Introduction
e-Governance is basically associated with carrying out the functions and achieving the results of governance through the utilization of what has today come to be known as ICT
`Ethics in Governance' : - Each Ministry/Department/Organisation of Government should draw up a plan for use of IT to improve governance
`Public Order - It also suggested that technology should be used to improve the accessibility of Police Stations to the public.
Sixth Report on `Local Governance' - process simplification, enhancing transparency and accountability and providing service delivery of services through single window. Local governments should become one point service centres for providing various web based and satellite based services.
`Capacity building for conflict Resolution' - Dealing with illegal immigration into the North East with a multi-purpose national identity card for citizens.
e-Governance: Conceptual Framework
e-Governance or `electronic governance' is basically the application of Information and communications Technology to the processes of Government functioning in order to bring about `Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent' (SMART) governance.
Defining e-Governance
According to the World bank
E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.
The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/ or cost reductions.
Stages of e-Governance
Computerisation > Networking > On-line presence > On-line interactivity:
Types of Interactions in e-Governance
e-Governance facilitates interaction between different stake holders in governance. These interactions may be described as follows:
G2G (Government to Government)
Information and communications Technology is used not only to restructure the governmental processes involved in the functioning of government entities but also to increase the flow of information and services within and between different entities.
This can be both horizontal and vertical
The primary objective is to increase efficiency, performance and output.
G2C (Government to Citizens)
This expands the availability and accessibility of public services on the one hand and improves the quality of services on the other.
The process enables citizens to maximize choice
G2B (Government to Business)
The objective is to cut red tape, save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government.
G2E (Government to Employees)
Use of ICT tools helps in making these interactions fast and efficient on the one hand and increase satisfaction levels of employees on the other.
Benefits of e-Governance
Better access to information and quality services for citizens:
Simplicity, efficiency and accountability in the government:
Expanded reach of governance:
e-Governance: International Scenario
Recent Steps in the USA
In July, 2001 an initiative known as `Expanding Electronic Government' was initiated as a part of the President's Management Agenda.
It should citizen-centered and not bureaucracy or agency-centered.
It should produce measurable improvements for citizens.
It should be market-based, aimed at promoting innovation
Issues with e-Gov around the world
Focusing on technology without realizing that e-Governance is basically about ushering reforms in governance has led to failures in many projects across the world.
So far, though, the story of e-government has been one of quantity, not quality.
e-Governance Initiatives in India
Department of Electronics in 1970.
National Informatics centre (NIc) in 1977 was the first major step towards e-Governance in India as it brought `information' and its communication in focus.
the main thrust for e-Governance was provided by the launching of NICNET in 1987 the national satellite-based computer network.
This was followed by the launch of the District Information System of the National Informatics centre (DISNIC)
NICNET was extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters by 1990.
A National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development was constituted in May 1998.
In 1999, the Union Ministry of Information Technology was created.
by 2000, a 12-point minimum agenda for e-Governance was identified by Government
Tax administration departments both at the Union and State levels were among the first to use IcT to improve their internal working.
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP),2006
Government to Citizen (G2C) Initiatives
Due to the unsatisfactory implementation of the scheme, the Union Ministry for Rural Development constituted a committee to suggest practical steps to implement the scheme. The committee on computerisation of Land Records submitted its Report in April 2005.
Computerisation of existing land records without corroborating it with the actual field position only led to perpetuation of existing loopholes and errors.
Bhoomi Project in Karnataka : Online Delivery of Land Records
Bhoomi is a self-sustainable e-Governance project for the computerized delivery of 20 million rural land records to 6.7 million farmers through 177 Government-owned kiosks in the State of Karnataka.
computerised kiosks are currently offering farmers two critical services - procurement of land records and requests for changes to land title.
To make the project self-sustaining and expandable, Bhoomi levies user charges.
In the traditional system, land records were not open for public scrutiny resulting in manipulation and favouritism.
The process for applying for transfer of title was cumbersome, time consuming and prone to harassment.
Union Ministry of communications and Information Technology has announced that Bhoomi would be a national model for computerisation of land records and replicated throughout the country.
Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh)
Gyandoot is an Intranet-based Government to citizen (G2c) service delivery initiative.
Lokvani Project in Uttar Pradesh
Lokvani is a public-private partnership project at Sitapur District in Uttar Pradesh which was initiated in November, 2004.
Its objective is to provide a single window, self sustainable e-Governance solution with regard to handling of grievances, land record maintenance and providing a mixture of essential services
Details of work done under MPLAD/Vidhayak Nidhi :
As was the case in the Gyandoot project in Madhya Pradesh, no loan or government subsidies were involved in this project.
However, like Gyandoot in Madhya Pradesh, low literacy rate combined with minimal computer literacy, poor internet connectivity and only 5 to 6 hours availability of power in rural areas constitute major bottlenecks.
Project FRIENDS in Kerala
FRIENDS (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of Services) is a Single Window Facility providing citizens the means to pay taxes and other financial dues to the State Government.
FRIENDS Janasevana Kendrams located in the district headquarters
This project is a classic case of achieving front end computerized service delivery to citizens without waiting for completion of back end computerization in various government departments.
Government to Business (G2B) Initiatives
e-Procurement Project in Andhra Pradesh - the entire e-Procurement process was designed to avoid human interface i.e., supplier and buyer interaction during the pre-bidding and post-bidding stages. ensures total anonymity of the participating suppliers
Reduction in tender cycle time:
MCA 21: The Ministry of corporate Affairs has implemented the MCA 21 Mission Mode Project under the NeGP in September 2006
The project aims at providing easy and secure online access to all registry related services provided by the Union Ministry of corporate Affairs to corporates and other stakeholders at any time and in a manner that best suits them.
Business, Public, Professionals, Financial Institutions, Employees
Core principle of E- Governance
Clarity of Purpose
e-Governance should not be taken up merely to demonstrate the capability of an existing technology, but the technology should be adopted to solve an existing problem.
Environment Building
There is need to change the mind-set of all the stakeholders involved
implementing e-Governance would require political support at all levels.
government personnel would have to be incentivised to change old habits and acquire new skills.
the environment should be such that the perceived threat to entrenched interests is removed and resistance to change is addressed by dealing with actual grievances.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), exchange of best practices including with the private sector and involvement of citizen-groups should all form part of this process.
e-Governance as an Integral Part of Reform in Governance
e-Governance cannot be separate from governance as a whole. Further, it cannot be taken as an adjunct of governance. It has to be an integral part of the governance structure
E-preparedness and Step-wise Approach
e-Governance cannot be introduced in the whole country across government organizations at one go.
e-Governance is an integral part of reforms in governance and each organization needs to embed e-Governance systems within the organization in a seamless way.
different organizations are not, presently, at the same level of e-preparedness.
Identification of e-Governance projects by each organization/entity:
Business process re-engineering:
Each e-Governance initiative would have to be accompanied by a step-by-step analysis of the governmental processes involved and tested on the anvil of simplicity and desirability.
Developing technological solutions
Implementation of e-Governance projects
Monitoring and Evaluation
This helps in early detection of problems and hence facilitates prompt corrective action.
Need for evaluation of the impact of initiatives through independent agencies against parameters.
Developing Secure, Fail-safe Systems and Disaster Recovery Systems
Sustainability
Development of Local Language Interfaces
Implementing e-Governance Reforms
Recommendations
Building a congenial environment is a sine qua non for successful implementation of eGovernance initiatives.
Four stages of e-government,
Information > Interaction > Transaction > Transformation:
The basic approach in case of e-Governance projects should be to focus on `KISS': `Keep it Small and Simple' principle.
another criterion for working out the priority of e-Governance projects could be on the basis of the needs of citizens.
Government organizations/departments at Union and State Government levels need to identify e-Governance initiatives which could be undertaken within their functional domain, keeping the needs of the citizens in mind.
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
Scope and complexities of governance along with the government machinery have expanded over time.
These technologies provide a unique opportunity to redesign government processes
The basic idea behind such re-engineering is to avail of the opportunity provided by ICT in transforming governmental processes and not just in modifying them.
The business process re-engineering model has been further developed by James champy
we are governed by more than hundred years' old acts and rules.
These are driving inefficiency.
If you put the same thing in the computers, a hundred-year-old process, it will get inefficiency in a very efficient way.
We will be enlarging that inefficiency. We have to change the process behind this.
There should be a step-by-step analysis of each process involved on the anvil of rationality and simplicity.
These should be tested in real life situations to assess their functioning.
e-Governance projects should not be implemented on a large scale in the very first instance.
Capacity Building and Creating Awareness
capacity building of civil servants at all levels through compulsory induction and mid-career trainings.
conceptual Subject matter related Technological Project management.
`capacity building' is much more than training, and has two major components,
. Individual development
External adaptation and survival
Internal integration.
Internal integration is about establishing harmonious and effective working relationships in the organization
Organizational development.
Organizational capacity building is, to a large extent, dependent on formulation of the appropriate recruitment and personnel policies and finding the right mix of `in-house' provision of services and out-sourcing of functions.
Organisational capacity building should not be taken to mean that the organisation acquires all the skills and knowledge required to perform its tasks.
External adaptation and survival has to do with how the organization copes with its constantly changing external environment.
mission, strategies and goals
Recommendations
Capacity building efforts must attend to both the organizational capacity building as also the professional and skills upgradation of individuals associated with the implementation of e-Governance projects.
Develop a national e-Governance `enterprise architecture' framework as has been done in some countries.
Some Novel Technological Solutions
GIS for e-Governance and Grass-root level Planning:
Hand-Held Devices in e-Governance Projects for Improving Accessibility:
Mobile-Based E-Governance: RTI Act, 2005
Right to Information Act, 2005 which mandates all governmental organizations to put certain types of information in the public domain.
Static information, Dynamic information, Transactional information
Furnishing transactional information may not be possible without back-end computerization of processes, but ultimately computerisation of all back-end processes would result in generation of transactional information in which the citizens are interested.
Implementing plans
Implementing complex e-Governance Projects
Breaking up the entire e-Governance projects into components/activities:
Preparing an implementation plan: This should include detailed plan and schedule for each activity.
Allocating resources:
Commencement and continuous tracking:
Mid-course correction:
Monitoring and Evaluation
Such monitoring could be based on a variety of parameters.
Issues
A World bank document which analysed how personnel issues slowed down e-Governance projects
Threats of job losses increase resistance
Government staff may resent external staff
High-level support does not ensure staff buy-in
Staff are unenthusiastic when credit is not shared
Managers exaggerated risk aversion harms project credibility
National e-Governance Plan
The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been formulated by the Department of Information Technology (DIT) and Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAR&PG).
27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 10 components on May 18, 2006.
Common Support Infrastructure:
Centralized Initiative, Decentralized Implementation:
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model is to be adopted wherever feasible to enlarge the resource pool
Analysis of NeGP - following components of NeGP:
The Institutional Structure
The common Support Infrastructure
The Mission Mode Projects
Common Service Centres (CSCs) - The common Service centre Scheme is one of the three important infrastructural initiatives of the NeGP, the other two being (a) the State Wide Area Network (for connectivity) and (b) the State Data centre Scheme (for secure hosting of data and applications). These centres are intended to serve as front-end delivery points for government, private and social sector services in an integrated manner to rural citizens of India
Mission Mode Projects
MCA 21 - providing electronic services to the companies registered under the companies Act
Pension: - information on government pension rules and regulations; helps facilitating registration of pensioners' grievances
Passport, Visa and Immigration
The e-services being offered under the MMP include re-issue of Passport, issue of duplicate Passport, issue of Tatkal Passport, change in name, address, EcNR/ EcR suspensions, passport status enquiry etc.
Central Excise: - The important e-services being offered include e-filing of Import and Export documentation, electronic processing of declarations, facilities for e-filing of central Excise and Service Tax returns,
Income Tax, Banking, UID, e-Office. Insurance, etc.
Integrated MMPs
CSC: These CSCs will offer e-Governance services to rural citizens. In many States, Service centre Agencies (ScAs) have been selected.
The MMP aims at utilising technology for improved provisioning of judicial services to citizens.
e-Courts: - The MMP aims at facilitating Electronic Data Interchange amongst various agencies involved in the process of Imports and Exports.
Electronic Data Interchange/e-Trade (EDI): - This MMP is in post-implementation stage and is providing a single window access to information and services of Government at all levels, in a multilingual form.
India Portal, e-Biz, e-Procurement
National Service Delivery Gateway:
expediting the process for setting-up a commercial enterprise by offering an integrated platform of services across various departments both at the Union and State levels. State MMPs
Land Records, - National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP).
Road Transport. Agriculture, AGRISNET and AGMARKNET, Police, Treasuries, Municipalities:
e-District: This MMP aims at delivery of high volume, citizen-centric services through cScs.
Commercial Taxes, Gram Panchayat:
Knowledge Management
Defined as a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving and sharing enterprise information assets.
Knowledge Management is often perceived as merely a technological solution; in fact it has a much wider connotation since it is aimed at enabling people to efficiently perform their functions.
KM is founded on the notion that the organization's most valuable resource is the knowledge of its people.
The steps of a KM process can be summarized as
Knowledge creation > Knowledge capture > Knowledge application > Knowledge impact measurement
Promoting KM in Government
Knowledge Management is essentially about facilitating the processes by which knowledge is created, shared and used in organizations. It is not about setting up a new department or getting in a new technology. It is about making changes to the way individuals in organisations function.
The typical phases to be followed in building a Knowledge Management system
Create Knowledge : Capture Knowledge , Store Knowledge , Use Knowledge , Review Knowledge