|
While
every expert agrees that e-governance is what will make governing
easier for the bloated Indian administration, and help the
common man in getting government services with minimum red-tape
and zero-corruption, Indian states and the Centre have still
not gone too far down this road. While some states do have
some projects to showcase, successes are few and far between.
The truth is a situation where hype overshadows reality, say
Rajneesh De and Srikanth RP
 |
NAIDU
says low computer literacy rates pose a serious threat
to the government’s ambitious e-governance plans |
The
Government of India (GoI) had declared 2001 as the ‘Year
of e-governance.’ The purported aim behind the whole
idea was to promote and enhance the use of IT in governance
in accordance with the measures suggested by the Task Force
set up by the Ministry of Information Technology (MIT) in
1998. But a look at actual implementation shows that almost
40 percent of MIT’s targets are yet to be achieved and
most of them, directly or indirectly, relate to e-governance.
The moot question is: Where did things go wrong?
Union minister for information technology, Pramod Maha-jan
has the answer in a nutshell: “Technology can not work
in isolation, it has to reach one and all. IT in isolation
cannot bring a change unless administrators at the middle
level is trained and motivated to use IT tools to speed up
communication and decision-making.”
Interestingly, Mahajan’s words gain significance in view
of the finance ministry’s diktat that every ministry
should spend 3 percent of its budget on the purchase of computers.
And for once, this 3 percent allocated to all central and
state government departments is being exhausted as per directions.
But common sense tells us that simply buying equipment will
not help unless it is put to efficient use, which in most
cases is not happening. “All government offices are slowly
turning into a graveyard of computers,” Mahajan commented
sarcastically recently. Adds R K Arora, executive director,
C-DAC, “Money is not an issue any more because by and
large budgets are available for investing in IT. Policy-wise,
the government seems to be encouraging e-governance, but unfortunately
that money is being spent on buying junk. It takes a lot of
commitment to translate policy into reality and that is missing.”
A distant mirage
 |
Mahajan
says spending to meet diktats has resulted in government
offices becoming computer graveyards |
Politicians
like Mahajan, AP chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka
chief minister S M Krishna might be strong votaries of e-governance,
but according to Gartner, meaningful e-governance in India
is unlikely before 2010. The global IT research and consulting
firm believes that only 10 percent of government bodies round
the globe will be able to move towards e-governance by 2005,
and India is absent from the picture due to poor infrastructure
and slow response to cyber-culture. According to Gartner,
the transition from governance to e-governance takes place
in four phases, beginning with a “presence” phase,
followed by “interaction,” “transaction”
and the final “transformation” phase. Unfortunately,
it believes India is still in the earliest phases of its transition.
Flexible demographics and geographic competition within the
country could eventually propel e-governance to prominence
in India though the constraints are significant enough to
stymie any immediate advances.
Early stages or not, according to Nasscom projections, state
governments and the Central government combined are expected
to spend $890 million towards e-governance in 2001-02, a number
which is expected to reach $6 billion in 2007-08.
An
estimated spend of $556 million in 2000-01 signifies that
spending on this head has witnessed a growth of more than
60 percent over the last year. Critics might call statistics
undependable, but if nothing else, only these hard numbers
are ample testimony to the vital importance of e-governance
to India. Says Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, “E-governance
must be a high priority for India, as it is the only means
of taking IT to the masses. Additionally, this is a smart
and economical process of building the Indian domestic software
market.”
 |
SONI
says the involvement of private players ensures that funds
are not an issue when it comes to e-governance |
The
objective of achieving e-governance goes far beyond mere computerisation
of standalone back office operations. E-governance has to
fundamentally change how a government operates and this implies
a new set of responsibilities for the executive, legislature
and the citizenry. Says Arun Shourie, minister of disinvestment,
“The government’s IT managers should develop a minimum
agenda for e-governance. The days of ‘file culture’
had come to an end and cumbersome procedures should soon be
replaced by online decisions. The Indian IT industry should
pay more attention to the development of hardware and it should
not be content with providing back door services in order
to remain competitive in a fast changing IT world.”
Before investigating the failings of e-governance in India,
one important thing to be kept in mind is that very few people
in India today, whether in the government or outside it, fully
understand the difference between e-government and e-governance.
An e-government is an administration where citizens can avail
of government services such as land records, filing of tax,
etc, while e-governance involves the formulation of laws and
regulations to govern cyberspace, such as domain names, etc.
And as some capable and visionary IT officials in the government
like Vivek Kulkarni, the high-profile IT secretary of Karnataka,
or the self-effacing Sunil Soni, the Maharashtra IT secretary
are beginning to realise today, the focus till now has been
on the ‘e’ rather than basic governance that has
to reach the common man. Perhaps the dot com disaster that
burst the myth of every ‘e’, be it e-commerce, e-learning
or e-trading, played a contributory role in this realisation.
The achievers
But
merely lamenting about the lack of adequate progress will
not invoke any Alladin’s lamp that would automatically
ensure smooth and efficient e-governance. Having a vision
and planning ambitious goals is fine, but the need of the
hour is to take concrete steps towards implementation. And
both Soni and Kulkarni have some achievements to tom-tom in
this regard. Reveals Soni, “Set up in 1998, Maharashtra’s
IT department was meant mainly to cater to the state’s
e-governance initiatives. In doing so, three areas were marked
as crucial: infrastructure, application development, plus
training and change management.” In terms of infrastructure,
the Maharashtra government purchased around 3,000 computers
that were distributed among a few major departments. It also
implemented a LAN network at Mantralaya, the hub of state
administration in Mumbai, where the systems work at an uptime
of 99.7 percent. The systems are down for maintenance for
just eight hours a year. In addition, there is a standby hub
in Pune to assist in disaster management operations, in case
things go wrong at Mumbai. Adds Soni, “Instead of developing
applications and solutions in bits and pieces, we adopted
a total solutions approach where we did a comprehensive study
of various departments to determine their needs for computerisation.
As a result of that study, we focused on just two departments
the Stamps and Registration department and the Excise department.
Though initially in four districts, the computerisation of
these departments is planned on a state-wide basis.”
Finally, the state also ensured the training of over one lakh
state government employees to use these systems by making
it mandatory for most employees to pass a basic computer literacy
exam.
 |
According
to Kulkarni, laying
down an IT policy is easy, enforcing it is the difficult
part |
Maharashtra
has also actually slowed down the process of e-governance
in order to ensure that the e-governance solution actually
brings out the benefits it has promised. Explains Soni, “We
do not want to get in the race for announcing e-governance
projects and not implementing them. Right from the start,
our focus has been on starting off pilot projects and replicating
them all over the state once they have been successful.”
The
Maharashtra government follows a unique business model that
ensures that the usual problem of paucity of funds and infrastructure
does not stall e-governance projects. This model envisages
the involvement of private players who provide the entire
necessary hardware and software infrastructure. The private
company is paid on the basis of the number of transactions
done on a particular solution. For example, a private player
could be paid on the basis of the number of driver licenses
being issued. Adds Soni, “Most state governments today
who have taken a lead in announcing e-governance projects,
are left with maintaining expensive hardware in addition to
the cost of deploying staff. We have avoided this route altogether
and saved massively on hardware costs. This helps to focus
on our core competence which is governance, instead of maintenance
related issues. On the other hand, a private player would
show more enthusiasm in executing such projects since his
revenues are tied to the success of the project. This is a
win-win situation for the government, the customer and private
companies. In short, the whole efficiency of the private company
is gained by the government.”
 |
Ramani
says the first element that needs a makeover is the bureaucratic
mindset, if e-governance is to ever succeed |
And
Karnataka, with its host of e-governance initiatives, is trying
to project that it has much more to offer in IT beyond Bangalore.
Which is why the state government has initiated steps to take
IT to the masses by educating the common man about the benefits
of technology. Started by chief minister S M Krishna two years
ago, Bangalore’s IT policy for effective e-governance,
which involves computerising every department, and creating
websites for every district, has today reached a stage where
the government can boast of certain achievements. State employees
are encouraged to flash visiting cards that have their e-mail
IDs. Departmental examinations for state governmental employees
are also managed through computers. According to Kulkarni,
the government also plans to appoint information officers
for each department to increase dissemination of information
to the public. The government is also in the process of training
its employees in basic IT, which would hopefully make them
more IT savvy. While the state government has been enthusiastic
in roping in software powerhouses in the evolution of e-governance
in the state, companies such as C-DAC, CMC, EMC, ECIL are
involved in big way with the whole process of connecting the
state. The state government has also tied up with Microsoft
and Compaq in the process.
And when you are talking of success stories in e-governance,
can you really leave Andhra Pradesh behind? The dynamic CM,
Chandrababu Naidu, who likes to call himself the CEO of Andhra
Pradesh Inc., has initiated a host of measures related to
e-governance under his Vision 2020 plan as he plans to make
Andhra an ideal e-governed state by that date. Much has been
written about AP’s projects. The notable among them are
APSWAN the network of voice, data and video communication
throughout the state operational with 2 Mbps fibre optic links
connecting the state secretariat with 25 centres, and the
CARD project which is the system of registering immovable
property transactions using a computerised database. Other
achievements include the multipurpose household survey project
that aims to capture socio-economic data of all residents
of the state and a database of land records, automated services
to provide services like issuance of driving licenses, vehicle
registration through a comprehensive, networked solution and
the Secretariat Knowledge Inform-ation Management System,
which manages work flow at the state government secretariat.
Tamil Nadu too has been one of the pioneers in adopting e-governance.
In Tamil Nadu, typical projects that have been implemented
include a comprehensive state government information website.
Apart from all state-level tenders in English and Tamil, the
site houses a wealth of documents and statistical information
about the state. In addition, it has over 100 application
forms in English and Tamil, a comprehensive database of land
records and application software, digitisation of maps, application
software for the sub-registrars’ offices, district registrars’
offices, regional transport offices (RTOs), zonal RTOs and
the transport commissioner’s office, IT assessment circles
and for monitoring development projects at the block level.
Besides, there are pilot projects for tele-medicine between
a state-level tertiary hospital and a taluka-level rural hospital
and for payment of utility bills over the Internet, as well
as for the Madras high court and the police administration.
Videoconferencing facilities have also been set up between
the state headquarters and all district headquarters. However,
implementation of this project is hampered due to non-availability
of ISDN in 40 percent of the districts.
These states might have been the pioneers in e-governance,
but some states like Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi and Gujarat,
who incidentally started late are trying hard to catch up.
Kerala’s RD Net networks 152 office blocks and provides
regular updates of various activities undertaken in the state.
A government automation project has been started with the
aim of digitising huge volumes of legacy data lying with the
departments, besides CARD which is an automatic registration
system, and FRIENDS which aims at providing a single window
for citizens to remit their dues at the same counter. Initiatives
in West Bengal includes the connecting of the state headquarters
in Kolkata with all district headquarters and a vernacular
interface project that provides information about tax payments,
public utility bills, etc. Besides, there is a pilot Web and
kiosk-based education information system to standardise operations
and processes. Gujarat has a smart card project whereby all
road transport offices are equipped with state-of-the-art
driving licence enrolment and issuance centres and a state-wide
WAN to connect various office complexes of the government,
and a disaster management system.
E-governance pangs
 |
Arora
says a lack of commitment is the distinguishing element
in India’s e-governance projects |
However,
all these achievements should not overshadow the reasons why
e-governance in India has failed to take off as expected.
It is high time the government took a stock of the areas where
India has lagged behind. The MIT task force proposed equipping
all ministries and government departments with LANs, PCs and
basic software necessary to improve their functioning, besides
automating recording and filing systems to ensure better workflow.
In reality, while the process of networking and purchase of
hardware has been initiated, in many cases the departments
have randomly bought material (which is lying unused) only
to exhaust budgets allocated. The result, as Arora puts, it
is “lack of standards and scattered automation.”
While it was mandatory to give necessary IT training to all
staff members who need to use computers for their work, training
of employees has been perhaps one of the slowest to take off
in terms of actual implementation, as most of the 1998 Task
Force recommendations in this regard are yet to be achieved.
MIT officials blame the ministry of HRD for this. According
to Pavan Duggal, noted cyberlaw specialist, “This is
a typical case of government departments passing the buck
to each other, as a result of which only common citizens suffer.”
Other measures suggested, included the promotion of the use
of e-mail and online notice boards, besides setting up websites
for all ministries and government departments, displaying
information of interest or relevance to the public as well
as setting up Web-enabled grievance cells and making all necessary
efforts to allow electronic delivery of services to the public.
But, as even Mahajan admits, the reality checks leave much
to be desired. Although senior officials have been given access
to the Internet, only a handful of self-motivated and tech-savvy
babus have put it to actual use. Next, though there are some
useful sites such as the ones giving online status railway
bookings or passport status, there is a long way to go before
all such information is made available to the public. Automation
of many services such as billing have been made. But whether
it is lack of IT knowledge or rampant corruption, incidents
such as inflated bills and inefficient services still result
in harassment of citizens. Kulkarni sums it up succinctly,
“It may be easy to lay down policies on paper, saying
each ministry or department should have an overall IT strategy
for a five-year period, within which it could detail specific
action plans and targets to be implemented within one year,
but to ensure actual implementation is a tough call.”
A lot of stress is laid on the lack of infrastructure in the
country, which certainly can not be ignored. But, according
to Vishwas Dhumal, Maharashtra’s industry secretary,
“a bigger question that arises is that if we have the
infrastructure ready, can we ensure the successful adoption
of e-governance across the country?” As of now, the aggressive
buying spree that government offices are indulging in is only
creating graveyards of computers. There is absolutely no accountability
or motivation to put them into efficient use.
Experts insist that the basic work culture and framework of
the government in India does not favour e-governance. “I
can say with conviction that 95 percent of people in the government
do not believe in e-governance. So, how much can you expect
from the remaining 5 percent, who have to work under tremendous
con
straints,”
Kulkarni questions. He explains that the whole issue of e-governance
is stuck in the conflict between domain knowledge and knowledge
of IT. “The policy makers are older people who are not
technology savvy and those who know IT are the junior staff.
The problem with these senior people is that they have a sense
of power, which they may not want to surrender by sharing
information,” he adds.
The rampant corruption prevalent in Indian government departments
also prevents the use of IT, because it will make all processes
more transparent. And this again may not be in the interest
of many ‘senior’ people. Comments S Ramani, director
HP Labs India, and ex-director, NCST, on the issue of corruption,
“There is general resistance especially from bureaucrats
for implementing e-governance initiatives, the main reason
being that it will put an end to bribe-taking.” Besides,
there are issues related to work culture. There is a general
idea in the minds of bureaucrats that services should be offered
at nominal rates. Setting up an e-governance system in place
will cost the government some money. This makes the service
a bit more expensive than what it would have cost by following
a normal procedure. Adds Ramani, “The public doesn’t
mind paying a bit more for hassle-free instant service, but
the bureaucratic mindset of following a strict procedure over
a set period of time to get work done needs to be changed.”
There also exists a lot of disparity across the country in
the levels of education and orientation to technology. While
states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karna-taka, Andhra Pradesh
and Mahara-shtra have higher literacy and have been more active
in implementing IT, the Northern states, especially those
in the cow belt, lag far behind.
“It
has been widely accepted that IT implementation in government
is the most difficult process and hence requires careful planning
and formulation of strategies for effective implementation,”
says Soni. There is tremendous emphasis on rules and procedures
across all government departments. Unless records are kept
properly, accessing information and tracing precedents becomes
time consuming and this is one of the reasons for delays and
inefficiency in administration. The use of IT can improve
the pace of effectiveness of governance, but it has to be
done in a phased manner. A step-by-step or ‘cafeteria
approach’ as it is called. This means that just like
a buffet, you have various options laid out and you pick and
choose the ones that suit your taste. “You cannot go
for it all at once, you will obviously have to implement it
step by step,” says Tariq Farooqui, director, Emerging
Markets, SAP India, which has been doing a lot of e-governance
projects in conjunction with the government. Based on your
existing infrastructure and requirements, you choose and implement
from among the various options such as front-end e-services,
backend digitisation, e-services, e-procurement and process
reengineering.
Private participation
 |
Thomas
says IBM is working with quite a few state governments
on projects that are at varying stages of completion |
That
brings us to the important contribution from private players
in implementing different IT initiatives. The perfect marriage
between India Inc. and the government has been one of the
biggest gains of the e-governance drive in India. IBM has
been on the forefront of such initiatives from the beginning.
Explains Abraham Thomas, CEO, IBM India, “We have been
working with various state governments and governmental organisations
to help build e-governance applications, understand their
requirements and develop a blueprint based on local issues
and constraints. In fact, this effort is not just limited
to our sales and marketing teams, but the IBM Research laboratory
in IIT Delhi is also working on projects that will benefit
e-governance in India. In an attempt to educate local governments,
we have organised national and state level seminars.”
Currently, IBM is working on specific solutions for the Indian
government, one being IFPS (intelligent form processing solution),
and the second, IBM Patent Server Solution. The IFPS solution
streamlines paper intake processing of machine printed or
hand written forms using the most advanced techniques the
industry has to offer for optical character recognition (OCR).
The application will support many versions of standard forms,
machine and hand-printed documents, multiple paper sizes and
immediate access to information in scanned forms. On the other
hand, the IBM Patent Server solution makes patent information
available online to users at their own desks through nothing
more complex than the same Web browser used to surf the World
Wide Web. Adds Swarup Chaudhary, country manager, sales, IBM,
“E-governance is no doubt a key growth area with a lot
of governments in India interested in e-governance solutions.
Solutions could be consultations on choice of systems, technology
and architecture besides offering solutions like file tracking
where the government can track the status of a given file
immediately. These applications will be built on an open platform
such as Linux, using IBM middleware such as Domino for collaboration
and workflow, DB2 for data consolidation and management, and
WebSphere for Internet and intranet applications. Apart from
this, IBM will facilitate state governments to percolate the
benefits of information technology to all citizens through
education and training programmes targeted at the masses.”
Arora concurs, “State governments should encourage and
adopt open standards rather than proprietary standards. Software
development if done on open standards will make it possible
for states to exchange information with other states.”
In India, IBM has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Haryana and West Bengal government. IBM India will
also help the Haryana Government to build e-governance applications
that will be showcased in the government’s centre for
e-governance. Also, the Haryana Government would set up a
IBM techno-force (ITF) to work on IBM software. Besides Haryana,
IBM and West Bengal Electronics Industry Dev-elopment Corporation
Limited (Webel) have launched the WEBEL distance learning
programme in Kolkata. Webel and IBM have embarked on this
distance education project to provide education on IT to the
masses across West Bengal.
Apart from IBM, even companies like SAP, TCS, MBT and Tata
Infotech are making enough noises on the e-governance front.
The e-government framework of mySAP Public Sector handles
all e-government scenarios: government-to-citizen (G2C), government-to-business
(G2B), and government-to-government (G2G). It encompasses
everything to do with an e-government: creating an Internet
exchange or portal, presenting electronic services, integrating
legacy processes and systems, managing citizen and government
department accounts, managing electronic records, and integrating
existing back-office systems. Adds Faro-oqui, “State
or central governments can decide to implement the entire
e-governance framework or decide to implement individual solutions
like HRMS, SAP Records Management. SAP Contract Accounting,
Tax & Revenue Management, SAP CRM Web request, e-procurement,
etc.”
 |
According
to Shourie, cumbersome
procedures should be replaced by online decisions |
TCS
has developed an integrated information system for the sales
tax department in Maharashtra, a vouc-her level computerisation
system for offices of the accountant general in Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, a hospital
management system for Punjab and Delhi, and a package for
the motor vehicle department of Maharashtra for performing
functions like registration of new vehicles, issue of licenses,
tax collections and defaulter prosecutions. As a part of its
e-governance initiatives, MBT is registered with the government
of Maharashtra as its Turnkey Solution Provider. MBT’s
involvement in these projects start right from re-engineering
the existing processes and go on to development, implementation
and supporting the solutions offered to the government. MBT
has followed the DSDM methodology where Government representatives
were a part of the entire project, and added value from their
functional expertise. DSDM involves continuous prototyping,
which results in users getting the software very close to
what they really need. Another success story of MBT has been
with the Goa Telecom where a Web-based grievance handling
system has been implemented over their WAN.
Another Tata company, Tata Infotech, has made inroads in the
domain of e-governance in the country. It has set up a driver
license system in Maharashtra which has reduced the time and
corruption involved in the process significantly.
Missing the grassroots
 |
Tariq
farooqui says playing to a step-by-step gameplan
holds the key to the success of e-governance projects |
However,
whatever may be the hoopla surrounding e-governance, what
tends to be missed out is whether benefits are permeating
down to the common man. In case of much hyped Karnataka, this
does not seem to be the case. Even as the UN Human Deve-lopment
Report 2001 catapults Bangalore to rarefied heights, a bout
of introspection by the powers that be is warranted. The social
objective of transporting the benefits of technology to the
common man in the hinterlands has faltered in Karnataka. The
intention of the state’s information technology policy-Mahiti
was to give a human face to imperious technology and make
it accessible to the common people. The reality is that barring
yuva.com, an effort to train rural youth in IT services, the
government has done precious little at the grassroots level.
Why is implementing e-governance projects so difficult in
our country? Naidu gives the answer, “An estimate of
the effort of computerising the processes in all departments
and agencies of the central and state governments, puts it
at over 130,000 person-years, costing about Rs 35,000 crore.
Besides the seemingly impossible figures, the sheer speed
of implementation is daunting and beset with problems relating
to logistics of installation, training, maintenance and supervision.’’
He adds: “Given the existing low levels of computer competency,
there is a great risk of under-utilisation and non-utilisation
of IT assets in a widespread programme implemented by the
government.’’
 |
Tata
Infotech’s Jain has
set up a driving licence system in Maharashtra, which
has reduced time and corruption |
What
comes out in the end is that e-governance has to go hand in
hand with all the other welfare measures adopted by the government.
Whatever approach it adopts, in the end what finally measures
the success of any policy is its benefit to citizens. Says
Arora, “If the government is not able to improve the
life of the common man, there is no point implementing any
amount of IT.” And more than infrastructure, it would
need cultural reorientation or a change in the mindset of
the bureaucracy. The ‘Year of e-governance’ calls
for a more committed approach, else, the government’s
ambitious e-agenda may remain a pipe dream.
(With inputs from Stanley Glancy)
Setu
attempts to bridge the gap
It’s
not only the big private players who are engaged in providing
support to e-governance initiatives, but there are a number
of smaller names who usually do not hog the limelight. A case
in point is the Mumbai-based ABM Knowledgeware who has been
providing e-governance solutions to state governments since
1995. Recently, the company implemented a CFC (Citizen Facilitation
Centre) titled Setu, at the Thane District Collectorate office.
Says Aniruddha Kaprekar, vice president, ABM, “This single
window clearance system aims to provide citizens with various
services in a phased manner along with more convenience, speed
and measurable performance. He adds, “ABM is a complete
solution provider, with multiple skills, catering to every
possible requirement. An e-governance solution must have multiple
strengths, as it has to cover various aspects like issuing
of certificates, permits, licenses, grievance redressal and
collection of payment.”
 |
|
Aniruddha
Kaprekar
|
ABM
has created MOIS (Multipurpose Office Information System),
an integrated software suite developed for workflow management
of any government office, and MAINet (Municipal Administration
Information Network), an anytime, anywhere interface for citizens
through kiosks and the Internet, covering payments, complaints
management etc, at the backend. According to Kaprekar, this
will enable certificates to be delivered across the counter
within an hour’s time. What are the possible benefits
to the government? ABM, according to Kaprekar, has identified
four stages of e-governance. The first stage is called ‘e-foundation’.
At this stage the basic infrastructure requisites, are set
in place. Also, primary applications like LAN are implemented
and a database containing all possible information is created.
The second stage is that of e-facilitation, which involves
participation of the two stakeholders, the government employee
and the citizens. The e-business stage involves desk-based
transactions on the web. The e-commerce stage is still a conceptual
stage. “The government creates valuable and enriched
databases, which can supply you with more information than
any other information service provider. All this data will
be loaded onto the PC and the government will provide the
citizen with the information will be provided to the citizen
on demand, for a small fee,” comments Kaprekar.
The interesting element in this whole endeavour, i.e. implementation
of Setu in the Thane Collectorate was that the government
didn’t have to fork out any funds per se. The entire
project, which cost roughly around Rs 30 lakh including the
cost of hardware, networking, software, training, implementation
and other IT related services, was funded privately by local
MLAs and MPs, the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing and Industries
and the Land Acquisition Branch Administration Funds. Future
programmes will be funded through the fees collected from
citizens for services rendered.
The
Singapore experience
Singapore’s
e-governance initiatives evolved in three phases, each framed
by a national plan that clearly articulated goals, policies,
resources and projects. The first phase from 1981 to 1985
saw the start of the Civil Service Computerisation Programme
(CSCP) and the establishment of the National Computer Board.
The programme’s broad objective was to computerise government
ministries so as to increase productivity and raise the quality
of public services. An important subtext of the first phase
was for Singapore to seed its own cadre of computer professionals.
The application technologies exploited were mainly in areas
such as transaction processing, data modelling, and database
management systems. A 1988 audit showed that the government
had obtained a return of nearly 2.8 dollars for every dollar
spent on information technology in the programme, and that
the need for some 5000 posts had been avoided or reduced.
The second phase from 1986 to 1990 was the period of the National
Information Technology Plan (NITP). The twin goals of the
plan were to develop a strong export-oriented IT industry
and to improve business productivity through IT applications.
The focus shifted from the public sector to the private sector.
The development of IT manpower evolved further into applied
research endeavours. Principal enabling technologies included
software engineering, expert systems, and electronic data
interchange. By the early 1990s, Singapore had a thriving
IT industry with a growing number of indigenous IT firms exporting
to the region, the US, and Europe. At least one local company
has become the international industry leader in its product
segment. A network allowing traders and government departments
to exchange documents electronically is said to be saving
Singaporean traders about one billion US dollars a year.
The third and current phase began in 1991 with the launch
of the IT2000 masterplan. The stated goals were to apply IT
extensively in order to enhance national competitiveness and
to improve the quality of life of its citizens. According
to IT2000, Singapore has developed into intelligent island
with an advanced nationwide information infrastructure interconnecting
computers in nearly every home, school and workplace. The
computer is now a multi-purpose information appliance that
integrates the functions of the telephone, television, and
computer to deliver sound, images, text and data. Through
these information appliances, Singaporeans draw upon a wide
array of electronic information and services to improve their
businesses, make their working lives easier, and enrich their
personal, social and recreational activities. It is not only
Singapore, but even other developing countries like Malaysia
who have gone much ahead of India in implementing e-governance
initiatives. Says Ram Venuprasad, chief program officer, Commonwealth
secretariat, London, “The progress of e-governance in
India has been in pockets and not across the board as it has
happened in Malayasia.”
|
