13 E-Commerce and E-Governance

K P Vijayakumar

I. Objectives

The objectives of the unit are to:

• Examine the different definitions of e-commerce and e-governance

• Describe major players in e-commerce

• Explain the key drivers of e-commerce

• Attempt a classification of e-commerce

• Mention the role played by governments in the development of e-commerce

• Examine the prerequisites for e-governance

• Identify the skills needed for the successful functioning of e-governance

• Describe the different models of e-governance

• Review the benefits of e-governance

• Make an overview of the e-governance initiatives at the national level in India, and

• Highlight the recommendations of National Knowledge Commission (NKC) for the development of e-governance initiatives in India.

II. Learning Outcome

On completing this module, you should know clearly the meaning of the terms E-commerce and E-governance. You should also be aware of the various e- governance initiatives in India. You also need to have an idea of the role libraries, especially public libraries, can play in such initiatives.

III. Structure of the Module

1. Introduction

2. Major Players in E-Commerce

3. Key Drivers of e-commerce

4. Classification of E-Commerce

5. Government Participation in E-Commerce

5.1 Telecommunications

5.2 Online Transactions for Citizens and Businesses

5.3 Government Procurement

5.4 Private Sector E-Commerce Activities by Governments

5.5 Outsourcing of Noncore Governmental Functions

6. Impact of E-Commerce on Society

6.1 Impact on Direct Marketing

6.2 Other Marketing Impacts

6.3 Impact on organizations

6.4 Impact on Manufacturing

6.5 Impact on Finance

7. E-commerce for Libraries

8. E-governance

8.1 Objectives of E-Governance

8.2 Developmental Stages of E-Governance

8.2.1 Information Phase

8.2.2 Interaction Phase

8.2.3 Transaction Phase

8.2.4 Transformation Phase

9. Prerequisites for E-governance

9.1 Skills Necessary for E-Governance Implementation

9.1.1 Project Management Skills

9.1.2 Analytical and Technical Skills

9.1.3 Information and Knowledge Management Skills

9.1.4 Communication and Presentation Skills

10. E-Governance Models

10.1 The Broadcasting Model

10.2 The Critical Flow Model

10.3 The Comparative Analysis Model

10.4 E-Advocacy/Mobilization and Lobbying Model

10.5 The Interactive-Service Model

11. Benefits of E-Governance

11.1. Delivering Services to Citizens

11.2 Delivering Service to Business

11.3 IncreasingEfficiency

11.4 Other Benefits

12. E-governance Initiatives in India

13. National Knowledge Commission Recommendations on e-governance

14. E-governance and Libraries

15. Summary

16. References

1. Introduction

Electronic Commerce (EC) can be defined as the technology mediated exchange of digital information between various individuals and/or organizations as well as the electronically-based intra or inter-organizational activities that facilitate such exchanges over network channels. According to Vladimir Zwass, the Editor-in-chief of International Journal of Electronic Commerce ‘Electronic commerce is sharing business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks’. Some of the definitions of e-commerce often heard and found in publications and the media are:

Electronic Commerce (EC) is where business transactions take place via telecommunications networks, especially the Internet.
Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks including the Internet.
Electronic commerce is about doing business electronically.
E-commerce, ecommerce, or electronic commerce is defined as the conduct of a financial transaction by electronic means.

The wide range of business activities related to e-commerce brought about a range of other new terms and phrases to describe the Internet phenomenon in other business sectors. Some of these focus on purchasing from on-line stores on the Internet. Since transactions go through the Internet and the Web, the terms I-commerce (Internet commerce), i-commerce and even Web-commerce have been suggested but are now very rarely used. Other terms that are used for on-line retail selling include e-tailing, virtual-stores or cyber stores. A collection of these virtual stores is sometimesgathered into a ‘virtual mall’ or ‘cybermall’.

2. Major Players in E-Commerce

A careful analysis of the macro and micro environment of e-commerce is necessary to understand the players involved in e-commerce. The major players are:

Vendors: They are the manufacturers and vendors of e-commerce system and components. It is interesting to note that there are vendors of the e-commerce services. Payment processing and trust services are typical examples.
Commerce Service Provider (CSP): These players provide planning, building and running e-commerce solutions for merchants. There are mainly three types of CSPs, viz. Service operator CSPs, portal CSPs and professional services CSPs

The service operation CSPs build and operate e-commerce application services, sell them to other service providers.

The portal CSPs provide access for e-merchants provided by one or more portals.

The professional services CSPs provide services to customize the application as per the needs of each merchant. Some of these customizations include, design of the store-front, configuration of the applications and integration of the commerce application into other systems operated by the merchants. Framework Service Providers constitute a related category.

E-Merchants: E-merchants (companies, merchants, distributors, etc.) want to sell products by means of electronic media. They use different CSP services to get a more or less sophisticated e-commerce solution. E-merchant services with a large customer base and strong brand identity are the major player in this field because they have the customer pull.
End Users: This is the group that buys products by means of an e-commerce system. Their requirements need to be analyzed very carefully. New e-commerce solutions tend to treat different user groups, as well as different users individually.

3. Key Drivers of e-commerce

Identification of key drivers of e-commerce will go a long way in understanding the atmosphere in which it can thrive. Therefore, an attempt is made here to examine them. They are treated succinctly in Table 1.

Sl.	Key drivers	Measurement criteria
No.
1.	Technological	Telecommunication infrastructure
	factors	n Backbone infrastructure and architecture
		n Internet service providers
		n Range of services available (e.g. ADSL,
		ISDN)
		n Ownership (private or public sector)
		n Industry players and competition
		n Pricing
		Access to new technology developments
		Bandwidth

		Speed of development and implementation of new
		technology by industrial sector
2.	Political	Number and type of government incentives and
	factors	programmes to support the use and development of
		new technology
		Legislation – number and type of supportive or
		restrictive laws and policies
		Public policies that support the growth of electronic
		transactions and processes
3.	Social factors	Skills of workforce
		Number of users on-line
		Penetration rate of PCs
		Level of education; computer literacy and IT
		skills
		Culture of technophilia – a willingness and ability
		to adopt new technology and the speed of its
		adoption
4.	Economic	Economic growth
	factors	Average income
		Cost of technology (hardware and software)
		Cost of access to telecommunications
		infrastructure
		Advancement of banking sector; payment
		systems
		Innovative business models

Table 1 – Key factors of e-commerce

(Source: Introduction to E-commerce. Retrieved from

http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ ecommerce1.pdf)

Here the technological factors imply the degree of advancement of the telecom infrastructure. The political factors include the role of government in creating legislation, initiatives and funding to support the widespread utilization of information and communication technology. Social factors comprise the level and advance of IT education and training and the willingness of the stakeholders to adopt the technologies at their disposal. Economic factors comprise the general wealth and the purchasing power of the consumers.

4. Classification of E-Commerce

There are four significant categories of e-commerce. They are:

Business to Business	Consumer to Business
(B2B)	(C2B)
Business to Consumer	Consumer to Consumer
(B2C)	(C2C)

Business to Business (B2B) activity refers to the e-commerce that can occur between two organizations. It involves electronic exchange of information, digital products and services between organizations. This is the largest and most lucrative e-commerce category and most modern way to do business. Business between Dell and General Electric can be cited as a typical example. The most interesting development here is the traditional rivals coming together and forming consortia to enhance their purchasing power. A typical example is Covisint.Covisint is an American consortium established in 2000 by General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler. Initially it focused in the automotive industry but they later expanded into the healthcare, oil and gas and financial services. In n February 2004, Compuware Corporation acquired Covisint. Similar initiatives have already taken place in the areas of drugs and pharmaceuticals, real estate development and manufacture of electronic components.

Business to Consumer (B2C) refers to exchanges between businesses and consumers. Examples are the direct dealings between companies like Google, Amazon etc. with customers. B2C transactions can include the exchange of physical and digital products/services. This type of transaction is small compared to B2B transactions. However, this segment is growing very fast with most companies, especially in the information field, aiming directly the customer.

Consumer to Business (C2B) refers to exchanges between consumers and businesses. Here, consumers can band together to present themselves as a buyer group. These groups may be economically motivated, as with demand aggregators or socially oriented, as the cause-related advocacy groups at SpeakOut.com

Consumer to Consumer (C2C) exchanges involve transactions between and among consumers. This is also known as Peer to Peer (P2P) as the exchanges done between peer groups. These exchanges can include third-party involvement, as in the case of the auction eBay website. Other operations that support P2P activity include Owners.com and Monster.com. C2C is the direct, one-to-one exchange of information between customers; it is facilitated by intermediaries or a third-party, but not controlled by them. A few other categories of e-commerce have also been identified by researchers. These are:

Business to Government (B2G) activity: B2G refers to the e-commerce that can be done between two organizations, viz., business organizations and the government. Under this category, purchasing and procurement, supplier management and inventory management of government organizations can be included.

Government to Consumer (G2C) activities include electronic payments of tax refunds, public retirements and welfare support. These activities can be done through Internet that makes the task of the consumers easier. This can also be thought of as part of B2C.

A comprehensive listing of all types of e-commerce arising out of the range of relationships of all the transacting partners is given in table 2.

Table 2 – Types of e-commerce based on the transacting partners

(Source: Introduction to E-commerce. Retrieved from

http://www.sxccal.edu/msccs/ ecommerce1.pdf)

An additional player introduced in the table apart from those mentioned earlier is Peer. P2P or Peer to Peer is very often unified with C2C because of the same parties participating in the transaction. P2P is not only an e-commerce type but also a technology that allows people to share computer files and computer resources without going through a central web server.

5. Government Participation in E-Commerce

Traditionally, governments have focused on encouraging e-commerce development through laws and regulations designed to support or regulate private online business initiatives. For example, in the United States, the federal government has acted to prohibit the imposition on e-commerce transactions of Internet-specific taxes by the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998. Digital signature laws also have been adopted in the U.S. and elsewhere that confer upon electronic signatures the same binding effect as those on written documents. In response to consumer concerns about protection of individually identifiable information disclosed online, many jurisdictions also have adopted laws protecting individual privacy. These are but a few examples of ways in which governments have moved to support e-commerce development in very traditional ways. This is done mainly through the enactment of laws and regulations designed to regulate business and/or government behavior in relationship to online transactions.

E-government transforms the customary governmental role by making governments active participants in e-commerce. As e-government evolves from a simple informational service to a more transactional environment, governments function as both consumers and suppliers of e-commerce and related services. In this way, the role of government is changed from one of pure oversight and regulation to a more participatory role in which government is not only an e-commerce regulator but an e-commerce “player” as well. Because, e-government and e-commerce are effectively two sides of the same coin, this new and evolving governmental role has significant implications for the future development of e-commerce.

Governments participate in e-commerce in a variety of ways. A few areas where governments play major roles in e-commerce are examined here.

5.1 Telecommunications

Both e-government and e-commerce require reliable, robust, and secure telecommunication networks. In virtually all cases, governments act as consumers of telecommunications services as they seek to web-enable governmental functions. This is true as governments seek to set up internal data links – to share databases. It is even more true as governments seek to link to others outside the government. When governments wish to provide their citizens and others outside their national boundaries with ready access to information or wish to facilitate the conduct of online transactions with those governments, access by them to fast, robust and reliable telecommunications networks becomes critical.

Sometimes, these services are provided by private companies – and are purchased by the government in the same way as any other large customer, or e-commerce company, would purchase high-volume communications services. In other instances, governments act as the owners and operators of computer and telecommunications networks that provide the infrastructure for e-government and for e-commerce as well. In countries where the telecommunications provider is owned by the government, the national government is the provider of the telecommunications services required for e-government.

5.2 Online Transactions for Citizens and Businesses

Once e-government initiatives move beyond purely passive, informational web sites, governments generally develop the capability to support a variety of interactive, online transactions. These range from relatively simple interactions between citizens or businesses and governments to more complex transactions that typically involve payment of a fee to the governmental agency. For example, one of the first capabilities offered on the e-government site of the Municipality of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman was the ability to check on the status of paid and unpaid parking violations for a particular automobile by entering the registration number of the car. At a more advanced level, the Virginia State Department of Motor Vehicles provides the capability to conduct a secure online transaction, using a credit card and a state-issued Personal Identification Number (PIN), to change a vehicle registration address, to renew or replace a driver’s license, renew a vehicle registration, purchase a license plate, order a souvenir license place and purchase an identification card.

5.3 Government Procurement

As with private sector companies that are using B2B e-commerce transactions to drive down their purchasing costs, one set of online activities that is potentially of the most benefit to governments themselves is the use of the Internet to obtain products and services needed by the government. Online purchasing offers governments the opportunity to consolidate product purchasing across government departments and agencies, thereby significantly reducing the transaction costs associated with individual agency purchasing decisions, and by allowing needed items to be purchased in significantly higher volumes, driving down purchase prices.

In addition, governments can use the Internet to distribute information about their purchasing needs and, in that way, to enlarge the group of companies interested in selling those products to the government –the desired result, once again, being a reduction in purchasing costs.

5.4 Private Sector E-Commerce Activities by Governments

Largely to find resources for funding of e-government operations, governments sometimes engage in e-commerce activities that appear to be virtually identical to those undertaken by private sector e-commerce entities. For example, an increasing number of states in the U.S. are considering selling Internet advertising space on their e-government Web sites as a way to help fund their e-government operations. The City of Honolulu, Hawaii is carrying advertisements for automobile dealerships and others on its Web site. In India, Railways prove to be a typical example.

5.5 Outsourcing of Noncore Governmental Functions

An additional way in which government is involved in and supports the development of e-commerce is through the outsourcing to private sector entities of activities that previously had been performed by the government but which are now considered to be nonessential or “noncore.” The instantaneous communication provided by the Internet makes it possible for such outsourcing to take place in a completely seamless fashion, with the government experiencing cost reductions as a result of the increase in efficiency provided by the private sector company.

In India also, the revenue collection function has been entrusted to non-governmental agencies. Banks, for example, are authorized to collect taxes, and service bills and penalties to be paid to various government agencies. The Akshaya Centres approved by Government of Kerala serve as an excellent example of such outsourcing provided by the Government. Collection of toll at bridges and highways serves as another example.

6. Impact of E-Commerce on Society

E-commerce has made a profound impact on society. People can now shop online in the privacy of their own homes without ever having to leave. This can force larger brick and mortar retailers to open an online division. In some cases, it can also force smaller businesses to shut their doors, or change to being completely online. It also changes the way people look at making purchases and spending money. E-commerce has changed the face of retail, services, and other things that make our economy work. Undoubtedly, it will continue to influence how companies sell and market their products, as well as how people choose to make purchases for many years to come. The following are the impact of e-commerce on the global economy.

6.1 Impact on Direct Marketing

Product promotion: E-commerce enhances promotion of products and services through direct, information-rich, and interactive contact with customers.

New sales channel: E-commerce creates a new distribution channel for existing products. It facilitates direct reach of customers and the bi-directional nature of communication.

Direct savings: The cost of delivering information to customers over the Internet results in substantial savings to senders when compared with non – electronic delivery. Major savings are also be achieved in delivering digitized products versus physical delivery.

Reduced cycle time: The delivery of digitized products and services can be reduced to seconds. Also, the administrative work related to physical delivery, especially across international borders, can be reduced significantly thereby cutting the cycle time.

Customer service: Customer service can be greatly enhanced by enabling customers to find detailed information online. Also, intelligent agents can answer standard e-mail questions in seconds and human experts’ services can be expedited using help-desk software.

Corporate image: On the Web, newcomers can establish corporate images very quickly. Corporate image means trust, which is necessary for direct sales. Traditional companies such as Intel, Disney, Dell, and Cisco use their Web activities to affirm their corporate identity and brand image.

6.2 Other Marketing Impacts

Customization: E-commerce provides for customization of products and services, in contrast to buying in a store or ordering from a television, which is usually limited to standard products. Dell Computers Inc. is a success story of customization. Today, we can configure not only computers but also cars, jewelry, gifts, and hundreds of other products and services. It provides a competitive advantage as well as increases the overall demand for certain products and services.

Advertisement:Direct marketing and customization comes as one-to-one or direct advertisement, which is much more effective than mass advertisement. This creates a fundamental change in the manner in which advertisement is conducted not only for online trades but also for products and services that are ordered in traditional ways.

Ordering System:Taking orders from customers can drastically be improved if it is done online. When taken electronically, orders can be quickly routed to the appropriate order-processing site. This saves time and reduces expenses.

Markets: The physical market disappears as does the need to deliver the goods to the marketplace. In a market space, which is an electronic market, goods are delivered directly to buyers when purchasing is completed making markets much more efficient. For those products that are digitally based-software, music and information-the changes will be dramatic.

New Marketing Models: New selling models such as shareware, freeware are emerging to maximize the potential of the Internet. New forms of marketing will also emerge, such as Web-based advertising, linked advertising, direct e-mail, and an increased emphasis on relationship marketing. Customer’s convenience is greatly enhanced, availability of products and services is much greater, and cheaper products are offered. All these provide EC with a competitive advantage over the traditional direct sales methods. Some people predict the fall of the shopping malls, and many retail stores.

6.3 Impact on organizations

Technology and Organizational Learning: Rapid progress in E-commerce will force companies to adapt quickly to the new technology and offer them an opportunity to experiment with new products, services, and processes. New technologies require new organizational approaches. For instance, the structure of the organizational unit dealing with E-Commerce might have to be different from the conventional sales and marketing departments.

Changing Nature of Work:The nature of work and employment will be transformed in the Digital Age. It is already happening. Firms are reducing the number of employees down to a core of essential staff and outsourcing whatever work they can to countries where wages are significantly less expensive. India is a major beneficiary of outsourcing, especially in the field of IT. The ‘Digital Age’ workers will have to become very flexible. Few of them will have truly secure jobs in the traditional sense, and all of them will have to be willing and able to constantly learn, adapt, make decisions, and stand by them.

New Product Capabilities: E-commerce allows for creation of new products and customization of existing products. Such changes may redefine organizations’ missions and the manner in which they operate. E-Commerce also allows suppliers to gather personalized data on customers.

6.4 Impact on Manufacturing

E-Commerce is changing manufacturing systems from mass production to demand-driven and possibly customized, just-in-time manufacturing. Furthermore, the production systems are integrated with finance, marketing, and other functional systems, as well as with business partners and customers. Using Web-based ERP systems, orders that are taken from customers can be directed to designers and to the production floor, within seconds. Production cycle time is cut by 50 percent or more in many cases, especially when production is done in a different country from where the designers and engineers are located.

For instance, companies like IBM, General Motors are assembling products for which the components are manufactured in many locations. Sub-assemblers gather materials and parts from their vendors, and they may use one or more tiers of manufacturers. Communication, collaboration, and coordination become critical in such multitier systems. Using electronic bidding, assemblers get sub-assemblies 15 percent to 20 percent cheaper than before and 80 percent faster.

6.5 Impact on Finance

E-commerce requires special finance and accounting systems. Traditional payment systems are ineffective or inefficient for electronic trade. The use of the new payment systems such as electronic cash is complicated because it involves legal issues and agreements on international standards. Nevertheless, electronic cash is certain to become widespread soon and it will change the manner in which payments are being made. In many ways, electronic cash, which can be backed by currency or other assets, represents the biggest revolution in currency since gold replaced cowry shells.

7. E-commerce for Libraries

There are two types of e-commerce: patron e-commerce, also known as business to customer e-commerce, and vendor e-commerce, also known as business to business ecommerce.

Patron e-commerce enables library patrons to make electronic payment of overdue charges, program fees, charges for printing/copying, interlibrary loan, access to electronic content, etc. When outside a library, the access is via the Internet; when inside a library it may be via the Internet or via the library’s LAN (local area network). Patron e-commerce results in self-service. As a self-service, patron e-commerce reduces demand on staff, thus reducing the cost of collecting payments. The staff savings may make it possible to reallocate staff time to more important service priorities.

Vendor e-commerce involves the interfacing of a library’s integrated library system with those of book jobbers and serials subscription agencies for online ordering and claiming, and receipt of vendor reports and invoices. It may also be used to interface with vendors of supplies and equipment, but that is dependent on these vendors supporting standards that are common to their systems and those of libraries. Other areas of e-commerce application of libraries are e-acquisition of materials through e-vendors, e-learning by providing the venue and facilities and e-helpdesk.

8. E-governance

E-governance is the use of a range of modern Information and Communication Technologies such as Internet, Local Area Networks, mobiles etc. by Government to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, service delivery and to promote democracy. It is the use of ICT by different actors of the society with the aim to improve their access to information and to build their capacities. It is connected with the public sector’s use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging participation of the citizens in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective. It is concerned with the development, deployment and enforcement of the policies, laws and regulations necessary to support the functioning of a Knowledge Society as well as of e-Government.

The term e-government refers to government’s use of technology, particularly web-based Internet applications to enhance access to and delivery of government information and services to citizens, business partners, employees, other agencies, and government entities. It has the potential to help build better relationships between the government and the public by making interaction with citizens smoother, easier, and more efficient. Indeed,government agencies report using electronic commerce to improve core business operations and deliver information and services faster, cheaper, and to wider groups of customers.

8.1 Objectives of E-Governance

The strategic objective of e-Governance is to support and simplify governance for government, citizens and businesses. The use of ICT can connect all three parties and support processes and activities. Other objectives are to make government administration more transparent, speedy and accountable, while addressing the society’s needs and expectations through efficient public services and effective interaction between the people, businesses and government.

8.2 Developmental Stages of E-Governance

E-Government applications normally evolve through a four-stage process. The four stages are Information, Interaction, Transaction and Transformation. The first stage includes the publication of information on a website for citizens to seek information about procedures regarding the delivery of different services. The second stage involves interactivity. Clients can download applications for receiving services. Electronic delivery of documents constitutes the third stage. The fourth stage involves electronic delivery of services where more than one government department may be involved in processing a request or for providing service. The specific developments in each stage are explained below:

8.2.1 Information Phase

In the first phase, e-Governance means, a presence on the web, providing the public with relevant information. The format of the early government websites is similar to that of a brochure or leaflet. The value to the public is that government information is publicly accessible; processes are described and are more transparent, which improves democracy and quality of service. Internally the government can also deliver static information with electronic means, such as the Internet.

8.2.2 Interaction Phase

In the second phase, the interaction between government and the public (G2C & G2B) is stimulated with various applications. People can ask questions via e-mail, use search engines, and download forms and documents. These save time. In fact the complete intake of (simple) applications can be done online 24 hours per day. Normally this would only have been possible at a counter during opening hours. Internally (G2G) government organizations use LANs, intranets and e-mail to communicate and exchange data.

8.2.3 Transaction Phase

In the next phase, the complexity of the technology increases with a corresponding increase in customer (G2C & G2B) value. Complete transactions can be done without going to an office. Examples of such online services are filing tax, extending/renewal of licenses, visa and passports and online voting. Phase three is made complex because of security and personalization issues. E.g. digital (electronic) signatures will be necessary to enable legal transfer of services. On the business side, the government is starting with e-procurement applications. In this phase, internal (G2G) processes have to be redesigned to provide good service. Government needs new laws and legislation to enable paperless transactions.

8.2.4 Transformation Phase

The fourth phase is when all information systems are integrated and the public can get G2C and G2B services at one (virtual) counter. One single point of contact for all services is the ultimate goal. The complex aspect in reaching this goal is mainly on the internal side, e.g. the necessity to drastically change culture, processes and responsibilities within the government institution (G2G). Government employees in different departments have to work together in a smooth and seamless way. In this phase cost savings, efficiency and customer satisfaction reach at the highest possible levels.

9. Prerequisites for E-governance

The questions facing the countries that intend implementing e-governance are many. Implementation of e-governance depends on an enabling environment that includes:

• Mature technical infrastructure in various government departments.

• A bureaucracy willing to reengineer, share information and treat citizens as customers.

• Deep Internet penetration.

• Social and political commitment from the government.

• Legal framework that ensures security of information.

• Citizens who are aware of their rights, duties and responsibilities.

9.1 Skills Necessary for E-Governance Implementation

E-governance projects should not only attract citizens that area lready connected on the Internet but bring into its fold all the others,who are not online yet. Developing and implementing e-governance therefore requires building adequate and appropriate skills not only among the developers but also among the consumers. Governmentsneedtodevelopintegratedservices network projects. In order to implement these projects successfully, several skills are necessary, suchas project management skills, analytical andtechnical skills, information and knowledge management skills and communication and presentation skills.

9.1.1 Project Management Skills

Project management skills are highly required to implement and develop projects, no matter the size of the project. Managing a project is the art of planning, organizing, estimating, managing and allocating resources, negotiating, tracking progresses, measuring results and communicating.Managing a projectals oincludes the ability to handletime, cost, scope, risk and quality. All those skills are absolutely necessary to guide the project and achieve specific goals.

9.1.2 Analytical and Technical Skills:

As in any project development,it is important to analyze and interpret the facts at every stage of the process. Analytical skills imply the ability of visualizing, articulating, solving problems and making decisions. In any project development process, we start by defining what the problem is and we find out the practices, policies and processes, which are contributing factors. Throughout the process different tools will be required and employed, e.g.,performance reviews, process analysis, customer satisfaction surveys, stakeholder analysis,users’ needs analysis,information flow, etc. Technical skills are of high importance depending on the type of challenge and they will be required to implement the chosen solution and system.

9.1.3. Information and Knowledge Management Skills

Information is a useful resource. Therefore its content, quality, format, transmission, storage, accessibility, security, usability and preservation – all contribute to its value. Managing information is a skill, which is required inmanydifferent typesof jobs. For example, IT professionalsarecountedonto create formats, databases and files, which are used to organize and represent information.

Furthermoretheyalsohandlesecurityinterfacestoensureintegrityandusability. In order to develop successfully e-governance projects, a knowledge management approach has to be established. This involves procedural, structural and factual components; data modeling; artificial intelligence; etc. If knowledge is well managed, it will payoff for governments. Therefore it is fundamental that structures and processes are correctly and adequately documented.

9.1.4 Communication and Presentation Skills

Communication throughout the project is a continuous requirement. Indeed all along the process, meeting and presentations about progress, goals, results and issues have to be organized. For example, meetings with legislative or executive leaders might be necessary to acquire support and funding. Nowadays there exist many different tools for communication, such as e-mail lists, newsletters, etc. In order to communicate the important facts in a clear and simple way, it is important to summarize and categorize information. Nevertheless the latter should not be oversimplified or lead to false conclusions.

Presentation skills not only imply knowing how to prepare and presentatalkora speech,it also involves the capacity of taking complex data and summarizing and categorizing themin a way that they will be useful for the different audiences.

10. E-Governance Models

Five important models of e-governance have been identified, which can be used as a guide in designing e-government initiatives depending on the local situation and governance activities that are expected to be performed. These models are:

10.1 The Broadcasting Model

The model is based on dissemination/broadcasting of useful governance information, which is in the public domain into the wider public domain with ICT and convergent media. The strength of the model rests on the fact that a more informed citizenry is better able to judge the functioning of existing governance mechanisms and make an informed opinion about them. Consequently, they become more empowered to exercise their rights and responsibilities.

10.2 The Critical Flow Model

The model is based on disseminating/channeling information of critical value to the targeted audience or into the wider public domain with ICT and convergent media. The strength of this model is that ICT makes the concept of ‘distance’ and ‘time’ redundant when information is hosted on a digital network, and this could be used advantageously by instantly transferring the critical information to its strategic user group located anywhere or by making it freely available in the wider public domain.

10.3 The Comparative Analysis Model

This model is highly significant for developing countries and can be used for empowering people.

10.4 E-Advocacy/Mobilization and Lobbying Model

This model builds the momentum of real-world processes by adding the opinions and concerns expressed by virtual communities. This model helps the global civil society to impact on global decision-making processes. It is based on setting up a planned, directed flow of information to build strong virtual allies to complement actions in the real world. Virtual communities are formed which share similar values and concerns and these communities in turn link up with or support real-life groups/activities for concerted action.

10.5 The Interactive-Service Model

It opens avenues for direct participation of individuals in governance processes and brings in greater objectivity and transparency in decision-making processes through ICT. Fundamentally, ICT has the potential to bring in every individual in a digital network and enable two-way flow of information among them. In such a model, the various services offered by the Government become directly available to its citizens in an interactive manner. It does so by opening up an interactive Government to Consumer to Government (g2c2g) channel in various aspects of governance, such as election of government officials (e-ballots); redressing online of specific grievances; sharing of concerns and providing expertise; opinion polls on various issues etc.

Over the past decade, there has been continual development and renewal of strategies and practices surrounding e-governance. Governments around the world have embraced new information and communication technologies to increase the efficiency of internal processes, deliver better and more integrated services to citizens and businesses, invite citizen and stakeholder participation in planning decisions, improve communication, and sometimes even enhance democratic processes.

11. Benefits of E-Governance

E-Governance offers many benefits and advantages for the government, corporate sector and society. E-Governance facilitates better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. It simplifies internal operations and improves performance of government departments while helping all sections of society to avail government services at lower cost with maximum ease of use.

By employing online transactions, government processes become more streamlined, efficient and less dependent on human interaction. Also the cost of processing transactions is reduced online, resulting in great savings. Interconnecting various ministries and government departments electronically to share information helps them provide better governance. Through one integrated e-Government portal, citizens and businesses can avail of various government services, conduct online transactions, access information and interact with various government bodies without standing in long queues, waiting for office hours or handling lot of paperwork, and thus save time and money. In other words, e-Governance brings about ‘anytime anywhere access to the right person’.

E-governance is about changing how governments work, share information, and deliver services to external and internal clients. It harnesses information and communication technology to transform relationships with citizens and businesses, and between arms of the government. Benefits of e-governance include reduced corruption, increased transparency, increased efficiency, greater convenience, higher revenues, and lower costs.

11.1. Delivering Services to Citizens

E-governance can benefit citizens by reducing delays. Consolidation of the multiple services under one roof eliminates the need for frequent visits to government offices, and containing corruption. Moreover, online publishing of rules and procedures can increase transparency. Since poor people bear the largest costs of administrative inefficiency and corruption, delivery of services through rural kiosks leads to their economic and social empowerment.

11.2 Delivering Service to Business

In the interactions with the government, businesses very often face significant administrative hurdles. Transactions through electronic means can considerably reduce the delay, say, from months to a few days. By making the rules transparent, consistency can be achieved in decision-making. Similarly transaction costs of both the government and businesses can also be reduced. Through e-governance, single window system can be implemented for various licenses and approvals.

11.3 IncreasingEfficiency

E-governance leads to higher productivity. Governments can cut costs on staff. Staff can be weaned from repetitive jobs and they can be redeployed in a more productive fashion. This sort of governance also enables close monitoring of the performance of the employees which in turn leads to better productivity. Transfer and postings of employees in several departments can be cited as a typical example. This is an area riddled by corruption and nepotism in many states. In the Education department alone, thousands of applications are received every year for transfers. But with the introduction of online applications with well-publicized criteria, teachers are asked to make their choices based on their eligibility. In the new set up, not only time frame for effecting the transfers could be considerably reduced but transparency could be ensured.

Industrial and developing countries take very different approaches to e-government applications. In industrial countries, the delivery model is based on self-service through the Internet while in developing countries it is a hybrid of automated and manual processes. Several models are experimented in different countries. Based on the experience, better models are also evolved.

11.4 Other Benefits

Other benefits of e-governance include:

• Better access to information for all stakeholders

• Increased focus on better services to citizens.

• Increased, citizen satisfaction with government services

• Enhanced faith of citizens in government services.

12. E-governance Initiatives in India

E-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerization of Government Departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of Governance, such as citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency. Lessons from previous e-Governance initiatives have played an important role in shaping the progressive e-Governance strategy of the country. It has been realized that to speed up e-Governance implementation across the various arms of Governments at national, state, and local levels, a programme approach needs to be adopted, guided by common vision and strategy. This approach has the potential of resulting in huge savings in costs through sharing of core and support infrastructure, enabling interoperability through standards, and of presenting a seamless view of Government to citizens.

The National e-GovernancePlan (NeGP), takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision, a shared cause. To realize this, a large-scale countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is taking place to enable easy, reliable access over the Internet. The ultimate objective is to bring public services closer home to citizens, as articulated in the Vision Statement of NeGP.

The Government approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 8 components, on May 18, 2006. In the year 2011, 4 projects – Health, Education, PDS and Posts were introduced to make it 31 MMPs. The Government has accorded approval to the vision, approach, strategy, key components, implementation methodology, and management structure for NeGP. However, the approval of NeGP does not constitute financial approval(s) for all the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and components under it. The existing or ongoing projects in the MMP category, being implemented by various Central Ministries, States, and State Departments will be suitably augmented and enhanced to align with the objectives of NeGP.

In order to promote e-Governance in a holistic manner, various policy initiatives and projects have been undertaken to develop core and support infrastructure. The major core infrastructure components are State Data Centres (SDCs), State Wide Area Networks (SWAN), Common Services Centres (CSCs) and middleware gateways i.e. National e-governance Service Delivery Gateway (NSDG), State e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG), and Mobile e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (MSDG). The important support components include Core policies and guidelines on Security, HR, Citizen Engagement, Social Media as well as Standards related to Metadata, Interoperability, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security etc. New initiatives include a framework for authentication, viz. e-Pramaan and G-I cloud, an initiative which will ensure benefits of cloud computing for e-Governance projects.

Public-Private Partnership ( PPP) model is to be adopted wherever feasible to enlarge the resource pool without compromising on the security aspects.

Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) is the facilitator and catalyst for the implementation of NeGP by various Ministries and State Governments. It serves as a secretariat to the Apex Committee and assists it in managing the programme. In addition, DEITY is also implementing pilot/ infrastructure/ technical/ special projects and support components. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance’s (DARPG) responsibility is towards Government Process Re-engineering and Change Management, which are desired to be realized across all government departments. Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance allocate funds for NeGP through Plan and Non-plan budgetary provisions and lay down appropriate procedures in this regard.

Under the NeGP, various MMPs are owned and spearheaded by the concerned Ministries. In case there are any ongoing projects which fall in the MMP category, they would be suitably enhanced to align them with the objectives of NeGP. For major projects like Bharat Nirman, Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes, etc. the line ministries concerned are advised to make use of e-Governance as also automation techniques from the inception stage. States have been given the flexibility to identify a few additional state-specific projects, which are relevant for the economic development of the State.

13. National Knowledge Commission Recommendations on e-governance

In connection with e-governance, the National Knowledge Commission has given recommendations on the following aspects:

Learning from best Practices and Lessons from the Past
Providing nationwide secure broadband infrastructure and associated hardware, software and hosting facilities
Web-based Services especially for providing localized data and services in Indian languages.
Implementation of open source software and open standards
Appointment of Specialist Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) in states and in all major central government departments
Well engineered e-governance implementation and web-interface that ensures speedy delivery, productivity and efficiency of various programmes like Bharat Nirman, rural employment guarantee scheme, urban development initiatives etc.
For national e-governance to succeed it is critical to create an appropriate central agency with full autonomy and accountability to ensure the success of E-governance.(Source:http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2006/may2006/nkc20060 509.pdf)

14. E-governance and Libraries

Public libraries can play a major role in the propagation of e-governance. They can be essential providers of e-Government services and resources. As far as India is concerned they can be in the forefront in assisting users to access governmental information and in filing claims for governmental assistance. Public libraries can be used as information centers or public kiosks in the absence of basic infrastructure. People can use free public library computers to file for benefits, use library resources to access information about jobs, complete online employment applications, filing of income tax returns etc. Many of the users may be unfamiliar with computers and online resources. Libraries can very well take up digital literacy programmes for them thereby playing a meaningful role in bridging the digital divide. A very useful document in the area is the one entitled “Public Libraries and E-Government Services,” (http://connect.ala. org/node/104100) produced by American Library Association (ALA) which describes how public libraries are implementing various strategies to best serve their community with E-Government services. The libraries can work as depository libraries for all types of government information from where the public can access and monitor the work of its elected officials and policy makers.

Academic and public libraries can also offer such services to their respective clients. In addition, many students, research scholars and teachers may need assistance with online filing of voter registration forms, assistance with submitting grant applications or accessing research data.

15. Summary

An Information society is a society in which the creation, distribution and treatment of information have become the most significant economic and cultural activities. E-commerce and E-governance are the two landmarks in the development towards a knowledge society. E-commerce is any transaction completed over a computer-mediated network that involves the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services. E-governance implies technology-driven governance. To that extent, both the concepts are complementary to each other. The major players in e-commerce are vendors, commerce service providers, e-merchants and end users. The key drivers of e-commerce can be classified into technological factors, political factors, social factors and economic factors. This unit explains the different types of e-commerce like Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Business (C2B) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C) and examines the ways and means of government participation in its development. The areas in which governments play a major role are: telecommunication, online transactions, procurement of materials by government and, outsourcing of non-core government functions. It also makes an exhaustive examination of the impact of e-commerce on society.

E-governance aims to support and simplify governance for government, citizens and businesses. E-governance passes through four stage processes –information, interaction, transaction and transformation. The unit examines the prerequisites for e-governance and details the skills necessary for successful e-governance development. The skills needed are project management skills, analytical and technical skills, information and knowledge management skills, and communication and presentation skills. After examining the different models of e-government, a detailed review of the benefits of e-governance is made. A synoptic view of the e-governance initiatives in India and an overview of the recommendations of National Knowledge Commission is also made.

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16. References

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