EDITORIAL
India innovates, India elects
I
ndia is world’s largest democracy and democracy entails that it is the people eople who have the governing power. However, it is not only democracy but also all socioeconomic programmes and projects that require public participation. Recently, there has been a lot of emphasis on public participation since nce a lack of it has been identified as one of the reasons for the failure of many development evelopment programmes across the globe. The last decade saw a promotion of people’s participation cipation in development programmes. Today, ICT is playing a major role in development. Numerous development programmes in the fields of governance, education and health, where ICTs have added value, have been initiated by the Government of India, the state governments, civil society and the he corporate bodies. Such innovative initiatives are imperative for India’s growth. There is also a political will to this effect, with both the President and the Prime me Minister of India focusing on innovations. However, there is a need of growth based innovations ations that are sustainable, scalable and affordable. In a recent interaction, Sam Pitroda, the keyy architect of India’s telecommunication revolution, had rightly pointed out that innovations should affect people who are at the “bottom of the pyramid” in a way that it should be able to change their lives. To take this mission forward, the eGov and its publisher Elets Technomedia have take taken en en the responsibility to showcase innovative ICT programmes and projects at the eINDIA 2010 conference and exhibition. Taking it a step further, we have also initiated the he eINDIA Awards to acknowledge and felicitate unique and innovative initiatives in use off ICT in the development space. The eINDIA Awards process too is innovative in the true sense—it has the right ght mix of public voting and jury evaluation. That it is you, the citizens, who have voted to elect the winners, speaks volumes about the growing awareness and pro-activeness of thee people. The fact that public voting this year has touched 121,577, up from 16,000 last year, shows astounding response to the evaluation process. It also testifies the global popularity ity of eINDIA Awards as well as the eINDIA event, that will see the participation of thought leaders, policy makers, planners, implementers from government, private sector, academia and civil society. No wonder then, we dedicate this issue to everyone who have made a difference in people’s live.
RAVI GUPTA You can reach me at Ravi.Gupta@egovonline.net
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