notorious for keeping clients waiting way beyond their appointment hour.

Far from signalling thriving businesses, these long lines/waits fester frustration and anxiety, with the result that scores of customers only grow more dissatisfied as they wait. When they have options, some will leave and seek other services that are more efficient.

The loss of thousands of man-hours just standing in line, or waiting in offices for service, affects the economy in many ways. But this is something that is already well known to the private sector, whose measurements of business performance must include the economic effects of inefficiency and bureaucracy on the country’s overall growth.

One unwanted result is, of course, corruption, which often creeps in to help overcome the cumbersome bureaucracy that results from delays and inefficiency. And once corruption takes hold in an organisation, the results can be disastrous.

A good investment

The fact is that waiting time can be lessened if more companies take deliberate decisions to introduce new elements to their service delivery platforms. It’s an investment which will pay off. By investing in technology, one is guaranteed faster processing time and easy retrieval of data so that tasks which used to require an hour or two can now be accomplished within seconds.

Take the idea of online banking. Financial institutions could perhaps do more to encourage customers to use online services and avoid the long queues. It can be an empowering experience to be able to check accounts and pay bills or transfer funds at the click of a button on a laptop, tablet, or a swipe on a smartphone, in keeping with the mobile nature of business today.

If Jamaica hopes to achieve the levels of growth being contemplated by the current administration, then both public- and private-sector companies need to critically examine the way they currently do business to determine how they can better embrace technology to improve productivity and increase profitability.

A more effective and efficient public service is essential. So, too, is a forward-thinking, fast-acting, savvy private sector which will deliver the kind of services that Jamaicans depend on every day.