Governance has existed in various forms since the dawn of civilisation coercing mankind to develop and implement effective mechanisms for facilitating the needs of citizens, through efficient administrative policies and practices. Governance is central to economic growth and prosperity, and to this day, sovereign nations, big and small, strive to evolve efficient governance mechanisms.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly viewed as efficacious tools that can transform age-old procedures and practices into more lean, transparent and efficient processes.

ICTs have undoubtedly stepped up the pace of modern living by a few notches and are making inroads into everyday lives transforming conventional methodologies into more agile and proactive solutions. The pace of change has probably never been so kaleidoscopic and the demands to innovate and adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape, more compelling. The ubiquitous reach of ICTs and the empowerment they provide make them a worthy “game changer”, and a driving force towards achieving refinement and excellence.

ICTs can be instituted through a range of models from internal government funded projects to self-funding models that pay for themselves to public-private partnerships (PPPs). However, at the heart of any technology adoption is the pool of knowledge and expertise to deploy and utilise the technology. Also, from the governance perspective, the technology needs to be embed-able at various levels (such as state, regional, municipal etc,) of administration and flexible enough to be localised to cultural and regional nuances such as user-friendly applications accessible in the local language, etc. While it is arduous to gauge the efficacy of e-governance initiatives, there are organisations that have evolved benchmarks to establish the level of competence attained. The United Nations Public Administration Network is one such body that publishes an e-Governrnment Readiness Index on the basis of surveys among its member countries.

Regardless of the measurement metrics deployed, it’s the ease of use coupled with the ensuing benefits, such as simplified hassle-free access to services that accelerates the adoption rate among the citizenry. Once the user base attains a critical mass, the technology acquiescence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and its socio-ecological impact becomes discernible. 

India has embarked on a National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) to render government services electronically to its population of about 1.2 billion people and counting. The plan envisages developing the necessary infrastructural framework at state, district and village levels and also proposes setting up front-end facilitation hubs, called common services centres (CSCs). The plan is designed to draw on a countrywide network of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs), to disseminate its services to the citizenry. To advance more effective implementation, the government recently announced an e-governance executive training programme (eGEP) which would familiarise, train and enthuse government functionaries from various ministries and departments in the use of e-technology principles and concepts relevant to their area of administration.

Recent statistics suggest India has about 137 million broadband connections – just over 10% penetration. Furthermore, it is estimated that smartphone users are a tenuous minority in the bustling mobile phone community. Interestingly, a significant number of smartphone users do not have a data connection, thereby limiting their ability to access online web-based services. Nevertheless, the mobile internet access is significant and growing, and as the mobile phone landscape gathers steam, it is likely to intensify manifold. Meanwhile, small towns and rural communities, where a significant proportion of the population resides, have a markedly lower density of internet connections and smartphone users as compared to the metropolitan centres and urban cities. Populations with low literacy levels can find this technological transformation overwhelming and challenging. The same may also be true for populations at the lowest fringes of the income spectrum.

As market dynamics gathers momentum, falling prices of mobile handsets, along with increases in speed and reliability of mobile networks, and greater proliferation of applications could considerably enhance the number of smartphone subscribers. Also improvements in web connectivity and coverage would offer easier access to a wider audience. However, in order to make e-governance more inclusive users need to be at ease with usage mechanisms, and also offerings need to be localised for maximum utilisation and benefit. Additionally, the ever-increasing security concerns with respect to hacking and cyber-attacks that could compromise confidential information and violate user data privacy, present steep challenges.

Notwithstanding any of the aforementioned encumbrances, a central ingredient for any governance mechanism to be truly successful is the “value” it delivers and citizens need to be apprised of the benefits, through consultation and dialogue. Citizen engagement can pave the way for greater population inclusion and participation thereby enabling citizens to act as contributing stakeholders in the process and not as bemused onlookers in an overbearing system.