E-Government Systems in Developing Countries
Volume 18, Number 4 Article by Rahul De December, 2006
E-Government Systems in Developing Countries: Issues and Concerns — Discussion :
Developing countries, including India, are investing heavily in e-governance and e-government systems, driven by the promise of efficiency and transparency and of using ICT to leapfrog the slow progress of development. However, according to World Bank estimates, eighty five percent of the systems fail. The IMR Round Table Discussion on E-Government Systems in Developing Countries brought together a panel of stakeholder representatives, policy makers and academics in an attempt to understand the issues that are central to the success of e-government systems in developing countries.
Mr Srikanth Nadhamuni, Managing Trustee, The eGovernments Foundation, which has created municipal e-governance products and helped government agencies in policy making initiatives, traced the poor public services in the cities and the lack of credibility of urban local bodies (ULBs) to the lack of robust systems, well trained people, technology support, and the revenue shortages faced by our cities when compared to their contribution to the GDP. Good systems to manage finances – such as an accrual accounting system, property tax, assets, municipal wardworks and essential services such as a grievance redressal system, are the building blocks of efficient ULB functioning.
Mr R Sekar, Principal Architect, E- Governance, Intel Solution Services, emphasised the integrated delivery of services as the first step towards simplifying processes for citizens. The government must offer different options in the interface process, the right channel strategies, partner with intermediaries to improve service delivery and value for money, and gradually build customer confidence in electronic channels while ensuring customer accessibility and promoting social inclusion. The tight integration between applications and services in the government departments is a problem citizens face and the separation of the back and front ends is important to ensure access to data.
Mr Tumul Sharan, Advisor, Datamation Foundation, outlined a multi-stakeholder citizen-centric approach to e-governance models. The government must ensure cost savings for both the citizen and the public exchequer; a scalable and replicable model; a buy-in from the bureaucracy, the employees and the local people; and reengineering of existing processes, including a programme of change management. E-governance services must be available in the local language. Local service providers too must play their part by continuously fine tuning the delivery model.
Looking at e-governance from an industry perspective, Mr P K Gopalakrishnan, Vice President, Wipro Infotech, saw it as a clear business opportunity. However, for the ambitious National E-Governance Plan to be successful, the government and private industry must play clearly defined roles. The government has a key role in setting up a shared vision and providing strategic direction, providing policy guidelines, the regulatory framework and common standards, and in managing change. Private industry must invest in domain knowledge, commit business plans/resources, and recognise the compulsions of the government as the custodian of public funds. Other suggestions include an e-governance think tank for each state and a cadre of ‘champions’, emphasis on contract administration which will bring in transparency, expertise and accountability, and the creation of a knowledge repository.
For e-governance initiatives to be successful, Prof Balaji Parthasarathy of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore pointed out that a transformation of legal structures was imperative and changes in the bureaucratic and authority structures within the government were essential – for instance strong ‘champions’ were needed to push initiatives when the costs and benefits could not be clearly measured. However, the perspective he emphasised was that of e-governance as a political initiative, its ability to transform relationships between state and society by the induction of technology. For instance, the Bhoomi Project in Karnataka for the digitisation of land records, while overcoming many malpractices of the old manual system, effectively centralised data and made access to it selective marginalising the small farmer further. Such initiatives must be preceded by the right reforms.
Reprint No 06406a