Wired for Change? Exploring

Nascent E-Government in

Karnataka, India

Shefali Virkar

Department of Politics/

Oxford Internet Institute

University of Oxford

shefali.virkar@oii.ox.ac.uk

E-Government: A Brief Discussion

Government is possibly the single largest user, producer, holder and collector of information (Ronaghan 2002)

New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have the potential to facilitate the electronic production, transmission , processing and consumption of increasingly vast quantities of information

Growing recognition in both the developed and developing world that this potential may be tapped into with a clear aim of improving and streamlining the process of government at all levels

The utilization of the Internet, the world wide web and associated

technologies to facilitate access to

and deliver public information and

services to citizens.

Reform the way Government organisations work, share information and deliver services externally and internally

Produce greater transparency in the functioning of government machinery.

Achieve greater efficiency in the public sector.

Facilitate universal access to public services, and lowering transaction time and costs.

E-Government in India

Can be broadly divided into two distinct phases,

characterised by the political ideology of the time

Late 1960s early 1990s: Centralised planning, focus on the use of ICTs in Central Government

Departments (Madon, 2004)

Early 1990s present: Revival of interest in local government, move towards applying ICTs to a

wider range of applications within urban and rural

local bodies.

Recently emerged as one of the largest investors in e-Government initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region

Central government spending on e-Government is estimated to have grown 60% between 2002/03 and 2003/04: from US$ 300 million to US$ 480million (Roy 2005)

This figure is estimated to touch US$ 3.3 billion by 2008/2009 (PSTM Report, 2004)

Despite the money spent, almost half of all projects end up being classed as failures or, at best, partial successes

Three Factors Responsible for this

Shift Devolution of

centralised

power to state

and local-level

bodies

Growth of

the Indian IT

industry

Bureaucrats

and politicians

with

computer vision

The eGov Property Tax Application Partnership between the eGovernments

Foundation, the Directorate of Municipal Administration and the Survey of India

Launched in 56 towns and cities across Karnataka, reckoned to be among the most ambitious e-government projects in the country

Improved property tax record keeping: 7 million

property tax register forms for an estimated 2.5 million properties

Detailed digital GIS mapping of over 3000 sq. kms. to aid records maintenance and keeping track of payments

Political Leadership

Clear leadership with a project champion

Ability of key political and bureaucratic

players to ensure stakeholder

participation, create involvement and

minimize resistance.

Dominance of politics and self interest

Poor project management

Low Prioritisation of e-Government Initiatives

Political Strategy Degree to which a long-term plan for good

governance and e-government has been

developed

Efforts made towards integrating IT with

broader reform objectives

Lack of clear vision and strategy

Workplace Culture/Organisational

Set-up

Prevailing practices in organizations,

particularly the workplace culture and the

patterns of communication and information

exchange they support.

Poor change management

Distinct lack or absence of requisite IT and

management skills

Socio-Economic Digital Divides

Degree to which there are inequalities in

skills, and differences in access to ICT

systems, literacy levels and other socio-

economic indicators

Lack of affordable access to the system

Socio-economic divides of wealth, age, and gender

Existing socio-economic developmental issues

Technology

Nature of approach to project conception

and implementation, including nature of

project design and availability of

infrastructure.

Poor, unrealistic project design incompatible with either

Government or end-user needs

Inadequate technological infrastructure

Financial Inhibitors

Impact of available financial resources on

the planning and implementation of e-

Government projects

Inappropriate cost / benefit analyses

Lack of flexibility in exploring funding options

Lack of Trust

Issues relating to online privacy and

security, particularly with reference to the

electronic handling of sensitive information

Not really an issue in nascent developing

world projects

Big Brother fear

Insufficient attention to security by system designers

Synergies and Tensions:

e-Government and Development

e-Government applications possess the

potential to improve internal managerial

efficiency and quality of public services

Decentralisation

Accountability

Democratic Participation

Synergies and Tensions (contd)

Reality is that resources to fund development projects are scarce

ICT projects require heavy investment in

infrastructure and skills

Resources diverted away from other high-priority areas

Is administrative reform important enough to justify?