Egov-India

Libya to set up International Organisation for E-Management

2010-06-08T12:00:00.024+05:30

Tripoli, Libya, June 5. There was overwhelming support to the proposal to set up an International Organisation for E-management in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It was one of the important recommendations at the conclusion of 4-day First International Conference on Electronic Management held on June 1-4, 2010 organised by the Almadina Multimedia Centre of the Institution of Culture of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya under the auspices of Mr Saif Al-Islam Muammar Al-Gadafi. The Conference was attended by over 300 delegates from 40 countries and corporates like Microsoft and IBM.
On the opening day there were speeches by Dr Abubaker M. El-Hush, Chairman of Preparatory Committee, and Mr Samir Abdul Hameed Bezannes, Director General of Alamadina Multimedia Center and Executive Director of the Conference and a Keynote Presentation on E-leadership for E-governance. The Conference held four symposia on E-learning and E-training, E-commerce, Telemedicine, and E-democracy and a number of mini-tracks. A Compilation of Abstracts of Scientific Researches in English and Arabic was also published. Speeches were also made by Syrian, Italian and Turkish delegations. Dr Mohamed Muammar Al-Gadafi, Honorary Chairman of the Conference attended the opening ceremony
On the concluding day a presentation was made on the Draft Proposal for the International Organisation for E-management, initially proposed as an International Centre for E-governance. The Conference concluded by making a set of recommendations, dubbed Tripoli Declaration. The Preparatory Committee was ably assisted, among others, by Dr Mohamed A.Arteimi of 7th of April University, Libya. The details of the Conference may be seen at http://www.ficeg.org.ly/. (Updated June 7, 2010).

Dr D.C.Misra

E-governance Consultant

New Delhi, India

June 8, 2010

First International Conference of the Electronic Management, June 1-4, 2010, Tripoli, Libya

2010-04-23T05:56:00.004+05:30

The First International Conference of the Electronic Management,Tripoli, Libya will be held on June 1-4, 2010. Check the details at the link.

Dr D.C.Misra

My New Contributions

2010-04-22T22:58:00.002+05:30

Misra, D.C. (2010a): Ten Guiding Principles for Management Consultants for E-government, Consulting Ahead, 4(1)70-79, January, The Journal of Consultancy Development Centre, New Delhi, www.cdc.org.in.

Misra, D.C. (2010b): What do the citizens want from e-governance? An Agenda for Action, Compendium, 13th National Conference on E-governance convened by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, Jaipur, Rajasthan, February 18-19, pp 8-13, http://nceg.gov.in.

Misra, D.C. (2010c): State of e-Governance: Need for Speed: E-governance, Social Networks and Public Policy, Compendium of Papers, pp 31-34, 22nd Skoch Summit, Writers and Thinkers Forum, March 17-18, New Delhi, http://www.skoch.in/.

Misra, D.C. (2010d): Make M-government an Integral Part of E-government: An Agenda for Action, Compendium, pp 78-86, National Forum on Mobile Applications for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development, April 7-8, New Delhi, http://www.trai.gov.in/NFCNCompendium.pdf

Misra, D.C. (2010e): An E-governance Vision for India for 2020: Making India Internet Nation No.1 in the World, Paper contributed to 7th International Conference on e-Governance (ICEG), Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, April 22-24, http://www.iimb.ernet.in/node/1841.

Dr D.C.Misra

National Conference on E-governance, February 18-19, 2010, Jaipur

2010-01-09T11:57:00.002+05:30

National Conference on E-governance, February 18-19, 2010, Jaipur,
Rajasthan

convened by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
(DARPG):

Invitation for Papers:

Last Date for Submission: January 25, 2010.

Check website at:

http://darpg.nic.in/arpg-website/egov2010/default.htm

Dr D.C.Misra

January 9, 2010

Book Review: Misra, D.C. (2009): Review of Sharma (2009): The Long Revolution: The Birth and Growth of India’s IT Industry

2009-12-05T10:41:00.002+05:30

Book Review
Misra, D.C. (2009): Review of Sharma (2009): The Long Revolution: The Birth and Growth of India’s IT Industry
_________________________________________________________________
This is an account* of growth of India’s information technology (IT) industry since 1940s to the early 2000s- nearly past seventy years. Very well researched and fully documented, it has been written in a highly readable style. According to the author, several factors- government policies, higher technical educational facilities, the entrepreneurial spirit, the presence of multinational companies, and skill shortages in Western countries have contributed to the spectacular growth of IT industry in India. To this reviewer it is not a book but a service to India’s IT community. No one interested in India’s IT industry can afford to miss to read it. Highly recommended.
-- Dr D.C.Misra
December 5, 2009
__________________________________________________________________
* Sharma, Dinesh C. (2009): The Long Revolution: The Birth and Growth of India’s IT Industry, New Delhi, HarperColllins in association with New India Foundation, xxi+488 pp Rs 595/-

Enterprise IT Governance in State Government: State Profiles

2009-10-10T14:20:00.002+05:30

This is a report about enterprise IT governance in 13 states in the United States.
Dr D.C.Misra

Long Arm of Law Reaches Tweeter: U.K. High Court Writ Issues Injunction on Tweeter

2009-10-06T23:04:00.003+05:30

According to a news report, Britain's High Court ordered its first injunction via Tweeter on October 1, 2009 saying the social website and micro-blogging service was the best way to reach an anonymous tweeter who had been impersonating someone. Read the news report.
Dr D.C.Misra
October 6, 2009

Misra,D.C.(2009) E Leadership For Excellence Professionalism MDI 18.9.2009 Presentation

2009-09-18T21:40:00.006+05:30

This is a presentation I made to day at the School of Public Policy at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, near Delhi on the new and emerging concepts of E-leadership and E-civil Service.

Dr D.C.Misra

September 18, 2009

Open Data is Civic Capital: Best Practices for "Open Government Data"

2009-07-23T23:11:00.003+05:30

If interested in open data, read this interesting paper by Joshua Tauberer who runs the U.S. congressional website GovTrack.us with the help of Gunnar Hellekson (Red Hat, Inc.).

Dr D.C.Misra
July 23, 2009

Insourcing versus Outsourcing

2009-07-05T23:13:00.002+05:30

Check

Sharma, Raj (2009): The Move To “Insourcing”
…Proceed with Caution, Washington, D.C., Federal Acquisition Innovation and Reform (FAIR) Institute, June, http://www.thefairinstitute.org/downloads/The%20Move%20to%20Insourcing_June%202009.pdf

Misra, D.C. (2009): Why we need e-civil services

2009-06-17T10:56:00.000+05:30

Misra, D.C. (2009): Why we need e-civil services, mint, New Delhi, June 17, Wednesday, p-23, http://www.livemint.com/2009/06/16215553/Why-we-need-ecivil-services.html, (accessed: June 17, 2009).

Why we need e-civil services

The key step in India’s long-overdue governance reforms is making the bureaucracy more Web-oriented

D.C. Misra

One does not require either league tables or depressing newspaper reports to tell us that the Indian bureaucracy is passing through its gravest crisis since Independence. The telltale symptoms range from transfer and suspension of public officials without rhyme or reason to elusive public service delivery. The very fact that in her address to Parliament on 4 June, our President mentioned “governance reform” as one of the 10 priority areas for the next five years shows that the government is aware of the need to reform bureaucracy at the highest level.

Two remedies are normally suggested to redress the situation: first, the appointment of political appointees from the private sector, as is done in the US; second, less state involvement. These, have not worked. Political appointees have repeatedly failed in the US. As a result, calls are now being made to cut their numbers. Paul Verkuil, a professor of law at New York-based Yeshiva University, cites the study of Princeton professor David Lewis, which reported that “politically appointed bureau chiefs get systematically lower management grades than bureau chiefs drawn from the civil service”.

The state can and should shed extra baggage, as has already been done by privatization in a number of sectors since 1991. But certain state functions simply cannot be shed. These include defence, law and order, and public welfare.

For reforming Indian bureaucracy, the solution is twofold. First, instead of indulging in unproductive bureaucrat-bashing, we should strengthen the civil service. A state is as good (or as capable) as its bureaucracy. This requires radical improvements in the internal working of the civil service. A demoralized service is hardly an ideal instrument to serve the state and its citizens.

The vast majority of the civil service stands demoralized today due to faulty recruitment, unfair promotion policies, subjective (that is, biased) performance assessment, unsympathetic transfer and posting policies and, above all, political interference. One quickly learns that it is neither hard work nor professional competence which enables satisfactory career progression. Rather, what’s important is one’s caste, class, region and political connections. This can, and does, break even the strongest of civil servants who still cherish the values of hard work, justice and fair play

Secondly, and more importantly, we should promote e-governance. This is where the wheel meets the road. Such reform has direct impact on public service delivery and thus matters most to citizens. After outstanding success in e-commerce (for e.g., railway reservation) and e-banking, there is no reason why e-governance (24x7 public service delivery online) should still elude us. But it is eluding us, notwithstanding the existence of departments of information technology at the Centre and states, as well as the implementation of an ambitious national e-governance plan. The progress of e-governance has been tardy and patchy so far. The reason? Once again, the civil service has failed to meet the demands of e-governance. The solution thus lies in promoting the e-civil service.

In one sense, e-civil service is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or software programs in discharging the functions of civil servants. This makes use of zero-touch technology (ZTT), or technology that does not involve human intervention. ZTT is far superior to human intervention as it is expected to minimize errors in the processing of cases. Consider, for example, the issue of passports. If issuing passports is based on the fulfilment of certain strict requirements, the job can be done by an AI agent. In fact, AI is suited to many such routine functions of government.

In another sense, the term e-civil service is used for civil servants discharging their functions as civil servants through an online interface. It is in this role that the bureaucracy is found seriously wanting. But it is again futile to blame the civil service —not bureaucrats, but rather their managers, are responsible for this plight. How do you, for example, expect civil servants to be tech-savvy when they are not formally trained in information and communication technologies (ICTs)? Reforming our governance should, therefore, start with training our civil service in ICTs.

The central issue in governance today is the yawning gap between the state and citizens. We are living in the 21st century, in the age of Facebook and Twitter. The old interface, Government 1.0 (one-way governance from government to citizens) is now history. Citizens are no longer passive recipients of public services. They now not only demand better, more efficient and value-added public services, but want to have a direct say in public policy formulation too.

Civil service reform must be approached as part of an introduction of Government 2.0 (two-way interactive government between the citizen and state). India already has the world’s fourth largest population of Internet users. It deserves e-civil service in its own right.

D.C. Misra is former chairman, Task Force for IT policy for Delhi. A different version of this article previously appeared on egov-india.blogspot.com. Comment at theirview@livemint.com

Misra, D.C. (2009): Ten Guiding Principles for Management Consultancy for E-government

2009-06-16T22:50:00.002+05:30

Ten Guiding Principles for Management Consultants for E-government
by
Dr D.C.Misra

AbstractManagement consultancy for e-government is a new and emerging field. It has certain unique features that distinguish it from other types of management consultancies, most notably that in management consultancy for e-government, the management consultant is also a hidden stakeholder as a citizen and thus can, and should, very successfully look after the interests of both the state as well as the citizens. This paper attempts to define consultancy, draws distinction between management consulting and management consultancy and outsourcing, develops a normative definition of management consultancy for e-government, and draws distinction between management consultancy and management consultancy for e-government. It then describes some of the management consultancy cycles for e-government. While noting that two sets of guiding principles for management consultancy for e-government- one for the organization engaging the consultants, and the other for management consultants- are needed, it concludes by developing ten guiding principles for management consultants for e-government in the hope that aspiring and practicing management consultants for e-government may find it useful in their professional work in serving both the state and the citizens.

Keywords: Guiding Principles, Management Consultancy, Management Consultancy Cycles, E-government, Consultants

Brief resumeA leading e-governance researcher and consultant based in New Delhi, India, Dr D.C. Misra was till recently Chief Knowledge Officer, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Mauritius under aegis of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London (2005-2006), a former Chairman Task Force for IT Policy for Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (1998-2000), and President, Council of State Industrial Development and Industrial Corporations of India (1998-2000). A former Member of the Indian Administrative Service (1965-2001) with more than four-and-half decades of ‘hands-on” experience in governance and e-governance, Dr Misra has held a wide variety of assignments at central and state government levels in India. A Ph. D. from New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Dr Misra maintains a blog on egov-india (http://egov-india.blogspot.com/) and also owns and moderates the cyberquiz think tank on ICTs and E-governance (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyber_quiz/. He is Adviser on E-Government and ICT4D on the World Bank-sponsored Development Gateway (http://www.developmentgateway.org/).

Address: C-183 Madhuvan, Madhuvan Marg, New Delhi -110 092
Tel: 2245 2431; Tel/Fax: 4244 5183; Cell: 981 089 1700
Email: dc_misra@hotmail.com
Blog: http://egov-india.blogspot.com

Ten Guiding Principles for Management Consultants for E-government
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years management consultancy for e-government has been gaining in prominence. A number of factors are responsible for this development. Many multinational consultancy firms, seeing prospects of profit, have also positioned themselves to secure consultancy assignments. On their parts, governments too have been feeling the need for engaging consultants either for lack requisite expertise in-house or due to the large scale of projects involved. Also, there is increasing pressure on governments to adopt public-private partnership (PPP) model which requires assignment of greater role to private sector. This model is being aggressively pursued by the private consultancy firms. Whatever be the reason, management consultancy for e-government is here not only to stay but grow with the passage of time in developing countries. In 2002, the size of the global market for consulting services was estimated to be $119 billion (Martin 2005:681). As regards the impact management consultancy has had on government, Martin notes:

On the one hand public officials and consultants argue that the use of consultants in the policy process is a way of strengthening the policy capacities of governments by mobilizing expertise that is often unavailable internally. Also, consultants are seen as providing flexibility: they are brought in at the discretion of the department or body concerned, and they can be selected according to specific needs. But on the other hand, critics are suggesting that consultants are weakening the capacities of governments because they are possibly usurping policy functions. Consultants, along with other external advisers, would be part of “shadow government” (Guttman and Willner 1976) that has effectively taken the policy-making function away from elected officials and bureaucrats. (ibid.:688).

As it stands to-day, management consultancy in government is thus a double-edged solution. On one hand, it offers easier option to governments to get their work done by outsiders. This has the inherent risk that outsiders will push their own agenda. This became recently apparent in case of formulation of national information technology (IT) policy for schools when Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in India assigned this task to a private party, a move which invited a lot of criticism ultimately forcing the Ministry to give up the move (Vishnoi 2008).1 On the other, management consultancy can successfully compensate for lack of requisite expertise within the governments. There is thus need for clearly demarcating the turf between the public and private sectors so that they mutually reinforce each other for public good and not work for cross-purposes.

Definition of ConsultancyConsultancy has been defined in a number of ways. Management Consultancy: A Guide to the Profession (Kubr (ed.) 2002), recognizes two approaches to consulting: (i) a broad functional view of consulting, and (ii) consultancy as a special professional service. In the first approach, it mentions the following definition:

“…any form of providing help on the content, process, or structure of a task or as series of tasks, where the consultant is not actually responsible for doing the task itself but helping those who are.” (Steele 1975:3).

In the second approach, it mentions the following definition:

“management consultancy is an advisory service contracted for and provided to organizations by specially trained and qualified persons who assist, in an objective and independent manner, the client organization to identify management problems, analyze such problems, recommend solutions to these problems, and help, when requested, in the implementation of solutions.” (Greiner and Metzger 1983:7).

The International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) defines management consultancy as follows:

“The service provided to business, public and other undertakings by an independent and qualified person or persons in identifying and investigating problems concerned with policy, organization, procedures and methods, recommending appropriate action and helping to implement those recommendations.” (Curnow and Reuvid 2003:17).

Curnow and Reuvid (2003:9-10) are of the view that management consultancy can be viewed from five perspectives as: (i) a global industry, (ii) a professional community, (iii) product and services, (iv) role of consultants, and (v) universal skill.

The different definitions of management consultancy have three basic characteristics: (i) identifying a problem, (ii) recommending a solution, and (iii) helping with implementation (Clive 2001:30). These three different characteristics give rise to three distinguishable roles for a consultant, namely, mentor, creator and leader (ibid.). The question whether management consultancy is a profession or an industry continues to be unresolved today.

Distinction between Management Consulting and Management ConsultancyThe two terms- Management Consulting and Management Consultancy- are often used interchangeably. It is, however, useful to keep in mind the distinction between them. Consultancy is a profession or a professional practice; consulting is what a consultant does, it is an instance of consultancy. In management consulting, consulting is a specific act of giving advice; in management consultancy, consultancy is the professional practice of giving advice.

Distinction between Management Consulting and Outsourcing
These two terms- management consultancy and outsourcing- are also often used interchangeably. While the host organization- also called the client organization- is rather closely involved in management consultancy, such involvement is minimal in case of outsourcing. In fact, it is possible to view outsourcing as an abdication of responsibility. The critical issue here is: should government outsource its vital functions? Consider, for example, the case of recruitment to public services. A public service recruitment board outsources its recruitment. A private party sets the question paper, evaluates the answer books, prepares a merit list, and submits it to the recruitment board. The recruitment board then scrutinizes the merit list and declares it as its own merit list.

But is this outsourcing fair to candidates? Answer is no. The reason is that there is a sacred bond between the candidates and the recruitment board. This bond is based on an expectation of fair play and impartiality. It is breached the moment the board decides to outsource the recruitment to a private party. Verkuil (2007:1) notes: “The government exercises sovereign powers. When those powers are delegated to outsiders, the capacity to govern is undermined.”

II. MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY FOR E-GOVERNMENT
The historical development of e-government in India has been viewed in three distinguishable phases: 1. Phase I (1947-1984): Informatics-based E-government, 2. Phase II (1984-1995): Personal Computer (PC)-based E-government, and 3. Phase III (1995 to date): Web-based E-government (Misra 2007). By e-government, we will thus mean Web-based e-government, the term being widely understood as such to-day.

As the field of e-government is new, being barely one-and-half decade old, so is the field of management consultancy for e-government. E-government, as Web-based e-government, should also not be confused with information technology (IT) or information and communication technology (ICT) in public sector or in government. As has been shown, the use of computers has been traced to 1950s in India when a super computer was installed at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1953 for help in the preparation of India’s five year plans (ibid.).

Defining Management Consultancy for E-governmentManagement consultancy can be general, strategic, multi-sectoral or inter-sectoral. It can also be sector-specific. Due to distinction between management consultancy and management consultancy for e-government, a definition of management consultancy for e-government is required. Management consultancy for e-government may be defined as:

“A professional practice of advising governments in various aspects of e-government keeping the requirements of the citizens uppermost in mind. Citizen first is its lodestar. The internal requirements of

Table 1 Distinction between Management Consultancy and Management Consultancy for E-government
S.N. Characteristics Management Consultancy Management Consultancy for E-
government
1 Evolution Traced to 1930s Traced to 1993
2 Focus Business Management Public Administration
3 Content Management Management and Technology
4 Sector Dominant in Private Dominant in Public Sector
Sector
5 Motivation Profit Profit and Public Service
6 Cost No constraint if Constraint even if better public
profits are assured service delivery is assured.
7 Current Company-oriented State-oriented
Orientation
8 Needed Customer-oriented Citizen-oriented
Orientation
9 Role of Mercenary Mercenary but also hidden
Consultant representative of the citizens
10 Professional Mature Still to mature
Maturity
11 Impact Company-wide Society-wide
12 Current Status Thriving Nascent
of Industry/
Profession

the governments are made to serve the interests of the citizens. The management consultant acts as a hidden representative of the citizens.

This is a prescriptive or normative definition. It sets as ideal for management consultancy for e-government. In actual practice, of course, the clients- or host organizations- are more concerned with their organizations rather than the interests of citizens. This is where a corrective is needed in the current practice of management consultancy for e-government. We have, therefore, preferred a normative definition for management consultancy for e-government.

III. DISTINCTION BETWEEN MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY FOR E-GOVERNMENT
Management consultancy for e-government should also be distinguished from management consultancy in general (Table 1). The origins of modern management consulting can be traced to 1930s (McKenna 1995:56) while the birth of e-government can be traced to 1993 and that also in the United States (Kamensky 2001). The focus of management consultancy is on business administration while the focus of management consultancy for e-government is on public administration. Similarly management constituted the main content of management consultancy though subsequently it enlisted the support of information technology (IT) which by now is an integral part of management consultancy. In case of management consultancy for e-government, however, both management and technology have been together since the birth of e-government. Management consultancy has been dominant in private sector while management consultancy for e-government is now increasingly becoming prominent in public sector. Note that there are many types of management consultancies in public sector apart from management consultancy for e-government. As regards motivation, both types of consultancies have profit motive but in case of management consultancy for e-government, there is usually a motivation for improved public service delivery. The consultant is also a hidden stakeholder as a citizen and is thus a beneficiary of his own consultancy. Cost matters to both types of consultancies. However, if profits could be assured, the private sector is able to raise the necessary resources. This is, however, not true in case of management consultancy for e-government. Even if better public service delivery is assured, the public sector cannot raise the necessary resources.

Currently management consultancy is company –oriented while management consultancy for e-government is state-oriented. What is needed is that management consultancy should be customer-oriented and while management consultancy for e-government should be citizen –oriented. The role of consultants in both types of consultancies is mercenary but consultants for e-government also play a hidden role of a representative of citizens. Management consultancy has matured professionally but management consultancy for e-government is still to mature professionally. As regards impact, management consultancy has company-wide impact while management consultancy for e-government has society-wide impact. The current status of management consultancy industry/profession is “thriving” notwithstanding the current recession while the current status of management consultancy for e-government industry/profession is in “nascent” state of development in developing countries.

IV. THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY CYCLE FOR E-GOVERNMENT
Management consultancy is a cyclical activity. It has three essential phases: (i) Entry, (ii) Assignment, and (iii) Exit. Also known as management consultancy process, a number of management consultancy cycles exists.

Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, for example, suggests a 5-phase consulting process consisting of 1. Entry (First contact with clients, Preliminary problem diagnosis, Assignment planning, Assignment proposals to client, Consulting contract), 2. Diagnosis (Purpose Analysis, Problem analysis, Fact finding, Fact analysis and synthesis, Feedback to client) 3. Action planning (Developing solutions, Evaluating alternatives, Proposals to client, Planning for implementation), 4. Implementation (Assisting with implementation, Adjusting proposals, Training), and 5. Termination (Evaluation, final report, Settling commitments, Plans for follow-up, Withdrawal) (Kubr (ed.) 2002: 21).

Similarly, Oxford Management Consultants, an Oxford, United Kingdom-based consultancy suggests a 7-phase consulting cycle: 1. Building a relationship, 2. Contracting, 3. Collecting data, 4. Making sense of the data and diagnosing the problem, 5. Making decisions and planning, 6. Implementing, and 7. Disengaging (OMC 2004).

Management Consultancy Cycle and Duration of the Assignment
The management consultancy cycle will also depend upon the duration of assignment. For example, for a short duration assignment, say of one to three months duration, certain phases of the management consultancy cycle may have to be combined or time spent on certain phases may have to be curtailed. It is only in long-duration assignment, say of one year or more, that not only various phases of the management consultancy cycle can be followed in a logical sequence but requisite time can be spent on each phase of the management consultancy cycle. The budgetary outlay for management consultancy for e-government would be a key factor in determining the duration of the assignment. Quite often the management consultancy requirements for e-government are drastically curtailed to remain within sanctioned limits.

Table 2 Domain Expertise in E-government

S.N. Managerial Expertise Technical Expertise
1 Evolution of E-government E-government Architecture and Standards
2 Definition of E-government Website Design and Maintenance
3 Conceptual Foundations of Setting up and Maintenance of Networks
E-government
4 E-citizen Open Source Software and Hardware
5 E-society New and Emerging Technology
6 E-democracy Cyber Laws
7 Change Management in Security
E-government
8 Knowledge Management in Quality Assurance
E-government
9 E-government Planning and Interoperability and Databases
Implementation
10 E-government Monitoring and Data Warehousing
Evaluation
11 Digital Divide Data Mining
12 E-government Management Programming

V. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY FOR E-GOVERNMENT
There indeed have to be two sets of guiding principles for management consultancy for e-government- one for the organization engaging the consultants, and the other for management consultants. Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, for example, provides The Client’s Ten Commandments (Choosing
and Using Consultants) for a user of management consultancy services: 1. Learn about consulting and consultants, 2. Define your problem and look for opportunities, 3. Define your purpose, 4. Choose the right consultant, 5. Develop a joint programme, 6. Cooperate actively with your consultant, 7. Involve the consultant in implementation, 8. Monitor progress, 9. Evaluate the results and the consultant, and 10. Beware of dependence on consultants (Kubr (ed.) 2002:837).

What follows here are ten guiding principles for management consultants for e-government. These are based on “hands-on” experience and some reflection. They will be of use to consultants who wish to enter the field of management consultancy for e-government or are already working in it.

VI. TEN GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS FOR E-GOVERNMENT

Principle 1: Have top-class domain expertiseTo be consultant requires domain expertise. Such an expertise should be top-class (otherwise a consultant has no claim to be called an expert). It is only then that prospective clients will be interested in the services of the consultant. The minimum qualification for an individual consultant is a Ph.D. degree. In context of e-government domain expertise is of two types: (i) managerial, and (ii) technical. The managerial domain will include items like e-government policy, e-government planning and implementation, e-government evaluation as expertise (Table 2). Similarly technical expertise will include items like e-government architecture and standards, website design and maintenance, setting up and maintenance of networks as expertise (ibid.). A consultant should try to specialize in one of these branches of e-government.

Principle 2: Be prepared for surprises. And more surprises.
Once a consultant enters an assignment, he is entering an uncharted territory. So the consultant has to be prepared for surprises, and more surprises. A flexible approach is the rule here. For example, an organization may have hired a consultant for preparing an e-government plan but it may, on its own, come to the conclusion that training of its personnel in preparing an e-government plan is more important than preparation of an e-government plan by the consultant. In such a case the host organization may ask the consultant to undertake systematic training of its personnel in addition to his pre-assigned responsibility of preparing an e-government plan. Such an additional responsibility has to be accepted by the consultant. Likewise the priorities of the host organization may change mid-stream and it may ask the consultant to do something which was not originally provided for in his contract. So long as the new tasks fall within the domain of consultant’s expertise, the same has to be willingly and enthusiastically accepted by the consultant.

Principle 3: You are a consultant. And remain so.
It is very important for the consultant to keep in mind that he is a consultant, repeat a consultant only. This means that his role is only advisory, and, under no circumstances, executive. It may be, for example, very tempting to be a spokesman for the host organization. Apart from the fact that you may be usurping the role of some one in the host organization, who may rightly show you the door, it will show your lack of professionalism in your work which clearly demarcates the boundary of your work. If need arises, as it would rather frequently, to clarify the policies and programmes of the host organization, you should request the host organization to do the same rather than act as a spokesman of the host organization. As a corollary, it is wrong and unprofessional to print the logo of the host organization on your visiting card. Remember to keep a respectful distance from the host organization despite being fully involved in its working and deliberations.

Principle 4: Win the bureaucracy without losing top management support.
The importance of bureaucracy should never be forgotten. After all, it is the bureaucracy which implements the decisions of the top management. They have already been “in the trenches” and thus have first-hand experience in implementing the official policies and programmes. They have seen it all, and gone through it all. As against this a consultant usually is just a greenhorn. In these circumstances they view the claimed expertise of a consultant with understandable suspicion bordering on “what do you know” disdain. This is a big challenge. A consultant should meet this challenge with his expertise by appreciating the hard work already done by them, showing respect for their knowledge and experience. The consultant should then demonstrate his own solution, ready to make any mid-way correction based on their feedback. This way, a consultant should attempt to win their heart and mind, in that order. However, a consultant’s popularity with the establishment should not be at the cost of alienating the top management to whom the consultant is first, and last, responsible for the assignment.

Principle 5: Transfer knowledge and skills to the counterpart officer.It is essential to have a counterpart officer in the assignment. If the host organization has not made any provision for it, the host organization should be requested to designate one clearly spelling out how this provision will help the host organization. This counterpart officer will be a link officer for not only the host organization but also for its various divisional and sectional heads. The consultant should keep him fully informed of his various activities. It is a sound practice to request him to accompany the consultant in meeting different divisional heads and other meetings so that he is kept fully informed of consultant’s deliberations. In fact, the consultant should train him in his expertise. As a result, in his turn, he can train others. Moreover, he should act as a spokesman for the assignment after the consultant leaves after the expiry of his assignment in clarifying, for example, the reasons due to which a consultant made a particular recommendation.

Principle 6: Stick to knitting. Deliver the deliverables.
Whatever be the reason a consultant dare not default on the deliverables. After all, this is the part of his contract, and thus must be fulfilled come what may. Even a delay, unless there are extra-ordinary reasons for it, is inexcusable. It will reflect on consultant’s poor professionalism and thus make him lose his credibility with the host organization. So whatever the demands on the assignment, including new and unanticipated demands, a consultant has to keep working on his deliverables and deliver them according to the pre-determined schedule. These observations also apply to submission of progress reports on his assignment whether at the time of inception, mid-way or at the termination of the assignment. It is a good practice to request the host organization to allow the consultant to make an end-of-assignment presentation describing, among other things, what was expected of him and what he achieved. This is a wrap-up session which will also indicate the road ahead identified by the consultant.

Principle 7: Every one is busy except the consultant.
There may be occasions when the consultant is mariginalised or becomes an outlier to the organization. This may not be due to any lack of will or any hostility on the part of the concerned officers of the host organization or any lack of good will but the widely seen state of their preoccupations with their own work or sudden, unexpected demands of new work. Moreover, such phases usually have short span of life. As such the consultant should take them in his good stride. And if he does so, as he must, he earns the brownie points of the host organization enhancing his stature as a professional e-government consultant. It is thus always useful to keep in mind that the personnel manning the host organization are doing a difficult job, namely, meeting the expectations of the people with limited financial and manpower resources and that too often in unrealistic time-frame. A consultant should, therefore, calmly face such situations demonstrating his professional maturity rather than over-acting to a new situation.

Principle 8: Remain cool whatever be circumstances.There may be times when the consultant is provoked, feels unhappy or even feels insulted. Whatever be the reason, the worst a consultant can do is to lose his cool. A consultant should, therefore, keep his composure all the time despite provocations. A consultant should also never become overbearing with his expertise, howsoever valuable it may be. A consultant should always listen carefully as to what the other party has to say and appreciate his viewpoint. In case the consultant differs with him, the consultant should explain his viewpoint. Similarly a consultant should never, ever grumble with creature comforts provided by the host organization. A consultant should keep in mind that the host organization would already have provided him with the best of creature comforts along with an appropriate status within financial, infrastructure and manpower constraints (in order to get best out of the consultant no doubt). Petty office inconveniences are best ignored and never, ever made a prestige issue. In case, however, a consultant genuinely feels aggrieved by any thing, he can always take up his grievance with the concerned officer in a friendly way.

Principle 9: Observe code of ethics scrupulously.Consultants have code of ethics to follow. Such codes are usually laid down by professional associations of consultants or the organizations to which they belong. For example, the Institute of Management Consultants U.S.A. requires its members to adhere to its “Code of Ethics as a condition of membership and certification. The standards of conduct set forth in this Code provide basic principles in the ethical practice of management consulting.” (IMC USA 2005). In addition to adhering to the prescribed codes of ethics, a consultant must be guided by his conscience all the time. For example, he should not accept a consultancy assignment in a field in which he has no professional competence. Similarly, accepting a consultancy assignment in an organization which was funded by an organization in which the consultant was earlier working is not only unethical but a serious misconduct worthy of outright condemnation.

Principle 10: Wash your hands off the contract after it is over.It is natural to develop emotional bonds with personnel of the host organization with whom a consultant works during the course of his assignment. A sound practice, however, requires that the consultant keeps reasonable distance with all the people involved in his assignment. A consultant should always give the impression that he is (i) a professional consultant, whose services are available (ii) during the period of assignment only. A consultant should wash his hands off the assignment once the contract is over. In no case, should he take interest in the consequences of his assignment. For example, what happened to his recommendations? If the recommendations were worthy of implementation, they would have been implemented. Similarly, a consultant should not try to establish contacts with individual officers after the expiry of the contract. This may embarrass them greatly. A consultant should treat the assignment after its expiry as a one-shot, closed affair. This is a professional requirement. Let the organization move on, which it will in any case.

VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Management consultancy for e-government is a new and emerging field. A good deal of literature exists in the field of management consultancy. The same can be used in management consultancy for e-government too but up to an extent only. It has been contended here that management consultancy and management consultancy for e-government are two distinguishable fields of professional practice. A normative definition of management consultancy for e-government has been attempted here so that the interests of the citizens are not ignored. A noteworthy feature of management consultancy for e-government is that the consultant can act as a hidden stakeholder in management consultancy for e-government as a citizen. He can thus effectively articulate the citizen grievances, say in public service delivery, and include their solution in his advice, thus benefiting both the state and the citizens. Ten guiding principles for management consultancy for e-government developed here may help the aspiring and practicing management consultants for e-government in serving the state and the citizens.

NOTES
1 The ministry, according to the news report, announced the need for a National Policy on ICT in School Education in 2007, for which it initiated a consultative process along with Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) and CSDMS to address the needs and challenges for teaching and learning in the 21st century using technology tools (Vishnoi 2008).

REFERENCES
Curnow, Barry and Jonathan Reuvid (2003): The international consulting industry to-day, in Curnow, Barry and Jonathan Reuvid (eds.) (2003): The International Guide to Management Consultancy: The Evolution, Practice and Structure of Management Consultancy Worldwide, London, Kogan Page, Second edition, pp 9-20

Greiner, L.E. and R.O. Metzger (1983): Consulting to management, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, as cited in Kubr (ed.) (2002) (q.v.), p-3.

IMC USA (Institute of Management Consultants, USA) (2005): IMC USA Code of Ethics, Washington, D.C., February 3, http://www.imcusa.org/?page=ETHICSCODE

Kamensky, John (2001): A Brief History of Vice President Al Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government During the Administration of President Bill Clinton 1993-2001, January 12, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/whoweare/historyofnpr.html, as cited in Misra (2008) (q.v.), p-21

Kubr, Milan (ed.) (2002): Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO), Fourth edition.

Martin, Denis Saint (2005): Management Consultancy, in Ferlie, Ewan, Laurence E. Lynn, and Christopher Pollitt (eds.) (2005): Oxford Handbook of Public Management, New York, Oxford University Press, Chapter 28, pp-681 and 688.

McKenna, Christopher D. (1995): The Origins of Modern Management Consulting, Business and Economic History, 24 (1) 51-8, http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v024n1/p0051-p0058.pdf

Misra, D.C. (2007): Sixty Years of Development of E-governance in India (1947-2007): Are there Lessons for Developing Countries? ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 232, Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Theory and practice of electronic governance, Macao, China, Session: Development and electronic governance, pp 337-340, http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1328057.1328127

Misra, D.C. (2008): Select Aspects of Conceptual Foundations of E-government: Clearing the Fog for a Better Vision, in Agarwal, Ashok and V. Venkata Ramana (2007): Foundations of E-government, New Delhi, GIFT Publishing, pp 21-33

OMC (Oxford Management Consultants) (2004): The Consulting Cycle, http://www.clientcentredconsulting.co.uk/consultingcycle.html

Rassam, Clive (2001): The management consultancy industry, in Sadler, Philip (2001): Management Consultancy: A Handbook for Best Practice, London, Kogan Page, Chapter 3, pp 30 and 45.

Steele, F. (1975): Consulting for organizational change, Amherst, MA, Massachusetts Press, as cited in Kubr (ed.) (2002), p-3.

Verkuil, Paul R. (2007): Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization of Government Functions Threatens Democracuy and What We Can Do About It, New York, Cambridge University Press.

Vishnoi, Anubhuti (2008): Ministerial panel to draft HRD’s ICT policy for schools, New Delhi, December 22, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ministerial-panel-to-draft-hrds-ict-policy-for-schools/401222/, accessed June 8, 2009.1

(c)Dr D.C,Misra 2009

How can India reform its bureaucracy? Give E-civil Service a Chance.

2009-06-08T20:15:00.001+05:30

One does not require league tables to tell us that the Indian bureaucracy is passing through a grave crisis. Just try to get any public service and see for yourself how difficult is it to get a public service to which you are otherwise entitled to as a citizen. The very fact that the President of our republic in her address to Parliament on June 4, 2009 mentioned “governance reform” as one of the ten priority areas for the next five years will show that the government is aware of the need for governance reform at the highest level.

The two remedies which your write-up suggests, namely, appointment of political appointees from private sector as is done in the U.S. and lesser state involvement, presumably in the life of citizens, do not bear scrutiny. Political appointees have repeatedly failed in the U.S. As a result, calls are now being made to cut down their numbers. As regards performance, Paul Verkuil, a Professor of Law, cites the study of Professor David Lewis which reported that “politically appointed bureau chiefs get systematically lower management grades than bureau chiefs drawn from the civil service.” The State can and should shed its extra baggage as has already been done by privatization in power and telecom sectors, etc. since 1991 but certain other state functions simply cannot be shed away. These will include, for example, defence, law and order, etc.

For reforming Indian bureaucracy, solution is twofold. First, instead of indulging in unwarranted and unproductive bureaucratic bashing, strengthen the civil service. A state is as good (or as capable) as its civil service. This requires radical improvements in the internal working of civil service. A demoralized civil service is hardly an ideal instrument to serve the state and its citizens. The vast majority of civil service stands demoralized to-day due to faulty recruitment, unfair promotion policies, poor performance assessment, unsympathetic transfer and posting policies, and political interference. One quickly learns that it is neither hard work, nor professional competence, nor merit which gives a satisfactory career progression but one’s caste, class, and region. This can, and does, break even the strongest of civil servants.

Secondly, promote e-governance. This is where the tyre meets the road. It has direct impact on public service delivery and thus matters most to citizens. After an outstanding success in e-commerce (railway reservation, etc.), e-banking (online banking, etc.), there is no reason why e-governance (24x7 public service delivery online) should elude us. But it is eluding us notwithstanding the implementation of an ambitious National E-governance Plan. The progress of e-governance has been tardy and patchy so far. And the reason? Once again the civil service which has failed to meet the demands of e-governance. The solution thus lies in promoting the e-civil service.

The term e-civil service has been used by me for two senses. In the first sense it is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or software programs in discharging the functions of the civil service. This will make use of, what is called in tech jargon, zero-touch technology (ZTT), that is, technology that does not involve human intervention. ZTT is superior to human intervention as it is expected to cause least errors in processing. Consider, for example, issue of passports. If the issue of passports is based on fulfillment of certain requirements, as it is, why this job cannot be done by an AI agent? In fact, artificial intelligence (AI) is ideally suited for many routine functions in the government. It is also cost-effective and out-performs human beings in processing of cases which suits cash-strapped governments.

In the second sense, the term e-civil service is used for civil servants discharging their functions as civil servants online. It is in this role that civil service is found seriously wanting. It is, however, futile to blame the civil service again for it as it is its managers who are responsible for this plight. How do you, for example, expect the civil servants to be tech-savvy when they are not formally trained in information and communication technologies (ICTs)? Reforming our governance should, therefore start with training civil service in ICTs. This will move the governance from Government 1.0 (one-way from government to citizens) to Government 2.0 (two-way interactive government). India is world’s fourth largest “internet nation.” It deserves e-civil service in its own right. Give it a chance.

Dr D.C.Misra
Former Chairman, Task Force for IT Policy for Delhi
New Delhi, India
June 8, 2009

‘Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing’ (WILB) makes workers more productive, says a University of Melbourne study

2009-04-03T23:41:00.000+05:30

WILB Workers who engage in ‘Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing’ (WILB) are more productive than those who don’t, according to Dr Brent Coker of the Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne. “People who do surf the Internet for fun at work - within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office - are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t,” he says. (n=300). Broadcast quality footage (approx 500mb+) of Dr Brent Coker talking about the study is available from: media.marcom.unimelb.edu.au/pub/newsroom/Coker/cokerb_mr_20090401.mov and an audio (MP3) file of this interview is also available for download at media.marcom.unimelb.edu.au/pub/newsroom/Coker/cokerb_mr_20090401.mp3
(Source: http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/news/5750/, April 2, 2009)

Quotable Quote

2009-04-03T22:18:00.002+05:30

"I can tell you, having spent some time within the federal agencies, I've been amazed that some of the smartest people I've ever met in my life are federal government employees."
--Vivek Kundra, Federal CIO at FOSE

(Source: Jackson, Joab (2009): Kundra courts the risk of innovation, GCN, April 2, http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/04/06/Kundra-innovation.aspx?Page=5)

2009 Top Ten Most Wanted Government Documents

2009-04-02T15:03:00.002+05:30

1. Public Access to All Congressional Research Service Reports (Legislative Branch)
2. Information About the Use of TARP and Bailout Funds (Executive Branch)
3. Open and Accessible Federal Court Documents Through the PACER System (Judicial Branch)
4. Current Contractor Projects (Executive Branch)
5. Court Settlements Involving Federal Agencies (Judicial Branch)
6. Access to Comprehensive Information About Legislation and Congressional Actions via
THOMAS or Public Access to Legislative Information Service (Legislative Branch)
7. Online Access to Electronic Campaign Disclosures (Legislative Branch)
8. Daily Schedules of the President and Cabinet Officials (Executive Branch)
9. Personal Financial Disclosures from Policymakers Across Government (All Branches)
10. State Medicaid Plans and Waivers (Executive Branch)

Check the full report at

http://cdt.org/righttoknow/20090320_TopTenReport.pdf

Dr D.C.Misra

Misra,D.C.(2009): Administrative Reforms Commission on E-governance: Time to include E-governance in Election Manifesto

2009-03-18T14:36:00.002+05:30

Realising the need to revamp the public administration, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) appointed a commission of inquiry, called the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) “to prepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the public administration system” on August 31, 2005. The commission is required “to suggest measures to achieve a proactive, responsive, accountable, sustainable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of the government.” The commission will, inter alia, consider (ix) Citizen-centric administration, and (x) Promoting e-governance.

Promoting E-governance
E-governance promotion is based on two important planks: (a) To reduce red-tape, delay and inconveniences through technology interventions including the use of modern tools, techniques and instruments of e-governance, and (b) Promote knowledge sharing to realise continuous improvement in the quality of governance (ibid.).
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) has now released its much-awaited report on e-governance entitled “Promoting e-Governance: The SMART Way Forward” (eleventh report; December 2008) on January 25, 2009 in New Delhi. The Commission needs to be congratulated for placing its entire report online (http://arc.gov.in/11threp/ARC_11th_report.htm) and that too immediately after its release thus making it accessible to a large number of people. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) too needs to be congratulated for specifically including the item of “Promoting e-governance” for consideration of the commission showing Department’s commitment to the cause of e-governance.

E-governance for All by 2020
Recognising the importance of e-governance, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) has given a call for making e-governance available to all by 2020. The Commission, among other things, has recommended that “A clear road map with a set of milestones should be outlined by Government of India with the ultimate objective of transforming the citizen-government interaction at all levels to the e-Governance mode by 2020.”

Recommendations
The Commission has summed up its recommendations in wide-ranging 17 categories. In Category 1: Building a Congenial Environment, the Commission has recommended “Providing political support at the highest level” for successful implementation of e-governance initiatives. In Category 2: Identification of E-governance Projects and Prioritisation, the Commission has categorized e-governance initiatives into five categories ranging from simple (provision of information) to complex (creation and integration of complex databases). In Category 3: Business Process Re-engineering, the Commission has recommended: “…….governmental forms, processes and structures should be re-designed to make them adaptable to e-Governance, backed by procedural, institutional and legal changes.” In Category 4. Capacity Building and Creating Awareness, the Commission has rightly laid emphasis on training, and in particular has recommended: “A network of training institutions needs to be created in the States with the Administrative Training Institutes at the apex. The Administrative Training Institutes in various States should take up capacity building programmes in e-Governance, by establishing strong e-Governance wings. ATIs need to be strengthened under the NeGP.”

In Category 5: Developing Technological Solutions the Commission has laid emphasis on ‘enterprise architecture’ framework, observing “There is a need to develop a national e-Governance ‘enterprise architecture’ framework as has been done in some countries.” In Category 6: Implementation, an important category as e-governance projects are known to fail quite frequently, in addition to familiar observations on project management the focus is on websites and change management, two items important in their own right. In Category 7: Monitoring and Evaluation, the Commission makes routine observations. In Category 8: Institutional Framework for Coordination and Sharing of Resources/Information, the Commission urges that the “Departments of Information Technology at the Union and State Government levels should provide institutional support to other departments and organizations in implementation of e-Governance projects identified and conceptualized by them.” In Category 9: Public-Private Partnership (PPP), the Commission recommends that “Several components of e-Governance projects lend themselves to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. In all such cases (PPP) should be the preferred mode.”

In Category 10: Protecting Critical Information Infrastructure Assets, the Commission recommends “There is need to develop a critical information infrastructure assets protection strategy. This should be supplemented with improved analysis and warning capabilities as well as improved information sharing on threats and vulnerabilities.” In Category 11: The Common Support Infrastructure, the Commission re-iterates the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Information Technology in its 58th Report, that “State Data Centres (SDCs) should be maintained by Government agencies such as NIC as it involves handling of sovereign data. Further, all data centres at the State level should be subsumed in the SDCs.” In Category 12: Mission Mode Projects, the Commission makes a number of recommendations including use of annual performance appraisal report for recording performance in e-governance.

In Category 13: Mission Mode Project on Computerisation of Land Records, the Commission has recommended that “Surveys and measurements need to be carried out in a mission mode utilizing modern technology to arrive at a correct picture of land holdings and land parcels and rectification of outdated maps.” In Category 14: Passport & Visa MMP, the Commission has recommended: “The entire passport issue process needs to be put on an e-Governance mode in phases.” In Category 16: Legal Framework for e-Governance, the Commission makes a far-reaching recommendation: “A clear road map with a set of milestones should be outlined by Government of India with the ultimate objective of transforming the citizen-government interaction at all levels to the e-Governance mode by 2020.” In last Category 17: Knowledge Management, the Commission has recommended: “Union and State Governments should take proactive measures for establishing Knowledge Management systems as a pivotal step for administrative reforms in general and e-Governance in particular.”

A Summing Up
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission, set up in 2005, nearly four decades after the first was set up in 1966, was required to consider “Promoting e-governance” and “suggest measures to achieve a proactive, responsive, accountable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of the government.” No doubt it was a tall order. Yet it was also a major opportunity to promote the cause of e-governance countrywide at all levels of the government. The report turns out to be a disappointment making recommendations on various aspects of e-governance already currently under implementation. Many of its recommendations are also incomplete.

For example, the Commission makes a salutary but incomplete recommendation on training. While Commission’s focus on training is right, it is not clear as to what it hads in mind while recommending creation of a network of training institutions with the Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) at the apex as it has not spelled out which training institutes will constitute the network within the state and why. In fact, it is unnecessary to set up any training institution at sub-state level as a capable ATI can, and should, provide training online in the language of the state. More importantly, the Commission is silent on e-governance training capability at the national level including the performance of National Institute of Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad and other Centres for E-governance which have been or proposed to be set up as in matters like these states often look to the Centre for guidance.

Similarly the Commission has suggested development of a national e-Governance ‘enterprise architecture’ framework but this is already being done by National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi. The Commission has missed the valuable opportunity of getting some of important websites independently evaluated to see if they are meeting their stated objectives and trying to bring some order to what is fast becoming an unregulated jungle of websites with accompanying waste of scarce public resources. In evaluation, no suggestion has been made for any assessment of the functioning of project management unit (PMU) for the National E-governance Plan (NEGP), nor of the evaluation studies carried out so far, nor for that matter, evaluation assessment framework (EAF) Version 2.0.

On computerisation of land records, the Commission has not specified the technology it has in mind (satellite imagery? remote sensing? geographical information system (GIS)?) nor has it mentioned of good work done by the Centre and states. Also it has mixed up rural and urban land records, each of which has separate requirement. No attempt has been made to compare and contrast deeds registration and Torrens system as a result of which citizens continue to be burdened with the onus of proving ownership of land resulting in heavy litigation. There is no mention about chip-based e-passport scheme launched in June 2008 with e-passport likely to be made available from May 2009.

What was wanted was a close knit, clearly articulated, “action plan” for promoting e-governance countrywide. A major opportunity to treat e-governance as a prime mover of administrative reforms has thus been lost. With elections round the corner, various political parties will soon draft their election manifestoes. They owe it to their electorate to include “promotion of e-governance” as an important item in their election manifestos. This opportunity must not be missed. It must be seized in the interest of e-governance so that interests of citizens are better served whether they relate to public policy, regulation, public service delivery or development.

Dr D.C.MISRA
March 18, 2009

Administrative Reforms Commission on E-governance

2009-02-25T11:18:00.005+05:30

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission, set up in 2005, released its report on E-governance on January 25, 2009 in New Delhi. A copy of the report is available online.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 25, 2009.

Misra, D.C.(2009) Emerging E Gov Challenges 2009

2009-02-21T18:33:00.001+05:30

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Misra, D.C.(2009) Emerging E Gov Challenges 2009

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Presentation on "Emerging Challenges of E-governance 2009"

2009-02-20T23:29:00.010+05:30

This is a PowerPoint presentation made by me in a public lecture on "Emerging Challenges of E-governance Today" delivered by me on Friday, February 20, 2009, at 5-30 p.m. at Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, New Delhi-110 002. His Excellency Mr Zadi Gbaka Richard, Ambassador of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire to India was the Chief Guest on the occasion. This is an annual stock-taking of e-governence which I have been undertaking for last few years. For any clarification, feel free to contact me at dc_misra [at]hotmail.com.

Public Lecture on Emerging Challenges of E-governance Today on Friday, February 20, 2009, New Delhi

2009-02-11T00:23:00.003+05:30

I propose to deliver a public lecture on "Emerging Challenges of E-governance Today" on Friday, February 20, 2009, at 5-30 p.m. at Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, New Delhi-110 002. This is an annual stock-taking of e-governence which I have been undertaking for last few years. If interested, kindly confirm your participation to me at dc_misra [at]hotmail.com.

Dr D.C.Misra

Misra, D. C. (2009): Ten Emerging Challenges in E-governance Curriculum

2009-01-29T21:44:00.004+05:30

Misra,D.C. (2009) 6 Choice Belief Developing E Gov Curriculum

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This is a presentation made on Ten Emerging Challenges in E-governance Curriculum, in an international symposium on Distance Learning as an E-infrastructures Application: Innovation and Future Trends organized by European Commission under joint BELIEF, 6 CHOICE projects in New Delhi, India, January 29, 2009, http://www.beliefproject.org/events/belief-indian-symposium

Dr D.C.Misra

Misra,D.C.(2009): E-governance in ICT Innovations

2009-01-24T01:12:00.004+05:30

This is a presentation on E-governance in ICT Innovations I made in India R&D 2009 in its session on Ecosystem in ICT Innovations organised by Department of Science and Technology, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and European Union in New Delhi on January 23, 2009.

Misra,D.C.(2009): E-governance in ICT Innovations

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Carol Bartz, new CEO of Yahoo. What an inspiring story?

2009-01-18T01:17:00.000+05:30

This one-page write-up on Carol Bartz, the new CEO of YahooI makes a very inspiring story. Do read it whenever you get time.

E-government Trails Telephone and Personal Visits in Bangalore, India's Information Capital, Shows a Recent Study

2009-01-15T00:45:00.005+05:30

If you thought all was well with e-government in India’s so-called information capital, Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Karnataka, you are mistaken. A recent study of e-government in Bangalore by Raman (2008)* in 75 of the 100 wards (n= 993) has indicated that though 33% of the participants used computers and internet, only 6.9% used e-government services. Most of those who used government websites used it to look up contact information (81%). Majority of the users (87%) said they did not feel they got any additional information or benefit from using the website. On a scale of 1 (least) to 5 (most), users rated e-government website content on relevance, usefulness, reliability, and up-to-date nature of information at mean scores below 3. There was no statistically significant difference between computer users and nonusers in local government participation. Data revealed that though young, well educated individuals from middle or higher income groups are interested in using new information technology, they rank using e-government services as their third priority after telephone and personal visits to get information about local government. Thank you, Veena, for your study. Check her paper at

http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/8/9/3/7/pages189372/p189372-1.php

Dr D.C.Misra
January 15, 2009
______________________________________________________________________________________
* Raman, Veena (2008): Interactive citizen-government relations? A survey of e-government in India’s information capital, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the NCA 93rd Annual Convention, TBA, Chicago, IL, November 15, 2007, Published: December 11, 2008, http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/8/9/3/7/pages189372/p189372-1.php (accessed: January 15, 2009)

10 Best Jobs in America

2009-01-08T20:15:00.003+05:30

The Web never ceases to surprise me. Here comes a list of 10 Best Jobs in America (and there is a list of 10 Worst jobs too!)published by Tony Lee on his site CareerCast.com based on ranking of 200 jobs:

1. Mathematician
(Applies mathematical theories and formulas to teach or solve problems in a business, educational, or industrial climate).

2. Actuary
(Interprets statistics to determine probabilities of accidents, sickness, and death, and loss of property from theft and natural disasters).

3. Statistician
(Tabulates, analyzes, and interprets the numeric results of experiments and surveys).

4. Biologist
(Studies the relationship of plants and animals to their environment).

5. Software Engineer
(Researches, designs, develops and maintains software systems along with hardware development for medical, scientific, and industrial purposes).

6. Computer Systems Analyst
(Plans and develops computer systems for businesses and scientific institutions).

7. Historian
(Plans and develops computer systems for businesses and scientific institutions).

8. Sociologist
(Studies human behavior by examining the interaction of social groups and institutions).

9. Industrial Engineer
(Designs and develops manufactured products).

10. Accountant
(Prepares and analyzes financial reports to assist managers in business, industry and government).

Back in 1960s when I chose to study Mathematics and Statistics as subjects of study at the undergraduate level, I never thought that they would figure in top three jobs. What attracted me to mathematics was its rationality and thus its predictability and what attracted me to statistics was the brave attempt it made to reduce uncertainty to certainty via probability theories. The downside was that by the time I took my Master's in Statistics, I had forgotten all about language and writing simply meant writing in Greek alphabets! And there in lies the real appeal of Mathematics: Condensing a paragraph of material or a very powerful thought to just a few symbols!

Do you agree with the ranking? Or is there something amiss in it?

Future Shines for E-governance

2008-12-31T05:36:00.003+05:30

As the new year dawns, the future looks rosy. Good news for e-governance comes from bellwether Obamaland where citizens have expressed greater satisfaction in government websites than all the federal agencies combined. While the same cannot be said to be true in case of developing countries, it shows the continuing great promise of e-governance worldwide. Read commentary by Professor Claes Fornell, The Donald C. Cook Professor of Business Administration, and Director, National Quality Research Center, Stephen M. Ross Business School at the University of Michigan and Dennis McDonald’s blog .Prof Fornell, among other things, observes: User satisfaction with government websites, as measured in the third quarter, scores 73.9, 7% higher than the aggregate for all federal government agencies.

Have a Happy New Year and Good E-governance.

National Conference for E-governance, February 12-13, Goa: Papers invited for the Compendium

2008-12-26T18:46:00.003+05:30

Papers have been invited by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, New Delhi for the Compendium to be brought out on the occasion of the 12th National Conference on e-Governance scheduled for February 12-13, 2009 at Holiday Inn, Mobor Beach, Cavelossim, Goa.The last date for submission of papers is January 15, 2009

Misra, D.C. (2009): 2009 Top Ten IT Books

2008-12-22T20:47:00.000+05:30

This is a list of ten information technology (IT) general interest books (as distinct from technical books and DIY manuals) reviewed cumulatively at the end of year 2008 and covers a wide variety of subjects ranging from atoms and bits to human consciousness. The review finds that no book qualifies to be called a classic and an IT classic of general interest is yet to be written. The list will be of interest to general readers.

Misra, D.C. (2009): 2009 Top Ten IT Books

This is not a list of top ten information technology (IT) books published during 2008 nor a list based on any objective criterion (like number of copies sold). It is a list of top ten IT books at the end of the year 2008. The books are also of general interest, that is, non-technical IT books and the list excludes DIY manuals and technical texts. The only criterion of selection I have used is that the book should have excited me when it came to my notice for the first time and sustained my interest in reading it. When I decided to prepare the list, I did not realize that the task was so difficult, for I would have loved to include many more books but couldn’t due to limitation on number! So here is my list, subjective as it is:

1. Negroponte, Nicholas (1996): Being Digital, London, Hodder and Stoughton. First published in 1995. (Told me about the difference between atoms (physical world) and bit (electronic world).

2. Gates, Bill with Nathan Myhrvold (1995): The Road Ahead, London, Penguin. (The first visionary account of IT I read by Gates Version 1.0 when he was an IT missionary. Gates Version 2.0 turned out to be a pure businessman).

3. Dertouzos, Michael L. (1997): What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives, New York, Harper Collins (A guide to the future speculating about wide varieties of technologies and gadgets. It has a chapter on government too).

4. Gilder, George (2000): Telecosm: How Infinite Bandwidth Will Revolutionize Our World, New York, The Free Press (The first book which told me about the telecom infrastructure, particularly fibre-optic cables and subsequent promise of availability of cheap bandwidth).

5. Hafner, Katie and Matthew Lyon (1996): Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet, New York, Simon and Schuster. (The first “definitive” history of the origin of Internet I read which kept me awake too.).

6. Brooks, Frederick (2000): The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Addison Wesley Longman. Anniversary edition. First published 1975. (The fact that it was widely quoted aroused my curiosity and when I read it I found it pure gold!).

7. Raymond, Eric S. (2001): The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary, Sebastopol, CA, O’Reilly. Revised edition. First published 1999.(All about hackerdom and propriety versus open source debate).

8. Moody, Glyn (2001): Rebel Code: How Linus Torvalds, Linux and the Open Source Movement Are Outmastering Microsoft, London, Penguin (A thrilling history of open source movement).

9. Himanen, Pekka (2001): The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age, London, Random House. (All about hackerism by an author who got his Ph.D. at the age of 20 years!).

10. Penrose, Roger (1994): Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness, London, Random House. First published in 1994. (All about human consciousness and the still continuing debate about man versus computer by a powerful mind).

Does any book qualify to be called a “classic,” a book which does not date and invites you to be read again? I am afraid not. The nearest a book goes to the level of a classic is Brooks’ Mythical Man-Month but the book has become out of date. No other book attracts you to be read again, their arguments, insights, etc. having become familiar and thus uninviting. Note also that no book published during last seven years (2002-08) figures in the list. Is it a sign of a decline in creativity? It appears that an IT classic is yet to be written. Any takers?

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dr D.C.Misra

December 22, 2008

Inauguration of Centre for Excellence in E-governance, IIT, New Delhi, December 18, 2008

2008-12-21T11:17:00.001+05:30

Stallman inaugurates Centre for Excellence in E-governance in IIT, New Delhi

2008-12-21T00:36:00.003+05:30

Dr D.C.Misra at IIT, New Delhi, on the occasion of ICEG 2008

2008-12-21T00:22:00.005+05:30

Stallman inaugurates Centre for Excellence in E-governance in IIT, New Delhi

2008-12-21T00:10:00.005+05:30

Richard Stallman, Founder of GNU Project and Free Software Foundation, inaugurated the Centre for Excellence in E-governance in Department of Management Studies,Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi on Thursday, December 18, 2008 as part of 6th International Conference on E-governance (December 18-20, 2008).The Centre is supported by Sun Microsystems, India.

Dr D.C.Misra
December 20,2008

Much government web content is written in “governmentese” instead of plain language, says a white paper of Federal Web Managers Council

2008-12-18T17:37:00.000+05:30

Much government web content is written in “governmentese” instead of plain language, says a white paper* developed by the Federal Web Managers Council, comprised of Cabinet agency Web Directors. The paper suggests (i) Establish Web Communications as a core government business function, (ii) Help the public complete common government tasks efficiently, (iii) Clean up the clutter so people can find what they need online, (iv) Engage the public in a dialogue to improve our customer service, (v) Engage the public in a dialogue to improve our customer service, (vi) Ensure the public gets the same answer whether they use the web, phone, email, print, or visit in-person, (vii) Ensure underserved populations can access critical information online. All of these are sound suggestions. Item (vi) is perhaps most difficult to ensure in practice. There are about 24,000 government websites now online, notes the white paper. The Council has also invited comments on the white paper. Mercifully it is a 3-page white paper. Surely worth a look.

Dr D.C.Misra
______________________________________________________________________________________
FWMC (Federal Web Managers Council) (2008): Putting Citizens First: Transforming Online Government, A White Paper Written for the 2008 – 2009 Presidential Transition Team, November, http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/documents/Federal_Web_Managers_WhitePaper.pdf (accessed: December 18, 2008).

Ten Guiding Principles for E-civil Service

2008-12-01T02:04:00.002+05:30

Ten Guiding Principles for E-civil Service
by
D.C.Misra*
_____________________________________________________________________________________

I Introduction
Is there anything called e-civil service or electronic civil service? If so, what is it? How does it differ from the traditional civil service? How can it keep pace with technological developments? What role does it have in Government 2.0? Is there any conflict between old conduct rules for the civil servants and the new environment? What role does e-civil service play in the development of e-government? Does it require separate recognition as an entity and support so that it can accelerate the pace of development of e-government worldwide? Questions like these must be asked and replies attempted as they have direct bearing on the future course of development of e-government.

II E-civil Service
There are two primary drivers of e-government: technology vendors and civil service. Technology vendors have succeeded in promoting e-government but to a limited extent. Their limitation is that their promotion of e-government is limited to their own technology. Civil service has also promoted e-government but to a much lesser extent. Its limitations are that it works under a rule-bound environment, is always caught napping in technology developments, and above all, has no motivation to promote e-government. Among the two, however, civil service has greater stakes in e-government as it is required to serve the government in power as well as citizens.

Government implements its decisions through civil service. The civil service also provides policy inputs. Civil service is appropriately described as the backbone of government as government policies and programme can fail in implementation by the civil service or wrong policies can be formulated with its help. What, however, is not recognized is the quiet emergence of e-civil service or electronic civil service in tandem with the emergence of e-government since mid-1990s. If e-government is to succeed, not only the emergence of e-civil service has to be recognized but strengthened as well so as to enable it face the new challenge of e-government competently.

E-civil service or electronic civil service may be defined in two important and markedly different senses:

E-civil service or electronic civil service: As the civil service using information and communication technology (ICT) in conducting its internal work and external public service delivery. It differs from the traditional civil service on a number of important parameters. We will refer to it as e-civil service or electronic civil service.

Ai-civil service or artificial intelligence (AI) civil service: As artificial intelligence (AI) agents performing the civil service jobs, say, determining amount of fine in traffic violations. Chun (2007) describes application of artificial intelligence (AI) in immigration control in Hong Kong special administrative region (SAR) by using assessment rule engine, schema-based reasoning engine, workflow rule engine, case-based reasoning (CBR) engine, and self-learning engine. E-civil service and AI- civil service can be distinguished.

The emergence of e-government has increased the responsibility of civil service by incorporating the requirements of e-civil service and ai-civil service. In the initial stages of development of e-government, the traditional civil service, e-civil service and ai-civil service will all co-exist. E-civil service and ai-civil service are thus add-on to the existing civil service and not its replacement. It is only in the final stage that one can think of e-civil service and ai-civil service replacing the traditional civil service, and that too only in part, notwithstanding the projections of futurologists. However, e-civil service and ai-civil service both will gain increasingly more ground with the passage of time. In the new environment of e-governance, therefore, the task of civil service has become quite enormous, unprecedented and, yes, very challenging.

III An E-democracy Model Highlighting the Key Role of E-civil Service
An e-democracy model highlighting the key role of e-civil service can now be proposed. The model proposes that (i) e-civil service is the backbone of government and e-government, (ii) e-civil service is required to serve democracy and e-democracy on the one hand and citizen and e-citizen on the other, (iii) Democracy is characterized by rule by majority, and adult suffrage, (iv) E-democracy is characterized by the Internet and e-engagement, (v) Democracy-performance mismatch has resulted in widespread embracing of e-government, and (vi) e-engagement is an integral part of e-government.

IV Guiding Principles for Development of E-civil ServiceThe e-democracy model proposed above (Section III) highlights the key role of e-civil service in promoting e-democracy. The coming into being of e-civil service is raising a number of important issues, many of which are unprecedented, which require to be addressed. Fountain (2007:6-7) observes “In one sense, digital tools merely enhanced the power of a set of reforms already underway and accepted as legitimate and appropriate by civil servants. Yet the extraordinary power of the internet to allow citizens to access government “anytime, anywhere,” greatly increased accessibility and made abstruse government documents and procedures, now online, more glaringly unresponsive to citizens.” The following ten guiding principles are suggested for the development of e-civil service.

Principle 1. Recognise the Emergence of E-Civil Service
E-civil service is quietly entering the governments worldwide. However, it has so far not been formally recognized. This has twofold consequences. First, the non-recognition deprives e-civil service of any systematic development as a result of which the quality of e-government is adversely affected. Secondly, the non-recognition is leading to piling up of issues which, with passage of time, are only getting more complicated making their subsequent solution elusive, time-consuming and costly. Thirdly, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to civil service tasks has given rise to, what this author has called, artificial intelligence (AI) civil service, has also not being recognized. New technologies create policy vacuums (Moor 1985). However, the policy vacuum created by the emergence of e-civil service has so far not been filled. It has thus become essential to formally recognize the emergence of e-civil service.

Principle 2. Encourage Civil Service to Work Online
One of the main conclusions of case studies of e-government projects in five countries-Argentina, Mexico, India, United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia- analyzed to see how personnel issues slowed implementation of e-government projects is that “High-level support does not ensure staff buy-in.” (WB 2005). There is so far no incentive for civil servants to work online. As a result, adoption of e-government practices is slow in civil service. The typical incentives are an entry of work done online in annual performance appraisal, grant of an increment in salary for doing good work, and formal recognition by grant of award for exemplary work in e-government. These are, however, mundane incentives which have only limited impact, if any. A mandatory policy may prove to be counter-productive as it may invite hostility from civil servants. Likewise an absence of policy will only maintain status quo. A middle path may be a practical strategy. For example, a mandatory policy may be adopted for routine tasks in the civil service like sanction of casual leave, approval of tour programme and filing of property returns. For rest of the tasks, civil service has to be encouraged to work online by providing appropriate incentives.

Principle 3. Encourage E-civil Service to Use Web 2.0 TechnologiesThe essence of Web 2.0 or Social Web is interactivity. And Web 2.0 is a reality. Many civil servants lurk in discussion groups but do not actively participate in discussion for fear of violating conduct rules and inviting the wrath of their superiors. On their part, the governments too have so far also not issued any guidelines on this issue. In a pioneering attempt, Cabinet Office in United Kingdom has issued the following guidelines: 1. Be credible, 2. Be consistent, 3. Be responsive, 4. Be integrated, and 5. Be a civil servant (CO 2008). Clift (2008) notes: “Every country needs a similar policy guide or alternatively as a whole, their government will become irrelevant to most people. Countries with civil servants disconnected online, have disconnected democracies.” Our civil services are still steeped in 19th century ethos. They must now become civil services of 21st century. One way to achieve this objective is to encourage e-civil service to use Web 2.0 technologies.

Principle 4. Recognise New Demands of Citizens on Civil Service
Civil service is known for not changing its way of working. History proves this statement. Change when introduced is easily absorbed into the system and the civil service quickly reverts to its old ways of working. All this, however, appears to be changing in the age of e-government. The emergence of e-government since mid-1990s has started placing new demands on civil service. Not only is e-government changing the way e-government works (for example, making it more technology-oriented) and the work it does (for example, adding the online work) but also citizen expectation from civil service. Citizens now want value-added, tailor-made public service delivery online and, what is more important from civil service point of view, hold the civil service, and not its political masters, directly responsible for it. So far civil service has worked protected under the cloak of anonymity. This is no longer possible in the age of e-government which espouses the cause of open and transparent government. These new demands of citizens on civil service, therefore, need to be recognized.

Principle 5. Treat E-civil Service as an Instrument of Administrative Reforms
Administrative reform is an uninspiring term. Its poor reputation comes from its poor record of achievements so far. Kraemer and King (2005:2) are of the view that “information technology has never been an instrument of administrative reform; rather it has been used to reinforce existing administrative and political arrangements.” It is difficult to subscribe to this view. If improving internal processes of government is part of administrative reforms, then application of information technology (IT) to government is very much a move for administrative reforms. However, and it is important, application of information technology (IT) to government, by itself, is not e-government. What makes it e-government is the involvement of citizens in decision-making processes of government, a dimension altogether missing in earlier phases of application of information technology (IT) to government. Since e-civil service, an altogether new development, is the backbone of e-government, it has to be treated as an instrument of administrative reforms.

Principle 6. Set Up an Exclusive Portal for E-civil ServiceE-civil service now requires an exclusive portal for itself, catering to the needs of civil servants in the era of e-government. Such a portal will keep the civil servants fully updated about the latest rules and regulations, up to date civil list, sanction of leave, physical fitness exercise programmes and guidance, settlement of traveling allowance (T.A.), medical and miscellaneous claims, career advancement opportunities like mid-service training programmes, availability of online inter-active training programmes and online technical support for computer maintenance and use, annual performance appraisal, job opportunities and career counseling. It should provide RSS feed so that civil servants can keep themselves up to date with any development. Likewise it should have a discussion group or blog and a wiki so that civil servants could participate in them. This will be a closed portal accessible only to serving civil servants and managed by an officer of sufficient seniority. It will thus be a comprehensive one-stop service to civil servants. Some governments have set up such sub-portals but they do not provide comprehensive services.

Principle 7. Introduce E-recruitment to Civil Service
A Government Guide to Best Practice defines e-recruitment, also known as online recruitment, as “the use of Internet and intranet technology to recruit including candidate attraction, employer branding, candidate tracking, candidate selection, and hiring.” (CO 2007:65).The components of e-recruitment are: (i) attracting candidates online to your website or your organization, (ii) communicating your employer brand and recruitment proposition online, (iii) tracking, communicating with and selecting candidates online, (iv) testing candidates online, and (v) on-boarding (otherwise known as welcoming and induction) candidates online (ibid.:7). Many developed countries have set up recruitment gatways. In United Kingdom, for example, the Cabinet Office has set up a Civil Service Recruitment Gateway at http://www.careers.civil-service.gov.uk/Index.asp?txtNavID=322&635132=. Likewise Singapore Government has set up a recruitment portal at https://app.vog.gov.sg/Presentation/index.aspx which it calls VOG (lateral image of GOV). Other countries should follow suit.

Principle 8. Deal with Disciplinary Cases OnlineOne of the sore points with civil servants is the inordinate delay which the disciplinary proceedings against them take in completion. Such disciplinary proceedings call for penalties ranging from mere warning to dismissal or removal from service and are typically launched while the civil servant is in employment. These come in the way in his promotion as and when such an opportunity occurs. The procedure involved in dealing with disciplinary cases against the civil servants is quite complicated and time-consuming. It is a case of e-government that such cases can be expedited if dealt with online. In such a case the cause list can be posted online, so also the documents upon which the department proposes to rely to prove its case. The documents are required to be supplied to the concerned civil servant under rules. The final order too can be posted online. In case the facility of video-conferencing is available, hearings in the case as well as recording of evidence can be done online.

Principle 9. Sort Out Ethical Issues of E-civil Service
A number of ethical issues have started emerging as a result of civil servants surfing the Internet while in office and otherwise also. First is the maintenance of blog. Can a civil servant have a blog of his own covering a subject dealt with by him? Second, can a civil servant actively participate in discussion groups, communities of practice (COPs) and social networking sites and defend or clarify his department’s position? Among these concerns, use of email at workplace has gained attention as it is most widely used tool in e-government. Oregon State Archives and Oregon Association of Municipal Recorders have issued a very comprehensive E-mail Policy Manual for Local Government (OSA n.d.) which has a template also. In India, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has issued comprehensive guidelines on use of email with due emphasis on e-mail as an official record (DARPG n.d.). But not many civil servants are either aware of these instructions or have only vague idea about them. The emerging ethical concerns need to be sorted out.

Principle 10. Train E-civil Service in Government 2.0
Training is time-tested method for upgrading knowledge and skills of civil servants. It is generally quite a challenging task when the trainees are in-service civil servants but it is more challenging in case of e-government as it involves concurrent training in technology also. Schelin (2004, Table 5:272) suggests a training curriculum based on six modules in which Digital Civic Engagement is the sixth model. Whichever training module is selected, it is necessary that the civil servants are systematically trained in Government 2.0, whose essence is inter-activity which has been possible only by e-government tools, as against out-of-date Government 1.0, which is based on one-way communication from government to citizens. Training in Government 2.0 will include understanding the new role of civil servants, appreciation of emergence of e-citizen and e-citizenship, understanding of e-concepts associated with e-democracy, knowledge of e-engagement and e-participation tools and, finally, involvement of e-citizens in public policy formulation actively supported by e-civil service.

V Concluding Remarks
Weberian bureaucracy characterized by objectivity, administration by rules, and anonymity is a remarkable improvement over earlier form of civil service characterized by subjectivity and administration by whims and fancies. The practice of Weberian bureaucracy, however, revealed a number of weaknesses as a result of which a number of measures of administrative reforms were undertaken in many countries prominent among which is the re-inventing government movement or new public management which requires running of government as a private sector corporation. This too had a very limited success as the two- government and private sector corporation- are based on fundamentally different premises, namely, the former is based on service-orientation and the latter on profit-orientation. E-government is the latest measure in administrative reforms which makes a powerful assault on the weaknesses of existing governments, particularly in their relation with their citizens. However, the realization of full potential of e-government is still eluding us. This can be achieved only if the emergence of e-civil service is formally recognized and it is supported to enable it discharge its new role. Ten guiding principles for e-civil service developed here can help us in this regard.

References
Chun, Andy Hon Wai (2007): Using AI for e-Government Automatic Assessment of
Immigration Application Forms, http://www.cs.cityu.edu.hk/~hwchun/research/PDF/iaai_2007.pdf (accessed : November 25, 2008).

Clift, Steven (2008): UK Government Advises Civil Servants How to Participate Online, DoWire.org, June 21, http://www.dowire.org/notes/?p=417 (accessed: November 25, 2008).

CO (Cabinet Office) (2007): E-recruitment projects in the public sector: A Government Guide to Best Practice, Second Edition,Written By WCN Plc on behalf of HM Government, http://www.careers.civil-service.gov.uk/userfiles/DTI/e-recruitment%20guide%20(URN).doc (accessed: November 29, 2008)

CO (Cabinet Office) (2008): Principles for participation online, London, United Kingdom, the Author http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/iam/codes/social_media/participation.asp (accessed: November 25, 2008).

DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) (n.d.): E-mail Management Guidelines, http://darpg.nic.in/arpg-website/eReference/e-mail-mgmt.doc (accessed: November 29, 2008)

Fountain, Jane E. (2007): Bureaucratic Reform and E-Government in the United States: An Institutional Perspective, Amherst, University of Massachusetts, National Center for Digital Government, Center for Public Policy and Administration, Department of Political Science, NCDG Working Paper No. 07-006, September 18,
http://www.umass.edu/digitalcenter/research/working_papers/07_006FountainBureauReform.pdf (accessed: November 26, 2008).

Kraemer, Kenneth and L. John Leslie King (2005): Information technology and administrative reform:
will e-government be different? August, http://www.si.umich.edu/~jlking/IJEGR-Final.pdf (accessed: November 28, 2008)

Moor, James H. (1985): What is Computer Ethics? in Bynum, Terrell Ward (ed.) (1985), Computers & Ethics, Blackwell, pp.266 – 75, http://www.southernct.edu/organizations/rccs/resources/teaching/teaching_mono/moor/moor_definition.html (accessed: November 24, 2008).

OSA (Oregon State Archives) and Oregon Association of Municipal Recorders (n.d.): E-mail Policy Manual for Local Government, http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/recmgmt/train/erm/email/emailman806.pdf
(accessed: November 29, 2008)

Schelin, Shannon Howle (2004): Training for Digital Government, in Pavlichev, Alexei and G.David Garson (eds.) (2004): Digital Government: Principles and Best Practices, Hershey, PA, Idea Publishing, Chapter XVII, pp 263-275.

WB (World Bank) (2005): Staff incentives and project implementation: lessons from e-government, PREM notes: Public Sector, October, Number 101, http://www1.worldbank.org/prem/PREMNotes/premnote101.pdf (accessed: November 26, 2008).
____________________________________________________________________________________
** I.A.S.(Retd.). Former Chairman, Task Force or IT Policy for Delhi and now Independent E-governance Consultant. Email: dc_misra[at]hotmail.com, Tel: 011-22452431.

Barack Obama’s Agenda for E-governance

2008-11-11T21:44:00.000+05:30

Barack Obama’s Agenda for E-governance:
Open Government is Its Main Plank But What About the Roadblocks?

by

Dr D.C.Misra*
_____________________________________________________________________________________
All eyes are on the U.S.President-elect Barack Obama, who will assume the charge of his office on January 20, 2009. He has also set an ambitious agenda for e-governance. Obama has very successfully used information technology (IT) in his presidential campaign. For example, according to reports, on www.barackobama.com, more than 280,000 people created accounts, users created over 6,500 grassroots volunteer groups and organized more than 13,000 off-line events using the website and over 15,000 policy ideas were submitted through the website. The Internet operation was looked after by 95 people. Obama has built a treasure trove of database of more than 10 million supporters. Since change was the main plank of Obama’s election campaign, the transition site has also been named after change, set up at http://change.gov/. More is expected from him in the field of information technology (IT) and e-governance once he enters the White house.

What then is Obama’s agenda for e-governance? In a nutshell it is Open Government. He, however, has many items in his agenda but the following ten items appear to be particularly noteworthy:

(i)Transparent and Connected Democracy: The agenda proposes “to integrate citizens into the actual business of government” by a number of measures including “ Making government data available online in universally accessible formats to allow citizens to make use of that data to comment, derive value, and take action in their own communities, and “Lifting the veil from secret deals in Washington with a web site, a search engine, and other web tools that enable citizens easily to track online federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and lobbyist contacts with government officials.”

(ii)Open Government: All available technologies and methods are proposed to be used to open up the federal government, “creating a new level of transparency to change the way business is conducted in Washington and giving Americans the chance to participate in government deliberations and decisionmaking in ways that were not possible only a few years ago.” Most modern communications infrastructure will be used to realize this vision. The agenda visualizes “opening up the closed practices of governance to greater citizen engagement and participation.”

(iii)Federal Chief Technology Officer (CTO): The agenda proposes to “appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.”

(iv)Openness of the Internet: Realising the importance of the Internet as “most open network in history,” the agenda proposes to maintain the openness of the Internet. The agenda “strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices. They have a right to receive accurate and honest information about service plans.” The agenda “supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others.”

(v)Protection of Children: An important item on the agenda is protection of children on the Internet. The agenda proposes to “work to give parents the tools to prevent reception of programming that they find offensive on television and on digital media. Again, it will “encourage improvements to the existing voluntary rating system, exploiting new technologies like tagging and filtering, so that parents can better understand what content their children will see, and have the tools to respond.” The agenda treats a “sanity not censorship” approach of the Common Sense Media, a private entity, as a model.

(vi)Public Media 2.0: The agenda “will encourage the creation of Public Media 2.0., the next generation of public media that will create the Sesame Street of the Digital Age and other video and interactive programming that educates and informs. The agenda “will support the transition of existing public broadcasting entities and help renew their founding vision in the digital world.”

(vii)Right to Privacy: The agenda notes that “Dramatic increases in computing power, decreases in storage costs and huge flows of information that characterize the digital age bring enormous benefits, but also create risk of abuse. We need sensible safeguards that protect privacy in this dynamic new world.” The agenda, therefore, proposes to “strengthen privacy protections for the digital age and will harness the power of technology to hold government and business accountable for violations of personal privacy.”

(viii)Next Generation Broadband: The agenda realizes the importance of broadband in so many words: “Full broadband penetration can enrich democratic discourse, enhance competition, provide economic growth, and bring significant consumer benefits. Moreover, improving our infrastructure will foster competitive markets for Internet access and services that ride on that infrastructure.” This is sought to be achieved by (i) redefinition of broadband (currently defined at low 200 kbps), (ii) universal service reform, and (iii) public-private partnership.

(ix)Protection of Intellectual Property Rights at Home and Abroad: The agenda recognizes the importance of intellectual property rights by stating that “Intellectual property is to the digital age what physical goods were to the industrial age” and emphasizes the “need to update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.” The agenda proposes to protect intellectual property rights at home and abroad.

(x)Health Care: The agenda proposes to “invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records” and “phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT and commit the necessary federal resources to make it happen.” It cites a study by the Rand Corporation that found if most hospitals and doctors offices adopted electronic health records, up to $77 billion of savings would be realized each year through improvements such as reduced hospital stays, avoidance of duplicative and unnecessary testing, more appropriate drug utilization, and other efficiencies.”

Many of these items are routine, mundane and incremental. Nevertheless three items of his agenda are striking and deserve close look.

First, Open Government. This will be a very challenging task. The issues here are the extent to which government will open up consistent with the requirements of security and protection of privacy of citizens, and making government transparent and accountable. Obama, of course, has taken up the gauntlet when he makes a daring commitment in his agenda: (he) “will use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists.” In a speech in Des Moines, IA on November 10, 2007 Obama had forcefully declared:

“I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign…and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”

Blueprint for Change: Obama and Biden’s Plan for America declares: “Obama and Biden will close the revolving door between the executive branch and K-Street lobbying shops. Their appointees will serve the American people, not their own financial interests.” It will be quite interesting to watch as to how Obama and his team goes about it as lobbyists are firmly entrenched in Washington, D.C.

Second, Citizen Participation in Government Decision-Making. An integral part of open government, it is also a very challenging area as despite living in democratic regimes citizens have no participation in decision-making, a task performed singularly by the legislators who, once elected, forget about the citizens until the next election. The nearest governments have gone for citizen participation in government decision-making is to seek citizen’s views on government’s specific proposals. But this is usually an eye wash as citizens views may be taken as a mere formality without being taken into account in decision-making, leave alone having an impact in decision-making.

If citizen participation in government decision-making is going to be meaningful, citizen’s views must be able to influence decision-making. What would be the modalities of such citizen participation in government decision-making? Would a citizen in such circumstances become a tier-2 legislator? And what would be its legal implications?

Third, Federal Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This has been talked about for quite some time. It is going to be a very challenging task for the incumbent as co-ordination is no cakewalk. On the contrary, it is quite problematic as CTO/CIO will protect his turf and the method of working. Quite often he is immune to external advice. The agenda proposes to suitably legally empower him. In such a case he will be a Super-CTO or Super CIO and his authority is likely to be resented by agency CTO/CIO.

Here is, however, wishing Obama and his team all the best in implementing his ambitious agenda.
____________________________________________________________________________________
* I.A.S.(Retd.). Former Chairman, task Force or IT Policy for Delhi and now Independent E-governance Consultant. Email: dc_misra@hotmail.com, Tel: 011-22452431,
Blog: http://egov-india.blogspot.com/.

Local political online forums cannot support direct democracy, finds a study

2008-11-04T12:28:00.001+05:30

Local political online forums cannot support direct or full participatory democracy, finds a new research study.

Dunne (2008)* has found that, "firstly, local political online forums cannot support direct or full participatory democracy and such forums are mainly situated within liberal thin democratic models. Secondly, forums which are placed within local government websites have a greater chance of being inactive. Finally, non-government supported forums can support a type of discussion which increases citizen's participation in local political discussions.Check his Ph.D. thesis at

http://groups.dowire.org/groups/research/files/f/930-2008-10-31T173650Z/PhD.pdf

Dr D.C.Misra
November 4, 2008
____________________________________________________________________________________
*Dunne, Kerill (2008): The value of using local political online forums to reverse political disengagement, Thesis submitted for Ph.D. degree in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, University of Surrey, Surrey, United Kingdom, June, http://groups.dowire.org/groups/research/files/f/930-2008-10-31T173650Z/PhD.pdf (accessed: November 4, 2008)

Network society is lagging in citizen participation in policy decision-making in local government, finds a new study

2008-10-29T18:57:00.000+05:30

In his crossnational analysis of the impact of online citizen participation on local government decision-making, Jensen (2008: 25) has reported that the network society is lagging when it comes to citizen participation in policy decision-making. (n=348 elected local government officials in 316 randomly selected municipalities in the United States). Check his full paper.*

Dr D.C.Misra
October 29, 2008
_____________________________________________________________________________________
*Jensen, M. J. (2008): The Internet and Influence: A Crossnational Analysis of the Impact of Online Citizen Participation on Local Government Decision-Making, Irvine, CA, University of California, Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO), Paper presented at the annual meeting of the APSA 2008 Annual Meeting, Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts, http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p280169_index.html (accessed: October 29, 2008).

World IT Competiveness Report 2008 Released

2008-10-25T17:03:00.000+05:30

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), on behalf of Business Software Alliance (BSA), a Washington, D.C.-based organization looking after commercial software interests, has started calculating IT industry competitiveness index since 2007. Its report* for 2008 covers 66 countries and the index is based on 25 indicators in six categories: (i) Overall business environment (0.10), (ii) IT infrastructure (0.20), (iii) Human capital (0.20), (iv) Legal environment (0.10), (v) R&D environment (0.25), and (vi) Support for IT industry development (0.15) (EIU 2008) (Figures in parentheses indicate weights). United States (74.6) has been ranked 1st while India (28.9) has been ranked 48th in IT competitiveness.

Dr D.C.Misra
October 25, 2008
_____________________________________________________________________________________
*EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) (2008): How technology sectors grow: Benchmarking IT industry competitiveness 2008, London, the Author, September, Sponsored by Business Software Alliance (BSA), http://global.bsa.org/2008eiu/study/2008-eiu-study.pdf (accessed: October 25, 2008)

Dr D.C.Misra’s Bibliography on E-government

2008-10-18T23:42:00.001+05:30

This is a modest attempt to compile a selected bibliography on e-government with a view to share this resource with fellow e-government researchers. The bibliography is arranged thematically. It is proposed to update it from time to time.

October 18, 2008
New Delhi, India

Dr D.C.Misra

I. GLOBAL REPORTS ON OR RELEVANT TO E-GOVERNMENT

(a) International Organisations
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) (2006): World Telecommunication/ ICT Development Report 2006: Measuring ICT for Social and Economic Development, Geneva, Switzerland, Eighth Edition, Executive Summary, http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/ind/D-IND-WTDR-2006-SUM-PDF-E.pdf

ITU (International Telecommunication Union) (2005): The Internet of Things, Geneva, Switzerland, the Author, November, ITU Internet Reports 2005, Executive Summary,
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/egovernment/rc/ItemDetail.do~1066665?intcmp=700 (accessed: July 10, 2006)

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) (2005): Information Economy Report 2005: E-commerce and Development, New York and Geneva, the Author, http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/sdteecb20051_en.pdf

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (2008): World Public Sector Report 2008: People Matter: Civic Engagement in Public Governance, New York, the Author, June, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan028608.pdf

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (2005a): World Public Sector Report 2005: Unlocking the Human Potential for Public Sector Performance, New York, the Author, October, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021616.pdf

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), Division for Public Administration and Development Management (2005b): Global E-Government Readiness Report 2005: From E-Government to E-Inclusion, New York, the Author, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan021888.pdf

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (2003): World Public Sector Report 2003: E-Government at the Crossroads, New York, the Author, October, unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/ public/documents/UN/UNPAN012733.pdf

UNESCO ORBICOM (2005): From the Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities: Measuring Infostate for Development, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, Orbicom International Secretariat, Université du Québec à Montréal, George Sciadas, Editor, http://www.orbicom.uqam.ca/projects/ddi2005/index_ict_opp.pdf

Orbicom, a specialized network of UNESCO with consultative status with UN-ECOSOC, is an International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications. It embodies 26 chairs in communication and over 250 associate members in 73 countries.

World Bank (2006): Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies, Washington, D.C., the Author,

A new World Bank flagship publication addressing the critical role being played by information and communication technologies (ICT) in economic development. It provides a global overview of ICT trends and policies in developing countries, covering issues such as financing infrastructure, the importance of public-private partnerships and effective competition to extending access, using ICT in doing business and formulating national e-strategies.” The report also has “The ICT At-a-Glance tables for 144 economies,” which “show the most recent national data on key indicators of ICT development. The data enable assessment and comparison both over time and across economies to assess ICT capacity, performance, progress and opportunities.” Check the details at
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/0,,contentMDK:20831214~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:282823,00.html (accessed: July 14, 2006)

(b) Universities
Holzer, Marc and Seang-Tae Kim( 2005): Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide: A Longitudinal Assessment of Municipal Websites Throughout the World, Newark , NJ, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, The E-Governance Institute, National Center for Public Productivity, and Global e-Policy e-Government Institute, Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University, Co-Sponsored by Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, http://newark.rutgers.edu/~egovinst/Website/100%20City%20Report%202005%20--%20Final.pdf. (accessed: July 15, 2006)

2006 Waseda University E-government Ranking, Tokyo, December 16, 2005, http://www.obi.giti.waseda.ac.jp/e_gov/2nd_rankings_en.pdf (accessed: July 14, 2006)

West, Darrell M. (2005): Global E-Government 2005, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, Brown University, Center for Public Policy, September, available: http://www.insidepolitics.org/egovt05int.pdf (December 11, 2005).

The report is based on an assessment of 1,797 national government websites for the 198 nations worldwide. Among the significant findings of the research are: (1). 19 percent of government websites offer services that are fully executable online, (2). 89 percent of websites this year provide access to publications and 53 percent have links to databases, (3). 18 percent (up from 14 percent in 2004) show privacy policies, while 10 percent have security policies (up from 8 percent in 2004), (4). 19 percent of government websites have some form of disability access, meaning access for persons with disabilities, up from 14 percent in 2004, (5) Countries vary enormously in their overall e-government performance based on the analysis.

BAH (Booz Allen Hamilton) (2005): Beyond e-Government: The world's most successful technology-enabled transformations, Report of a study commissioned by UK Cabinet Office, November, available: http://extfile.bah.com/livelink/livelink/151607/?func=doc.Fetch&nodeid=151607

This study commissioned by the UK Cabinet Office and conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton, a technology management consultancy firm, on world-wide best practice in e-Government, reports that "international best practice is moving beyond "e-Government, towards a much more powerful approach to technology-enabled government, or "t-government". The report identifies the most successful ICT-enabled initiatives across nine governments, from which practical lessons can be derived and has been prepared with the full cooperation of over 85 government departments and agencies. It cites common challenges and best practice case studies drawn from over 450 initiatives assessed world-wide." The study, among other things, found most progress in tax. For example, Italy reported annual cost savings of €90m, Sweden €2.7m, USA US$ 132m(€110m) and Canada CAN$ 12m (€8.5m). Nine countries covered by the study are: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, UK and USA.

(c) Private Companies and Organisations
RPPI (Reason Public Policy Institute) (2000): Transitioning to Performance-based Government: A Report to the 43rd President and 107th Congress, Alexandria, VA,
Bipartisan Observations and Recommendations to the New Administration and Congress from 140 Current and Former Federal Government Officials, November, The Transition Dialogue Series, http://www.rppi.org/transition2000.html

Accenture (2004): eGovernment Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value, May, http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/By_Industry/Government/HighValue.htm

Accenture (2005): Leadership in Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences, April, https://www.accenture.com/NR/rdonlyres/081E84B0-E655-4F9B-95DF-94A3F34B09FA/0/leadership_customerservice

Brainbench (2005): 2005 Global Skills Report, http://www.brainbench.com/globalskills2005/

WEF (World Economic Forum) (2006): Global Information Technology Report (2005-2006),
Summary, http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gitr_2006/summary.pdf (accessed: July 14, 2006)
Rankings,
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gitr_2006/rankings.pdf (accessed: July 14, 2006)

WEF (World Economic Forum) (2005): Global Information Technology Report (2004-2005),
Executive Summary, http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/GITR_2004_2005/Executive_Summary.pdf (accessed: July 14, 2006)

(d) National Reports
DIT (Department of Information Technology), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India (2003): INDIA: E-Readiness Assessment Report 2003 for States/Union Territories and Central Ministries/Departments, New Delhi, the Author.

II. E-GOVERNMENT CASE STUDIES AND BEST PRACICES
1. UN Compendium of Innovative E-government Practices
UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (2006): Compendium of Innovative E-government Practices, Volume II, New York, the Author, August, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan023997.pdf (accessed: October 16, 2008).
(107 Cases from 48 countries)

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (2005): Compendium of Innovative E-government Practices, Volume I, New York, the Author, December, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN022196.pdf (accessed: July 14, 2006)
(107 Cases from 48 countries)

This online compendium is “a compilation of case studies of innovative e-government solutions, services and applications with elements of transferability and adaptability.” The selected 107 cases in 48 countries are organized by region, including Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, and Latin America (See Annex I for details). Each case has the following uniform structure: 1. Country, 2. Institution/Ministry, 3. Solution /Application, 4. Theme: Information Access, 5. Implementation Date and 6. Summary, 7. Impact, 8. Source, 9. More Information on the Project (URL), and 10. Contact. It is an ongoing project and can be accessed through the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN) portal.

2. World Bank Repository of Case Studies (28 cases from Developing Countries)
Case Studies are arranged into following five categories: 1. Better Service Delivery to Citizens, 2. Improved Services for Businesses, 3. Empowerment through Information,
4. Transparency and Anti-Corruption, and 5. Efficient Government Purchasing. The case studies have the following uniform structure: 1. Abstract, 2. Application Context, 3. A New Approach, 4. Implementation Challenges, 5. Benefits and Costs, and 6. Key Lessons.) (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/EXTEGOVERNMENT/0,,contentMDK:20798277~menuPK:1767268~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:702586,00.html

3. IDABC (Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens) E-government Case Studies: (Best Practices and Projects from across Europe) and Good Practices Cases (65 cases from 22 European Countries)

(a) E-government Case Studies (Best Practices and Projects from across Europe)
The case studies are grouped into four categories: 1. Open Source Software Case Studies, 2. E-government Good Practice Framework, 3. E-government Beep Knowledge System, and 4. E-government Interoperability Framework. Check the details at :http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/chapter/196 (accessed: July 14, 2006).

(b) Good Practices Cases
The Good Practice Framework has the following citeria of selection: 1. Use of ICT, 2. Innovativeness, 3. Managing eGovernment Implementation, 4. Real Practical Results and Impact, 5. Functionality, 6. Visibility, and 7. Valuable Learning Points and Transferability.

The cases have been grouped into following five categories: 1. The Role of eGovernment in European Competitiveness, 2. A Better Life for European Citizens, and 3. European, Central and Local Government E-cooperation.

The cases can be browsed by country, by theme (competitiveness, quality of life, inter-governmental co-operation), by user and service (citizens or businesses), by levels of government (local, regional, national, etc), and by types of integration, cooperation and partnership involved (vertical, horizontal, between government and the private sector, etc). Check the details at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment_research/gpf/cases/search_theme_country/index_en.htm (July 14, 2006)

4. OECD E-government Case Studies
Check the website for details: http://www.oecd.org/findDocument/0,2350,en_2649_34129_1_119832_1_1_37441,00.html (accessed: July 14, 2006)

5. APDIP (Asia-Pacific Development Information Centre) E-government Case Studies (20 Case Studies from Asia-Pacific Region)
According to the Website: “The project has engaged government and non-government officials, university professors and private sector consultants to develop 20 case studies from 12 different Asia-Pacific countries that document pro-poor e-government initiatives and their impact on the creation and protection of sustainable livelihoods, provision of access to entitlements and social services, provision of relevant information for human development and security and/or addressing the needs of the most vulnerable groups. The 20 case studies from Cambodia, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand were reviewed at a Regional Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-25 April 2006.” Check it at
http://www.apdip.net/projects/e-government/capblg/casestudies (accessed: July 14, 2006)

6. AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office), Department of Finance and Administration, Australian Government (2005): Transforming Government: Volume 2: Enhancing Productivity, Canberra, ACT, the Author,
http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/41466/Transforming_Government.pdf
(accessed: July 14, 2006)

A new publication with case studies highlighting the benefits of e-government services to citizens, business, the community and government.

7. Victorian State Government’s E-government Resource Centre Case Studies
(5 volumes archived). Check them at
http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/index.php?env=-categories:m1047-1-1-8-s&reset=1(accessed: July 14, 2006)

8. eGov for Dev Info Exchange, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester, United Kingdom (eGov4Dev Cases)
http://www.egov4dev.org/topic1about.htm (accessed: July 14, 2006)

9. India: Official:
(a) DIT (Department of Information Technology, Government of India), National Database on e-Governence Projects (egovdatabase.gov.in) http://www.egovdatabase.gov.in/home.jsp (accessed: July 14, 2006)

(b) DIT (Department of Information Technology, Government of India), NIC (National Informatics Centre) Treasure Chest (785 Application Software Products developed by NIC, Registration Required)
http://offerings.nic.in/egovsearch.asp (accessed: July 14, 2006)

(c) DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India) Repository of Best Practices http://darpg.nic.in (accessed: July 14, 2006)

Non-official
Agarwal, Ashok (2007): eGovernance Case Studies, Hyderabad, A.P., Universities Press

Bhatnagar, Subhash (2004): E-Government: From Vision to Implementation: A Practical Guide with Case Studies, New Delhi, Thousand Oaks/ London, Sage Publications

Gupta, D.N. (2008): E-Governance: A Comprehensive Framework, New Delhi, Institute of Social Sciences in association with New Century Publications

Gupta, Piyush and R.K. Bagga (2008): Compendium of E-governance Initiatives in India, Hyderabad, A.P.,Universities Press

Harris, Roger and Rajesh Rajora (2006): Empowering the Poor: Information and Communications Technology for Governance and Poverty Reduction: A Study of Rural Development Projects in India, Bangkok, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Asia-Pacific Development Information System (APDIP), and New Delhi, Elsevier.

10. BAH (Booz Allen Hamilton) (2005): Beyond e-Government: The world's most successful technology-enabled transformations, Report of a study commissioned by UK Cabinet Office, November, available: http://extfile.bah.com/livelink/livelink/151607/?func=doc.Fetch&nodeid=151607
(450 initiatives assessed world-wide in 85 government departments and agencies covering nine developed countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, UK and USA)

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
This is a new subject, even in private corporate sector where this subject originated in 1990s. The subject, more specifically, the knowledge management (KM) practice, has yet to be incorporated in public sector despite its enormous potential, particularly in context of our move towards knowledge economies and knowledge societies. For the public sector, the subject is best approached at three levels of understanding, reflecting increasing level of specialization:

I. Primary Level (Introductory and practice-oriented)
Curley, Kathleen Foley and Barbara Kivowitz (2001): The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Knowledge Management, Amherst, MA, HRD Press

II. Secondary Level (Middle level and knowledge-oriented)
Morey, Daryl, Mark Maybury and Bhavani Thuraisingham (eds.) (2000): Knowledge Management: Classic and Contemporary Works, The MIT Press

Despres, Charles and Daniele Chaauvel (eds.) (2000): Knowledge Horizons: The Present and the Promise of Knowledge Management, Boston, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann

Hislop, Donald (2005): Knowledge Management in Organizations: A Critical Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press

III. Tertiary Level (Advanced level reflecting deep involvement in knowledge creation, storage, retrieval, use and re-use in organizational setting)
Davenport, Thomas H. (2005): Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Business School Press

HBR (Harvard Business Review) (1998a): Harvard Business Review on Change, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

HBR (Harvard Business Review) (1998b): Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

Nonaka, I., and H.Takeuchi (1995): The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, New York, Oxford University Press

Von Krogh, Georg, Kazuo Ichijo and Ikujiro Nonaka (2000): Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation, New York, Oxford University Press

KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Awad, Elias M. and Hassan M. Ghaziri (2004): Knowledge Management, Pearson Education

Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguid (2000): The Social Life of Information, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2001): Information and Knowledge Management, in Curnow and Reuvid (eds.)(2001) (q.v.), Chapter 4.10, pp 323-33

Curley, Kathleen Foley and Barbara Kivowitz (2001): The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Knowledge Management, Amherst, MA, HRD Press

Curnow, Barry and Jonathan Reuvid (eds.) (2001): The International Guide to Management Consultancy: The Evolution, Practice and Structure of Management Consultancy Worldwide, London, Kogan Page.

Dahlman, Carl and Anuja Utz (2005): India and the Knowledge Economy: Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities, Washington, D.C., The World Bank, Finance and Private Sector Development Unit of the World Bank’s South Asia Region and The World Bank Institute, WDI Development Studies

Dahlman, Carl J., Jorma Routti and Pekka Ylä-Anttila (eds.) (2005): Finland as a Knowledge Economy: Elements of Success and Lessons Learned: Overview, Washington, D.C., The World Bank, available: http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/201645/Finland_ES.pdf (accessed: November 12, 2005)

Davenport, Thomas H. (2005): Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Business School Press

Davenport, Thomas H. and Laurence Prusak (1997): Information Ecology: Mastering the Information and Knowledge Environment, New York, Oxford University Press

Davenport, Thomas H. and Laurence Prusak (2000): Working Knowledge, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Business School Press

Davidson, Carl and Philip Voss (2002): Knowledge Management: An Introduction to Creating Competitive Advantage from Intellectual Capital, Auckland, New Zealand, Tandem Press

DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat) (2005): Understanding Knowledge Societies: In Twenty Questions and Answers with the Index of Knowledge Societies, New York, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/66, available: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN020643.pdf
(accessed: October 14, 2005)

Despres, Charles and Daniele Chaauvel (eds.) (2000): Knowledge Horizons: The Present and the Promise of Knowledge Management, Boston, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann

Firestone, Joseph M. and Mark W. McElroy (2003): Key Issues in the New Knowledge Management, Burlingron, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann

Garvin, David A. (1998): Building a Learning Organization, in HBRP (1998b), pp 47-80, originally published in July-August 1993

Grant, Robert M. (2000): Shifts in the World Economy: The Drivers of Knowledge Management, in Despres and Chauvel (eds.) (2000) (q.v.), Chapter 2, pp 27-53

Hislop, Donald (2005): Knowledge Management in Organizations: A Critical Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press

Kubr, Milan (1997): How to Select and Use Consultants: A Client’s Guide, Geneva, International Labour Office, Management Development Series No.31

Morey, Daryl, Mark Maybury and Bhavani Thuraisingham (eds.) (2000): Knowledge Management: Classic and Contemporary Works, The MIT Press

Manuel, Paul (2005): A Model of E-Governance Based on Knowledge Management, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, June, http://www.tlainc.com/articl89.htm

Nonaka, Ikujiro (1998): The Knowledge-Creating Company, in HBR (1998b) (q.v.), pp 21-45, originally published in November-December 1991

Nonaka, I., and H.Takeuchi (1995): The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, New York, Oxford University Press

Prusak, Laurence (ed.) (1997): Knowledge in Organizations, Boston, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann

Strebel, Paul (1998): Why Do Employees Resist Change? in HBR (1998a)(q.v.), pp139-157, originally published in May-June 1996

Von Krogh, Georg, Kazuo Ichijo and Ikujiro Nonaka (2000): Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation, New York, Oxford University Press

Walsh, James P. and Gerardo Rivera Ungson (1997): Organizatonal Memory, in Prusak (ed.) (1997), Chapter 9, pp 177-212

Wenger, Etienne (1997): Communities of Practice: The Structure of Knowledge Stewarding, in Despres and Chauvel (eds.) (2000) (q.v.), Chapter 10, pp 205-224

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECTOR
AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office) (2004): Better Practice Checklist: Knowledge Management, Canberra, Australia, No. 13, May, http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/file/33929/BPC13.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

Arora, C.S. (2003): Knowledge Management in E-Governance: The Need for Effective Performance Measures, in Gupta (ed.) (2003a) (q.v.), Chapter 33, pp 247-54.

Cong, Xiaoming and Kaushik V. Pandya (2003): Issues of Knowledge Management in Public Sector, Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 1(2)25-33, http://www.ekjm.com/volume-1/issue-2-art3-cong-pandya.pdf (accessed: October 8, 2005)

Cong, Xiaoming and Kaushik V. Pandya (2003): Issues of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector, Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 1(2)25-33,
http://www.ejkm.com/volume-1/volume1-issue-2/ issue-2-art-3-cong-pandya.pdf
(accessed: July 2, 2006)

Abstract: The new economy not only poses challenges, but also offers opportunities for both private and public sectors alike.To meet the challenges and take the opportunities, government must take active initiatives to adopt new management tools, techniques and philosophies of the private sector and adapt to its circumstance. Knowledge management (KM) is such an area that needs to be further explored and exploited for its full benefits to be reaped. Key issues, challenges, and opportunities of KM in the public sector need to be addressed and better understood.

Hovland, Ingie (2003): Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning: An International Development Perspective, London, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), August, Working Paper 224, available: http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/Documents/WP224.pdf

Ramalingam, Ben (2005): Implementing Knowledge Strategies: Lessons from International Development Agencies, London, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), April, Working Paper 244, available: http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/Documents/WP244.pdf

PC (Planning Commission) (2001a): India as Knowledge Superpower: Strategy for Transformation: Task Force Report, New Delhi, the Author. June. Available: http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/taskforce/tk_know.pdf

PC (Planning Commission) (2002): Report of the Committee on India Vision 2020, New Delhi, the Author. December. Available: http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/pl_vsn2020.pdf

Traunmüller, Roland and Maria Wimmer (2003): Knowledge Management for Government: Enhancing the Quality of Public Service, Expert Background Paper, in UNDESA (q.v.), pp 128-63

UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) (2003): Expanding Public Space for the Development of the Knowledge Society: Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Knowledge Systems for Development, New York, The Author, Meeting held on September 4-5, 2003, ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E.56, available: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan014138.pdf

Virkkunen, (2004): Presentation on knowledge management- the next generation: developing competency and knowledge within and between work communities, Conference on Knowledge Management, Mauritius, September 23-24, available: http://ncb.intnet.mu/ncb/downloads/Presentations/km/km6.ppt (accessed: November 4, 2005)

Wagner, Christian, Karen Cheung, Fion Lee and Rachael Ip (2003):Enhancing E-government in Developing Countries: Managing Knowledge through Virtual Communities, The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), 14 (4) 1-20, http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs/include/getdoc.php?id=89&article=100&mode=pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Archer, Norman P. (2005) ‘An overview of the change management process in eGovernment’, International Journal of Electronic Business, 3 (1) 68–87, http://www.inderscience.com/storage/f121048115972316.pdf (accessed: June 4, 2006)

HBR (Harvard Business Review) (1998): Harvard Business Review on Change, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

Iles, Valerie and Steve Cranfield (2004): Developing Change Management Skills, London, National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation (NCCSDO), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, September, http://www.sdo.lshtm.ac.uk/pdf/changemanagement_developingskills.pdf (accessed: June 4, 2006)

Iles, Valerie and Kim Sutherland (2001): Organistional Change: A Review for Health Care Managers, Professionals and Researchers, London, National Co-ordinating Centre
for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation (NCCSDO), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, May, http://www.sdo.lshtm.ac.uk/pdf/changemanagement_review.pdf (accessed: June 4, 2006)

Stojanovic, L., A. Abecker, N. Stojanovic, and R. Studer (2004): An Approach for the Change Management in the E-Government Domain, Second International Conference on Knowledge Economy and Development of Science and Technology (KEST 2004 ), Beijing, China, 2004, http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/egovernment_research/doc/research/change_management.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

Abstract: The increasing complexity of E-Government services demands a correspondingly larger effort for management. Today, many system management tasks, such as service re-configuration due to changes in the law, are often performed manually. This can be time consuming and error-prone. Moreover, it requires a growing number of highly skilled personnel, making E-Government systems costly. In this paper, we show how the usage of semantic technologies for describing E-Government services can improve the management of changes. We have extended our previous work in ontology evolution, in order to take into account the specificities of ontologies that are used for description of semantic web services. Even though we use the E-Government domain as an example, the approach is general enough to be applied in other domains.

Strebel, Paul (1998): Why Do Employees Resist Change? In HBR (1998) (q.v.), pp139-57, originally published in May-June 1996.

E-GOVERNMENT
Bollettino, Jeffrey O. (2002): The Customer-Centric Digital Department: e-Service in Government, in Rust and Kannan (ed.) (2002) (q.v.), Chapter 12, pp 262-85.

Dey, Bata K. (2000): E-Governance in India: Problems, Challenges and Opportunities- A futures Vision, The Indian Journal of Public Administration, XLVI (3), July-September.

Gupta, M.P. (ed.) (2003a): Promise of E-Governance: Operational Challenges, New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing, available: http://www.iitd.ernet.in/iceg/pub/bookPromise.pdf

Gupta, M.P. (ed.) (2003b): Towards E-Government: Management Challenges, New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing, available: http://www.iitd.ernet.in/iceg/pub/bookTowards.pdf

Gupta, M.P., Prabhat Kumar and Jaijit Bhattacharya (2004): Government Online: Opportunities and Challenges, New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing

Heeks, Richard (ed.) (1999): Reinventing Government in the Information Age: International Practice in IT-enabled Public Sector Reform, London, Routledge, Reprinted 2002

Heeks, Richard (2005): Implementing and Managing eGovernment: An International Text, London, Sage Publications. October

Holmes, Douglas (2001): eGov: eBusiness Strategies for Government, London, Nicholas Brealey

Jones, Alexandra and Laura Williams (2005): Public Services and ICT: Why ICT? The Role of ICT in Public Services, London, The Work Foundation, March, available: http://www.theworkfoundation.com/pdf/52387_Adobe%20Report.pdf (accessed: November 2, 2005)

LearnLink (2006): A Sourcebook on Access and Applications: Models of Use and Case Studies: An Orientation to E-Government: Chapter 6, Washington, D.C., The Academy for Educational Development, http://learnlink.aed.org/Publications/Sourcebook/chapter6/Foundations_egov_modelofuse.pdf (accessed: June 28, 2006)

Moon, M. Jae, Eric W. Welch, Wilson Wong (2005): What Drives Global E-Governance? An Exploratory Study at a Macro Level, Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'05) - Track 5, http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/hicss/2005/2268/05/22680131.pdf (accessed: July 15, 2006)

OECD (2001): The Hidden Threat to E-Government: Avoiding large government IT failures, Paris, the Author, OECD Public Management Policy Brief, PUMA Policy Brief No. 8, March

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2003): The e-Government Imperative, Paris, the Author, http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/4203071E.PDF

Pavlichev, Alexei and G. David Garson (eds.) (2004): Digital Government: Principles and Best Practices, Hershey, PA, Idea Group Publishing

Riley, Thomas B. and William Sheridan (2005): E-Governance Comes of Age in the Commonwealth, October 15, http://www.rileyis.com/publications/research_papers/EGOVRiley.pdf
(accessed: October 26, 2005)

Satyanarayana, J. (2004): e-Government: The Science of the Possible, New Delhi, prentice-Hall of India

Steyaert, Joan (2002): Performance Metrics and Successful e-Government Services, in Rust and Kannan (ed.) (2002) (q.v.), Chapter 13, pp 286-314.

E-GOVERNMENT AND E-GOVERNANCE
Thomas B.Riley (2003): E-government vs. E-governance: Examining the Differences in a Changing Public Sector Climate, Prepared under the auspices of the Commonwealth Secretariat and co-sponsored by Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services, Public Works and Government Services Canada, International Tracking Survey Report ’03 No. 4, May 20, http://www.rileyis.com/publications/research_papers/tracking03/IntlTrackRptMay03no4.pdf (accessed: June 28, 2006)

Sheridan, William and Thomas B. Riley (2006): Comparing E-government vs.
E-governance, Ottawa, Canada, Commonwealth Centre for E-Governance, June 21,
http://www.rileyis.com/publications/research_papers/SheridanRileyCompar/SheridanRileyComparEgov.pdf (accessed: June 27, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: ADOPTION AND ACCEPTANCE
Titah, Ryad and Henri Barki (2005) : e-Government Adoption and Acceptance: a Literature Review, Montreal, Qubec, Canada, HEC, Cahier de la Chaire de recherche du Canada en implantation et gestion des technologies de l’information, no 05-03 – Octobre 2005, http://neumann.hec.ca/igti/cahiers%20de%20recherche/chaireIGTIcahier0503.pdf (accessed: October 16, 2008)

The authors identify 55 articles related to e-government adoption and acceptance in selected database and journals. They then undertake content analysis of these articles and found that “their foci could be categorized along five principal topics: 1) the influence of managerial practices on e-government adoption; 2) the influence of organizational and individual characteristics on e-government adoption; 3) the influence of governmental subcultures on e-government adoption and use; 4) the influence of IT characteristics on e-government use and acceptance; and 5) the measurement of e-government impacts.”

E-GOVERNMENT: BALANCED E-GOVERNMENT
Bertelsmann Foundation (2001): Balanced E-Government: E-Government – Connecting Efficient Administration and Responsive Democracy, Gütersloh, Germany, the Author, In co-operation with Booz I Allen I Hamilton, http://www.begix.de/en/studie/studie.pdf (accessed: June 24, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: BENEFITS
Atkinson, Robert D. and Andrew S. McKay (2007): Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution, Washington, D.C., The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, http://www.itif.org/files/digital_prosperity.pdf (accessed: October 16, 2008)

NOIE (National Office for the Information Economy) (2003): E-government Benefits Study, Canberra, Australia, the Author, April, http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/file/16032/benefits.pdf (accessed: June 24, 2006)

DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) (2003): Reference Compendium for IT Managers and CIOs on e-Governance, New Delhi, the Author.

E-GOVERNMENT: BIBLIOGRAPHY
NCSU (North Carolina State University, Raleigh), North Carolina (2006): Selected Bibliography on Public Information Technology and E-Government, http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA542/bibliography.htm (accessed: October 18, 2008).

E-GOVERNMENT: BOOK REVIEWS
Misra, D.C. (2008): E-governance: The Canadian Way, eGov, October, Review of Roy, Jeffrey (2006): E-government in Canada: Transformation for the Digital Age, Ottawa, Ontario, University of Ottawa Press, http://www.bloggernews.net (forthcoming)

Misra, D.C. (2008): Review of Chen, Peter (2007): Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Sector Managers, Australian National University E Press, in Information Technology in Developing Countries: A Newsletter of the IFIP Working Group 9.4 and Center for Electronic Governance, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Volume 18, No. 1, February, http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/egov/ifip/feb2008/book-review1.htm

Misra, D.C. (2007): E-governance: The Korean Way, eGov, September, Review of Jeong (2006): The Road to Innovation: E-government: Principles and Experiences in Korea, Seoul, Gil-Job E-Media, September 29, http://www.bloggernews.net/110586 dated September 29th, 2007

Misra, D.C. (2007): Is E-government a dangerous enthusiasm? Review of Gauld, Robin and Shaun Goldfinch with Tony Dale (2006): Dangerous Enthusiasms: E-government, Computer Failure and Information System Development, Dunedin, New Zealand, Otago University Press, http://www.digitaldivide.net/articles/view.php?ArticleID=748, http://topics.developmentgateway.org/egovernment/rc/filedownload.do~itemId=1085752

E-GOVERNMENT: CITIZEN RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)
CDG (Center for Digital Government) (n.d.): Hello. The First Word in Reinvigorating the
Relationship Between Citizens and their Government, An Introduction to Citizen Service Technologies and 3-1-1, Folsam, CA, the Author, http://www.avaya.com/master-usa/en-us/resource/assets/whitepapers/311%20citizen%20service.pdf (accessed: June 17, 2006).

E-GOVERNMENT: COMPARATIVE
Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press

E-GOVERNMENT: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS
Misra, D.C. (2008): Select Aspects of Conceptual Foundations of E-government-3: Moving to the Virtual State, Paper contributed to 6th International Conference on E-governance (ICEG 2008), December 15-18, 2008, New Delhi, http://www.iceg.net/2008/ (forthcoming)

Misra, D.C. (2008): Select Aspects of Conceptual Foundations of E-government: Clearing the Fog for a Better Vision, in Agarwal, Ashok and V.Venkata Ramana (2008): Foundations of E-government, New Delhi, Gift Publishing, pp 21-33, Paper contributed to 5th International Conference on E-governance (ICEG 2007), December 28-30, 2007, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, http://www.iceg.net/2007/, Global Development Network (GDN), http://www.gdnet.org/middle.php?oid=237&zone=docs&action=doc&doc=14140

Misra, D.C. (2007): E-government: From Networked Society to Networked Governments, Management in Government, New Delhi, Department of Administrative Reforms, Government of India, New Delhi, XXXIX (3)17-36, October-December, http://darpg.nic.in/arpg-website/bestpracticesingovt/mig2.PDF

E-GOVERNMENT: COUNTRY STUDIES
Australia
Burgess, Sue and Jan Houghton (2006): E-government in Australia, in Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press, Chapter 5, pp 84-101.

Brunei
Yong, James SL (2003): The Journey to e-Brunei, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 3, pp 41-63.

Canada
Roy, Jeffrey (2006): E-government in Canada: Transformation for the Digital Age, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, University of Ottawa

Nilsen, Kiristi (2006): E-government in Canada, in Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press, Chapter 4, pp 66-83.

China
Yong, James SL (2003): Enter the Dragon- Informatization in China, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 4, pp 65-96.

Hong Kong SAR
Yong, James SL and Janice LK Leong (2003): Digital 21 and Hong Kong’s Advancement in e-Government, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 5, pp 97-116.

India
Yong, James SL and Sameer Sachdeva (2003): India: e-Progress in the States, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 6, pp 117-146.

Korea
Jeong, Kuk-Hwan (2006): E-government: The Road to Innovation: Principles and Experiences in Korea, Seoul, Korea, Gil-Job-E Media, March.

Yong, James SL and Jeffery BH Tan (2003): e-Korea: High Bandwidth, High Growth, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 7, pp 147-174.

Malaysia
Yong, James SL (2003): Malaysia: Advancing Public Administration into the Information Age, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 8, pp 175-203.

New Zealand
Cullen, Rowena (2006): E-government in New Zealand, in Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press, Chapter 6, pp 102-124.

Singapore
Tan, Jeffery BH and James SL Yong (2003): Many Agencies, One Government- Singapore’s Approach to Public Service Delivery, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 9, pp 204-240.

Taiwan
Yong, James SL (2003): Digital Taiwan- Towards a Green Silicon Island, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 10, pp 241-267.

Thailand
Yong, James SL and Poranee Phureesitr (2003): Thailand: eGovernment for Public Service Reform, in Yong, James SL (2003) (ed.): E-government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovations in the 21st Century, Singapore, Times Media, Chapter 11, pp 268-298.

United Kingdom
Hernon, Peter (2006): E-government in the United Kingdom, in Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press, Chapter 3, pp 55-65.

United States
West, Darrel M. (2005): Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance, Princeton, N.J, Princeton University Press. September

Seifert, Jeffrey W. (2006): E-government in the United States, in Hernon, Peter, Rowena Cullen, and Harold C.Relya (eds.) (2006): Comparative Perspectives on E-government: Serving Today and Building for Tomorrow, Lanham, Maryland, Scarecrow Press, Chapter 2, pp 25-54.

E-GOVERNMENT: CULTURAL BARRIERS
Margetts, Helen and Patrick Dunleavy (2002): Cultural Barriers to E-government, London, National Audit Office, http://www.governmentontheweb.org/downloads/papers/Cultural_Barriers.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT: DEFINITION
Misra, D.C. (2007): Defining E-government: A citizen-centric criteria-based approach, e-Governance Compendium 2007, New Delhi, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, 10th National Conference on e-Governance, February 2-3, 2007, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Theme: Avant-garde issues in e-governance, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNPAN/UNPAN025373.pdf,
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/egovernment/rc/filedownload.do?itemId=1089317

E-GOVERNMENT: ELECTRONIC CIVICS
Fountain, Jane E. (2003): Electronic Government and Electronic Civics, Cambridge, MA, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, January 2003, RWP03-001, http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP03-001/$File/rwp03_001_fountain_rev1.pdf.

E-GOVERNMENT: ELECTRONIC ENGAGEMENT
Chen, Dr Peter (2007): Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Sector Managers, Canberra, ACT, Australia, ANU E Press, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Australian National University

E-GOVERNMENT: ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT
PRO (Public Record Office) (2001): e-Government Policy Framework for Electronic Records Management, Surrey, United Kingdom, the Author, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/electronicrecords/pdf/egov_framework.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: GOOD GOVERNMENT
Saarenpää, Ahti (2003): E-government - Good Government: An impossible equation?
LIACTES/IFIP Workshop on E-Government: Legal, Technical and Pedagogical Aspects, Albarracin, Spain, 8-10 May, http://www.unizar.es/derecho/fyd/lefis/documentos/albaralop.pdf (accessed: June 24, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: HANDBOOK
CDT (The Center for Democracy and Technology) (2002): The E-government Handbook for Developing Countries, Washington, D.C., The Center for Democracy and Technology, November, A Project of InfoDev and the Center for Democracy and Technology, http://cdt.org/egov/handbook/2002-11-14egovhandbook.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT: HISTORY
India
Misra, D.C. (2007): Sixty Years of Development of E-governance in India (1947-2007): Are there Lessons for Developing Countries? ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 232, Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Theory and practice of electronic governance, Macao, China, Session: Development and electronic governance, Pages 337-340, http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1328057.1328127

United States
Relyea, Harold C. and Henry B. Hogue (2004): A Brief History of the Emergence of Digital Government in the United States, in Pavlichev, Alexi and G.David Garson (eds.) (2004): Digital Government: Principles and Best Practices, Hershey, PA, Idea Publishing, Chapter II, pp 16-33.

E-GOVERNMENT: IMPACT
Siau, Keng and Yuan Long (2004): Factors Impacting E-government Development,
http://aisel.isworld.org/pdf.asp?Vpath=ICIS/2004&PDFpath=2004RP18.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: IMPLEMENTATION
Gauld, Robin and Shaun Goldfinch with Tony Dale (2006): Dangerous Enthusiasms: E-government, Computer Failure and Information System Development, Dunedin, New Zealand, Otago University Press

E-GOVERNMENT IN INDIA
Prabhu, C.S.R. (2004): E-Governance: Concepts and Case Studies, New Delhi, Prentice-Hall

E-GOVERNMENT: INNOVATION AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICES
DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs), United Nations (2005): Compendium- E-government Innovative Practices, New York, the Author. December. ST/ESK/PAD/SER.E/78, available: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan022196.pdf

Kamarck, Elaine (2004): Government Innovation Around the World, Cambridge, MA, Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, February, Faculty Research Working Papers Series, RWP04-010 http://www.ashinstitute.harvard.edu/Ash/kamarck_global_innovations.pdf (accessed: July 1, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT- LEADERSHIP
GOVERNMENT LEADER is “a quarterly magazine focused on the practical lessons of how public workers are getting extraordinary things done in government by leading and managing effectively. GOVERNMENT LEADER doesn’t dwell on policies or politics. Rather, it explores the management challenges federal financial, acquisition, human resource, technology, and program managers all face — and their efforts to overcome them. Published by PostNewsweek Tech Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Co.” Check it at http://www.governmentleader.com/about/

PCIP (Pacific Council on International Policy), The Working Group on E-Government in the Developing World (2002): Roadmap for E-government in the Developing World: 10 Questions E-government Leaders Should Ask Themselves, Los Angeles, CA, the Author, April, www.pacificcouncil.org/pdfs/e-gov.paper.f.pdf

Strengthening e-Government Leadership and Institutions: Key Models, Roles, and Lessons Learned as part of the e-Gov VC Series under Joint Economic Research Program of the Government of Kazakhstan and the World Bank, January 19, 2006, Kazakhstan, USA, Korea, Estonia, Sri Lanka e-Government Practice http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTPROGRAMS/EXTTRADERESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20789064~menuPK:381330~pagePK:390737~piPK:390739~theSitePK:544849,00.html

An Emerging Model-of-Use for Developing Countries
http://learnlink.aed.org/Publications/Sourcebook/chapter6/Foundations_egov_modelofuse.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT: LITERATURE REVIEW
Faya, Paul (2003): E-Government: Literature Review, on behalf of the Privy Council Office (PCO), Management Priorities and Senior Personnel Secretariat, Government of Canada, September 12, http://www.sociedadinformacion.unam.mx/pdfs/Final%20E-Government%20Literature%20Review%20(Sept%202001).PDF. (accessed: June 28, 20006)

Dada, Danish (2006): The Failure of E-government in Developing Countries: A Literature Review, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), 26, 7, 1-10, http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/viewFile/277/176 (accessed: October 15, 2008).

Muir, Adrienne and Charles Oppenheim (2002): National Information Policy Development Worldwide 1: Electronic Government, Journal of Information Science, 28(3)173-86.

E-GOVERNMENT- MANUAL
BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik), Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Germany, E-government Manual, Bonn, Germany, the Author, available http://www.bsi.bund.de/english/themes/egov/6_en.htm (accessed: June
21, 2006).

E-GOVERNMENT: MODEL BASED ON KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Manuel,Paul (2005): A Model of E-Governance Based On Knowledge Management, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, June.

ABSTRACT: EGovernance has not made enough impact on the people as eCommerce and eLearning have done. There are several barriers on the roads of EGovernance. From the software engineering point of view, EGovernance has a lot of characteristics, which are different from eCommerce and eLearning. Unlike eCommerce and eLearning, EGovernance needs to be proactive. While eCommerce and eLearning involve
Information Management, EGovernance involves Knowledge Management (KM). Knowledge management is the management of information, skill, experience, innovation, and intelligence. Our model of Governance based on Knowledge Management System (KMS) is built on KM cycle of Knowledge capturing, Knowledge sharing, Knowledge enhancing, and Knowledge preserving. The development model of EGovernance based on Information Management System (IMS) applies a cycle-based process such as waterfall, spiral or iterative process. EGovernance is a combination of interaction and integration. This paper studies a development model of KMS-based EGovernance that is path-based process. This model provides an environment where the system grows with the people. (Source: http://www.tlainc.com/articl89.htm).

E-GOVERNMENT: MUNICIPALITIES
Melitski, J., Holzer, M., Kim, S.-T., Kim, C.-G., & Rho, SY . (2005): Digital Government Worldwide: An e-Government Assessment of Municipal Web-sites. International Journal of E-Government Research, 1(1) 01-19.

E-GOVERNMENT: PERFORMANCE
Stowers, Genie N. L.(2004): Measuring the Performance of E-Government, Washington, D.C., IBM Center for The Business of Government, March, http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/8493_Stowers_Report.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT: PRIVACY
GIPI (Global Internet Policy Institute) (2003): Privacy and E-Government: Privacy Impact Assessments and Privacy Commissioners –Two Mechanisms for Protecting Privacy to Promote Citizen Trust Online, Washington, D.C., Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and Internews, May 1, http://www.internetpolicy.net/practices/030501pia.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT: REGIONAL STUDIES
Yong, James SL (ed.) (2003): E-Government in Asia: Enabling Public Service Innovation in Asia, Singapore, Times Media
E-GOVERNMENT RESEARCH
Heinze, Nathan and Qing Hu (2005):E-Government Research: A Review via the Lens of Structuration Theory, Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems 2005, http://www.pacis-net.org/file/2005/399.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT AND SEMANTIC WEB
Altova (2006): What is the Semantic Web? http://www.altova.com/semantic_web.html (accessed: May 21, 2006)

Klischewski, Ralf (2003): Semantic Web for e-Government, Hamburg, Germany, Hamburg University, Informatics Department, http://is.guc.edu.eg/uploads/egov2003_klischewski.pdf.

Sidoroff, Teemu and Eero Hyv¨onen (2005): Semantic E-government Portals– A Case Study,Proceedings of the ISWC-2005 Workshop Semantic Web Case Studies and Best Practices for eBusiness SWCASE05, Nov, 2005, http://www.seco.tkk.fi/publications/2005/sidoroff-hyvonen-semantic-e-government-2005.pdf
E-GOVERNMENT-SCENARIO BUILDING

Aichholzer, Georg (2004): Scenarios of e-Government in 2010 and implications for strategy design, Electronic Journal of E-Government, 2(1)1-10, http://www.ejeg.com/volume-2/volume2-issue-1/v2-i1-art1-aicholzer.pdf (accessed: May
21, 2006)

Abstract: This contribution focuses on e-Government as a comprehensive change programme and develops alternative scenarios with a view towards 2010. Empirical evidence of substantial risks to a successful implementation and operation of e-Government calls for a forward-looking approach and possible ways of correcting a wide-spread neglect of long-term innovation risks. The paper explores the scenario method as an established instrument for improving strategic decisions in a context of change, uncertainty and complex environments. Its application in a Europe-wide research project leads to three macro-scenarios with divergent implications for e-Government prospects. The conclusions suggest particular requirements for developing more robust e-Government strategies and encourage a wider use of scenario processes.

Prisma (Providing Innovative Service Models and Assessment) (2002): Report on pan-European scenario-building, February, Information Societies Technologies (IST) Programme, http://www.prisma-eu.net/deliverables/D8-4.PDF (accessed: June 28, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT – THE STATE OF ART
Misra, D.C. (2006): E-government: The State of Art Today, Keynote Presentation at Seminar on Using the Internet for Electronic Delivery of Government Services, Internet Fiesta 2006, March 20, http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/internetfiesta/file/misra.ppt#2 (accessed June 24, 2006)

Misra, D.C. (2006): E-government: The State of Art Today-2, A Presentation at the Official Launching of the Government-to-Government System and CIO Workshop, Thursday, May 25, 2006, Ebene Cyber Tower, Rose Hill, Mauritius, http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/ncb/file/E-government.ppt (accessed: June 24, 2006)

Traunmuller, R. (2004): The State of the Art of E-government in Europe: An Outline, Information and Communication Technologies: From Theory to Applications, 2004, Proceedings, 2004 International Conference on, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1307581&isnumber=29024

Abstract: Government is key to modernizing public administration and to reorient public governance. So administrative work itself is coming under scrutiny. e-Government can transform and improve the entire scope of administrative action and the political processes. So e-Government is both, vision of a future Government and the reality we have to live in today. We present the conclusions of the e-Europe Awards 2003 of the EU (i.e. a big official evaluation of 460 projects with results presented in July 2003 in Como). The e-Government application scenery reviewed encompasses three sectors: 1. Promoting a knowledge based economy, 2. Rendering information and services to citizens and business customers, and 3. Enhancing governmental cooperation

E-GOVERNMENT – SUPERSITE
Death of Surfer…Birth of Supersite

New research published by Directgov, the U.K. Government portal launched in April 2004 and subsequently expanded, points to a new era in the use of the internet that experts are calling the `Supersite' phenomenon, according to a press release.* Despite 75.8 million websites (and 6 billion pages) in existence, people are no longer `surfing' widely over the whole net, with over half of internet-using Britons (51%) visiting just six or less sites on a regular basis.

The research for DirectGov was carried out online by Tickbox.net, a market research organization, between February 17, 2006 and February 21, 2006 (n=1535 UK adults aged 16+). Three quarters of people questioned say the internet is indispensable to their daily lives and more than nine out of ten (95%) say they go online with a specific destination in mind. People are now using the internet more smartly, visiting a handful of destination websites that have emerged as `Supersites' due to their importance to people's lives, says the release

When asked what factors were most important in a website they visited regularly, the majority of respondents said that it needed to be: Trusted (60%), Tried and tested (56%), Familiar (53%) and Reliable (51%). The research suggests that using just one banking,shopping, travel information and holiday website is enough for one person to keep their life well-managed. 75% of respondents said that they would welcome a website that gave them access to public services all in one place. 75% of respondents said that they would welcome a website that gave them access to public services all in one place.

The lesson from this revealing piece of research is: More eGov websites are not required but more services in one eGov website are! Check the press release at *http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-
government/docs/direct_gov/final_tickbox_report_press_release.pdf and full research report at
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-
government/docs/direct_gov/final_tickbox_report.pdf

E-GOVERNMENT-TEACHING
Cevenini, Claudia (2003): Intelligent Agents and the Teaching of E-Government, LIACTES/IFIP Workshop on E-Government: Legal, Technical and Pedagogical Aspects, Albarracin, Spain, 8-10 May, http://www.unizar.es/derecho/fyd/lefis/documentos/Cevenini_Albarracin_def.pdf
(accessed: June 24, 2006).

E-GOVERNMENT-TECHNOLOGY
Neild, Ian and Ian Pearson (eds.) (2005): 2005 BT Technology Timeline, August, http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.pearson/web/future/2005timeline.doc (accessed: May 21, 2006).

E-GOVERNMENT-TRAINING
Aggarwal, A.K. (2003): Training in E-Government, in Gupta (ed.) (2003a) (q.v.), Chapter 27, pp 194-8

Gupta, Piyush (2003): Educating Administrators on E-Governance: The First Step for Success, in Gupta (ed.) (2003a) (q.v.), Chapter 29, pp 207-14

G. Matthew Bonham, Jeffrey W. Seifert and Stuart J. Thorson (2003): The Transformational Potential of e-Government: The Role of Political Leadership, http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/maxpages/faculty/gmbonham/ecpr.htm

E-GOVERNMENT-TEXT BOOKS
Garson, G.David (2006): Public Information Technology and E-governance : Managing the Virtual State, Sadbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett.

Heeks, Richard (2006): Implementing and Managing eGovernment: An International Text, London, Sage Publications
E-GOVERNMENT: WEBSITE EVALUATION
Vaclav Petricek, Tobias Escher, Ingemar J. Cox, Helen Margetts (2006): The Web Structure of E-Government - Developing a Methodology for Quantitative Evaluation,
http://www.governmentontheweb.org/downloads/papers/WWW2006-Web_Structure_of_E_Government.pdf (accessed: June 27, 2006)

E-GOVERNMENT: WIKI TECHNOLOGY
Wagner, Christian, Karen S.K. Cheung and Rachael K.F. Ip and Stefan Böttcher (2006): Building Semantic Webs for e-government with Wiki technology, Electronic Government, 3(1)36-55, http://colab.cim3.net/file/work/SICoP/2006-02-09/EGov%20Wiki.pdf (accessed: May 21, 2006)

GENDER EQUALITY
CS (Commonwealth Secretariat): The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015, London, the Author, http;//www/thecomonwealth.org/gender

GOVERNANCE
ECA (Economic Commission for Africa (2005?): Striving for Good Governance in Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Author. Synopsis of the 2005 African Governance Report Prepared for the African Development Forum IV, www.uneca.org/agr/agren.pdf

Hyden, Goran, Julius Court and Kenneth Mease (2004): Making Sense of Governance: Empirical Studies from Sixteen Developing Countries, Boulder, CO, Lynne Rienner Publishers

Scott, Graham (2001): Public Management in New Zealand: Lessons and Challenges, Canberra, Australian National University, Centre for Law and Economics

Scott, Graham (2003): Learning Government, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/28/249818.pdf (accessed: October 9, 2005)

Kettl, Donald F. (2000): The Global Public Management Revolution, Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press

GOVERNANCE- INDICATORS
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), Bureau for Development Policy, Democratic Governance Group and European Commission (EC) (2004): Governance Indicators: A User’s Guide, Oslo, Norway, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/docs04/UserGuide.pdf (accessed: July 2, 2006)

GOVERNMENT- ICT SPENDING
WITSA (World Alliance for Information Technology) (2006): Digital Planet 2006: The Global Information Economy, Executive Summary, Arlington, VA, http://www.witsa.org/digitalplanet/2006/DP2006_ExecSummary.pdf (accessed: July 5, 2006)

It “provides detailed statistics on global ICT spending covering 75 countries, 11 vertical market segments, and forecast data extending through 2009.”

E-PAYMENT
Paunov, Caroline and Graham Vickery (2006): Online Payment Systems for E-Commerce, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy, Working Party on the Information Economy, April 18, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/37/19/36736056.pdf (accessed: June 17, 2006)

This is a report which was presented to the Working Party on the Information Economy as part of its work on factors affecting the development of e-business and digital delivery in June 2005. It “analyses the recent development of online payment systems for e-commerce, covering different payment mechanisms, the extent to which these different systems are used and the implications of industry characteristics and network effects. It discusses drivers and impediments to the uptake of payment systems and identifies some policy issues for further examination.” Further “A set of emerging issues and barriers to the uptake of online payment systems is briefly listed, covering standards and co-ordination challenges, network and competition issues, and improving statistical information.”

E-SERVICE
Rust, Ronald T. and P.K. Kannan (2002): e-Service: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Armonk, NY, M.E.Sharpe

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI)

Gholami, Raghieh, Sang-Yong Tom Lee and Almas Helmati (2005): The Causal Relationship between ICT and FDI, Helsinki, Finland, United Nations University - World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Research Paper No. 2005/26, June, available: http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/rps/rps2005/rp2005-26.pdf (accessed: November 5, 2005)

Is there any causal relationship between investment in information and communication technology (ICT) and foreign direct investment (FDI) for economic growth? In this timely study, based on an empirical analysis of ICT data in a sample of 23 developed and developing countries, namely, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and US for 1976–99, Gholami et al.,* inter alia, observe that the world is rapidly moving toward an information-based economy and economies equipped with the essential ICT infrastructure have been moving towards an information-based economy (p-3).

Gholami et al. report that in developed countries, existing ICT infrastructure attracts FDI; a higher level of ICT investment leads to a higher level of FDI inflows. This suggests that ICT contributes to productivity and economic growth indirectly by attracting more FDI. But in developing countries the direction of causality goes instead from FDI to ICT. In developed countries an ICT capacity exists which causes inflow of FDI, while in developing countries ICT capacity must be built up in order to attract FDI. The inflow of FDI causes further increases in ICT investment and production capacity building (p-10). A policy prescription which appears to flow from this study is that developing countries must step up investment in ICT in case they want greater flow of FDI.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND JOB SATISFACTION
Danziger, James and Debora Dunkle (2005): Information Technology and Worker Satisfaction, Irvine, CA, Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO), School of Social Sciences, University of California, available:
http://crito.uci.edu/papers/2005/ITWorkerSatisfaction.pdf (accessed: December 4, 2005)

The overall job satisfaction is negatively related to the number of hours per day that the worker uses the computer, reports this recent U.S. research study. According to the study: “This might indicate that when human-computer engagement becomes too dominant in one’s work, relative to more direct interaction with other people, there is a decline in overall satisfaction with one’s work.” The study reports: “First, similar to other research, this sample of workers is more likely to have high job satisfaction where continuous learning is encouraged, the job provides a higher level of autonomy, job stress (as measured by time pressure) is not a problem, and the worker perceives he/she has influence with supervisors and with work group members."

The study also reports: “Secondly, job satisfaction is associated with certain elements of the informational and organizational context. Satisfaction is greater in: (1) an information-rich environment – that is, in an organization in which information is available, accessible and up-to-date; and (2) in an information systems-rich environment -- that is, one in which the computer systems are reliable and software is stable.”

This research is part of the People, Organizations, and Information Technology project of the Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO) at the University of California, Irvine, which analyses “how information technology (IT), especially the Internet, transforms people's lives in such areas as the home, work, civic life, and school.” The study is based on a survey of 1200 individuals in 12 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States.

INFORMATION ECONOMY
UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) (2005): Information Economy Report 2005, New York and Geneva, the Author, UNCTAD/SDTE/ECB/2005/1, available: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/sdteedc20051_en.pdf (accessed: December 4, 2005)

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: RETURN ON INVESTMET
Cresswell, Anthony M.(2004): Return on Investment In Information Technology: A Guide for Managers, Albany, NY, University at Albany, SUNY, Center for Technology in Government, August, http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/guides/roi (accessed: June 28, 2006)

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT AND CONSULTING
Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2001): Information and knowledge management, in Curnow and Barry (eds.) (2001) (q.v.), Chapter 4.10, pp 323-33

Curnow, Barry and Jonathan Reuvid (eds.) (2001): The International Guide to Management Consultancy: The Evolution, Practice and Structure of Management Consultancy Worldwide, London, Kogan Page

Prokopenko, Joseph (ed.) (1998): Management development: A guide for the profession, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO)

Kubr, M. (1997): How to select and use consultants: A client’s guide, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO), Second impression, First published 1993. Management Development Series No.31

Kubr, M. (ed.) (2002): Management consulting: A guide to the profession, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO), Fourth edition

REINVENTING GOVERNMENT
Osborne, David and Ted Gaebler (1993): Reinventing Government: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government, New York, Plume

Osborne, David and Peter Plastrik (1998): Banishing Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government, New York, Plume

Osborne, David and Peter Plastrik (2000): The Reinventor’s Fieldbook: Tools for Transforming Government, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass

RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN INFORNMATION TECHNOLOGY
Cresswell, Anthony M. (2004): Return on Investment in Information Technology: A Guide for Managers, Albany, N.Y., Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany, SUNY, August, available: http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/guides/roi/roi.pdf (accessed: December 10, 2005)

TRAINING
Blanchard, P. Nick and James W.Thacker (2004): Effective Training: Systems, Strategies, and Practices, Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice-Hall, Second Edition.

© Dr D.C.Misra 2008

ICEG 2008, December 18 - 20, 2008, Delhi

2008-09-14T19:56:00.000+05:30

The 6th International Conference on E-Governance (ICEG 2008) will be
held on December 18 - 20 , 2008 in Delhi. The last date for submission of papers
is September 30, 2008. Check for details:

http://www.iceg.net/2008/

Dr D.C.Misra
September 14, 2008

National Awards for Exemplary Implementation of E-government Initiatives 2008-09: International Section Wanted

2008-09-14T12:22:00.000+05:30

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, New Delhi has invited nominations for National Awards For Exemplary Implementation of e-Governance Initiatives Year 2008-09. The last date for receipt of nominations is October 15, 2008. Check for details the brochure available at http://darpg.nic.in/arpg-website/egov2009/Brochure.pdf.

I wonder whether it would be possible for DARPG, which has been playing a commendable role in organising this annual conference, to include an international
section for developing countries. This would encourage felllow developing countries
in learning from the experience in India and also enable Indian states, etc. to learn from their experience. also know that the proposal will entail extra work for already over-burdened DARPG, but I feel DARPG should not shirk from this responsibility in the interest of e-governance.

Dr D.C.Misra
September 14, 2008

Ten Guiding Principles for E-government by Dr D.C.Misra

2008-09-02T18:17:00.001+05:30

I. Introduction
A number of guiding principles for e-government have appeared in recent years. They can be broadly classified into two categories: (i) recommendatory, and (ii) prescriptive. The recommendatory guidelines include Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD: 19)’s 10 guiding principles for successful e-government covering (a) Vision/political will: 1. Leadership and Commitment, 2. Integration, 3. Inter-agency collaboration, 4. Financing, (b) Customer focus: 5. Access, 6. Choice, 7. Citizen engagement, 8. Privacy, (c) Responsibility: 9. Accountability, and 10. Monitoring and evaluation, and DPADM/UNDESA (n.d.)’s 15 guiding principles for successful e-government. These are comprehensive and useful guidelines but not binding on stakeholders. The prescriptive guidelines, which are binding, again can be grouped into two categories: statutory and executive. The statutory guidelines include the guidelines mandated under, for example, the U.S. E-government Act of 2002. The executive guidelines include, for example, DIT (2008)’s June 2008 Draft Policy on Open Standards for eGovernance.

There are then sector-specific guiding principles. West (2003) has laid down guiding principles for policy formation and e-government development, UK Cabinet Office has prescribed Guidelines for government websites (eGU 2004). Th European Commission-funded Barriers to eGovernment project led by Oxford Internet Institute has issued Guidelines to Solutions to Key eGovernment Barriers (OII n.d.). Saudi Arabia’s e-government programme- Yesser- has come out with e-Government Guidelines for Government Agencies (Yesser 2000). The following Ten Guiding Principles for E-government may be laid down which may be more suited to developing countries:

Principle 1: E-government is about government rather than “e” (OECD 2003)A general, wide-spread but erroneous belief is that e-governance is about technology. There are two approaches to e-governance: (i) techno-centric and (ii) governance-centric. The first approach is espoused by technocrats, and supported by the technology vendors, and is the dominant model to-day. The second- governance-centric – approach has almost been relegated to background. As a rough guide to understanding, nine-tenths of our current efforts in e-government practice is expended on technology while the remaining one-tenth on governance while ideally it should be the other way round. This does not mean that technology is unimportant. Far from it. Technology is crucial to e-government. E-government basically addresses the issues of governance and technology is its enabling tool. The Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD)’ E-government Imperative (OECD 2003) rightly asserts that E-government is about government rather than “e.”

Principle 2: E-government is citizen-centric and criteria-based (Misra 2007)In a survey in India it has been found that both citizens (92%) and functionaries (90%) want e-governance (Gupta 2008:75). Citizen-centric e-government calls for an e-government which is focused on the citizen needs (for public service delivery) and aspirations (for active participation in decision-making processes).This, however, is still an ideal and not yet a reality as administrations, at the best, are obsessed with their internal efficiency and do not give priority to either public service delivery or to public engagement. A green paper of Government of South Africa on transforming public service delivery lays down seven principles of public service delivery based on 1. Consultation, 2. Service standards, 3. Courtesy, 4. Information, 5.Openness and transparency, 6. Responsiveness and 7.Value for money (SAGI 1996), which should be kept in mind while designing any public service delivery. Likewise, for making e-government criteria-based, appropriate standards have to be developed to realize full potential of e-government.

Principle 3: E-government prefers in-house expertise to out-of-house expertiseE-governance was pioneered, owned and successfully operated by governments themselves in 1960s and 1970s (see, for example, Dunleavy et al. 2006:1). Private companies started entering the governments and discharging their functions in 1980s, more particularly since mid-1990s when the Internet, itself pioneered by government, was made accessible to the public. Aggressive promotion of public private partnership (PPP) model in e-governance further weakened the technological capability of governments As a result, the governments stand technologically weakened to-day, even to oversee private contracts. Verkuil (2007:158), in a broader treatment of the subject of outsourcing, advises that the role of the private contractor in a bureaucratic state should not be accepted uncritically. Apart from the issue of sovereignty, the private sector does not appreciate the complexity faced by public sector in an e-government project and the political environment in which the public sector is forced to operate.

Principle 4: E-government is wary in introducing private sector practices Government is not business (Corbett 2004:358). The private and public sectors are foundationally different. The private sector is based on profit motive while the public sector is based on service motive. Also, the private sector serves its clients in order of their capacity to pay. In public sector, on the other hand, all citizens are treated as equal. Corbett notes: The assumption that business models can and should be used for the development of digital government is misdirecting our attention from those variables and consequences which are not measured by business models yet provide the substantive benefits of government (ibid: 358). The tendency to rush to private sector approaches and apply them lock, stock and barrel to public sector should, therefore, be eschewed as the two sectors are fundamentally different requiring different approaches. E-government has to be wary of introducing private sector practices to public sector without thoroughly examining the private sector business model for its suitability.

Principle 5: E-government prefers open source to proprietary softwareThe war, though uneven in terms of available resources, between open source and proprietary software continues. Both sides have their own merits and demerits. However, of late the open source movement is gaining strength. Open source software has particular appeal to e-government due to its lesser cost, amenability to change, and greater reliability as compared to proprietary software. Sometime back, the Danish Board of Technology (DBT) observed: Investment decisions can often be a mixture of open source and proprietary software. It is not an either-or decision, and the purchase of open source should not therefore be dictated as a general principle (DBT 2002:78). While government should not shut its doors to any supplier, it should prefer open source to propriety software though Deek and McHugh (2008:334) conclude: “…the future of software environment will be a syncretistic one.”

Principle 6: E-government is networked government and not integrated government It has become very fashionable these days to call for integrated government (i-government). In fact it has become a norm but increasingly turning out to be illusive in larger countries which have complex system of governance. Integrated government means “merger” of various agencies to produce a “whole government.” This, however, is not possible as governments all over the world are bureaucratically organized and thus do not permit inter-agency merger. Also, in practice, i-government is usually equated to integrated service delivery (ISD), which has three characteristics: it is integrated, it has to do with services and with delivery (Halligan and Moore 2004:2). As one progresses towards attainment of the objective of ISD, the inherent complexities start surfacing, obstructing further progress. However, a networked government (n-government), in which various agencies are “joined” together, and not merged, and keep their identities in tact, is a practical proposition and deserves to be pursued.

Principle 7: E-government promotes the CIO concept in e-governmentOriginating in 1981 in private sector and conceived as prime mover of information and communication technology (ICT) generally and e-government in particular, many countries have set up elaborate mechanism to interact, support and guide him by way of setting up Chief Information Officer (CIO) Councils (Misra 2008b). Japan is actively promoting the CIO concept worldwide and in South East Asia in particular. Waseda University, Japan has also included a set of CIO indicators in its ranking of e-government (WU 2007). The CIO Model 1.0 of pre-Internet era has failed and the CIO Model 2.0 of post-Internet era too has followed suit as both of these are techno-centric and not governance-centric. The CIO model 2.0 should therefore be governance-centric. Also, for getting the most out of the CIO concept, a framework and an action plan for implementing the CIO concept are required to be developed. Above all, the CIO concept needs to be promoted so that e-government has a prime mover independent of political leadership.

Principle 8: E-government is introduced through an organization-wide e-business plan
One of the common failures in e-government, though still unrecognized, is our faulty approach to e-government planning. Governments have adopted a wide variety of plans in the past to achieve specific goals. No new “type of plan” has, however, been developed to meet specific requirements of e-government, which is entirely a new phenomenon, though at times one does come across “strategic plans” for e-government. On the contrary, the brave new revolutionary world of e-government is attempted to be covered by traditional planning approaches while it should be the other way around. It is e-government which should decide the mode of planning. E-government should thus be introduced through a new “type of plan,” an “e-business plan,” which is (i) citizen-centric and criteria-based, (ii) lays emphasis on “e” aspect of plan (missing in traditional plans), (ii) treats government working in a ‘business-like” manner, and is (iv) organization-wide, as compared to the present piecemeal project approaches, which are neither here nor there as they only tinker with government processes vis-à-vis role of citizens in e-governance.

Principle 9: E-government provides multi-channel delivery of public services
Two types of public service delivery channels have come into being: (i) Online, and (ii) Offline. The online channels include Web, E-mail, Kiosk, SMS, PDA, and VoIP. The offline channels include visit to office (face-to-face or information and facilitation counter), call centre, postal (letters), and citizen grievance redressal forums. The term “citizen” is deceptive in its simplicity as it is an umbrella term covering a wide variety of citizens in terms of age, gender, education, income and familiarity with new technology. E-government has to meet the needs of these different types of citizens through multiple channels. Two things have to be ensured: first, these different channels do not offer different “levels” of service but are mutually consistent in content. This can be ensured by joining these different channels and putting them under one umbrella for ensuring uniformity in service. Secondly, different channels have to exist to meet the needs of different types of citizens.

Principle 10: E-government promotes causes of e-citizen and e-democracy A very important consequence of emergence of e-government has been the birth of a new entity- the e-citizen, who may be defined as a citizen who accesses the state and its services and interacts with its decision-making processes through the Internet. Like the citizen, who has rights and duties, e-citizen too has e-rights and e-duties, which however are required to be spelled out and statutorily recognised. And like the citizen charter, an e-citizen charter has also been developed (Poelmans 2007). A new phenomenon, called e-democracy, has also emerged. However, e-democracy is being defined in a wide variety of ways creating confusion rather than clarity. Denn (2004) suggests the following definition: “… we will define e-democracy very broadly to encompass any of the myriad ways that citizens and governments communicate with one another, whether that be for the purposes of information gathering information dissemination, service transactions, governance decisions, or other types of interaction. It also encompasses various kinds of intra-governmental communications.” E-citizen and e-democracy both are required to be promoted.

III. Concluding RemarksGuiding principles can be comprehensive or sector-specific. There is no limit on the number of such principles one can lay down due to the vastness of field of e-governance. The principles are often free-floating too- one not logically joined with another in some systematic pattern. Moreover, a degree of arbitrariness is involved in the choice of guiding principles. Some of these principles are in the nature of ideals while others are in the nature of policy prescriptions. Despite, these rather severe limitations, guiding principles are handy tools in the hands of e-government managers in designing, implementing and evaluating e-government projects and thus worthy of keeping in mind.

ReferencesCorbett, Christopher (2004): The Future of Digital Government, in Pavlichev and G.David Garson (eds.) (2004): Digital Government: Principles and Best Practices, Hershey, PA, Idea Group Publishing, Chapter XXII, pp 344- 67

DBT (Danish Board of Technology) (2002): Open-source software - in e-government, October, p-78, http://www.tekno.dk/pdf/projekter/p03_opensource_paper_english.pdf

Deek, Fadi P. and James A.M.McHugh (2008): Open Source: Technology and Policy, New York, Cambridge University Press

Denn, Sheila O.(2004): Integration as an Organizing Principle for E-Democracy Research Activities, Chapel Hill, NC, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, http://ils.unc.edu/govstat/papers/denndgo05whitepaper.doc

DIT (Department of Information Technology), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India (2008): Draft Policy on Open Standards for eGovernance, June, http://www.mit.gov.in/download/Policyonopensandards.pdf (September 1, 2008).

DPADM/UNDESA (Division for Public Administration and Development Management/United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) (n.d.): Guiding Principles for Successful E-government, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan008627.pdf

Dunleavy, Patrick, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow and Jane Tinkler (2006): Digital Era Governance: IT Corporations, the State, and E-government, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press

eGU (e-Government Unit), Cabinet Office, United Kingdom (2004): Guidelines for government websites, Updated: 4/5/2007, http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/htmlindex.asp

Gupta, D.N. (2008): E-governance: A Comprehensive Framework, New Delhi, Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) in association with New Century Publications

Halligan, John and Trevor Moore (2004): E-government in Australia: The challenges of moving to integrated services, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019249.pdf

Misra, D.C. (2008b): Government Chief Information Officer (CIO): The Prime Mover of E-Government (forthcoming)

OECD (Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation) (2003): The e-government imperative: main findings, Policy Brief, March, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/60/2502539.pdf

OII (Oxford Internet Institute) (n.d.): eGovernment barriers, Deliverable Report 1b, Guidelines to Solutions to Key eGovernment Barriers, http://www.egovbarriers.org/downloads/deliverables/1b/Guidelines_to_solutions_to_key_eGovernment_Barriers.pdf

SAGI (South African Government Information) (1996): Green Paper Transforming Public Service Delivery, [TITLE - to be decided], Department of Public Service and Administration
http://www.info.gov.za/greenpapers/1996/transformingpublic.htm#art3, 17 December

Verkuil, Paul R. (2007): Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization of Government Functions Threatens Democracy and What Can We Do About IT, New York, Cambridge University Press

WU (Waseda University) (2007): 2007 Waseda University e-Government Ranking, Media Advisory, January29, Available: http://www.obi.giti.waseda.ac.jp/e_gov/3nd_rankings_en.pdf

West, Darrell M. (2003): Achieving E-Government for All: Highlights from a National Survey, Commissioned by the Benton Foundation and the New York State Forum of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, October 22, http://www.benton.org/publibrary/egov/access2003.html

Yesser (The Saudi e-Government Programme) (2007): e-Government Guidelines for Government Agencies, February, http://www.yesser.gov.sa/english/documents/e-Gov_Guidelines_Booklet_en.pdf

(c) Dr D.C.Misra 2008

India comes out with Draft Policy on Open Standards for e-Governance

2008-08-31T18:51:00.000+05:30

Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, has come out with a Draft Policy on Open Standards for e-Governance. The policy is open for public review / comments.

The draft policy attempts to tackle difficult issues like vendor lock-in and attempts to provide a level playing field for all. It makes special provision for encouraging open standard work in Indian languages. It also lays down certain guiding principles for selection of standards. The policy will be applicable to all systems used for e-Governance in India.

Dr D.C.Misra
August 31, 2008

Forthcoming Event: Asia-Pacific e-Governance Forum, May 20-22, 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2008-04-06T21:10:00.000+05:30

The Asia-Pacific e-Governance Forum: Harnessing ICTs for more efficient, inclusive and transparent governance, hosted by the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, Malaysia, will be held on May 20-22, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Check further details at

http://www.events.cto.int/egovasia2008

Dr D.C.Misra
April 6, 2008

CALL FOR PAPERS: HICSS 42, January 5-9, 2008, Hawaii

2008-03-16T14:05:00.000+05:30

CALL FOR PAPERS: HICSS 42, January 5-9, 2008, Hawaii

Track: Internet and the Digital Economy
Minitrack: The Diffusion, Impacts, Adoption and Usage of ICTs upon Society

Since the emergence of the 21 st century governments around the globe have been striving to offer Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) infrastructures, namely broadband. During the first 4 to 5 years interest was focused upon whether the infrastructure was being provided and focus was on the issue of accessibility. Since then countries and research both from industry and academe have changed their focus as it is considered that now accessibility has been examined and now the emphasis is on how the households and social communities are diffusing, adopting, and using the ICTs and further, consideration of the impacts of ICTs. The aim of this mini-track will be to offer a global perspective of how ICTs are being diffused, used and adopted within society (households and social communities). By undertaking this research academics, industry and government agencies will learn of how ICTs are being utilised by various societies and what measures are being undertaken to have households and the various social communities adopt and use the ICTs with a further consideration of the impacts of the ICTs. Academic research has been focusing upon the diffusion, adoption and usage of broadband since about 2000. By undertaking this research and offering this track, now the focus could offer innovative ideas of diffusing, adopting and using ICTs that have not been considered before.

Topics and research areas include, but are not limited to:
* The adoption and usage of ICTs, broadband, mobile phones and other ICTs within households
* The impacts of ICTs upon households
* The adoption and usage of ICTs upon various social communities (eg. Residential neighbourhoods)
* The impacts of ICTs upon various social communities
* Evaluation the technological and non-technological aspects of the adoption and usage of ICTs
* Evaluating the technological and non-technological aspects of the impacts of ICTs
* The diffusion, adoption and usage of ICTs within households
* The diffusion, adoption and usage of ICTs within various social communities
* Stakeholder theory and the adoption, diffusion and usage of ICTs
* Project management and the diffusion of ICTs
* Project Management and the adoption and usage of ICTs
* Project Management and the impacts of ICTs
* Human Computer Interaction issues related to the adoption, usage and impact factors in the context of ICTS

Co-chairs:
Jyoti Choudrie (Primary Contact)
Reader of information Systems
Business School
University of Hertfordshire
DeHavilland Campus, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK
Email: j.choudrie@herts.ac.uk; Jyoti.choudrie@btopenworld.com

Bendik Bygstad
Norwegian School of IT
Norges Informasjonsteknologiske Høgskole, NITH
Schweigaardsgate 14, 0185 Oslo, Norway
Email: bendik.bygstad@nith.no

Phillip Olla
Management Information Systems Department
School of Business
Madonna University
Livonia, Michigan 48150, USA
Email: polla@madonna.edu

Important Dates:
Paper Submission: June 15, 2008
Acceptance to authors: August 15
Final submission: September 15
Call for Papers
HICSS conferences are devoted to the most relevant advances in the information, computer, and system sciences, and encompass developments in both theory and practice. Accepted papers may be theoretical, conceptual, tutorial or descriptive in nature. Those selected for presentation will be published in the Conference Proceedings published by the IEEE Computer Society.

Submissions must not have been previously published or be under submission elsewhere; all submissions undergo a double-blind peer referee process.

Important Deadlines

From now to June 1: Prepare Abstracts. Then, contact MINITRACK CHAIRS for guidance and indication of appropriate content.

June 15: Authors submit full papers by this date, following the AUTHOR INSTRUCTIONS. All papers will be submitted in double column publication format and limited to 10 pages including diagrams and references. HICSS papers undergo a double-blind review (June15 - August15).

August 15: Acceptance notices are sent to Authors. At this time, at least one author of an accepted paper should begin visa, fiscal and travel arrangements to attend the conference to present the paper.

September 15: Authors submit Final Version of papers following submission instructions posted on the HICSS web site. At least one author of each paper must register by this date with specific plans to attend the conference.

October 2: Papers without at least one registered author will be pulled from the publication process; authors will be notified.

Instructions for Paper Submission

* Submit your full manuscript by June 15, and if accepted, submit the Final Version by Sept 15 , according to detailed instructions posted on the HICSS web site.

* An individual may be listed as author or as a co-author on a maximum of 6 submitted papers. Authors may not be added after submission unless approved by the appropriate Track Chair.

* HICSS papers must contain original material not previously published, nor currently submitted elsewhere.

* Do not submit the manuscript to more than one Minitrack Chair. If you are unsure of which Minitrack is appropriate, please submit an abstract to the Track Chair(s) for guidance.

* HICSS will conduct double-blind reviews of each submitted paper. Therefore, author name(s) are not to be included on the manuscript during the June 15 submission process.

Further information is available at: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/hicss_42/minitracks/in-dia.htm
Author instructions at: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/hicss_42/authorinstruction.htm

____________________________________________________________________________________

Dr D.C.Misra
March 16, 2008

Dr D.C.Misra

2008-02-20T17:20:00.000+05:30

Misra,D.C.(2008)_IFCs_and_Egovernment_IIPA_18.2.2008.ppt

2008-02-20T17:02:00.000+05:30

Misra,D.C.(2008)_IFCs_and_Egovernment_IIPA_18.2.2008.ppt

This is a presentation I made on “Revitalising Information and Facilitation Centres (IFCs): Linking with E-government” in One-Day Workshop on Information and Facilitation Counters (IFCs) organised by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi in co-operation with the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on Monday, February 18, 2008. Prof. Dolly Arora of IIPA co-ordinated the workshop.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 22, 2008

IT Projects Shoot Up to 72% in the U.S. Federal Watch List

2008-02-13T20:31:00.000+05:30

Major federal information technology (IT) projects have shot up to 72% (585 out of 810) in the U.S. Watch List as “not well managed,”as against 59% (346 of 840) last year, according to a report* of February 13, 2008. The 585 projects on the watch list account for $26.9 billion in proposed spending in the 2009 budget out of total spending on IT of $71 billion to in 2009. Check for details at

http://federaltimes.com:80/index.php?S=3369099

Dr D.C.Misra
February 13, 2008

Misra,D.C.(2008): Process Framework as Enabler of India’s NeGP, ELITEX 2008, New Delhi, January 17-18, 2008

2008-01-23T20:00:00.000+05:30

I made a presentation on Process Framework as Enabler of India’s National E-governance Plan (NeGP) on January 18, 2008 in the module on Making NeGP Happen: Views and Perceptions in recently concluded Electronics and Information Technology Exposition (ELITEX 2008), held on January 17-18, 2008 in New Delhi convened by Department of Information Technology. This is available at

http://www.elitex.in/paper2008/dcmisra.ppt#36 (accessed: January 23, 2008)

Dr D.C.Misra
January 23, 2008

Misra,D.C.(2008): Annual Survey of E-government 2008

2008-01-01T18:46:00.000+05:30

Happy New Year!

I undertook an exercise and presented it in my keynote address on “Ten Emerging E-government Challenges Today: The Future may be Sober and not Hype” at the 4th International Conference on E-government (ICEG 2007) held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi on December 15-17, 2006.

I had a look at this paper at the end of 2007, nearly after a year to see if these challenges required any addition/deletion or modification. As a result of this re-assessment I have added six more challenges and touched up my paper here and there to make it up-to-date.

This paper is available in the files section of the group moderated by me at:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyber_quiz

It is hoped e-government practitioners may find it useful in their professional work.

Dr D.C.Misra
January 1, 2008

E-government Evaluation

2007-12-03T08:07:00.000+05:30

Misra,D.C.(2008): Review of Chen (2007): Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Sector Managers

2007-12-02T09:53:00.000+05:30

Book Review

Public Sector Managers as “Responsive Entrepreneurs:” Will they deliver in developing countries?
by Dr D.C.Misra*

The Web-based e-government, launched more than a decade ago, has unleashed two unique and surging phenomena in the field of democracy, which, one must hasten to add, has also varying degrees of freedom in different democratic countries worldwide. First, it has made available a set of tools to citizens to express themselves online commenting upon the affairs of the state, particularly those that impact on her life. These include emails, online discussion groups, blogs, wiki, portals, etc. Secondly, it has created a new entity called electronic citizen or e-citizen, who has, within a short span of her birth, started clamouring for her e-rights and is also prepared to discharge e-duties.1

Despite this revolutionary development, the vast majority of citizens still keep aloof from the state. This creates a vicious cycle in practice. Lack of involvement of citizens in the affairs of the state gives rise to poor policy formulation and implementation. And poor policy formulation and implementation, in its turn, disenchants and alienates the citizen from the affairs of the state. This vicious cycle can, however, luckily be broken if information and communication technologies (ICTs) are used to engage citizens in the affairs of the state.
.
This is thus a very timely monograph** on the emerging subject of electronic engagement or e-engagement written by Dr Peter Chen, a Research Associate with the National Centre for Australian Studies, part of Faculty of Arts at Monash University. The Guide aims to ‘equip the public sector manager to assess the value that new communications and computing technology may bring to their interactions with a range of potential stakeholders. It is written for mangers who have an interest in expanding their approach to public engagement rather than information technology professionals.’

Realising their importance, the Australian Government has issued Principles for ICT-enabled Citizen Engagement (AGIMO n.d.). In a path-breaking step, the Australian Government also proposes to set up a Government Consultation Blog on “community feedback on how the government can utilise new internet technologies, such as blogs, to better consult with people.” through a discussion paper “Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper.” (AGIMO 2007). It envisages consultation blog as “a website that lists consultations and allows people to post responses, comments and feedback against each consultation.” (ibid.)

The book consists of a preface, an introduction, five chapters, a bibliography and two appendices. The five chapters are organized around introduction, definitions and approaches, designing the right plan and implementing it.

In Chapter 1, Introduction: An Information Age Democracy? The author defines e-engagement as ‘the use of Information Communication Technologies by the public sector to improve, enhance and expand the engagement of the public in policy-making processes’ and introduces contested concepts like public value (creating value like in private sector) (Moore 1995) and social capital2 (value in community and networking) (Van den Hooff, de Ridder and Aukema 2004), draws attention to the expanding role of public sector manager (requiring new skills and capabilities), describes information society and examines its implications, highlighting the fact that in the new environment public sector managers require new skills and capabilities.

In Chapter 2, Definitions, Differences and Approaches to eEngagement, Chen notes that there is a “wide array of competing, contested and conflicting definitions employed to describe” e-engagement (p-11). The role of public sector manager in electronically-facilitated democracy is, following Moore, “responsive entrepreneurs.” The relationship between the development of an electronically-facilitated democracy and the role of public sector manager is illustrated in Figure 1 along two axes – (vertical) nature of programmatic approach (role of government) and (horizontal) specificity of outcomes (from focused to diffused). This gives rise to three types of managerial roles: 1. Active Listening (passive management), 2. Cultivating Role (capacity building), and 3.Steering Role (high level of management and control) (p-17). These three roles or managerial approaches are also related as these will depend upon the stage of e-engagement project. In the end the author deals with digital divides, draws attention to multiple divides and indicates how these multiple divides can be bridged by a mix of information and communication technology (ICT) and traditional approaches and conceptualises “e-engagement” as a “highly effective way of motivating participation in the information economy.” (p-34).

In Chapter 3, Designing the Right Approach, the author suggests asking the following six questions for project planning: 1. What is the issue(s)? 2. Who are the audience(s)? 3. Consultation versus Collaboration? 4. What objectives do we have for this activity? 5. How interactive this process will be? and 6. What is the right channel (communications technology) to use? Answers to these questions, says the author, will “provide a solid foundation for an effective implementation plan” (p-38).

In Chapter 4, Implementation, the author lays stress on stakeholder buy-in, emphasising manage upwards (commitment from seniors), manage sideways (intra- and inter-government stakeholders), manage outwards (community members) and manage inwards (staff), and then deals with issues like managing technical issues, determining the software feature set, make or buy (software), propriety versus open source (software), low tech versus high tech, generating compelling content (and this is a challenging, often underestimated, task), compelling content versus eye candy (‘visual images that are pleasing to see but intellectually undemanding’), promotion and recruitment (for participation), conventional advertising and promotional approaches, the power of social networking (and its limitations), managing risk, security, and moderation (‘monitoring and exercising editorial control over message control’).

In the last concluding Chapter 5, Concluding the Process, the author emphasizes the importance of evaluation, noting that “Any project initiated in the public sector today will make provision for evaluation as a standard operating procedure.” (p-79). He recommends an evaluation tool of Whyte and Macintosh (2003) for e-engagement activities focusing on political, technical and social aspects. He then discusses close out processes, particularly their documentation, feedback and the eternal community.

Primarily written for the public sector managers of Australasia, this Guide will be found useful by public sector managers worldwide. The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University (ANU) needs to be congratulated for bringing out this Guide on a subject whose importance is increasing day by day.

The phenomenal success of e-commerce has whetted the appetite of citizens for e-government of similar if not the same quality as e-commerce. In this scenario the traditional risk-averse precedent-quoting civil servants are under tremendous pressure to assume the new role of “responsive entrepreneurs” in their new re-incarnation as “public sector managers,” indicative of a shift from “regulatory administration” to “participatory management.” Chen notes:

While the classic bureaucratic model emphasized and rewarded strict technical expertise, the modern public sector manager is expected to have a range of ‘soft’ skills around coalition formation and stakeholder management. (p-4).

The days of regulatory rule-bound bureaucracy thus appear to be over. E-government has already sprouted worldwide and is fast showing signs of maturity. People are, however, not satisfied with mere e-government. They now want good e-government of which citizen engagement or e-engagement in policy formulation and implementation, indeed any aspect which affects their lives, is an integral part (Misra 2007). The issue, however, is not this premise which is sound. The issue is whether public sector managers, in their new role as “responsive entrepreneurs,” will deliver in developing countries?

Notes

1 The Dutch e-Citizen Charter, for example, consists of 10 quality requirements for a new relationship between citizen and government (Poelmans 2007)

2 Next to financial capital, physical capital (tools, machines and other productive equipment), human capital (an individual’s skills and capabilities), social capital is the fourth form of capital available to actors (Van den Hooff, de Ridder and Aukema 2004: 164-65).

References

AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office), Department of Finance and Administration, Australian Government (n.d.): Principles for ICT-enabled Citizen Engagement,
http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/55745/Principles.pdf, accessed: September 25, 2007)

AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office), Department of Finance and Administration, Australian Government (2007): Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper, September, http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/61601/Consultation_Blog_Discussion_Paper.pdf, accessed: September 25, 2007)

Misra, D.C. (2007): Select Aspects of Conceptual Foundations of E-government-2: Checking some of the Foundations (forthcoming). The first part of this three-part contribution, Select Aspects of Conceptual Foundations of E-government: Clearing the Fog for a Better Vision, has already been accepted for 5th International Conference on E-governance, December 28-30, 2007, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India (http://www.iceg.net/2007/)

Moore, Mark (1995): Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press

Poelmans, Matt (2007): Dutch e-Citizen Charter Promotes Citizen-Centered Government, Government Technology, April 10, http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/104894 (accesed: September 28, 2007)

Van den Hooff, Bart, Jan de Ridder and Eilene Aukema (2004): Exploring the Eagerness to Share Knowledge: The Role of Social Capital and ICT in Knowledge Sharing, in
Huysman, Marleen and Volker Wulf (eds.) (2004): Social Capital and Information Technology, Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, June Chapter 7, pp 164-65, http://books.google.com/books?id=8uYbB1AeVrYC&printsec=frontcover#PPA165,M1, accessed: September 25, 2007)

Whyte, Angus and Ann Macintosh (2003): Analysis and Evaluation of E-Consultations, e-Service Journal, 2(1), http://www.e-sj.org/e-SJ2.1/esj2_1_whyte_macintosh.pdf (Abstract), accessed: September27, 2007)

____________________________________________________________________________________

*Independent E-government Researcher and Consultant, New Delhi, India. Formerly of Indian Administrative Service, Chairman, Task Force for IT Policy for Delhi and Chief Knowledge Officer, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Republic of Mauritius, Port Louis under the aegis of Commonwealth Secretariat, London. Email: dc_misra [at] hotmail.com

** Chen, Dr Peter (2007): Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Sector Managers, Canberra, ACT, Australia, ANU E Press, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Australian National University, xvii+103 pp

Irish public servants believe that new technology has increased efficiency

2007-11-20T19:44:00.000+05:30

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__________________________________________________________________
*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)

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

2007-11-15T20:08:00.000+05:30

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

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

2007-11-10T18:33:00.000+05:30

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

Accountability of neo-governments

2007-10-05T20:05:00.000+05:30

This is an interesting article* on accountability of neo-governments, also called regulators, in India. The authors call them "governments within government" and allege that they are not subject to same level of accountability as the first three branches of government. Calling it a classic case of principal-agent, they describe the existing accountability mechanism for them and find that neo-governments have a more elaborate accountability mechanism in the U.S. They suggest creation of a Department of Neo-governments.

Dr D.C.Misra
October 5, 2007

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Accountability of neo-governments

With the growing reliance on neo-governments for governance, it is important that a holistic approach to building a uniform system of accountability is followed, say C K G Nair & M S Sahoo

NEO-GOVERNMENTS are governments within government and carry out governance on behalf of government in a pre-defined framework. They are epistemically called ‘regulators’ in India as their responsibilities include regulation. They also have other responsibilities, which are traditionally discharged by government. For example, Sebi has the responsibility of protecting investors in securities and developing the securities market, in addition to regulation.

Neo-governments are generally endowed with wider powers and sharper tools than the normal constitutional authorities. They blur the principle of separation of powers and are not subject to the same level of accountability, as the first three branches of government are. Governments continue to be accountable for governance, even if it is carried out through neo-governments — a classic case of the principal-agent problem. In case of exigencies, governments are called upon to explain and carry out rescue operations.

A well-crafted accountability mechanism reduces the ‘agency problem’, though the term ‘accountability’ is a misnomer. Many consider it synonymous with control and less of autonomy. In fact, accountability and autonomy go hand in hand. Higher the level of autonomy, greater the accountability and vice versa. The accountability arrangements for neo-governments, therefore, need to be clearly articulated so that the need for ex post changes in the conditions of the ex ante contracts are minimised for the sake of policy and operational stability. Otherwise, the government, accountable for the performance of neo-governments, may devise ad-hoc arrangements, leading at times to major disconnect with the ex ante contract, which may impinge on the autonomy of neo-governments and create avoidable tension between them.

Current accountability arrangements in India focus mainly on their role as regulators probably because they are so perceived. Through the administrative ministry the neo-governments lay on the table of Parliament subordinate legislation, annual report detailing their activities and performance, and statement of accounts audited by CAG. The departmental standing committees scrutinise their activities while approving their demand for grants or demand for grants of their administrative ministries, as the case may be. They are obliged to carry out the policy directions of government. In the face of substantial, apparent agency problem, the government may reconstitute the neo-governments by following a special procedure and under specified circumstances. Their orders are subject to appeal generally before a tribunal, with provision of judicial review up to the Supreme Court.

Neo-governments in the US are required to consult the stakeholders and public, and reveal the costs and benefits, while making subordinate legislation. The subordinate legislation with important bearings needs to be pre-approved by the Congress. The Government Accountability Office generally assesses the performance of neo-governments in terms of their objectives and efficiency and reports to the Congress. The neo-governments appear before the Congress twice a year and give testimony before the congressional oversight committees as often as required. Their budgets are approved by the Congress. One neo-government, namely, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has to even justify its continuation every five years before the Congress. The accountability arrangements are well laid out in the UK, where a ‘private limited company’ acts as the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA reports to Parliament through the treasury and the Director General Fair Trading keeps a watch on the conformity of FSA regulatory actions from the sidelines.

THERE are certain standard arrangements for accountability. These include: ex ante accountability such as consultation with public and stakeholders before taking an action; ex post accountability such as reporting actions already taken; explanatory accountability such as disclosure of the rationale of the actions, procedural accountability such as adhering to standards of procedural fairness and transparency; and performance accountability.

The accountability arrangements rest on five main planks: articulation of the responsibilities, objectives and targets against which neo-governments may be held accountable; provision of powers, resources and capacity of neo-governments matching their assigned responsibilities; assignment of the affairs of the neo-governments to competent people who are comfortable with accountability arrangements; identification of stakeholders to whom neo-governments may be accountable; and education of stakeholders about the manner of ensuring accountability.

With the growing reliance on neo-governments for governance, it is important that a holistic approach to building a uniform system of accountability is followed. In order to achieve that, it may be worth creating a new department, say, department of neo-governments, with responsibilities similar to those of the DPEs in respect of PSUs. This department may monitor and review on an ongoing basis the performance of neo-governments vis-à-vis that of others in their peer group within the country and overseas and submit their reports for consideration by Parliament.

Since the administrative ministry is answerable to Parliament, the executive may get structured reports at regular intervals and specific reports as and when warranted. The neo-governments may have opportunity to explain their performance to Parliament and / or a committee of Parliament directly. They may disclose all relevant information to their stakeholders and take their inputs for making laws and their decision making process accessible to public and media. The crux of the issue is to spell out ex ante the mechanism of accountability to the legislature, the executive and to other stakeholders at large and to institutionalise the same so that it does not suffer from subjectivity.

Neo-governments as governance institutions need to follow a ‘benign’ approach of being accountable to the stakeholders in ‘disclosing’ that they are performing their tasks in tune with the objective of their creation. Such accountability arrangements, basically a contracting issue in reducing the agency problem, have to be pre-set to avoid institutional tensions, enhance autonomy and minimise the transaction costs in an increasingly information asymmetric world, the very raison d’etre of institutional innovations.
(The authors are civil servants. Views are personal.)

(Source: Nair, C K G and M S Sahoo (2007): Accountability of neo-governments, The Economic Times, New Delhi, October 5, Friday, p-16,
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/ET/navigator.asp?Daily=ETD&login=default, accessed : October 5, 2007)

Call for Papers-International Digital Government Research Conference (dg.o 2008)

2007-10-04T11:32:00.000+05:30

According to information received by me,
The 9th International Digital Government Research Conference (dg.o 2008)
on "Partnerships for Public Innovation" will be held
at Hilton Bonaventure Hotel, Montreal, Canada
on May 18-21, 2008.
It has issued call for papers (CFPs).
Check for details the home page:
http://www.dgo2008.org
General inquiries may be addressed to:
dgo2008@easychair.org

Dr D.C.Misra
October 4, 2007

Road to E-government: The Korean Way

2007-09-29T22:22:00.000+05:30

Korea, as is widely known, is strong in IT infrastructure but is it also strong in e-government? This is the central question which the author, Dr Kuk-Hwan Jeong, who was directly involved in e-government development in Korea in its crucial phase of years 2000-2005 has raised. Dr Jeong, currently Senior Research fellow at the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), a government-funded IT think tank set up in 1985, was “responsible for vision, strategy, direction, and oversight for e-government” as Director General of Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGHA) and later Assistant Minister in charge e-government issues (2000-2005). He joined KISDI in 2005.

The experience of Korea is, according to the author, of interest in case studies of implementing e-government not only because it is among the group successfully diffusing Internet infrastructure preparing the base for e-government, but because the challenges it faces may be of relevance to other newly informatizing countries (p-15).(emphasis original). Korea’s remarkable success in Broadband Internet adoption, which is among top ten in 2007 at 27.4% (Check InternetWorldStats Broadband Internet Subscribers - World Top 20 Countries), has drawn worldwide attention.

The book consists of seven chapters, a write-up on Korean government in brief describing its structure, an introduction, an appendix and references.

In Chapter 1: Information Revolution and E-government, the author deals with topics like IT revolution and the evolution of information society, deployment of IT revolution, speed of IT revolution and e-government, and IT efforts towards e-government in Korea. He rightly observes “The history of computer invention and commercialization goes back to the early 1950s but it did not impact the everyday life of individuals until early 1980s with the spread of personal computers.” (p-10). Noting that “The eye of IT revolution typhoon is the Internet” (p-11), he admits that predictions of “paperless office” and “cashless economy” have failed to materialize.

In Chapter 2: Backgrounds of Advanced IT Infrastructure, the author describes motivations of IT efforts, notes Internet growth, and describes citizen expectations. The objective of the national computerization project of the late 1980s was, says the author, to take advantage of IT to improve competitiveness in the world market. This again was based on the premise that Korea had missed the industrialization bus in the first half of 20th century and it would be disaster to miss the IT bus now. As a result “IT applications were placed at the centre of national attention.” This led Korea to set up world class IT infrastructure comparable to developed countries like the U.S. and Singapore.

As a result, two-thirds of Koreans had Internet connectivity by end of 2004 (p-19) which received worldwide acclaim in media (The figure stands at 66.5% in 2007).One reason for rapid growth of Internet cited by the author is the growth of ‘Net café’ or ‘PC bang’ from 100 in 1988 to more than 32,000 now. The rapid growth of PC bang industry is in part attributed to the economic crisis of 1977 when many young people lost their jobs. The other reason was government funded Internet classes for the public. Yet another reason cited are two (negative) attributes of Koreans: impatience and love of gambling, which the author finds positive as speed and risk which are required by the changing needs of society in information age.

Every technology creates hype, more powerful the technology, greater the hype. The Internet was the most powerful technology in the last decade of the 20th century. As such this created greatest hype. This raised people’s expectations to unrealistic levels not only in e-commerce, where it was already registering some brilliant successes (Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, Google, etc.) but also in e-government which was, and is, impacting on the people’s lives. Citing and illustrating Gartner's hype cycles, he makes an impassioned but useful plea for management of citizen expectations.

In Chapter 3: Principles of E-government, the theoretical part, the author describes challenges facing government in the Internet era, e-government as a new concept of public administration, government and technology, vision for e-government, emerging stages of e-government, information sharing and government portal. Among these topics, the last two - information sharing and government portal - are particularly noteworthy. The first relates to improvement in internal processes and the second, dependent on the first, is public service delivery. And both of them are serious challenges to e-government practitioners.

The basic idea of information sharing is, says the author, to store information once rather many times, so that citizens and businesses should not be asked by different departments for the same information (pp 41-42).(emphasis supplied). He points out, apparently based on his experience that “the failure of information sharing results from organizational egoism” (p-43). As regards government portal, the author says that “The core idea behind a governmental portal is to aggregate information and services across providing agencies and to create a single point of access to each information and service (p-51) and cites the case of United Kingdom where stand-alone portals are being phased out to converge on two portals – DirectGov and BusinessLink – as primary online entry points.

In Chapter 4: Experience of E-government Initiatives, the author describes the experience of e-government projects like National Basic Infrastructure System (NBIS) started in 1987 and Korea Information Infrastructure (KII), which laid the national optical fibre backbone network. He then describes 11 priority e-government initiatives grouped under 3 categories: I. Upgrade Government Services for Citizens and Businesses (1. Government for Citizens (G4C) System- information for more than 4,000 government services, 2. Social Insurance Integration System- integrates 4 major social insurance systems, 3. Home Tax System (HTS), and 4. Government Electronic Procurement System (GePS), II. Improve the Efficiency of Administration (5. National Finance Information Administration, 6. National Education Information System, 7. Local Government Information System, 8. Personnel Policy Support System, and III. Establish Infrastructure for E-government (9. Electronic Document System, 10. Electronic Authentication System, and 11. BPR for the Integrated Centre of Government-wide Computer Resources-government data centre). These projects were successfully completed by 2002 and the author attributes their success primarily to Presidential support and support by the National Assembly. He then brings his account up to date by describing the Roadmap to E-government (2003-2007), shifting the focus from ‘small government to modernized and reformative government.’ (p-66).

In Chapter 5: Case Studies, Dr Jeong describes a number of instructive cases. In the “Portal System for Citizen Participation,” he candidly notes that “Almost all government agencies have ambitiously opened websites as a channel for citizen participation in policy debates and online polls. But neither the take-up rate nor satisfaction of people is high at the moment.” (p-87). In the case of Information Network Village Project (IVP), which has drawn international attention, the author highlights changes and outcome in remote fishing and farming villages.

In Chapter 6, the author highlights the a number of policy issues like co-ordination and political leadership, funding mechanisms, IT investment and payoffs, and monitoring and evaluation, information resource management and enterprise architecture (EA) and security and protection of private information.

In the last Chapter 7, Future Directions of E-government, the author discusses a number of important issues like promotion of government innovation, encouragement of citizen’s engagement and participation, innovation of information resource management, protection of privacy and system safety, and acceptance of e-government service.

In conclusion, the answer to the central question posed in this book “Is Korea strong in e-government,” shows, despite substantial investment in e-government infrastructure, a number of shortcomings in e-government in Korea like acceptance of the e-government service by the public has been much lower than it should be (p-157). The central lesson which emerges from this valuable work is that investment in information infrastructure is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the success of e-government. A move from techno-centric to citizen-centric e-government will surely help.

Dr Jeong deserves to be complimented for writing this book and make his first-hand experiences in e-government available to others. The contribution becomes all the more creditable as very few people who are directly involved in e-government care to type their experiences on a computer (or to use the corresponding 20th century expression- pick up a pen to write their experiences) for benefit of others, duly reflected in this information-packed work, which is worth reading by e-government practitioners, particularly in developing countries. © Dr D.C.Misra 2007
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**Jeong, Kuk-Hwan (2006): E-government: The Road to Innovation: Principles and Experiences in Korea, Seoul, Korea, Gil-Job-E Media, March, xii+197 pp

Gujarat girl to present paper on Indian font recognistion software

2007-09-26T13:25:00.000+05:30

This is a good acievement* by a young girl from Gujarat, India. Our congratulations.

Dr D.C.Misra
September 26, 2007

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*Gujarat girl to present paper on Indian font recognistion software

Ahmedabad, Sept 25 (PTI) A young computer wiz from Gujarat will present a paper on Indian font recognition softwares at a global conference in the US next month.
Sandhya Sitaraman (20), studying national language processing at an institute in Surat, is the only representative from India invited to present a paper at the forum, which is specially for undergraduate women pursuing careers in computer sciences.

Personal computers and laptops have become an everyday tool for professionals in all walks of life across India for some years now but the lack of adequate font recognition softwares has limited their usage mostly to those who understand English.

Sitaraman is gearing up to overcome this handicap and will present a paper on "Artificial Intelligence Recognition for Indian languages" at the conference at Carnegie Mellon University.

"I was very happy that my paper has been selected and I will be given time to talk about my subject amid such a recognised panel of experts in the computer field," Sitaraman told PTI.

Clearing the air about artificial intelligence (AI), Sitaraman said "Many people have the misconception that AI is all about cyborgs and inserting chips into human beings which is not true. A lot of AI today is just about fields like human computer interaction and natural language processing to make communication smoother to help solve complex problems easily." PTI

(Source: http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/$all/42F2CAA40DC13F41652573610017DA61, accessed : September 26, 2007)

Australia proposes to set up a Government Consultation Blog, Invites feedback

2007-09-25T16:24:00.000+05:30

Realising the importance of citizen engagement, the Australian Government has issued Principles for ICT-enabled Citizen Engagement. In a pioneering move now the Australian Government proposes to set up a Government Consultation Blog and has therefore invited comments by December 1, 2007 on “community feedback on how the government can utilise new internet technologies, such as blogs, to better consult with people.” through a discussion paper “Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper*.” AGIMO envisages consultation blog as “a website that lists consultations and allows people to post responses, comments and feedback against each consultation.” (*AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office), Department of Finance and Administration, Australian Government (2007): Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper, September, http://www.agimo.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/61601/Consultation_Blog_Discussion_Paper.pdf, accessed: September 25, 2007)

Dr D.C.Misra
September 25, 2007

Plugging Loopholes: Indain IT Act 2006 may be reviewed

2007-09-21T16:44:00.000+05:30

A long over-due step* keeping pace with changing times.

Dr D.C.Misra
September 21, 2007

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*Plugging Loopholes: IT Act 2006 may be reviewed

Niranjan Bharati NEW DELHI

CONCERNED over the loopholes indicated by the parliamentary panel in the draft Information Technology (IT) Act 2006, the government is planning to review the whole Act in consultation with the stakeholders. “We are in the process of reviewing the Act and have asked the stakeholders, including the industry and the user groups, to give their feedback on the proposed changes,” a senior official in the department of information technology (DIT) said.

DIT would put the draft Act for public comment once the review process is over, the official said, adding that the department hopes to complete the review by the end of the year. Earlier this month, the parliamentary panel, constituted to look into the proposed changes in the IT Act 2000 (which is in the form of Draft IT Act 2006), had pulled up the DIT for flaws in the proposed amendments.

The panel has mainly indicated flaws in the areas of cyber terrorism and child pornography. “In view of the several manifestations of sexual abuse of children and its loathsome ramifications, the committee desires that the act of grooming the child for sexual relationship through online enticement or distributing/showing pornography or through any online means should also be made a criminal offence,” the panel had said in its report submitted to the parliament.

The report said that the term “cyber terrorism” has not been defined clearly in the proposed Act. It had also said that the present law has a very complex language and the government should form a new law instead of just making changes in the existing laws in the context of the fast changing technology.

“The law pertaining to IT should be self-containing and easily comprehensible to the global village community. Despite the experience gained in about seven years in the administration of the IT law, no effort has been made to bring a new and exclusive legislation,” the standing committee on information technology had said in its report.

(Source: Bharati, Niranjan (2007): Plugging Loopholes: IT Act 2006 may be reviewed, The Economics Times, New Delhi, September 21, Friday, p-6, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/daily/skins/ET/navigator.asp?login=drdcmisra,
accessed: September 21, 2007)

MP Govt sets up School for Good Governance

2007-09-21T13:23:00.000+05:30

It is good to see that the government of Madhya Pradesh has taken this initiative of setting up a School for Good Governance and Policy Analysis.* Some time back the government of Andhra Pradesh had also set up such a school which is functioning. This initiative by the government of Madhya Pradesh, however, raises three important issues.

First, where set up, what is the performance of such school in actual policy formulation and implementation (as distinct from publications, seminars, etc.)? Secondly, when practically every state has a state institute of public administration (SIPA) (by whatever name called), what is the need for setting up another institute with similar if not identical mandate? Will they not work at cross purposes or duplicate efforts? Would it not have been better to revamp SIPA instead rather than set up another institute?

Lastly, would it not have been much better, and still not late for it, if the state government had set up a school for e-governance, for which there is a crying need to-day in every state, indeed even in districts too, with a mandate for policy formulation (can you imagine any policy formulation in year 2007, in the first decade of 21st century, without the help of information and communication technology(ICT)?) and training legislators, civil servants and citizens in ICT?.

Dr D.C.Misra
September 21, 2007

*MP Govt sets up School for Good Governance

Bhopal, Sept. 20 (PTI): Madhya Pradesh government has set up a School for Good Governance and Policy Analysis here to review state policies and its effect on a target group.

"The school will function as an autonomous institution and will be run by the governing body headed by Chief Minister," an official release said on Wednesday.
An executive body will be formed for execution of routine works of the school.
The decision to establish the school was taken by the state Cabinet in June this year, which had fixed Rs five crore as the non-plan limit for 2007-08 for its establishment.

The state government has appointed H P Dixit as the Director General of the school, the release said.

The school will function as a `think tank' in the field of good governance in international and domestic context and will analyse problems regarding governance. It will also prepare an action plan and assist in implementation of the same.
Its works also include compilation and expansion of outstanding activities and skills and `e-governance' programmes, apart from suggestions on reforms in the existing administrative arrangements.

A high-power committee headed by the Chief Secretary will be constituted to finalise the outline and structure, besides sanction of necessary staff for the school. The committee shall be authorised to take final decision in this regard, the release added.

(Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200709200325.htm, accessed : September 21, 2007)

2007-05-22T23:26:00.000+05:30

2007-05-22T23:09:00.000+05:30

Misra,D.C.(2007): Can we standardise spelling of e-government terms?

2007-05-21T11:11:00.000+05:30

There appears to be a free-for-all environment for spelling the frequently used terms in e-government according to one's fancy including spelling acronyms and abbreviations (eGov: Isn't it cute? Yes, it is. But what does it mean? E-governance or e-government or, much worse, both). This does not befit a fast developing practice and a discipline too. Moreover, a spelling may have profound meaning and a term spelt in two different ways may have two entirely different meanings as is the case, say, with "World Wide Web" and "WorldWideWeb" (one word) or may have governance implications as is the case with "Internet" and "internet."
Three rules could be proposed here: Rule 1. Spell these words the way you like and stick to them. (The down side of this rule is present confusion in spelling e-government terms. The up side is that it has preferred consistency in usage).Rule 2: Never, ever, spell a term differently in the same text or in the same organization, community of practice (COP), etc. (This requires issue of a note of practice, if not standardization of terminology). Rule 3: Develop a reason-based, unambiguous spelling of e-government terms and actively promote their usage.
Illustration to Rule 3: Electronic government are two words. If we wish to contract them, a hyphen is required to be placed between them making electronic-government one word. However, since this one word is also long, defeating the very purpose of the exercise, it requires further contraction. Since "e" as a substitute for "electronic" is widely understood, the word can be contracted to e-government. But this word cannot be further contracted satisfactorily. For example, if it is contracted to e-gov, it makes the meaning ambiguous- does it stand for e-governance, e-government, e-govern or indeed some thing else? As such the proposed spelling is e-government (or E-government at the beginning of a sentence), which requires to be consistently promoted.
"Internet" or "internet"?
"Internet" (with upper case "I") is a network of networks which hosts the World Wide Web which is surfed by us day in, day out. Internet is unique. While "internet" is non-existent entity so far except that some writers have started using the term "internet" for "Internet" (perhaps under the (mistaken) impression that it should be so spelt because it has become commonplace like telephony or electricity). There is however a deeper significance in the difference in spellings. Shannon in International Herald Tribune reports that with "internet" (with lower case "i") International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency, wants to lower-case the word Internet as a matter of official policy so that it could take over the governance of Internet (Shannon, Victoria (2006): What's in an 'i'? Internet governance: UN agency reconsiders its role as countries jockey for influence in industry, International Herald Tribune, December 3, http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/03/technology/btitu.php?page=1)].She reports that some of the 2,100 participants at the union's highest-level strategy meeting, which convened for three weeks in November 2006 in Antalya, Turkey, "saw the move as the latest in a long-running effort by the organization to control the Internet, this time through a subtle yet symbolic imprint on the most powerful communications and commercial tool of the 21st century." Yoshio Utsumi, who turns over his office as secretary general of the agency to Touré in January, had called the Internet a "utility" to be managed for the public good.
"World Wide Web," "world wide web" or "WorldWideWeb"?
Since the "World Wide Web," the universe of information over the Internet, like the Internet, is unique, it should be spelled as "World Wide Web" and not as "world wide web." More importantly, the three words "World Wide Web" should not be combined to make word "WorldWideWeb" as this (one word) was the first Web client, a browser-editor written in 1990 that ran on a Next machine. According to Tim-Berners Lee, the inventor of World Wide Web, "Much later it was renamed Nexus in order to save confusion between the program and the abstract information space (which is now spelled World Wide Web with spaces)." (The WorldWideWeb Browser, http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html)
Other E-words
Other e-words could be added. A beginning has to be made some where. Any view on the issue?

Dr D.C.Misra
May 21, 2007

Misra, D.C.(2007): Defining e-government: a citizen-centric criteria-based approach

2007-02-04T13:22:00.000+05:30

This is a paper I contributed to E-governance Compendium 2007, brought out by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on the occasion of 10th National Conference on e-Governance, February 2-3, 2007, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, under the theme: avant-garde issues in e-governance. I did not attend the conference. The paper can be downloaded from the Files section of the group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyber_quiz/.

The paper examines the concept of e-government, highlights a levels-of-perspective definition of e-government and advocates a citizen-centric criteria-based approach to e-government operationalised by a comprehensive e-business plan as distinct from current piecemeal approaches to e-government characterised by free-standing e-government projects.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 4, 2007

Varney Report on Service Transformation in United Kingdom

2007-01-26T20:31:00.000+05:30

This is a report* by Sir David Varney, who has extensive experience in private sector, on service transformation in United Kingdom. Since 1997 the Government in United Kingdom has undertaken a comprehensive programme of public service reform. Compared to 1997, notes the report, “the government is now providing more services online or through comprehensive telephone contact centres—allowing citizens and businesses improved ways to access government. Access to NHS Direct Online has grown by 74 per cent comparing this year to the last. In transport, citizens can now apply via the Internet for provisional driving licences and vehicle registration at any time. By the end of September 2006, 3.7 million motorists had renewed their car tax online.” This report “focuses on the opportunities for change in the channels through which services are delivered to citizens and businesses. Over the next ten years, there is an opportunity to provide better public services for citizens and businesses and to do so at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”

Dr D.C.Misra
January 26, 2007
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*Varney, Sir David (2006): Service transformation: A better service for citizens and businesses ,a better deal for the taxpayer, London, The Stationery Office (TSO), December, available: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/53D/F2/pbr06_varney_review.pdf

Misra, D.C. (2007): Ten Guiding Principles for Knowledge Management in E-government

2007-01-15T01:19:00.000+05:30

This is a paper I presented on January 12, 2007 in First International Conference on Knowledge Management for Productivity and Competitiveness organised by National Productivity Council on January 11-12, 2007, New Delhi. It advocates preparation of a knowledge management (KM) sub-plan in e-government plan. It will be of interest to those who wish to introduce KnowledgeManagement (KM) in E-government. The paper is available at the link.

Dr D.C.Misra
January 15, 2007

Misra, D.C. (2006): Ten Emerging E-government Challenges Today

2006-12-17T22:41:00.000+05:30

Misra, D.C. (2006): Ten Emerging E-government Challenges Today

This is a paper contributed by me on for the Keynote Session on December 15, 2006 in the 4th International Conference on E-Governance (ICEG), December 15-17, 2007, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The paper overviews the e-government scenario as it obtains at the end of year 2006 and identifies ten emerging e-government challenges which can help policy makers in e- government policy formulation and implementation highlighting the central position of efficient public service delivery and certain e-government developments like global and national league tables, information explosion, technology forecasts, management information systems (MISs), e-government project monitoring, wiki technology, semantic web and artificial intelligence (AI) and concludes that the future of e-government may be quite sobering after the initial hype surrounding it settles down.Check the paper at:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyber_quiz/message/250

Dr D.C.Misra
December 17, 2006

E-GOVERNMENT – THE STATE OF ART TO-DAY: 1 & 2

2006-07-15T21:08:00.000+05:30

These are two presentations I made some time back. May be of interest to members of the group. Check:

Misra, D.C. (2006a): E-government: The State of Art Today, Keynote Presentation at
Seminar on Using the Internet for Electronic Delivery of Government Services, Internet Fiesta 2006, March 20, http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/internetfiesta/file/misra.ppt#2 (accessed July 15, 2006)

Misra, D.C. (2006b): E-government: The State of Art Today-2, A Presentation at the Official Launching of the Government-to-Government System and CIO Workshop,
Thursday, May 25, 2006, Ebene Cyber Tower, Rose Hill, Mauritius, http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/ncb/file/E-government.ppt (accessed: July 15, 2006)

Dr D.C.Misra
July 15, 2006

India's Knowledge Commission sans `knowledge worker' or `knowledge economy.'

2005-06-15T23:48:00.000+05:30

India's National Knowledge Commission-2: Its Terms of Reference:
Knowledge Commission sans `knowledge worker' or `knowledge economy.'

India's National Knowledge Commission has the following terms of reference: The Commission will advise the Prime Minister on matters relating to institutions of knowledge production, knowledge use and knowledge dissemination.

The main terms of reference of the Commission, referred to as the "knowledge pentagon, include: (i) Building excellence in the educational system to meet the knowledge challenges of the 21st Century, (ii) Promote research in Science and Technology, (iii) Improve the management of institutions engaged in Intellectual
Property Rights, (iv) Promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry, and (v) Promote the use of knowledge capabilities to make the government effective, transparent, accountable and public-oriented.

It will also explore ways in which knowledge can be made more widely accessible in India for maximum public benefit.

The danger to treat `knowledge' as a `commodity'(which it is not) to be produced (knowledge is created, not produced), used and disseminated (the natural order here is `dissemination' followed by `use' and not the other way) should be avoided by the knowledge commission. Moreover, in social and development context it is the `usable knowledge' (practical utility), which matters to the people and not the `knowledge for its own sake' (intellectual pursuit). When it has been proposed that the knowledge commission `will also explore ways in which knowledge can be made more widely accessible in India for maximum public benefit,' this term of reference presuppose existence of (usable) knowledge, which need not always be the case. The general perception is that not many 'knowledge institutions' (universities, research institutes / laboratories) have a ready storehouse of (usable) knowledge for dissemination among the people.

The main terms of reference of the knowledge commission can be grouped into five categories in brief: (i) excellence in educational system, (ii) research in science and technology, (iii) management of intellectual property rights (IPRs) institutions, (iv) knowledge applications in agriculture and industry, and (v) good governance.

These main terms of reference of the knowledge commission have two striking features. First, their inter-sectoral nature. Usually in government, such commissions or their lesser entities, (high powered) committees, are sectoral in nature, say, confined to a sector like education, agriculture, industry, etc. The multi-sectoral terms of reference of knowledge commission will require an expertise of a very high order for inter-sectoral co-ordination. The knowledge commission
as constituted at present does not have such an expertise though it does have a former member of the Indian administrative service who resigned from the service to pursue academic interests and till recently was vice chancellor, Delhi university and as such has to be treated more of a specialist rather than a generalist.

Secondly, and more importantly, India is perhaps the first and so far the only country in the world which has set up a (national) knowledge commission. This is a laudable step. The terms of reference of the knowledge commission, however, do not explicitly recognize the `knowledge worker' or `knowledge economy' or `knowledge society.' This is worrisome not only because many Indians are spearheading the
ongoing information revolution and India itself is a notable contributor to and beneficiary of the (new) `knowledge economy' but because creation of the national knowledge commission is a unique opportunity in which the knowledge commission can have a vision of Indian `knowledge society' based on `knowledge economy' and driven
by `knowledge workers' and prepare a plan of action to realize the vision in a definite time-frame. No commission, which calls itself, `knowledge' commission can afford to ignore these basic concepts, which are driving the ongoing information revolution worldwide.

Dr D.C.Misra
June 15, 2005

Illiterate people are using cybercafes in India, reports a research study

2005-06-10T09:41:00.000+05:30

Illiterate people are using cybercafes in India without any special programs or applications for them, reports a research study. Haseloff,* a doctoral student at the University of Augsburg, Germany in his ongoing research study on "Cybercafes and their Potential as Community Development Tools in India" reports, among other things, that "it is a positive sign that currently some illiterate people are using cybercafes for a variety of reasons, without any special programs or applications for them being in place." His study, however, rejects the claim that cybercafes bridge the digital divide. According to him: "it appears that cybercafes according to the categories age, employment and education mostly serve the better-off groups (the young, the highly educated and the higher income groups). These findings confirm the results from the street survey, where Internet use could be measured only among the middle and upper-classes. Therefore, the theoretical assumption that cybercafes might help bridge the digital divide for the lowest SEC groups has to be rejected, at least at present." (Note: SEC= Socio-economic categories). His general finding is that "cybercafes play a significantly different role in India, compared to the role they play in the most developed countries. Whereas in developed countries, they are just an additional access point for people who already have access somewhere else, they seem to be highly important for the middle class in India, and therefore effectively help to bridge the digital divide for this group." Haseloff needs to be complimented for undertaking this policy-relevant study.Dr

D.C.Misra
June 10, 2005 _____________________________________________________________________________________
*Haseloff, Anikar M. (2005): Cybercafes and their Potential as Community Development Tools in India, The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 1 Number 3 (2005), http://www.ci-journal.net/viewarticle.php?id=68&layout=html(accessed: June 10, 2005)

Review of Virmani (2005): Institutions, Governance and Policy Reform

2005-06-08T07:07:00.000+05:30

Occasional Paper Review: Review of Virmani, Arvind (2005): Institutions, Governance and Policy Reform: A Framework for Analysis, Economic and Political Weekly, Mumbai, India, May 28-June 4.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract:* “The literature on institutions and development has dealt with questions of grand design such as the Constitution, the rule of law (personal safety), property rights and informal rules embodied in culture. These are matters that happen on a time scale of a quarter/half century or more and can be thought of as the 'superstructure' of institutions. The quantitative work on institutions and growth has explored the linkage between these institutional issues and economic growth. The current paper focuses on what may be called the 'microstructure' of institutions, a smaller scale at which change can occur over a time frame of decades (or half decades). Among the issues that arise in this context are how changing institutions require changes in policies.”

Dr D.C.Misra
June 8, 2005
____________________________________________________________________________________
*Virmani, Arvind (2005): Institutions, Governance and Policy Reform: A Framework for Analysis, Economic and Political Weekly, Mumbai, India, May 28-June 4, http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2005&leaf=05&filename=8714&filetype=html
(accessed: June 8, 2005)

Review of Torres et al. (2005): E-Government and E-Governance Developments in EU Cities

2005-06-05T14:41:00.000+05:30

Review of Torres, Lourdes, Vicente Pina and Basilio Acerete (2005): E-Government and E-Governance Developments in EU Cities Reshaping Government Relation to Citizens

Torres et al. (2005)* report that "ICTs have not had a dramatic impact on the practical reality of present politics. The Internet represents an aid to good governance by increasing government transparency, efficiency, and customer-oriented service delivery, but it is not running, in most cases, as an important medium facilitating citizen consultation, policy discussion, or other aspects of citizen participation in the policymaking process." Their study shows that "technology is behaving as an enabler within pre-existingsocial structures and political functions. In the European continental countries the application of ICTs to service delivery has little effect on the traditional administration style of their countries. Furthermore, there is a systematic bias in local government ICT policy which not only confirms existing emphases upon service provision but also sustains and enhances it."

Their findings are based on a comprehensive study of the nature of e-governance initiatives by 35 cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants in 12 European countries - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK, which represent around 80 per cent of EU population. Their empirical survey focuses on "e-services and e-democracy together with the web maturity." The study was carried out "during the second half of 2003 and the first half of 2004and a range of 173 items of information were analysed, 67 services delivered through the Internet were identified and grouped according to the local public service classification carried out by Torres and Pina as well as 67 e-democracy features and 6 web maturity items.This is an important study, which should not be missed by any one interested in e-governance.

Torres et al. need to be complimented for not only undertaking this comprehensive cross-country study but for drawing clear conclusions which have important lessons of practical utility for e-governance policy-makers and implementers worldwide. Their conclusion, for example, "At present most e-government initiatives are still viewing people from a passive perspective -to whom something is given or from whom something is required-, and not as citizens" rings true as the state and citizens continue to co-exist in mutual discomfort. As the potential of e-governance continues to be unrealized worldwide, the study implies need for re-orientation of e-governance strategies to serve the citizens better. The authors rightly emphasise that "The jump fromadministratively oriented towards user-oriented organizations requires to give citizens the opportunity to influence and mould information which only transact level permits." E-Governance, it appears, has a long way to go.Dr

D.C.Misra
June 5, 2005
___________________________________________________________________________________
*Torres, Lourdes, Vicente Pina and Basilio Acerete (2005): E-Government and E-Governance Developments in EU Cities Reshaping Government Relation to Citizens, Zaragoza, Spain, University of Zaragoza, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Accounting and Finance, Paper presented at the 28th European Accounting Association Annual Congress, Göteborg, May18-20, 2005, available http://www.uc3m.es/uc3m/dpto/EMP/seminar/torres.pdf(accessed: June 5, 2005)

List: 2005 Top Ten Book Reviewers at Amazon.com

2005-05-30T11:13:00.000+05:30

List: 2005 Top Ten Book Reviewers at Amazon.com
_____________________________________________________________________
1.Harriet Klausner (9,024) (56,245)
2.Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City: Duluth, MN United States)
(10,175 ) (55,935)
3.Donald Mitchell (2,599) (41,963)
4.Rebecca Johnson (2,773) (21,700)
5.Gail Cooke (TX, USA) (2,738) (16,534)
6.Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) ((1,1756) (20,022)
7.Barron Laycock (Temple, New Hampshire United States) (1,136) (31,
008)
8.Marc Ruby (Warren, MI USA) (1,320) (15,750)
9.E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) (2,275) (17,246)
10. Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) (1,180) (12,579)
_____________________________________________________________________
Note: 1. Figures in first parentheses indicate the number of reviews
while the figures in second parentheses indicate the number of
helpful votes.

Source: Top Reviewrs, http://www.amazon.com/o/tg/cm/top-reviewers-
list/-/1/ref=cm_xx_hp_rev/104-3004000-7881534

Dr D.C.Misra
May 30, 2005

Books: Latest Arrivals: Eggers (2005):Government 2.0

2005-05-30T11:11:00.000+05:30

Books: Latest Arrivals: Eggers, William D. (2005): Government 2.0: Using Technology to Improve Education, Cut Red Tape, Reduce Gridlock, and Enhance Democracy, Lanham, MD, Rowman and Littlefield, January ,304 pp, Cloth 0-7425-4175-4 $27.95

Check it at

http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?
command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0742541754

Dr D.C.Misra
May 30, 2005.

Website Watch: Policypointers

2005-05-30T10:59:00.000+05:30

Policypointers is "an online facility created to enable those involved in government, academe and the media to gain rapid access to the research and conclusions of think tanks around the world." It believes that "policymakers and those who influence the policymaking function can frequently learn from the research done and the results achieved in countries other than their own. This belief is the rationale for creating this website." Though the site claims to be independent,it does not give its source of funding. Check it at

http://www.policypointers.org/page_4.html

Dr D.C.Misra
May 30, 2005

Books: Latest Arrivals: Goldsmith and Eggers (2004): Governing by Network

2005-05-30T10:54:00.000+05:30

Books: Latest Arrivals: Goldsmith, Stephen and William
D.Eggers (2004): Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public
Sector, Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press.

Copublished with Innovations in American Government, John F. Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University.

c. 224pp, Cloth Text, 0-8157-3128-0, $44.95, Paper Text,
0-8157-3129-9, $18.95, Check details at

http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/governingbynetwork.htm

Dr D.C. Misra
May 30, 2005

Who benefits more from eGov: Public authorities or citizens?

2005-05-25T21:35:00.000+05:30

Public authorities. This is one of the findings of an important study* commissioned by European Union and carried out by Capgemini, Netherlands and TNO-Strategy, Technology and Policy, in its final report, final version.

The objective of the study was "to investigate if it is worth investing in eGovernment initiatives, and to identify the back office changes required for that." The study selected and studied in detail eight European exemplary public services ("eurexemps") from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. The conclusion of the study is that "eGovernment does pay off and that back office changes are required to achieve
results."

The returns on e-government have been divided into seven categories:
1. Improved quality of information and information supply, 2. Reduction of process time, 3. Reduction of administrative burdens, 4. Cost reduction, 5. Improved service level, 6. Increased efficiency; and 7. Increased customer satisfaction. These seven returns are interconnected. The study is wound up by making a number of recommendations.

The results of the case studies show that "the use of ICT in the public sector can indeed be rewarding. All case studies show different degrees of improved service delivery (more digitised information, more transparency, more flexibility, faster delivery), and a reduction of transaction costs (reduction of process time,
saving on costs, more efficiency and -especially for businesses- a reduction of administrative burdens)."

The study also reports "different returns for customers on the one hand, and governmental/public authorities on the other hand: the public authorities themselves appear to benefit most from investments in e-government." The most striking result of this study, according to the report, "is that quick wins in particular can be obtained relatively easily, that is, without fundamental
organisational changes."

Dr D.C.Misra
May 25, 2005.
______________________________________________________________________
*European Public Administration Network (EPAN) (2004): Does E-
Government Pay Off? Capgemini, Netherlands and TNO- Strategy, Technology and Policy, Final report, Final version, December 6, 55 pp, available:
http://www.eupan.org/cms/repository/document/Does_e_gov_pay_off.zip

Review of Bannister (2004): Deep E-Government

2005-05-13T12:40:00.000+05:30

Frank Bannister* of Trinity College, Dublin, is critical of benchmarking e-government stating that “Many of the benchmarks on the list use facile or superficial metrics such as the percentage of GDP spent on e-government, the number of on-line services for citizens or the percentage of citizens that have visited a government web site.” In his view “Much of what is described as e-government is indeed superficial” and “Much of what is not superficial is not considered to be e-government.” He therefore advances the concept of “Deep E-Government” concerned with “ the core functions of government and of administration.” Proposing an “onion model” of e-government and stating that “deep e-government” is concerned with the three inner layers of administrative core, agencies and government (the other two layers being “wider public” and “commercial sector”), his conceptualization of e-government encompasses two types of deep e-government: (i) Transformative e-government and (ii) End-to-end e-government.

Illustrated with practical examples, he is of the view that “the type of deep and more reflective discussion that is to be found in the informatization literature of the 1980s and 1990s seems to have been overwhelmed by discussions of such things as how to improve web-site effectiveness, measure e-government penetration or bridge the digital divide.” Accordingly he makes a call for “more consideration of(or even a return to!) deeper conceptual issues and for innovative thinking about how the nature of governance itself can be moderated by technology.” He has proposed several lines of enquiry and his recommendation that “we need to move beyond the web sites and regain an historical and holistic perspective” will find many supporters, including this reviewer. A very well written and thought-provoking contribution, any one interested in e-government will benefit by reading it, and perhaps more importantly, thinking over various issues so very pertinently raised by Bannister.

Dr D.C.Misra
New Delhi, India
May 13, 2005.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
*Bannister, Frank (2004): Deep E-Government, EGPA 2004 Annual Conference, September 1-4, 2004, Ljubljana, Slovenia, available: http://www.fu.uni-lj.si/egpa2004/html/sg1/Bannister.pdf (accessed: May 13, 2005).

Review of Mandal (2005a, 2005 b): Public Service - I and II, The Statesman, New Delhi, April 6-7, 2005

2005-04-07T23:25:00.000+05:30

Review of Mandal (2005a, 2005 b): Public Service - I and II, The Statesman, New Delhi, April 6-7, 2005

In these two successive articles* Mr. Mandal, a former member of the Indian Civil Service, covers a very wide range of issues including providing an historical evolution of civil services in India. Noting the deteriorating standards of the Indian Administrative Service, he calls for market-driven civil services in India pleading for lateral entry to the civil services. Missed from these two-well written articles is the contribution eGov can make to good governance in the 21st century.

Dr D.C.Misra
April 7, 2005
_____________________________________________________________________________________

*Mandal, Debaki Nandan (2005a): Public Service-I: Bureaucrats Drift Towards Negativism And Mediocrity, The Statesman, New Delhi, April 6, 2005, Wednesday, available: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2005-04-06&usrsess=1&clid=3&id=101447, and

Mandal, Debaki Nandan (2005b): Public Service-II: Need For A Market-Driven Approach, The Statesman, New Delhi, April 7, 2005, Thursday, available: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=73354

IJEG, 1(1), January-March 2005: OPR:Review of Madon et al. (2004): Implementing Property Tax Reforms in Bangalore

2005-03-25T22:21:00.000+05:30

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, Volume I Number 1, January-March 2005: OPR: Review of Madon et al. (2004) : Implementing Property Tax Reforms in Bangalore.....

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, Volume 1 Number 1 Occasional Paper Review: Madon, Shirin, Sundeep Sahay and Jyotsna Sahay (2004): Implementing Property Tax Reforms in Bangalore: An Actor Network Perspective......

In this paper* Madon et al. report the result of their study of the property tax reforms process in Bangalore, and drawing upon the Actor Network Perspective on translations, argue that such a perspective helps to go beyond studying innovation processes through the lens of ‘technology diffusion’ and provides far more interesting and insightful perspective of ‘technology translation.’ (p-1). Callon described four moments – translation, interessernment, enrolment and mobilization - to represent the sociology of translation. The authors have conceptualized information flows as “an abstraction of a complex heterogeneous network comprising of work practices, artifacts like paper files and legers, the buildings through which files are carried around, people involved, and organizational procedures and informal practices that shape the flow of information.’ (p-12). Interestingly, the authors cite the late Everett M. Rogers’s 1962 work on diffusion of innovations though the work went through several revisions as reflected in several later and revised editions.

Dr D.C.Misra
March 25, 2005
___________________________________________________________________
* Madon, Shirin, Sundeep Sahay and Jyotsna Sahay (2004): Implementing Property Tax Reforms in Bangalore: An Actor Network Perspective, London, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Information Systems, Working Paper Series Number 129, December 2003, 37 pp, available http://is.lse.ac.uk/wp/pdf/WP129.PDF (accessed: March 25, 2005).

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, Volume I Number 1, January-March 2005

2005-02-24T12:08:00.000+05:30

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, Volume I Number 1, January-March 2005
______________________________________________________________________
eGov Website: Request for Proposal - A Portal for District Magistratein India (For the recod)

The District Magistrate, also called District Collector and / orDistrict Officer, holds a key position in India's administrativeset-up. In a laudable attempt, Department of Personnel and Training,Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government ofIndia proposes to set up a portal for the District Magistrate toenable him to have quick access to information and advice. TheDepartment of Personnel and Training invited proposals from theinterested parties. Check the document at

http://persmin.nic.in/otraining/rfp.pdf (accessed: February 24, 2005).

The last date for submission of proposals was February 11, 2005. Thismessage, therefore, is being posted for record only in academic interest.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 24, 2005.

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, January-March 2005, Volume I Number 1

2005-02-23T20:49:00.000+05:30

INDIAN JOURNAL OF E-GOVERNANCE, January-March 2005, Volume I Number 1
______________________________________________________________________

Forthcoming Event: Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-39), January 4-7, 2006, Kauai, Hawaii

This 4-day international event offers the following tracks, including two new tracks on E-Government and Knowledge Management Systems, and a number of “mini-tracks.”

·Collaboration Systems and Technology
·Decision Technologies for Management
·Digital Media: Content and Management
·E-Government
·Information Technology in Health Care
·Internet and the Digital Economy
·Knowledge Management Systems
·Organizational Systems and Technology
·Software Technology

Check them at

http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/HICSS39/apahome39.htm

Of particular interest to us is the "E-Government" track. Do check it, as it offers a number of very stimulating topics, at

http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/HICSS39/fegcfp.htm

Dr D.C.Misra
February 23, 2005.

eGov: A Report on a Brainstorming Session on e-Governance on February 14, 2005 at JNU, New Delhi

2005-02-15T22:24:00.000+05:30

eGov:

A Report on a Brainstorming Session on e-Governance on February 14, 2005 from 10 a.m. to 2-30 p.m. at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance (CSLG), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi

A REPORT

Theme: e-Governance: Cementing Communities, Dispersing Services

This was a well-attended brainstorming session on e-Governance very competently conceptualized, organized and summed up by Dr Amita Singh, Associate Professor at the Centre. The session was organized along five sub-themes: 1. Problems in urgent need of e-treatment, 2. Perceived solutions, 3. Technology / systems Applications, 4. Democratic imperatives, and 5. Theoretical construction.

1. Problems in urgent need of e-treatment:

Dr Roopmanjari Ghosh of School of Physical Sciences, JNU highlighted some of the unique characteristics of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and spelled out specific areas where ICTs could be utilized.

Prof Alok Bhattacharjee of Bioinformatics Centre, JNU specified a wide variety of fields like genomic, drugs and medicines, hospital administration, tax administration and e-learning where ICTs could be deployed due to availability of new data mining tools and new search methods.

2. Perceived solutions

Dr V.S.Mathur, Director General, Income-Tax, described the various steps taken by his department to computerize the income tax administration, highlighting the service it was providing to tax-payers.

Dr Rajat K. Baisya of Management Department, IIT, Delhi, noted the high percentage of failure of eGov projects and pointed out the lack of bureaucratic commitment to community information center (CIC) project in north-east India.

Dr Norio Kondo, a Japanese visiting scholar, described the Juki-Net, the basic resident register network (RRN) system in Japan serving as a personal authentication system and highlighted laws protecting personal information.

3. Technology / systems Applications

Prof Shatendra Sharma of University Science Instrumentation Centre, JNU, provided an overview of various tools available for utilization in e-governance and highlighted the utilization of e-tools for efficient public service delivery.

Mr Vinnie Mehta of Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT), New Delhi pointed out to the multiplicity of agencies involved in the implementation of eGov and highlighted inadequate funds with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for ePanchayats.

Mr Upendra Giri of Project Management Institute (PMI) pointed out to the need of utilization of project management techniques to the e-government projects and highlighted the work done by the PMI.

4. Democratic imperatives

Mr Navin Mandava of Centre for Civil Society (www.ccsindia.org), a New Delhi-based think tank, highlighted the need to enact a ‘dutyto publish” legislation instead of the present Right toInformation Act (RIA), which placed an onus on the citizens to seek information.

Participant’s comments / suggestions

Mr Vikas Kanungo, Chairman and Secretary General, Society for Promotion of e-Governance, New Delhi, sought information about database algorithms in cases of data mining of large databases involved in e-government projects.

The undersigned, an Independent eGov Adviser and Consultant, noted the existence of problems on both sides of hyphen connecting“e” with “Gov,” and highlighted the need to keep the citizen at the centre stage of any eGov project formulation and implementation.

5. Theoretical construction.

Prof Kuldeep Mathur, the Chairperson, concluding the session, observed that “eGov” was just a tool and cannot be asubstitute to “Governance.” eGov will spread in society as a“ripple effect.” Once people got “the taste of blood” (of eGov), change will get institutionalized and get legitimacy.

Summing Up

Summing up the proceedings, Dr Amita Singh observed that we have always been e-governed (by way of using e-tools like telephones, etc.) but many things are required to be done in eGov, particularly in restructuring organizations and knowledge management.

The session ended with a vote of thanks to the chair.

The Centre, particularly Dr Amita Singh, Associate Professor, and its chairperson, Dr Dr Amit Prakash, need to be congratulated for convening the session.

Disclaimer: This is a brief, almost sketchy, record of proceedings which is being posted here for the benefit of those who could not attend the session but may like to know as to what happened in the "brainstorming session" on eGov. For the formal and authoritative proceedings, kindly contact the Centre.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 15, 2005.

Editorial: Task Force on E-Governance: Hyphenating “E” with “Governance”

2005-02-12T03:58:00.000+05:30

Editorial:

Task Force on E-Governance: Hyphenating “E” with “Governance:” There are Serious Issues on Both Sides of Hyphen

Ravichandran informs us, and thanks to him as no one else has informed us, that a task force to speed up e-governance in states has been set up by Government of India on February 7, 2005. According to him, “In order to re-engineer the government processes and to develop state-wide solution framework options to enhance the interoperability among state governments, the Department of Administrative Reforms & Pensions and Grievances (DAR&PG) and Department of Information Technology (DIT) together set-up a taskforce for e-governance process engineering and scaleable solutions framework on Monday.”

He further states that: “Leading IT majors, management institutions and consultancy majors like the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, (IIM-C); Oracle; Hewlett Packard; PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Intel; Redhat and Liqvid have been selected as the members of the taskforce.”

Ravichandran further informs us that a steering committee too has been set up. In his words: “The steering committee of the taskforce consists of the director of DAR&PG, DIT and one faculty member of IIM-C and one representative from Oracle-HP e-governance Centre of Excellence, according to Oracle.”
The issue is of very considerable importance to us. The issues facing e-governance in India require to be addressed urgently and that too from different perspectives if the potential of e-governance in India is proposed to be realized for the benefit of the citizens. Ravichandran reports:

“In a communication, Oracle said that the taskforce will seek to complete the process re-engineering done by the Centre, state and local governments and also suggest approaches, tools and methodology for re-engineering of government processes. In addition, the taskforce will develop state-wide solution framework tools that enhance interoperability while allowing governments to start encompassing the following:

State-wide government call centre network;
• Kiosk-based delivery of government services or alternative front-end facilitation centres;
• Data-centric view of transactions with citizens seamlessly integrating multiple government agency and stakeholder roles and functions;
• Exploring alternative delivery channels leveraging on wireless and emerging m-governance capabilities; and
• Emergency response and disaster management information system.

According to Oracle, the taskforce will also be responsible for development of a course in cyber law which will address issues of IP, licences, re-purposing, re-use of code and the IT Act 2000. It will also create a digital repository of guidelines for outsourcing and comparative analysis of the various approaches.”

Apparently a tall order has been placed on the task force. Different issues mentioned in the above report not only deserve deliberation but expertise, as there are many “frontier” areas like cyber law where there is no benefit of precedence. Also, the field is fraught with technical issues like inter-operability and open versus proprietary offerings. Moreover, hyphenating “e” with “governance” has serious issues on both sides of the hyphen, that is, within “e” domain as well as in the domain of “governance” which require to be sorted out. Above all, citizen’s perspective needs to be incorporated in the task force. This should not be done by proxy but by providing direct representation of citizens on the task force. After all, e-governance is for the citizens. Is it not?

Dr D.C.Misra
February 11, 2005
______________________________________________________________
*Ravichandran, R., (2005); Taskforce set up to speed up e-governance in states,
The Financial Express, February 8, Tuesday, Net edition, available http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=81935
(accessed: February 11, 2005) (Dateline: Hyderabad, February 7, 2005)

(Source: http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberquiz/message/443)

Article Review: Bhattacharjee (2005): Reading English August

2005-02-12T00:33:00.000+05:30

Article Review-17: Bhattacharjee, Jay (2005): Reading English August: Flatulent Babus Need To Be Accountable, The Times of India, New Delhi, February 11, Friday, p-18, edit page.
_____________________________________________________________________
In response to a civil servant’s call for inculcating “a set of core values,” Bhattacharjee* says that that the Indian civil servants do have a “deeply ingrained set of core values, namely,
self-aggrandisement, turf protection, non-accountability and a quasi-divine right to rule over hapless citizens.” He, therefore suggests safeguards “like accountability, performance monitoring, compensation to linked to efficiency and citizen’s redress against bureaucratic malfunctioning.”

This is a familiar diatribe against the civil servants. The author even challenges some protection civil servants have against anonymous, false or frivolous complaints and many careers are known to have been ruined on this account alone. The suggestions made by the author are also in place. However, the writer is right in saying that the value of “public service” among the civil servants is missing. The question to be asked then is: “What can be done to improve the public service delivery for which the public has a very poor experience, often bordering on harassment? The answer may thus lie in addressing the question of public service delivery and e-government can be one promising way.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 12, 2005.
_____________________________________________________________________
*Bhattacharjee, Jay (2005): Reading English August: Flatulent Babus Need To Be Accountable, The Times of India, New Delhi, February 11, Friday, p-18, edit page,
http://epaperdaily.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp? Daily=CAP (accessed: February 12, 2005).

Occasional Paper Review: Okot-Uma (2004): Roadmap to eGov Implementation

2005-02-10T22:54:00.000+05:30

Occasional Paper Review -17: Okot-Uma, Rogers W'O(2004): The Roadmap to eGovernance Implementation: SelectedPerspectives

As the title of the paper* indicates, it provides selected perspectives on a roadmap to eGovernance suggested by the authorbased on his experiences in the Commonwealth member countries. He lists 4 milestones: (i) Stakeholder Statement of Requirements –the Expectations, (ii) Baseline Assessment: An assessment of the`status quo', of all pertinent `entities' and processes, (iii) Blue Print for eGovernance: An eGovernanceMasterPlan (eGMP) – Aggregation Scenarios, with Strategic Optionsand an Action plan, essentially arising from the discrepancies between the Expectations and the Baseline Assessment, and (iv)Implementation: One mode of approach to eGovernance implementation is its treatment as a combined Project Management Process and a Change Management Process for eGovernance (pp 1-2).

After describing the technical aspects of creating national information infrastructure (NII) within the framework of global information infrastructure (GII), Okat-Uma also presents a taxonomyof levels of evolution of eGovernance and implications for integration of Government services thus: (i) Level 0: Internalising,(ii) Level 1: Informing, (iii) Level 2: Interacting, (iv) Level 3:Transacting, (v) Level 4: Integrating, and (vi) Level 5: Transforming(pp 15-16), finally providing a Blueprint for eGovernance: A National eGovernance Masterplan ( eGMP). The author provides interesting perspectives on eGovernance. It is a useful reading for any one interested in eGovernance.

Dr D.C.Misra
New Delhi, India
February 10, 2005
______________________________________________________________________ *Okot-Uma, Rogers W'O (2004): The Roadmap to eGovernanceImplementation:Selected Perspectives, Presented at a CommonwealthRegional Pacific Workshop on Law and Technology, 1 – 5 November2004, Wellington, New Zealand, 33 pp, available:http://www.rileyis.com/publications/research_papers/guest/Roadmap2eGov.pdf (accessed: February 10, 2005)

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2005-02-10T20:15:00.000+05:30

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Studies Called For on Citizen Grievance Redressal Mechanisms

2005-02-09T12:47:00.000+05:30

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which looks after the civic government of the national capital territotory of Delhi (NCTD) in India, covering important aspects of a citizen's life like primaryeducation, public health, sanitation, community services, etc. hasrecently set up an online public grievance redressal system (PGRS) athttp://complaints.mcdonline.gov.in/.

Mukherjee* reports, quoting MCD sources, that 220 people have already registerd their complaints online. This, she says, despite the fact that the corporation is yet to formally launch the system and publicise it among people. According to her the top three grievancesof citizens pertain to 1. Property tax (17 percent), 2. Sanitation(13 percent) and 3. Engineering Department (12.2 percent). Once thePGRS is formally launched and publicised, a large number of grievances are likely to be filed online, some genuine, some not so, some frivolous and some no doubt also making valuable suggestions or providing valuable feedback too.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) must be congratulated for taking this timely initiative in e-governance, particularly in G2C and C2G (government-to-citizens and citizens-to-government) domains where the governance matters most to citizens. The services of theBangalore-based eGovernments Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which set up the PGRS free-of-cost also need to be appreciated.

However, important issues arise which desrve closer look. First, how to cope with an avlanche of online grievances with a built-intracking system? Secondly, how to sift the genuine grievances of thecitizens from the frivolous or dilatory grievances? Thirdly, how to set up a grievance redressal system for the citizens who despitepaying heavy taxes do not get any commensurate service from the civic bodies in return? Lastly, which is better from the administrative point of view: online grievance redressal or offline grievanceredressal? Some studies are urgently called for to aid and advise theMCD in this initiative in e-governance which will no doubt prove equally useful to other public-dealing institutions.

Dr D.C.Misra
February 8, 2005.
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*Mukherjee, Anuradha, TNN (2005): Property tax tops MCD onlinegrievance redressal list, The Times of India, New Delhi, February 8,Tuesday, p-4, available (registration required)http://epaperdaily.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=CAP

Good Morning and Welcome to eGov-India Blog

2005-02-05T08:22:00.000+05:30

Good Morning!
And Welcome to eGov-India Blog.

Dr D.C.Misra
New Delhi, India