This document discusses the challenges that attorneys face when navigating administrative issues and advancing technology in foreign public sectors on behalf of private companies. There are two main issues: 1) politics can constrain progress and impact profits, and 2) it is difficult to adapt private sector information systems to the differing needs and structures of foreign public agencies. The attorney must work to identify compatibility issues, understand differences between the private and public sectors, and help design policies and procedures to mitigate challenges through cooperation between sectors. Customizing solutions rather than forcing private standards is key to avoiding failures when working abroad.

1. ATTORNEY CHALLENGES IN NAVIGATING ADMINISTRATIVE
ISSUES AND TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT IN THE PUBLIC
SECTOR OF FOREIGN MARKETS
By: Anthony Palazzo, Attorney at Law
The speed of technological advancement has resulted in significant social and economic advances in Foreign
Markets and their Public Sector counterparts. Many countries, including what many consider “emerging
market" countries have an enormous thirst for technological advancements made in the West. Electronic
commerce, commonly known as e- Commerce is trading in products or services using computer networks, such
as the Internet. e-Governance, which is the use of information and communication technologies to improve the
activities of Public Sector agencies is also a dynamic area since e-Governance brings with it the promise of
greater efficiency and effectiveness of public sector operations and thereby resulting in a decrease in
inefficiencies and an improvement of quality of life issues.
The G-20 (leaders of 19 countries plus the European Union) meet annually to discuss ways to strengthen the
global economy, reform international financial institutions, improve financial regulation and implement the key
economic reforms that are needed in each Member States economy. (See-G-20 Commonwealth of Australia
2013 with logo artwork created by an Indigenous artist Riki Slam ). The G-20 seems ripe for private company
innovation and the injection of Capital. However, there are at least two issues that come with Public Sector
participation in Foreign Public Markets. First, despite an apolitical position, politics can be a significant
constraint on progress, financial stability and therefore bottom line profit margins. Second, despite best efforts,
the Public Sector remains fundamentally different from the private sector as it's management often attempts to
force feed information systems specifically designed for the private sector into the non-uniformity of
the Foreign Public Markets . Unfortunately, good intentions aside, you can’t fit five gallons of gasoline in a three
gallon can.
Capital : All too often, Private Sector Corporate leaders engage in a cost analysis utilizing the same Industry
standard parameters of modern development. To avert certain disaster, the attorney must engage the
engineers and architects and finally the contractors who bid on the projects in a more comprehensive analysis.
As importantly, the analysis must not be performed inside the confines of a Wall Street Investment Bank
finance group. Many costs are intangible; and few are ever measured in the event of an e-government failure
as e-government failures are often covered up or purposely withheld from management. A study must be done
of past project cost assumptions as compared to actual costs for completion. And the cost milestones must be
shortened to better determine a turn in the wrong direction. In this manner, the attorney is affording the Private
company and the corresponding Government agency the ability to stop the activity until the correct path can be
ascertained. This simple adjustment in the project documentation can deter, avoid or immediately stop issues
of poor functionality as well as concurrent issues of bribery and corruption. Private sector business managers
and IT departments must be literate and involved when it comes to legal and regulatory questions. An
attorney’s role is not only to perform legal analysis but to assist business managers to understand the
consequences of legal analysis and act accordingly. Finally, the winds on political climates change quickly and
dramatically. In the 2010 G-20 summit, President Obama led the way in forging reforms of the

2. International Monetary Fund, only to see them rebuked at home by Congress. (See NY Times- Business
Section-Thursday, November 13, 2014). Costs overruns is probably the most significant of all challenges in
doing business abroad.
Technology Constraints: The attorney must ascertain if the technological advancements currently available
in the private sector are compatible even with modifications regardless of cost parameters. The mechanics
utilized by targeted Governments of Foreign Markets, even utilizing focused modifications may be unavoidably
incompatible. Often, projects begin with assumptions of compatibility with intentions of modification as they are
required in the work situation during test scripts, when what is needed is an actual "Go Live" test case in a
“real world” environment. Not that test scripts are not reliable in certain situations. The issue is that in the “real
world” environment of technology and the people responsible for the implementation of that technology, the test
case determines that seemingly similar departments in the private sector perform similar yet slightly modified
activities differently and refer to similarly designed documents with different names and as such require
different documentation to be done in different phases than their counter part in the Government department.
Without a manual test, where the sequence of steps that could be manual and/or automated depending on the
application being tested could differ when the designated test scripts are run as manual test steps. Despite the
best efforts of many, Governmental agency functionality remains fundamentally different from the private
sector. However, it is the private sector which must unclog the pipeline. And attorneys, the drafters of
agreements and documents of cooperation must identify and present the challenges as well as provide the
methodology or policies and procedures for mitigation of functionality challenges. Yet too many attorneys in the
private sector are unable to either comprehend the factual reality of coordination and cooperation of proprietary
private sector information systems designed for the private sector to pry and push unique modality into a very
different public sector reality. It is a classic case of square pegs and round holes.
Adaptations and Engagement: In the mid- 21st Century, Private Sector Corporate engineers were
rebuked for " reinventing the wheel" through their habit of custom-building each IT solution from scratch. In the
2000’s, the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Private Sector Corporate engineers in developing and
transitional countries too readily try to install readymade digital solutions that have been designed for private
sector firms and force feed their designs. As described above, this can represent an acute failure. To combat
such problems, attorneys and their company
project managers projects must be competent enough and confident enough to demand designs that will
perform within the parameters of the Governmental agencies specifications and not expect these Governmental
agencies to bend quickly and efficiently no matter how much they are incentivized. .The key remains with
cooperation of Governmental citizenry and modification and customization rather than on-site adaptation.
Here NGO’s can play an important role in bridging the gaps of technology and building trust through increased
participation in work-shops and other venues for advancement of cooperation between Private Sector and
Public Sector employees.
Policies and Procedures : Attorney designed policies and procedures in their preparation of agreements
and documents of cooperation can provide substantive solutions to Private Sector Industries when applied
across various Governments. This will also affect selection of third party vendors. One key criterion will be their
demonstrable willingness and ability to understand to comport their usual standards to that of the private

3. companies understanding of compatibility constraints and the mitigation of these constraints through
communication and cooperation with Governmental agencies and their employees.
Simplification: Administrative simplification is not embedded in the mandate of all government institutions; it
needs to be pushed forward in a coordinated and cooperative manner. The establishment of government
administrative simplification units alongside private sector engineers and management is a practical solution
and the attorney can be very influential in this process by setting forth and establishing the mandate for such
cooperation. In fact, all parties should be part of simplification process as it crosses all lines in the finalization of
work product.
These suggestions are part of a process that each attorney must inevitably determine themselves for their
company. They are necessary in enabling fair market environments and constructive application of project
agreements to a satisfactory solution for all.