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E-Governance

Palm Foleo: A Failed Mobile Device. - Jakob Nielsen, Enabling Secure Anywhere Access in a Connected World - Bill Gates     Online Security....   Ecommerce Security Issues Ecommerce Security (PDF) Internet Auctions A Guide for Buyers and Sellers Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Recover from Identity Theft Evaluate Alternative Online Payment Methods

Ecommerce Development...   Choosing an Ebook Compiler Building Your Online Store E-business System Requirements Successful Ecommerce Business Models Ten Ways to Use Camera Phones Keep it Classified: E-mail Encryption for Small Business

EGovernance....   Country Profiles of e-Governance Bahrain and the Information Society Africa: How e-governance breaks bureaucracy India: Quantifying and Assessing Egovernance India: EGovernance in India: Implementation Issues Uganda: Transforming local government in Uganda Bangladesh: The National Data Bank Project: An Expensive Lesson for Bangladesh Gambia: MIS sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Three case studies from The Gambia Asia: An Overview of ICT Policies and e-Strategies of Select Asian Economies Enhancing E-government in Developing Countries: Managing Knowledge through Virtual Communities Connecting to Public Policy: An exploration of ICTs and Public Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean E-government toolkit for developing countries now available The Key to Increasing Transparency in e-Government Deployments. Public Feedback Mechanisms E-Governance Essentials: Synthesis of Lessons Learned E-Government for Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges Deepening Democracy via E-Governance Role of Mobile Communication for Effective e-Governance Issues and Challenges In Electronic Governance Planning Effective Government Through Information e-Government vs. e-Governance - Examining the Differences in a Changing Public Sector Climate Enhancing e-Government in Developing Countries - Managing Knowledge Through Virtual Communities Status and Trends in E-government Development  METER: Measurement and Evaluation Tool for E-Government Readiness Benefits of IT-Based Decision-Making in Developing Countries Research on Legislation in Data Privacy, Security and the Prevention of Cybercrime Books & Publications...

Guide To Micro Small & Medium Business Development By Godwin C. Nwaogwugwu. Recommended For small business development training & workshops.

How Developing Countries Can Make A Successful Transition To EGovernance (Ctd..)

Bridging ‘Information Islands’ Through Integration

Governance refers to the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs, including citizens’ articulation of their interests and exercise of their legal rights and obligations. In most developing countries government exist as a host of ‘information islands’, each ministry keeping and guarding its own pond of information. For instance, the Health ministry may keep records of birth, health, and death of individuals. Finance Ministry keeps records on where the individual works, where, with whom he/ she lives with, and how much the person earns.  Ministry of Internal affairs keeps records on the individual’s travel, and immigration, while the justice department keeps record of the person’s criminal records. All this information is held in different departments collected for different purposes.

In a traditional system, information is hardly shared across Ministries due to lack of integration of various platforms and legal framework for information sharing. In some cases, it may take months to gather information on a person, as you may need to move from one department to another, making independent requests.

EGovernance makes it possible to store information on a set of computers in an integrated network. With a click of a mouse one can access information from the various Ministries and present it in a single report in a matter of seconds.  Decision-makers and court judges become more effective through information sharing. In the United States, for instance, a traffic court judge can pull up a defendant’s driver’s record and criminal history during a court session to help him or her determine a case. 

Other values added by an integrated system include but not limited to:

• Faster immigration services including issuance of passports, and visas
• Computerization of land records leading to better services to citizens
• Reduction of corruption through transparent processes and better tracking methods
• Employment creation by ensuring efficiency in the public sector
• Faster deliver of services such as drivers license and vehicle registration
• Better decision-making as a result of better statistics and records. 

 The Cost of EGovernance:

In most developed countries, EGovernance is demand-driven, while in developing countries it is almost totally supply-driven. Therefore, because of the huge cost of tax-payers money governments will expend on EGovernance, tax payers in developing countries are almost suspicious of the drive for EGovernance. While most people agree that EGovernance is good for developing countries, the big question is who bears the cost, especially as most developing countries are still struggling to deliver basic services such as good roads, power, drinking water, security, and payment of workers salary? Citizens may tend to believe that spending on EGovernance is being insensitive to theses basic problems.  However, it is like questioning the effect well-lighten streets will have on crime.

The best-practice in most models I studied suggests a public-private sector partnership. The trend is to use private sector funds by building public-private partnerships. Many plausible EGovernance projects crumble either due to of lack of adequate funding, or continuity of government. Therefore, the private sector need to be involved to bring in private professionalism both in planning, design, implementation, and post implementation management . Also, there ought to be user-charges to ensure sustainability.

Conclusion:

Any reform that ensures transparency in government reduces corruption. If public corruption is reduced, governments of developing countries will have more funds to spend on basic services like water, power, and security. Elimination of inefficiency in the public sector will increase competitiveness and fuel economic growth leading to the creation of more jobs.   EGovernance is such a vehicle to bring transparency and improve interaction between citizens and public officials. It fuels economic development.

 References:

1.       United Nation’s Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12951&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)

2.       E-Procurement in Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, 2006 (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEGOVERNMENT/Resources/APeProcurement.doc)

3.       Recommendation Rec(2004)15, Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, (http://www.coe.int/t/e/integrated_projects/democracy/02_activities/01_e-governance/00_recommendation_and_explanatory_memorandum/00Rec_2004_15%20e-gov_Eng_Word.asp#TopOfPage)

4.       Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm#africa)

5.       Electronic invoicing to the public sector in Denmark, by Mikkel Brun (National IT and Telecom Agency) (http://www.epractice.eu/index.php?page=gpcase&case=1967)

6.       An entrepreneurial system for Hungary's entrepreneurs, by Mate Kertesz, (IDOM 2000 Ltd)

7.       Finding Addresses in Finland, by ROLF AHLFORS (Population Register Centre). (http://www.vrk.fi)

8.        Electronic voting in Belgium, by Etienne van Verdegem (Federal Public Service Home Affairs-General Direction Institutions and Population), (Website: www.elections.fgov.be)

9.       E-Goverment Assessment, Measuring and Evaluation System (EGAMES), by Judit dr. Berényi (http://www.magyarorszag.hu/rewriter/forumegames/kapcsolat/parbeszed/egames.html)

10.    Malta Online Vehicle License Renewal ( https://secure.gov.mt/vera/public/default.asp)

11.      Regional Workshop on Building e-Governance Capacity in African Countries. Johannesburg South Africa, October 2002  

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