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
1960s early 1990s: Centralised planning,
focus on the use of ICTs in Central Government
Departments (Madon, 2004)

Late

1990s present: Revival of interest in local

government, move towards applying ICTs to a
wider range of applications within urban and rural
local bodies.

Early

Recently emerged as one of the largest

investors in e-Government initiatives in the AsiaPacific 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

Bureaucrats
and politicians
with
computer
vision

Growth of
the Indian IT
industry

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 socioeconomic 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 eGovernment 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?