Approach :
- Define e-governance comprehensively along with its types.
- Explain how technology enables e-governance by providing information but it’s the use value of that information that is critical.
e-Governance is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all the levels of the Government in order to provide services to the citizens, interaction with business enterprises and communication and exchange of information between different agencies of the Government in a speedy, convenient efficient and transparent manner.
Forms/Types of e-governance applications : Government to Government (G2G), Government to Business (G2B), Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Employee (G2E).
Benefits of E-governance : Reduced corruption, High transparency, Increased convenience, Growth in GDP, Direct participation of constituents, Reduction in overall cost, Expanded reach of government.
Thus it involves utilization of power of new technologies such as mobile, computer, internet, blockchain, etc. But it is much more than just using technology. It is also about use value of the information gathered using this technology. It means the value of information being provided by the government as well as the public for the overall benefit of the society.
Governance information will have more “value” for me, when information is :
- Customized: If useful for my information needs?
- Timely: Updated information is readily available when required.
- Trustworthy: If usable, and individuals/ institutions can be held accountable for any wrong information provided?
Steps taken :
- Governments turning online are providing governance information along sectoral lines, for instance agriculture ministry, water-resources ministry, mining ministry, industrial development ministry and rural development ministry are each bringing more information about their ministry online.
- Electronic Governance models should try to reach those sections of the society who have been bypassed and remained out of governance sphere due to high transaction costs of accessing governance information. And yet the need for governance information for these sections of society may be the highest.
- Due to high transaction cost of gaining governance information, several sections of the community, for instance, small and landless farmers, urban poor, tribal and backward communities, minorities, unemployed rural youths, often remain outside of governance sphere and remain unaware of governance information which could be useful for them.
When Electronic Governance models are specifically designed to serve information needs of these marginalized communities, they bring more number of people into governance sphere and thereby increase the “use value” of information being provided by the governments. In order to efficiently access this ‘use value’, government released National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy 2012 (NDSAP) which aims to provide proactive access to Government owned shareable data along with its usage information in open/machine readable format, through a wide area of network across the country.