1. Building Blocks for Politically- Relevant & Citizen-Centred E-Governance: Learnings from Developing Countries Vikas Nath Founder DigitalGovernance.org KnowNet.org Initiative DevNetJobs.org @ WSIS Initiative, UNDP and Smithsonian Institute World Summit on Information Society, Geneva 11 December 2003

2. Politically Relevant Citizen Centric E-governance: A 2-Dimensional Mechanism

3. Pre-ICT SocietyPost-ICT Society Lessons from ICT Penetration in Developing Countries ICT has led to greater inter-linkages, increase in interactions, and greater opportunity to broadcast content, BUT... Has it altered the Geometry of Information Flow?

4. Bringing New Constituencies / Target groups under the Governance sphere Making available relevant E-Governance content to communities newly brought under the Governance sphere So … E-Governance should have a development angle

5. Identify Citizens and their Specific Governance Needs Specific Governance Needs Small & Medium Enterpreneurs Tax & excise subsidies, Government loans, Credit availability FarmersPest control, Market and minimum support prices, Government schemes and subsidies UnemployedGovernment employment and roster, medical benefits Rural peopleLocal government offices, health & education facilities FishermenWeather pattern, rehabilitation plans Do NOT forget the role of E-Governance for Development Purpose

6. Citizen-Centred E-Governance Citizen-Centred E-Governance 3 Building Blocks (More ?) 1.Create geographically rooted e-governance models Brazil: Prefeitura.Sao Paulo www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br South Africa: Cape Town Gateway www.capegateway.gov.za www.capegateway.gov.za 2. Understand user groups and present services accordingly Eg: Farmers need to know about subsidies from all govt. depts., SMEs need to know about all applicable benefits Nepal: Bharatpur- Municipal services online www.bharatpurmun.org.np www.bharatpurmun.org.np India: Bhoomi Project www.revdept-01.kar.nic.in www.revdept-01.kar.nic.in 3. Intermediary Creation: Ensure participation in governance sphere is smooth and not time-consuming India: Maharashtra- Integrated Citizen Facilitation Centres setu.maharashtra.gov.in

7. Why Politically Relevant? Why Politically Relevant? E-Governance has to viewed as a Governance Reform Process. Electronic governance is therefore a political process Governance reform is a slow process- requiring engaging with governance institutions and bringing about both attitudinal and constitutional changes. Where political will exists, electronic governance can significantly catalyze the reform process towards good governance.

8. Politically Relevant E-Governance Politically Relevant E-Governance 4 Building Blocks (More ?) 1.Political Will and E-Champions (Top-Down Guidance) 1.Information Sharing Culture (with Government as Role Model). And Governments also need to connect and communicate from within (State with Central, One Sector Ministry with Other) 2.Steps towards E-Bureaucratization: accountable MIS, Legislative and Regulatory Framework (Eg. Digital Signatures, Electronic files) 1.Periodic Auditing of Information Provided on Websites

9. Action Plan Action Plan Analyse: Where Are We? Politically Relevant Not Politically Relevant Citizen Centred PERFECTNeed Strong Citizens’ Movement Not Citizen Centred Good start. Need to develop intermediaries Will not make significant difference

10. CAUTION Do not view E-Governance as a revolutionary process. Instead view it is as a reform process and changes will not happen overnight Corruption, scams, resignations are given greater visibility in E-governance case-studies, Efficiency gains, user benefits get less easily noticed. This will make political will and relevance difficult to capture, EVENTHOUGH ….

11. … E-Governance Works Both Ways Ease in Payment of Water Charges, Taxes, Bills etc Information about Government Enhanced access to government schemes Lower transaction costs in revenue collection Knowledge about opinion of people Feedback on government schemes and people’s participation in their design Political Benefits Citizen Benefits

12. For more information: Vikas Nath founder www.DigitalGovernance.org A network of over 2500 individuals With National Networks in India, Nigeria, Guyana and South Africa KnowNet@Knowetweaver.org or v.nath-alumni@lse.ac.uk