Digital Government in Chile

Governments are increasingly investing in digital government to deliver proactive and human-centric services based on efficient government processes. This requires adequate governance frameworks and mechanisms that support an effective management of investments in digital technologies. Tailored investments frameworks for digital government are becoming a priority among OECD Member countries to maximise value-for-money, strengthen risk management and secure policy coherence in the digital transition of public institutions.

Digital government has been a longstanding priority in Chile’s public sector modernisation efforts. Building on a well-established culture of sound public management, Chile has sought to strengthen the governance of digital government in recent years, including by creating the Digital Government Secretariat within the Ministry of Finance in 2024. In this context, and as prioritised in the Modernisation of the State Agenda 2022-2026, Chile aims to improve public spending and investments in digital government to deliver expected benefits and contribute to the government’s spending better policy.

The Digital Transformation Law, set to take effect in 2027 and mandating that all public institutions at national and sub-national levels digitalise their administrative procedures, requires that Chile adopt a more strategic approach to managing investments in digital technologies to realise expected benefits. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and its ecosystem of public institutions, Chile is taking concrete actions to strengthen the management of digital government investments, including the enhancement of the value proposition system EVALTIC and recent reforms for more agile public procurement. Further actions could be considered to ensure that these investments are delivering their expected outcomes and contribute to the achievement of broader policy goals.

First, Chile could further consolidate a strategic framework for the management of digital investments, ensuring existing initiatives are integrated under a coherent approach. This includes elevating the role of the value proposition system EVALTIC into a broader investment framework that supports the management of investments in digital government from strategic planning through monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, it requires better co-ordination and capabilities for managing investments in digital government among key stakeholders, including digital government, budgeting and public procurement authorities. Similarly, it requires adopting a more strategic approach to identifying and managing risks in digital government technologies, harnessing ongoing internal risk management and cybersecurity efforts to mitigate risks associated with legacy technologies and their impact on operational and service continuity.

Second, Chile can strengthen internal processes and capabilities to better implement digital government investments. This involves establishing portfolio management approaches and shared investment prioritisation principles for greater coherence and consistency when investing in digital government across the public sector. Furthermore, Chile can look at more agile funding and procurement mechanisms to better meet the evolving needs of public sector institutions. This presents an opportunity to strengthen partnerships with the private sector through continuous market engagement and appropriate ICT procurement mechanisms.

Finally, Chile can enhance the monitoring and evaluation of digital investments by strengthening oversight functions that contribute to securing benefits realisation and value for money. Limited integration of existing management mechanisms across the investment lifecycle hinders effective monitoring and decision-making: it is not currently possible to trace investments from strategic planning through implementation. Chile would benefit from empowering digital government authorities with a clear oversight mandate, including monitoring and evaluation tools, using the existing mature ecosystem for policy evaluation and performance management.