The document discusses the need for information, participation, regulation, and technology to enable positive change in governance. It proposes creating an "InfoStructure" using internet and mobile technologies to (1) aggregate and disseminate constituency-level data and metrics, candidate information, and governance actions; and (2) allow two-way citizen participation in decisions through engagement, feedback and response. This needs to be supported by regulatory frameworks for transparency and technology access as well as experiments using SMS to disseminate election information to citizens.

1. Role of Business
and Government
Enabling a Groundswell of Change
Rajesh Jain
NetCore Solutions
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2. We need to combine Information,
Participation, Regulation, and Tech
Information Participatory
Infrastructure Governance
Regulatory
and Tech
Framework
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3. An “InfoStructure” is needed to
aggregate and dissemination information
• Constituency-level
– Local data
– Social and Infrastructure Metrics, and changes
over time
• Election-time
– Candidates info availability in structured format
• “Political Bio”
– Track promises made
• Governance
– Actions, Results, Scorecards, Comparisons, Funds
flow 3

4. Citizens need to be given ways to
Participate in the Governance Process
• Two-way governance: Input and Involvement in
Decisions
– Engagement
– Feedback
– Response
• Businesses also needs to be involved in a positive,
pro-active manner
• We, the People, need to be more-proactive
– Will need Time from each one of us
– Real Reform will come when candidate quality
improves
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5. This needs to be supported by a
Regulatory and Tech Framework
• Regulation
– Transparent Government Act
– Mandatory declaration of info
– Internet / Mobile voting?
– Sharing across government agencies!
• Technology
– Internet
– Mobile
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6. Experiment: Use of SMS to disseminate
info in recent Assembly Elections
• Chattisgarh, Delhi, MP, Rajasthan Elections
• 4 free, opt-in, multi-lingual SMS channels for updates
on candidates and their criminal records
– eg. To subscribe: sms START ELECTIONDEL to 575758
– Promotion: via ads on MyToday and ADR website
• 1,500+ citizens subscribed
• 15+ SMSes sent to each subscriber
– There are 24 MLAs in current Delhi Vidhan Sabha with
pending criminal cases. Vote for clean candidates this time.
– The present Delhi Vidhan Sabha has 70 MLA’s out of which
6 MLA’s are women (Src: Delhi Govt website). 6

7. Ideas for “InfoStructure” in
National Elections 2008
• Internet + Mobile combo
– Constituency-wise info availability
– Candidate comparison
– Political party info
• Opt-in SMS service to drive voter education
– Voter Registration
– Candidate info
– Alert on Election day
– Feedback on ‘Mischief’ (SMS, Photos, Videos)
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