Universal e-Government and the Digital Divide

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Universal e-Government and the Digital Divide

• Subhash Bhatnagar
• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
• (subhash_at_imahd.ernet.in)
• and
• Consultant, PREM Public Sector, World Bank
• sbhatnagar_at_worldbank.org

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Presentation Structure

• E-Government scope, definition and delivery
  models
• Experience in developing countries is there a
  focus on MDGs?
• Critical Success Factors in reforming delivery
  processes (back end)
• Problem of reach and scaling up--creation of
  access points
• Indian experience in creating access points
• How to move forward?

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E-GovernmentScope Definition

• E-Government is about a process of reform in the
  way governments work, share information and
  deliver services to external and internal clients
  for the benefit of both government and the
  citizens and businesses that they serve.
• E-Government harnesses information technologies,
  such as Wide Area Networks (WAN), Internet ,
  World Wide Web, and mobile computing by
  government agencies to reach out to citizens,
  business, and other arms of the government to
• Improve delivery of services to citizens
• Improve interface with business and industry
• Empower citizens through access to knowledge and
  information, and
• Make the working of the government more efficient
  and effective.
• The resulting benefits could be more
  transparency, greater convenience, less
  corruption, revenue growth, and cost reduction.

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Few Successful Applicationsfrom Developing
Countries

• CARD, FAST, eSeva, BHOOMI in India
• Citizen Service Center (mobile), Bahia, Brazil
• E-procurement in Mexico, Philippines, Bulgaria,
  Chile, Korea
• New Business Registration in Jordan, Jamaica,
  China
• Tax collection Income Tax online in Mexico,
  Singapore, Brazil, Jordan and Customs online in
  India, Philippines, Jamaica
• OPEN, Seoul Municipality, VOICE in Vijayvada
• Integrated Financial Systems LAC, Karnataka
• e-Chaupal, Gyandoot, n-Logue, Drishtee in rural
  India
• Teachers Transfer in Karnataka and SmartGov in AP
• CRISTAL in Argentina, Financial Disclosure of
  Officers

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Concerns who is reached and what is delivered?

• Extent of Digital Divide
• Delivery Models Used
• Departments going on-line
• Conveniently located Service Centers
• Self Service through a Portal one stop shop
• Selection of departments/agencies/ tasks
• What is the focus Citizens/Businesses/Internal
• Goals that are pursued Investment friendly,
  Citizen friendly, Poor friendly, Improving image
• Citizen centric/Government centric

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Overall Assessment

• Overall impact is limited. Very few applications
  are country/state wide. Service delivery in urban
  areas has become efficient (in revenue earning
  departments but not in health and education).
• Few projects demonstrate that E-Government can
  advance the agenda on Governance reform,
  transparency, anti- corruption, empowerment.
  There is scope for enhancing impact on
  transparency and corruption.
• Most countries have focused on improving service
  delivery to urban citizens. Access points in
  rural areas is a major challenge.
• Different goals and approaches have been used.
  Largely bottom-up, driven by reformist
  politicians and civil servants.
• Large number of tele-centers pilots with
  Internet/PCs but few have been scaled up.
• Most Government Web sites are not used. Citizens
  are uninterested and unwilling to engage.
  Intermediaries (NGOs, grass root organizations)
  are needed to build accountability.

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Critical Success Factors in Back End Reform

• Strong political and administrative leadership
• Detailed project management
• Clearly identified goals and benefits
• Significant process reengineering required
• Start small, scale up through stages, manage
  expectations
• Adopt established standards and protocols
  minimize customization
• In-source analysis outsource design, software
  development, data preparation, training, etc.
• Training expenses should not be minimized

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Enablers of e-Government

• 20 Technology
• 35 Business Process Reengineering
• 40 Change Management
• 5 Luck !

Technology
Process
People
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Technology that makes rural access inexpensive
and robust
Applications that draw a large cliental that pays
for the service, ensuring economic viability of
the kiosk
NGOs and grass root organizations that catalyze
and mange the community building process
Bridging the Digital Divide
Content that empowers rural citizens and enables
formation of communities
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Ingredients of Success for Reaching the Unserved

• Presence of four elements Access, Content,
  Intermediaries, Killer Application
• Involves developing synergies and partnerships
• Infrastructure challenges to be overcome high
  cost and poor quality of telecom access, poor
  quality of electricity supply. Research in needed
  in technology to reduce costs of power and
  connectivity.
• Clear value proposition for a large segment of
  population and/or the implementing organization
• Creating awareness and capacity building
• Need for external funding for scaling upVenture
  capital

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Some Projects that Have Scaled up
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Successful Scaling Up Requires

• Success is likely in organizations with financial
  resources, leadership, strong project management
  and ability to discover services that are valued.
  Three models have emerged
• Large private/public/cooperative sector companies
  operating in rural markets may be able to derive
  sufficient value by improving business processes.
  to make such centers viable and scalable.
• Government services that are valuable can charge
  a user fee for electronic delivery through
  privately owned telecenters.
• Intermediary organizations partner with
  providers of valued service and rural
  entrepreneurs who create access points to
  orchestrate the operations of a large network of
  kiosks.
• Successful experiments began with a few core
  services where value that is monetized. Over time
  other services are included to add value.

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Report Card on Bhoomi

• Survey 180 users from 12 kiosks and 60 non users
  4 taluks
• Ease of Use 78 of users who had used both
  systems found Bhoomi simpler 66 used Bhoomi
  without help vs. 28 in manual
• Complexity of Procedures 80 did not have to
  meet anyone other than at kiosk In manual 19
  met one officer and 61 met 2-4 officials
• Errors in documents Bhoomi 8 vs manual 64
• Rectification of errors sought correction 93
  vs 49, timely response 50 vs 4
• Cost of service 84 one visit to Bhoomi center
  at Taluk HQ
• Corruption 66 paid bribes very often vs 3 in
  Bhoomi
• Staff behavior Bhoomi Good (84) vs manual
  Average (63)

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Implementation Issuesto be Resolved

• No country is completely ready? Balance between
  strategizing, coordination and action
• Policies to promote rural telecom access and
  investments to bridge the digital divide
• Approach centrally executed vs. centrally
  coordinated.
• Creating departmental ownership budget
  allocations, training, demand, performance push
• Sequence As the culmination of public sector
  reforms vs. launching e-government applications
  as a catalyst for change?
• Partnership with private sector
  multinational/local, one or many partners, and
  partnering arrangement
• How can progress be measured?
• Speed of change Incremental vs. Big Bang

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Indian E-GovernanceNational Action Plan

• Centrally coordinated 2.5 billion four-year
  program involving
• Capacity building, formulation of architecture
  and standards, provision of ICT infrastructure,
  completion of 22 projects (central, state and
  integrated)
• Projects based on pilots that are replicable,
  provide measurably improved citizen/business
  services, involve process reform, have sound
  business models (including public-private
  partnerships) and can be implemented in 2-4 years
• Project to evaluate E-Government applications
• Project to replicate successful applications
• Social e-application Rollout Venture Fund
• Setting up National Institute of Smart Governance

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