E-Governance- An Overview

• E-Governance is a form of e-business in governance comprising of processes and

structures involved in deliverance of electronic services to the public, viz. citizens.

• It also involves collaborating with business partners of the government by conducting

electronic transactions with them.

• Besides, it require enabling the general public to interact with the government, through
electronic means, for getting the desired services.

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Contd…
• In other words, e-governance means application of electronic means in the
interaction between:
1. government (G) and citizens (C), both ways (i.e. G2C, and C2G),
2. government or business (B), both ways (i.e. G2B and B2G), and
3. Internal government operation (G2G)

• The aim, ultimately, is to simplify and improve governance and enable people's
participation in governance through mail, and Internet.

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Contd…
• E-governance is much more than just preparing some websites.
• It ranges from the use of Internet for dissemination of plain web based information at its simplest level
to services and online transactions on the one hand and utilizing IT in the democratic process itself, i.e.
election on the other.

• E-governance implies e-democracy,

• Wherein all forms of interaction between the electorate (i.e. general public) and the elected (i.e. the
government) are performed electronically.

• Usage of the most innovative technologies in computer and communication

technologies, including Internet technology:
• For delivering efficient and cost effective services, and Information and knowledge to the citizens being
governed, thereby realizing the vast potential of the government to serve the citizens.

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Need for E-Governance

• To provide SMART government.

• "SMART" (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent)

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History
• Historically, it was Chile that a real e-governance initiative was taken up as early as in
1972, when the IT applications were unheard of in government and were limited even in
the business.
They used techniques of IT not to just make government paperless or less of paper (as is
presently being done) but to perform government work efficiently.

• Prof. Stafford Beer implemented for President Allende of Chile, the first e-governance
software that would help the government survive a severe crisis.

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Issues in E-Governance Applications and the Digital
Divide
• Different government departments have different websites.
• Different types of services are provided.

• Gradually, this e-interaction of the public with the government leads to:
• Organizational transformation, transparency of public services, speed of service
performance, increased citizen participation in the government, and thereby greater
facilitation of participative democracy.

• Interaction with the citizens

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Contd…
• How much of these actually happen?

• What are the problems encountered in achieving them?

• Issues - digital divide

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Solution:
- Governments concerned ensure that all citizens of different socio-economic and educational class
will have adequate access to the basic skills and infrastructure to participate in an increasingly
technological society.

- As the digital divide becomes perceptible in different countries, public policy makers need to
devise policies that would address issues of universal access and educational needs of their citizens,
so as to match the requirements of an IT enabled e-government and e-society.

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In addition, as the e-governments make Internet as the primary access point for all
citizens to interact with the government, the issues that need to be focused are:

1. How will the performance of the government departments/public bodies be improved by e-

governance initiatives?

2. What are the organizational effects of e-government and IT?

3. What are the correct strategies for success in e-governance projects?

4. What are the skills that are required by the government employees in an e-governance
environment in the Information age?

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Why e-governance???

• Increases efficiency, speed, effectiveness and citizen satisfaction.

• However, these will be true only if the e-governance services provided to citizens are
fool-proof, reliable and inexpensive.

• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

• Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a systematic, disciplined approach to reducing organizational

costs and redundant business processes involving the analysis of existing human and automated
workflows.

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A number of organizations are involved in studying these
issues.
• The e-governance initiative, a part of National Center for Public Productivity at Rutgers
University, Newark, New Jersey;
• Center for Digital Government, a US National Research and Advisory Institute;
• Center for e-government, an international body;
• Center for Electronic Governance, IIM-Ahmedabad;
• Center for Good Governance and also National Institute of Smart Governance, both at
Hyderabad India,
• Center for e-governance at Department of Information Technology, and Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi are some
institutions.

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Evolution of E-Governance, Its Scope and Content

• Chile implemented real e-governance solution as early as in the seventies.

• Current interest and attention on e-governance applications all over the world has its
roots in the "Information Super Highway" concept initiated by the US Vice President Al
Gore in early 1990s.

• The Information Super Highway was defined largely in terms of information

infrastructure at the national level by many countries including the US, UK, Canada,
Australia and India.

• Information Society or Knowledge Society leads to e-governance.

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Contd…
• 1980s and 1990s - the governments all over the world lagged behind the
commercial world in accepting and implementing Information and
Communication Technology (ICT).

• Commercial enterprises utilized ICT increasingly to reach out to their customers

and business partners, thereby impressively enhancing their service quality,
speed and convenience. For example: E-commerce

• Visible success cases of ICT application include:

• 24 hours ATM (Automated Teller Machines) services, 24 hours call centers, electronic shopping
on the web, the use of DTV, integrating cable TV with Internet, etc.

• In 1990s and 2000 till now, the IT enabled services (ITES) formed the major
component of remote services such as call centers, data entry etc.

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Significant issues
• Security
• Privacy
• Vulnerability of public ICT infrastructure to crime
• Potential for abuse
• Terrorism
• General crime

• Digital divide

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Scope of ICT implementation in government machinery can
result in:
• Improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of the executive functions of the government,
including delivery of public services;

• Greater transparency of government to citizens and business, permitting greater access to the
information generated or collected by the government;

• Fundamental changes and improvement in relation between citizen and the state thereby
improving the democratic process; and

• Better interactions and relationships amongst different

• Wings of the same government
• State of local governments within a country,
• Countries whose governments are web-enabled.

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Any e-governance activity/project involves appropriate

• Hardware and corresponding system software,

• Networking of the hardware identified above—both the Internet and Intranet

environment, and

• Application software along with appropriate database management software

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Present Global Trends of Growth in E-Governance

• Growth of internet users

• Growth of websites
• Policies, Laws, Rules and Standards
• First time Creation of huge Government Database
• Bridging digital gap

Which government websites have you browsed so far and why???

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Some facts
• The increased use of government online services is primarily due to rise in the
proportion of people searching for information:
• (from 20 to 24% during the period from September 2001 to September 2002).

• Globally, online government transactions increased from just 6% to 7% during this period
and the percentage of those providing personal details to government increased from 7%
to 8%.

• Among the most significant increases in the use of government services online are:
• Australia (from 31% to 46%),
• Turkey (from 3% to 13%),
• the Netherlands (from 31% to 41%),
• and the US (from 34% to 43%).
• In contrast, in Japan, however, government online usage fell by 4% (17% to 13% of the citizens)
between 2001 and 2002.

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• While security issues - main concern for many countries during 2001, perceptions of
safety improved globally during 2002.

• When 23% of citizens worldwide said that they feel safe disclosing personal information
such as credit card and bank account numbers online compared to just 14% of citizens in
2001, representing thus an increase of almost two-thirds (64%).

• As for the use of government online, the Scandinavian markets (Denmark, Finland,
Norway, and Sweden), together with some South East Asian markets (Singapore and
Hong Kong), have perceived the highest levels of safety (around one-third of users), in
the system.

• In contrast, the greatest safety concerns were expressed by citizens in Japan (90% said
they felt accessing government service online was "unsafe"), Germany (82%) and France
(76%).

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2020 United Nations E-Government Survey

• Denmark, Korea and Estonia top the 2020 UN e-government ranking.

• As the COVID-19 pandemic forces lockdowns:

• Most countries and municipalities are pursuing digital government strategies

• Many with innovative initiatives –

• But vast numbers of people still do not have access to online services, according to the 2020
edition of the United Nations E-Government Survey.

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Contd…
• The 2020 ranking of the 193 UN Member States in terms of digital government –
• Capturing the scope and quality of online services, status of telecommunication infrastructure and
existing human capacity – is led by Denmark, the Republic of Korea, and Estonia, followed by Finland,
Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States of America, the Netherlands,
Singapore, Iceland, Norway and Japan.

• Among the least developed countries:

• Bhutan, Bangladesh and Cambodia have become leaders in digital government development, advancing from the middle to
the high E-Government Development Index (EGDI) group in 2020.

• Mauritius, the Seychelles, and South Africa are leading the e-government ranking in Africa.

• Overall, 65% of Member States are at the high or very high EGDI level.

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Innovative digital government responses to
COVID-19 include:

• Online dashboards in Canada and Australia to share information and track emergency
responses.

• In China, chatbots are used to assess patients’ risk of being infected.

• A community engagement app in Estonia allowed local governments to directly interact

with their constituents, including through sharing COVID-19 information, posting photos
and videos and even organizing virtual events.

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Contd…
• In Croatia, a “virtual doctor” is powered by AI and developed by technology firms in
cooperation with epidemiologists.

• In London, the use of cameras, sensors and AI algorithms, normally intended to control
traffic, now measures distance between pedestrians to control social distance.

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Task
• What can be done in case of Nepal for responses to COVID ???

• Develop e-governance framework.

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Conclusion
• Majority - citizens searching for information online rather than making transactions or
providing personal information to government.

• This may be due to perceived security risks but if the use of these services is to increase,
messages about the safety of government online services need to be communicated
effectively.

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Further Readings
• https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/About/Overview/-E-Government-Development-
Index

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/421580/egdi-e-government-development-index-ranking/

• http://oecdinsights.org/2015/06/10/chile-leading-but-lacking-in-e-governance/

• http://www.oecd.org/gov/governanceinchina.htm

• https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/09/24/afghanistan-shows-way-e-government

• https://www.oecdobserver.org/news/archivestory.php/aid/4031/E-governance_in_Egypt.html

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