E Governance

Integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) into governance processes can greatly enhance the delivery of public services to all citizens. ICT integration will not only improve the performance of governance systems, it will also transform relationships amongst stakeholders, thereby influencing policymaking processes and regulatory frameworks. In the developing world, however, the potential of ICTs for effective governance remains largely unexplored and unexploited. This book presents the context, theory, and current thinking on the interaction between ICTs and local governance, particularly in Africa. It discusses the shift from OC governmentOCO to OC e-governance, OCO describes the role of local-level authorities, and presents the benefits and limitations of introducing ICTs in government operations. Case studies from Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda describe local governance/ICTs projects executed by civil society organizations, academic institutions, and government authorities. Drawing from the findings in these case studies and from the introductory research and original conceptual framework, the book presents a series of conclusions and recommendation on the future of effective ICTs use for better governance and improved economic development at the local level. This book will be of interest to professionals, practitioners, and policy advisors at local and national government levels in developing countries (particularly in Africa); international organizations staff, bilateral aid agencies, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, and private sector; researchers, academics, students, and professors of public administration and governance in Africa and throughout the world."

E-Governance has been one of the strategic sectors of reform in India since late 1990s under the rubric of ‘good governance’ agenda promoted by International Organizations. As India’s policy focus changed towards economic liberalization, deregulation and privatization proliferating domestic and foreign investment, ICT (Information Communication Technology) has been one of the leading areas for such heightened investment. Consequently, there has been a burgeoning interest in deploying ICT, in revamping the public service delivery and eventually the overall system of governance. This book analyses e-Governance in India and argues that such initiatives did not take place in isolation but followed in the footsteps of broader governance reform agenda that has already made considerable impact on the discourses and practices of governance in India. Employing interdisciplinary methodology by combining approaches from the Political Sciences, Sociology and Postcolonial/ transcultural studies, this book presents a qualitative account of the policies and practices of e-Governance reform in India along with a detailed case study of the Common Services Centres (CSCs) Scheme under the National e-Governance Plan of the Government of India and its resultant impact on the overall system of governance. It unfolds general theoretical issues in terms of the relationship between technology and governance and the entanglement of politics, technology and culture in the complex whole of governance. This furthers our understanding of the impact of the transnational governance reform agenda on post-colonial and post-communist societies of the developing world. Making an important and original contribution to the emerging field of e-Governance and to the existing body of research on governance in general, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Political Science, Political Sociology, South Asian Politics and Governance.

ABOUT THE BOOK The book draws on the diagnostic study of E-Governance projects in India, carried out with an objective to capture the inter-dependence of technology (IT), people (functionaries), processes and systems. The study employed a combination of participatory and management tools and techniques. Through in-depth analysis and academic rigour, the book covers the following vital aspects of E-Governance: ? Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and change management, ? Strategy formulation, and ? Citizen-centric E-Governance system design. The book emphasises that the success of E-Governance initiatives hinges on institutional changes and not only on introduction of IT, and it requires a coherent integration of IT, people and the processes. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) in India has provided a big platform for scaling up initiatives under E-Governance across the country. It offers big opportunity for the Government to transform its functioning. Though there have been a number of successful pilot projects under E-Governance in the country, a complete roll out will require successful handling of complex issues of system design ? process reengineering, work culture management, capabilities, organisational development, citizens? aspirations and so on. The book provides invaluable insights about E-Governance system design and management, and will contribute significantly for operationalising NeGP.

This book highlights the electronic governance in a smart city through case studies of cities located in many countries. “E-Government” refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits are less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions. The book is divided into three parts. • E-Governance State of the Art Studies of many cities • E-Governance Domains Studies • E-Governance Tools and Issues

From Government to E-Governance: Public Administration in the Digital Age will aim to provide relevant theoretical frameworks, past experiences, and the latest empirical research findings in the area of public administration systems that existed in earlier civilizations, as well as e-governance-introduced modern times. The target audience of this book will be composed of academics, students, civil servants, researchers, and policy advisors teaching and studying public administration and public policy, thinking to bring administrative reforms and working in government.

Drawing lessons from the eFez Project in Morocco, this volume offers practical supporting material to decision makers in developing countries on information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D), specifically e-government implementation. The book documents the eFez Project experience in all of its aspects, presenting the project’s findings and the practical methods developed by the authors (a roadmap, impact assessment framework, design issues, lessons learned and best practices) in their systematic quest to turn eFez’s indigenous experimentations and findings into a formal framework for academics, practitioners and decision makers. The volume also reviews, analyzes and synthesizes the findings of other projects to offer a comparative study of the eFez framework and a number of other e-government frameworks from the growing literature.

E-Governance is regarded as one of the most important subjects in the information society. Global e-governance for both public and private sectors is becoming extremely significant in an innovative and seamless world community. Waseda University Institute of e-Government, founded in 2001, is a pioneer for capacity-building on CIO training and human resource development as well as international ranking on e-government activities. It has also played an important role of regional ICT cooperation in the APEC region as APEC e-Government Research Center. This publication is divided into five parts: Information/Ubiquitous Society offers understanding of what information society or ubiquitous society is all about. E-Government deals with different countries/areas in the world focusing on all of their visions, strategies and priority areas as well as on the key challenges and lessons of e-Government. The selection covered (Japan, China, Thailand, USA, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia and Taiwan) gives a fair reflection of different e-Government scenarios. The third subject is e-Municipality and focuses on several key areas – some services, infrastructures and practices. In ICT and Applications several applications in the field of ICT including broadband and disaster issues are introduced and highlighted. The Role of CIO shows that CIO (Chief Information Officer) is at present the most attractive post within organizations at this stage ofinformation society. This publication contains the views of various authors with a profound experience in global e-Governance. The quality of this book was ensured by the exemplary editorial efforts of the brilliant researchers at Waseda University Institute of e-Government.