In Latin America there are plenty of examples of governments that “digitized” without simplifying. Forms that used to be paper forms went online, but the steps, requirements and overlaps between areas remained intact. The result was predictable: more technology, but the same bureaucracy.
Therefore, rather than debating tools, the key point is to what a modern simplification regulation should promote so that the digital procedures and digital files The relationship between the State, citizens, companies and the third sector.
The Mexican experience
Mexico's National Simplification and Digitalization Law shows something valuable: when there is a clear regulatory framework, the three levels of government, including municipalities, are forced to review the way their processes work, not only to digitize them.
This is important because the municipalities are the first link of the State to the citizens: they are the ones who solve most of the daily issues of all of us, but also where excessive bureaucracy is felt the most.
If we do not change the rules of the game in the municipalities, digitalization is not enough.
Digitizing is not the same as simplifying
Digitizing a bad process does not make it good. It only makes it faster.
Real improvement begins when the government questions every requirement, eliminates duplication and designs simpler processes. Only after that, the digital procedures and digital files become powerful tools to reduce time and costs.
Today, in addition, it is very difficult to simplify without digitizing, The interoperability between areas, the secure exchange of data and the reuse of information require modern systems. But technology must be at the service of simplification, not the other way around.
What a modern simplification regulation should promote
An effective legal framework for transforming digital procedures and digital records should at least drive these principles:
- Real interoperability between public and private systems
- Openness and clear standards for integrating multiple external solutions
- Cybersecurity and resilience by design
- Data protection and access traceability
- Trusted digital identity and responsible reuse of information
- Data governance with clear accountabilities for each record
Without these pillars, any digitalization runs the risk of being locked into closed platforms that do not dialogue with the rest of the ecosystem.
The Argentine lesson with GDE
Argentina made progress with the Electronic Document Management system, but it also left an important lesson. In several cases, the difficulty to integrate via APIs without installing the system on premise limited interoperability and slowed down important local innovations.
This shows that a large central platform is not enough. An open ecosystem is needed, with broad participation of both the public and private sectors, where different actors can build, integrate and improve solutions for digital procedures and digital records.
A simpler and more efficient State
A modern simplification regulation is not only technical. It is a political decision on how the State wants to relate to the citizens.
When digital procedures are well designed, interoperate and eliminate redundancies, the State becomes more agile, more transparent and more reliable. This is the path that should guide Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and the rest of the region.
