Egovernment

1. e-Government
e-Government may be defined as the integration of
information and communication technology, in
public administration, i.e. to various government
processes, operations, and structures with the purpose
of enhancing transparency, efficiency, accountability
and citizen participation.

2. It facilitates:
 Greater level of efficiency and effectiveness in
government activities and process.
 Enhances quality of public services
 Simplifies administrative processes
 Improves access to information
 Increases communication between various
government agencies
 Strengthen support to public policy

3. e-Governance
 e-Governance means governing or administering a
country/state or organization, with the help of
information and communication technology.

4. E-governance is a tool, that makes available various
government services to citizens in a convenient way,
such as:
 Better provision of government services
 Improved interaction with different groups
 Citizen empowerment through access to information
 Efficient government management

5.  The UNESCO definition (www.unesco.org) is: “E-
governance is the public sector’s use of information and
communication technologies with the aim of improving
information and service delivery, encouraging citizen
participation in the decision-making process and making
government more accountable, transparent and effective. E-
governance involves new styles of leadership, new ways of
debating and deciding policy and investment, new ways of
accessing education, new ways of listening to citizens and
new ways of organizing and delivering information and
services. E-governance is generally considered as a wider
concept than e-government, since it can bring about a
change in the way citizens relate to governments and to
each other. E-governance can bring forth new concepts of
citizenship, both in terms of citizen needs and
responsibilities. Its objective is to engage, enable and
empower the citizen.”

6. Yes
 By e-Government we mean the application of ICT in
government operations, as a tool to make better
government. e-Governance, on the other hand, implies
the use of ICT in transforming and supporting
functions and structures of the system.
 While e-Government is a system, e-Governance is a
function.
 e-Government is a one-way communication protocol.
On the contrary, e-Governance is a two-way
communication protocol.

7.  Governance is much more that the government.
Governance is a process and system of interaction,
interrelationship, networking, sharing and partnership
for effective, efficient, economic and inclusive
development and service delivery with transperency
and accountability.

8.  According to Sheridan and Riley (2006), e-governance
is a broader concept that deals with the whole
spectrum of the relationship and networks within
government regarding the usage and application of
ICTs whereas e-government is limited to the
development of online services.

9. e-Governance is variously defined as:
 The use of ICT to support public services, democracy, the
private sector, etc .;
 Technology mediated services
 Something that includes e-government;
 A model of government;
 Functions that empower citizens;
 Internally focused use of ICT by government;
 About networks and relationships;
 Use of ICT to improve the quality services and governance;
 Something that enhances e-democracy;
 A technology-mediated relationship between citizen and
state.

11. Advantages
 Significant time saving (“there are no delays”)
 Improved information quality
 Less expensive (especially after e-governance
infrastructure is set up)
 Wider reach (“can reach the whole world”)
 Digital content (data capture is digital)

12. Benefits of e-Governance
e-
Governan
ce
Better
Security
Simple
and
Efficient
Transparency
and
Accountability
Instant
Access
Easy
Mainten
ance
Expanded
Reach of
Governance
Better
Service for
Citizen
Cost
Effective

13. The benefits of e-governance
 Empowerment: Empowers the citizen or business
because of unfettered access to governance, education
on governance procedures, 24 x 7 service, and wider
reach
 Profitability: Reduced lead times, better manpower
deployment, possibility of outsourcing
 Efficiency: Opportunities for mobile connectivity,
sophisticated devices to automate mechanical and
repetitive tasks, faster transfer of money, encourages
digital signatures

14.  Flexibility: Reengineering or reconfiguring business
processes, easy transfer of business locations or
individual responsibilities
 Anticorruption: Introduces transparency in the
governance process, acts as a deterrent

15. Prerequisite
 Infrastructure: Participants must have electronic
interfaces such as computers or mobile handsets.
There must be a robust, reliable, and fast network to
connect these participants
 Enabling software: Software with open architectures
to seamlessly connect the front-end (browsers and
other communication devices), back-end (info
repositories and databases) and middle tiers (business
logic and intelligence)

16.  Digitization: Data must become digital: new data
must be entered in digital formats, legacy data must be
digitized using scanners and document management
systems
 Security: User authentication, data protection, and
protection from external threats
 Universal standards and frameworks:
Development and compliance of universal standards
to exchange data and applications.

17.  Internet: The information carrier. All users participate
in e-governance by using a computer or mobile device
connected to the Internet. Networks are built using
cable or radio
 Databases: All information used in e-governance is
usually stored on databases. Databases allow easy and
secure storage, and quick and smart data retrieval.

18.  Web services: Open standards to exchange disparate
data and applications across the Web. The
recommended model to implement e-governance,
especially in the ”transform” phase.

19. Enablers of e-governance
 Authority : Someone in the enterprise, preferably the
CEO himself or one of his trusted advisers, must
aggressively support e-governance and facilitate its
implementation
 Political will: Things become a lot simpler if the political
leadership shows its willingness and keenness to usher in
e-governance
 Funding: The timely availability of the requisite funds is a
big advantage
 Frequent awareness and promotion campaigns: Many of
the human mindset problems can be overcome this way
 Continuous training: Even after the e-governance solution
is put in place, training must continue on a regular basis

20.  User acceptance: Start with e-governance applications
offering win-win option for both the employee and the
enterprise
 User pressure: Once a user feels empowered by e-
governance, he will ask for more

21. E-governance constraints
 Lack of leadership: An e-governance project without a
authority, and without strong government support may not
succeed
 Technology availability: Projects launched without
sufficient infrastructure, or using the wrong technology,
tend to fail
 Legislation: Even the best e-governance solution cannot be
successful without supporting legislative action, for
example, to permit business process reengineering
 Political interference: A feud between rival political parties
may hurt e-governance plans

22.  Official disinterest: Officials will scuttle e-governance
if they fear a loss of power or opportunity; a video
conferencing initiative in Africa failed because officials
thought it would deny them opportunities for foreign
jaunts
 Hostile work conditions: Implementations are not
likely to succeed if work conditions are inimical
 Apathy or resistance: If the participants are not excited
by e-governance, or are illiterate, it will not work
 Poor research: If the e-governance solution is poorly
designed, it will fail far too often.