Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Irish public servants believe that new technology has increased efficiency

Irish public servants surveyed believe that new technology has increased efficiency, according to a survey.

The vast majority (90pc) of the 42 Irish public servants surveyed by internet strategist Elucidate believe that technology initiatives they have carried out have made it easier for the public to contact the Government than it was two years ago, according to an article published in SiliconRepublic.com. Some 82pc believe new technology has made their units work more efficiently. Check the full article at:

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9656 (accessed: November 20, 2007)

Dr D.C.Misra
November 20, 2007
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*Kennedy, John (2007): Poor funding a major obstacle to e-government, SiliconRepublic.com, November 19, 2007, http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9656 (accessed: November 20, 2007)

*Poor funding a major obstacle to e-government

19.11.2007 - Securing adequate funding is seen as the main obstacle to more government services being offered online, leading public servants have warned in a new survey.

The vast majority (90pc) of the 42 Irish public servants surveyed by internet strategist Elucidate believe that technology initiatives they have carried out have made it easier for the public to contact the Government than it was two years ago.

Some 82pc believe new technology has made their units work more efficiently.

Maeve Kneafsey of Elucidate, which will co-host the forthcoming eGovernment Awards, and who was last week appointed chair of the Irish Internet Association, says that 85.4pc of Ireland’s senior public servants believe e-government has led to significant customer service gains.

She said that faster access to information was cited by 61pc, while increased productivity was cited by 41.5pc as the highest rated benefit of e-government.

However, she warned that funding was an issue that may hold back future initiatives.

“It may be worth Minister Cowen’s time to note that securing adequate funding was given as one of the main obstacles to more services being offered online. Yet ‘online’ can deliver greater efficiencies with the public having access on a 24/7 basis, at a time that people choose, not just during ‘normal’ office hours.

“Just think of the many, many thousands who use the Revenue Online Service as well as the tremendous success of the Motor Tax Office’s online service. While the Minister is at it, he and his government colleagues should also note that all of the respondents said there should be more incentives for people to use e-government initiatives, such as the extra time that is already allowed for people to pay taxes online,” Kneafsey said.

Kneafsey added that if the Irish Government is serious about getting more for less, in gaining greater productivity from all public services, then the future has got to be online.

“A big drive towards e-government could deliver a double whammy of being self-financing while giving the taxpayer an improved service. One final figure that is telling is that over two thirds of the respondents said that driving people to use online services was their No 1 priority, but almost the same number said they needed more resources to publicise the services,” Kneafsey said.

By John Kennedy

(Source: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9656 (accessed: November 20, 2007)

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Cyber Law and E-governance: Which Model is Better-the EU Model or the U.S.Model for a Developing Country?

The following question arise:

(a) What is cyber law? In what way does it distinguish from other types of law? How does creation of a separate class of law (cyber law) help legal enablement of e-governance? And why indeed is legal enablement needed and for whom?

(b) Which is larger, legally valid construct, cyber law or e-governance? (In other words, should cyber law (legally) govern e-governance or should it be the other round, that is, e-governance should govern cyber law?)

(c) What are the objectives of cyber law (and, for that matter, e-governance law)? Is it protection of life and liberties of a citizen (empowerment of citizen) or empowering the state or regulating the cyberspace?

(d) Is cyberspace not already over-regulated (from the point of view of citizen) via existing legal codes (do we not already have enough legal powers to regulate our behaviour in cyberspace?), software code (your activities in cyberspace are regulated by what the software allows you to do, nothing more nor less), and e-commerce (you will buy only what I offer and you will purchase the way I want you to do, etc.) (Check Lessig’s Code).

(e) Where and how to demarcate a cyber crime from unethical practices in cyberspace (for example, collecting your personal information before allowing you entry to a portal and subsequently misusing this information for sending promotional newsletters, or not providing for unsubscription or unsubscription link just not working, etc.)

(f) What for “generic model laws for building cyber law capacity for e-Governance” needed? What are the concrete instances/cases in which the existing laws have been found inadequate or vague in e-governance in G2G and G2C domains? Is the exercise normative (prescribing what to do) or empirical (finding what is the ground-level reality)?

(g) Should cyber law regulate e-governance policy [European Union (EU) model] or e-governance policy should regulate development of cyber law [US model- see (h)] below? What is our e-governance policy (as distinct from IT/ICT policy)? Are you aware of any e-governance policy as a written commitment for e-governance development in any country?

(h) In contrast with EU model, the U.S., the only country in the world to have done so (to my knowledge, of course), enacted the legislation- The E-government Act of 2002. Which model is better- the EU model or the U.S. model?

Is it not better to check foundations first, and then erect the building, rather than first construct the building and then worry whether our foundations are sound?

Dr D.C.Misra
November 15, 2007

Saturday, November 10, 2007

XIth National Conference on e-Governance, February 7-8, 2008, Panchkula, Haryana

Event:
XIth National Conference on e-Governance, February 7-8, 2008, Panchkula, Haryana


Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India has been very successfully organizing a National Conference on E-governance (NCEG) every year. Many serving civil servants and some retired civil servants like me always look forward to this annual event. The DARPG needs to be congratulated for organising the next conference early next year.

The XIth National Conference on e-Governance will be held on
February 7-8, 2008 in
Panchkula, Haryana

in co-operation with the Department of Information Technology, Government of India and Government of Haryana, according to an announcement.

The theme of the conference is:
Integrated Citizen Services – Issues and Challenges.

for details, check the website:

http://darpg.nic.in/arpg-website/egov_conf.htm

--Dr D.C.Misra
November 10, 2007