Why Are We Still Standing in Line?

Abigail Cartwright writes from Dean’s Blue Hole

I dread going to any government office for anything. Before you get past the too-common poor attitude—the feeling that service is a favour rather than a duty—there is usually a line. And sometimes your best hope is knowing someone in that office or, perhaps, knowing someone who knows someone.

Years ago, when applying for my daughter’s passport, I was asked for my passport, birth certificate and the same documents for my mother. I remember asking, “Don’t you already have those on file?” Apparently, the question was ahead of its time.

For generations, doing business with government has meant carrying a folder stuffed with birth certificates, passports, NIB cards, proof of address, and photocopies. Forget one document and you return another day to stand on line again. Visit another agency and, remarkably, you may submit the same documents again.

That is the Bahamas of paper files, rubber stamps and filing cabinets. It should not be the Bahamas of 2026.

The Davis administration’s push to accelerate digital transformation—including collaboration with Estonia, a global leader in digital government—and create interoperability between government agencies could fundamentally change this experience.

In plain language: Government should stop asking citizens for information Government already has.

Consider the economic impact. Every hour a business owner spends chasing approvals is an hour away from business. Every employee taking leave to stand in a government line represents lost productivity.

The Davis administration deserves credit for recognizing that modernization is national development. This is progress, forward thinking, and a government who is committed to improving accessibility to its citizens and modernizing the way business is done in the Bahamas. A country where business can be conducted efficiently is more attractive to investors and creates greater opportunities for growth.

But technology alone will not transform government. Processes must change. Attitudes must change. Work ethics must change. Accountability must change. Institutional cultures must change. And, most importantly, training must take place.

Further, the measure of success will not be how many services are “online,” but whether transactions become faster, agencies communicate, and citizens stop repeatedly proving who they are. It’s then that we will have success. 

A digital government should not simply move the line from the counter to the computer.
It should eliminate the unnecessary line altogether.

-Abigail Cartwright