KiwiLandEnvisioninge-Governance@2010: February 2006 Issue

Volume II issue 2, February 2006

ISSN 0973-161X

Bahrain e-Visa PAGE 40 Citizen Centric e-Governance: Technology and Management Policy PAGE 33 Satellite based e-Government network PAGE 23 Industry Perspective: Nokia Corp. PAGE 29 The e-Government magazine for Asia and the Middle East

KiwiLand

Envisioning e-Governance@2010

COVER STORY

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

REGIONAL FOCUS: BIHAR

PREVIEW

e-Government in New Zealand: Promising transformation by 2010

Opening windows of public sector IT solutions

Land of Buddha awaits another enlightenment

Interview: Laurence Millar, Deputy Commissioner, ICT branch State Services Commission, New Zealand

Interview: Peter Moore, Region Managing Director - Asia Pacific Public Sector, Microsoft

egov Asia 2006 & Digital Learning Asia 2006

Interview: Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Science & Technology, Bihar

You know all the key people in e-Government in Asia.

Do they know you?

egov Asia 2006 is offering an uprecedented opportunity for exhibiting, showcasing and creating a brand awareness about the product and services of your organisation.

For details write to himanshu@csdms.in at +91-9818485406. www.egovasia.net

CONTENTS

The first Asian monthly on e-Government

Cover Stor y: eGovernment in New Zealand Story: e-Government 13

Promising transformation by 2010 Hugh McPhail

17

New Zealand’s Digital Strategy takes shape Interview: Laurence Millar, Deputy Commissioner, Information and Communication Technologies, State Services Commission, New Zealand

Industr y PPerspective erspective Industry 20

38

Opening windows of public sector IT solutions

‘Bihar to emulate e-Seva, adopt e-Governance soon’ Interview: Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Science and Technology Bihar

Interview: Peter Moore, Region Managing Director - Asia Pacific Public Sector, Microsoft

Countr y FFocus: ocus: Bahrain Country 29

40 ‘Our strategy lies very strongly in mobile telecommunications’ Interview: Jussi Siltanen, Nokia Corp.

Commentar y Commentary 31

Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework for e-Governance: A winning formula Nilkanth Iyer and Kapil Pant

33

Citizen Centric e-Governance: Technology and Management Policy A P J Abdul Kalam

Regional FFocus: ocus: Bihar 35

Land of Buddha awaits another enlightenment

Bahrain eVisa: Emirates go gungho over ePassage Mark Broomhead

Technology 23 Satellite based e-Government network: Towards empowering citizens Praveen Sharma

Regular FFeatures eatures 43 Event Diary 48 egov by numbers 49 About Town 50 Facts and Data 6 News review

Nirmal Kishor Prasad

| February 2006

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Editorial Guidelines egov is a monthly magazine providing a much needed platform to the voices of various stakeholders in the arena of e-Government, apart from being a repository of valuable information and meaningful discussion on issues of e-governance in general, and egovernment in particular – both to the specialist and the generalist.

Contributions to egov magazine should be in the form of articles, case studies, book reviews, event report and news related to e-Government project and initiatives, which are of immense value for practitioners, professionals, corporate and academicians.

We would like the contributors to follow these guidelines, while submitting their material for publication.

• Articles/ Case studies should not

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exceed 2500 words. For book reviews and event report, the word limit is 800.

An abstract of the article/case study not exceeding 200 words should be submitted along with the article/case study.

All articles/ case studies should provide proper references. Authors should give in writing stating that the work is new and has not been published in any form so far.

Book reviews should include details of the book like the title, name of the author(s), publisher, year of publication, price and number of pages and also send the cover photograph of the book in JPEG/ TIFF (resolution 300 dpi).

Book reviews of books on e-Governance related themes, published from year 2002 onwards, are preferable. In case of website, provide the URL.

ad page 4

•

The manuscripts should be typed in a standard printable font (Times New Roman 12 font size, titles in bold) and submitted either through mail or post.

• Relevant figures of adequate quality (300 dpi) should be submitted in JPEG/ TIFF format.

• A brief bio-data and passport size photograph(s) of the author(s) must be enclosed.

• All contributions are subject to approval by the publisher.

Please send in your papers/articles/ comments to: The Editor G-4, Sector 39 NOIDA (UP) 201 301, India Tel +91 120 2502180-87 Fax +91 120 2500060 Email: info@egovonline.net

EDITORIAL

e-Government on a fast track in the Middle East...

Vol. II, Issue 2

February 2006

President M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Sr. Assistant Editor Anuradha Dhar Assistant Editor Dipanjan Banerjee Designed by Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web www.egovonline.net Editorial and marketing correspondence eGov G-4 Sector 39 NOIDA 201301, India Tel: +91 120 2502181-87 Fax: +91 120 2500060 Email: info@egov.csdms.in Printed by Yashi Media Works Pvt Ltd New Delhi, India egov does not neccesarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors. egov is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred, directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided. egov is published in technical collaboration with GIS Development (www.GISdevelopment.net)

With the emphasis on good governance, elimination of bureaucracy and transparency becoming the order of the day, e-Government has become important and considerably providing a level-playing field for the practitioners. Currently, the Middle East has become a place of action where eGovernment is being increasingly adopted with the region having an annual growth rate of 25-30%. Of late, conferences on e-Government were held in the Middle Eastern countries with more to be held in future.

Dubai and Qatar have already been acknowledged as leaders in e-Government in the region. According to a study on ‘Dubai Knowledge Economy 2003-2004’, Dubai’s online availability of basic public services is at 76.4% as against Finland’s 76%, which ranks third in Europe. Not only this, Dubai eGovernment, which launched the first of its kind e-Government portal in the Arab world in 2001, after providing online services is poised to move further and extend its services through channels like mDubai that makes use of mobile devices to reach customers. By launching the Middle East’s first solution centre, the Kingdom of Bahrain became the first government in the region to adopt open standards for its e-Government initiatives.

Qatar has reported that online transactions continue to grow in the country by 30% per month. UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry recently launched its web portal, and announced the starting of e-Immigration services to advance eGovernment there. Other Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman are in the throes of implementing e-Government in their respective countries. Kuwait is contemplating a tie up with Singapore to establish eGovernment there.

Keeping in view the growing importance of the Middle East emerging as a vital player in the furtherance of e-Government, egov has started a specific page in the News Review section on the Middle East beginning this month hoping to add more in the coming months. Besides, we also intend to publish more e-Government initiatives (to begin with, the publication of Bahrain eVisa article in this issue) taking place every now and then in the Middle Eastern countries with a firm and profound hope that more and more e-Government practitioners would be engaged by the day. egov has repositioned itself and will act as a bridge between Asia and the Middle East. The effort would be to publish more Papers/Articles from the Middle East, while at the same time not ignoring other countries the worldover. In the egov Asia 2006 being held in Thailand from April 25-28, we extend our invitation to more practitioners from the Middle East in addition to other countries. It is about time that the knowledge sharing among e-Government practitioners is increased rather soon, or else the very objective of implementing e-Government in the region would remain no more than a mirage.

© Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2005 www.csdms.in

Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in

| February 2006

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INDIA

Jharkhand e-Governance moves ahead

Gujarat jails, courts e-Linked “Gujarat will become the first state in the country to link up two central jails and five district jails with the courts through video conferencing. Andhra Pradesh initially introduced the process, but we have surpassed them in the field of IT applications for e-Governance with our latest initiative,” said H. R. Ghelot, DGP (Prisons). Guja1rat’s Law Minister Ashok Bhatt inaugurated the ceremony.

Recently, a video conferencing facility has been introduced between the Vadodara Central Jail and Vadodara Sessions Court thus pitting Gujarat against Andhra Pradesh in the usage of IT to further eGovernance. Earlier, a similar facility was introduced between Sabarmati Jail and Bhadra court in Ahmedabad, while the district courts of Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Bhuj and Nadiad are also in the process of being connected with the Ghee Kanta court in Ahmedabad and a studio in Sabarmati jail complex for conducting video trials.

jhr.nic.in

Promotion of e-Governance in Jharkhand is relatively on a fast track. To further the cause of e-Governance in the State, Chief Minister Arjun Munda recently inaugurated a computerised employment exchange and a commercial tax office at Ranchi.

It may be noted that under the e-Governance plan in Jharkhand centres would be providing services such as preparing driving licences; passport application acceptance; giving ‘nakal’ or ‘jamabandi’ for district headquarter Tehsil; certificates relating to domicile, income; SC, OBC and handicapped status etc.

statewide information and communication network called ‘JharNet’ would be established for providing a voice and high-band data width connectivity among all offices of the state government from its headquarters down to the panchayat level by 2007. Jharkhand launched its eGovernance plan in 2003. effectively solve tender-related problems and ensure transparency in procurements.

The Orissa Engineering Congress (OEC) organised a national seminar on ‘eprocurement’ at its 51st annual session recently at Bhubaneshwar.

Haryana to get a new disha via e-Disha centres Police station-level SMS

By March 2007, Orissa In order to enable citizens get their facility introduced in to have telemedicine numerous official work done more easily, the Haryana government would be Chandigarh facility establishing e-disha centres in the districts at sub-division and block level in a phased manner, with the first one coming up in Rohtak district before March 1.

An IT-driven electronic interface between the government and the citizens, e-disha

Chandigarh Police became the first police organisation in the country when it introduced SMS facility at the police station-level beginning January 1. Lalit Sharma, UT Advisor to the Administrator, launched the facility at police headquarters in the presence of UT Inspector General of Police Satish Chandra and other senior police officials.

National seminar on e-Procurement Following the successful launch of e-Procurement in Andhra Pradesh, the Government of Orissa has also decided to implement it by 2007 so as to 6

Bijoyshree Routroy, Orissa Health Minister, has indicated that every district headquarter hospital in the State would have telemedicine connectivity and facility by March 2007. Already, in five district headquarter hospitals at Koraput, Bhawanipatna, Sundargarh, Baripada and Bhubaneshwar, the work on linking up for telemedicine is underway. Besides, Balasore would also be taken up along with four other districts in the next financial year.

Routray disclosed, “We have earmarked Rs 1 crore (US$226,382) recurring expenditure under this head (telemedicine) and our state would be the www.egovonline.net |

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prepared by the Stock Holding Corporation of India. Payments — in the case of e-stamping — can be done through banks or credit cards. The proof of payment can be attached to the document. Details are still being worked out, even as many states have indicated their willingness to adopt e-Stamping at a meeting convened by the centre recently,” a senior official said. third after Karnataka and Chattisgarh to advance in this field. ISRO would provide all equipment free of cost.”

Now, tax deductees to access e-Ledger accounts The Income-Tax Department would now enable the tax deductees to access their electronic ledger accounts beginning February 1. Director, Income-Tax (Systems), S. S. Khan, while addressing a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industrysponsored workshop on tax deducted at source (TDS), said, “The e-ledger account can be accessed after the payment of a one-time registration fee of Rs 50 per assessee. Such an access would enable the deductees to corroborate and verify whether the taxes deducted under the income-tax law have actually been paid to the exchequer to the credit of the deductee or not.”

While disclosing that the Income-Tax Department had received 5.10 lakh e-TDS returns involving about 12 crore transactions for the year 2004-05, Mr. Khan added, “The Income-Tax Department would come up with an elaborate list of procedures to guide the deductees in situations of mismatch between the amounts deducted and those reflected in the electronic ledger account.”

India-wide e-Stamping facility soon To offset the shortage of stamp papers, the Government of India is actively contemplating introducing countrywide e-Stamping (electronic stamping) facility and have asked the states to adopt this.

“A concept paper on e-stamping has been | February 2006

Kerala submits 3-year capacity building project in e-Governance A Rs 5.83 crore 3-year project for capacity building in e-Governance has been submitted by Kerala’s Infromation Technology Department to the Union Government for assistance. The project has been classified into three categories – core projects, mission mode and high priority, and other initiatives.

Projects such as development of Webbased Integrated Service Gateway, Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK), Secretariat Information

System, Akshaya Project, FRIENDS remittance centre and Information Kerala Mission, come within the purview of the core projects.

The mission mode and high priority initiatives include projects such as computerisation projects of Police, Local Self-Government, Registration, Commercial Taxes, Treasury, Labour, Land Records and Transport. Departments such as Cultural Affairs, Fisheries, Food and Civil Supplies, General Administration, Education, Health and family Welfare, Industries, NORKA, Power, Public Works, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Social Welfare, Water Resources and Planning and Economic Affairs have been covered under other initiatives.

The formation of a State e-Governance Mission Team has been proposed within the IT Mission for overall programme management. The execution of the projects at the department level as per the project report prepared by Wipro consulting would be the sole responsibility of Project e-Governance mission teams.

JNU to adopt e-Governance Internationally acclaimed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi is all set to become one of the first universities in India to adopt e-Governance soon.

The Chennai-based company ACCEL ICIM Frontline Limited engaged to develop a software to suit the specific administrative and academic needs of JNU recently submitted the request for proposal (RPF), which was discussed during a meeting of all department heads and members of the e-Governance committee recently.

Wipro has been appointed as consultant in the Rs 50-lakh e-Governance project.

Besides, ACCEL’s contract includes a twoyear maintenance warranty and thereafter a three-year maintenance contract. JNU officials would also be trained by the company for ensuring

optimum usage of the technology. The University Grants Commission has allocated the money for the project under the tenth five-year plan. The digitisation of all records would be undertaken within the next 10 to 12 months, and finally it would be e-files.

The digitisation of the books in the library is already on. According to a University official, everything would go online – from advertisement to admissions to the awarding of degrees.

B. B. Bhattacharya, JNU vice-chancellor, said, “Through the e-Governance project we hope to connect all departments relevant to the university’s functioning like accounts, finance, security, sanitation, maintenance and so on. We have already made a beginning in newage administration by becoming the first university in the country to start accrualbased accounting that would help us look at the future financial implications of any decision. This will ensure better planning.”

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ASIA In Thailand, Nectec to develop Web access for the disabled

Thailand’s National Electronics and Computer Technology centre (Nectec) has decided to develop web access for the disabled through the Accessible Online News System by the end of 2006.

The new website, http://astec.nectec. or.th, developed under World Wide Web (W3C) guidelines, would enable everyone, with or without disabilities, to access information uniformly.

Additionally, the Nectec is planning to offer W3C certificates to local websites by government agencies and the private sector to encourage developers to create sites that support those with disabilities.

Philippines launches e-Community Aiming to boost e-Commerce and e-Government transactions in the countryside, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) and a Canadianbased company recently launched the e-Community, a cashless electronic card system. The project is expected to significantly improve the delivery of social and economic services in all the towns across the country, hoped Ramon Guico Jr., LMP President and Binalonan (Pangasinan) Mayor. The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) has also entered into a tie-up with the LMP for the e-Commerce project.

Under the revamped rules, the Comptroller-General’s Department has been empowered to oversee the processes nationwide, appoint a monitoring panel and organising the e-Auction venues that may also be held in provinces other than the determined project site. Besides, the auction process would be recorded on closed-circuit camera. The ComptrollerGeneral’s Department is also liable to take legal action if any irregularity is found.

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Between Malaysian Ringitt 5-6mn (US$1.33-1.59mn) is to be invested by Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Bhd (BCB) to equip its remaining 127 branches with electronic banking centres (EBCs) by the end of 2006. The EBCs comprise automated teller machines (ATMs), cheque deposit machines, cash deposit machines and cheque deposit terminals (CDT) with scanners. Currently, BCB has 37 service kiosks, 892 ATMs, 148 cash deposit machines 220 CDTs and 38 CDTs with a scanner, in addition to 233 branches throughout Malaysia.

Virtual cops to regulate online behaviour in China Internet users and give legal information, would be managed by six police officers.

e-Auction rules revamped In a bid to regulate bidding and effectively curb corruption, e-auction rules have been revised and the overhauled draft unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Kruengarm recently at Bangkok. The government has barred e-auctions for large projects worth over THB1 bn (US$253,511) each undertaken by any ministry unless the regulations were reviewed.

MYR5-6mn to be invested on 127 EBCs in Malaysia

Now, Internet users in southern China’s Shenzhen city would not be able to access banned sites or discuss sensitive topics. The local Government has decided to post virtual police officers who would constantly warn the online population to self-regulate their online behaviour as well as adopt the practice of safe and healthy use of the Internet.

Recently, the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau’s Internet Surveillance Division launched the cartoons of a male and female police officer designed to appear whenever someone logs on to a website or enters a chatroom. The two virtual images, which have interactive functions to respond to questions by

“The online community is a public arena.

Therefore posting improper material at will is prohibited as one single freewheeling post could stir big social trouble,” the China Daily newspaper quoted an official, who was identified only by his surname, Chen, as saying.

According to an estimate by the China Internet Network Information Centre, at the end of 2005, China had 111 million Internet users, up 17 million from 2004.

As such, the Chinese government has been carefully policing the Internet in a rather big way blocking hundreds of overseas websites having political or other content considered to be sensitive.

Even several dissidents and others have been sentenced to prison for sending or posting online comments deemed to be explicit or implicitly critical of the ruling Communist Party or for revealing “state secrets”. www.egovonline.net |

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Singapore organises 4-day e-Government and Trade Facilitation Forum Singapore recently organised the eGovernment and Trade Facilitation Forum from January 24 to 27 to highlight key eGovernment initiatives in Asian countries.

Addressing the delegates at the inaugural ceremony, Ms Caren Chua, Senior Consultant, Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), stressed the need for having clear long-term goals and a unified approach by government, private sector and citizens if any e-Government program was to be successful anywhere in the world.

Ms Chua said, “High-level government support and funding are extremely necessary for all e-Government projects.

IT-related government projects should focus as well on user-friendliness to help the public access and navigate government services,” and satisfactorily pointed out, “In 2005, Singapore’s home PC penetration rate reached 74% of the population, and Internet use 57%.

Business broadband Internet penetration was 59%.”

Online real property tax payment in Philippine city by Jan ‘07

e-Government portal for Vietnam

Dissatisfaction on e-Customs procedures

In order to facilitate online transactions between government agencies and citizens and businesses, the Government of Vietnam recently officially launched its e-Government web portal. Developed by the Government Office, the website – www.vietnam.gov.vn or www.chinhphu.vn, would provide information on government management, economic and social reports, and gather information from lower-level government agencies. The site would be rolled out in a number of phases with its English version becoming available from September 2006. The portal was launched

by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Currently, the site has a database of 20,000 pages and links to several sites, including more than 30 ministries and agencies; 60 provinces and cities,

As part of its strategy to streamline public services, the local government of Makati City in the Philippine would begin an online real property tax payment by January 2007.

services and provide greater access to people. The EU would chip in with EUR15mn (US$17.97mn) while China would contribute EUR700,000 (US$838,770.51) for the 4-year project.

Pilot tested in 2003, the electronic system would considerably cut down the processing of property tax payment from one day to just four minutes.

The project, launched in August 2005 and expected to run through July 2009, aims at assisting the Chinese government in copyright, telecommunications law and information security issues besides providing access to e-Government. The project entails providing support to regulatory dialogue; support to improved government services including services to citizens (G2C) and businesses (G2B); support to e-Government training including enhanced service provision capacity; and, support to administrative capacity building to develop and

EU to help China improve eGovt services The European Union (EU) and China recently joined hands to give effect to the EUR15.7mn (US$18.82mn) EU-China Information Society Project to enable China better its existing e-Government | February 2006

including their geographic information systems; 20 large enterprises, both domestic and foreign-invested; and the web pages of foreign embassies based in Vietnam. Besides, information is also available on key national programmes, major national economic zones and industrial parks and export processing zones in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s e-Customs procedures have come in for flak after Ho Chi Minh City trading companies using e-Customs privilege cards have complained that their goods suffer timely delivery owing to lengthy clearance processes. However, the customs claim that this is due to software problems. As such, it may be noted that the cards have been issued to import-export businesses with a clean record to enjoy quick customs clearance and other preferential treatment like exemption from spot checks.

Bui Quang Trung, HCMC Customs Department official, clarified about the delay and said, “The software installed by the General Department of Customs needed to be tweaked to handle different goods. The computer-based management program had trouble distinguishing between raw materials and manufactured goods.” implement Information Society initiatives to ensure sustainability. The project is also intended to support e-Government demonstration projects in emergency health response and smart cards for social security applications. Besides, ten selected provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong would be provided e-Government training.

Vivian Reding, EU Commissioner, Information Society and Media, said, “Participation of people in decision-making is the real goal of e-Government. Governments have to do more than just release information to the public. This project, focusing in particular on e-Government but reaching out to other areas of the information society, constitute an important support for the information society.”

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MIDDLE EAST Bahrain hosts e-Voting Forum

electronically as compared to 3,047,000 during the same period in 2004. e-Mirsal, which forms the core foundation of the e-Clearance solution, was developed and integrated into Dubai Customs’ business processes in 2002 for streamlining trade facilitation and digitising customs procedures for effective administrative functioning.

The e-Clearance facility, which is operational 24 hours, can be accessed from www.dubaitrade.ae. The system is considered beneficial for shipping and clearing companies and free zone licensees.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Atiyat Allah Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s State Minister for Cabinet Affairs and head of Central Informatics Bureau, while delivering the inaugural speech at e-Voting Forum, the first of its kind in the Middle East, said, “Bahrain’s hosting of e-Voting Forum is an exceptional contribution of the kingdom in the arena of democracy, updating it to the international standards and the most sophisticated technological methods.”

The Bahrain Information Technology Society (BITS), in cooperation with the UNDP’s ICT division in the Arab region and the Bahrain Election and Referendum Directorate, organised the two-day event.

Others to speak on the occasion included Bahrain’s Elections and Referendum Administration Director, Shaikha Munira bint Abdullah Al Khalifa, and Deputy head of Bahrain IT Society, Adnan Abdulrazak Al Mahmoud. Speakers from Switzerland, Korea and the UK also presented their countries’ experience in e-voting.

Boost in e-Clearance transactions by Dubai Customs’ e-Mirsal Dubai Customs recently disclosed that a record number of transactions were processed in 2005 by e-Mirsal, its total compliance eManagement strategy. In Q305, some 4,857,000 bills were processed 10

UAE announces e-Immigration services Brigadier Mohammed Salim bin Owaidha Al K h a i l i , DirectorGeneral of Naturalisation and Residence, and Sultan Abdul Rahman Al Midfa, Executive Director of Empost, the UAE’s national courier company, signed an agreement to announce the launch of a multi-faceted project for e-Immigration (electronic immigration) services.

According to the agreement Empost is to provide the Ameel (Client) Service to the public, at the building of the General Directorate of Naturalisation and Residence. The applications from the public would be received by Empost after which they would be submitted to the immigration department. Upon the processing of applications, the transactions to the applicant would be delivered by the company within 48 hours. Express transactions would however be delivered the same day.

Aimed at facilitating procedures and saving time and effort, the Empost project includes seven services – Tanfeez (processing), Edad (preparation), Ishaar (notification), Eidah (explanation), Waseet (medium), Tebaah (typing), and Tasleem (delivery).

MoFI e-Portal launched in UAE Dr Mohammed Khalfan bin Kharbash, UAE’s Minister of State for Financial and Industrial Affairs, recently launched the Ministry of Finance and Industry (MoFI) e-Portal, www.mofi.gov.ae, in a bid to promote e-Government while aiming to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its services and information provided to its stakeholders.

Stressing that the e-Portal is an integrated window of information about MoFI’s projects and services allowing stakeholders to conduct their business with the Ministry with flexibility and efficiency, Dr. Kharbash said, “We aim through launching the MoFI e-Portal and link it with the UAE federal government general e-Portal to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the services and information we provide to our stakeholders.”

A wide range of information about MoFI’s projects including its financial services such as the performance based budgeting, besides information and services of total quality management, financial system of the government, eDirham, executive training, and federal government services fees, and information about the industrial sector are to be found in the e-Portal. Other services such as electronic housing system and intellectual property rights applications are also available. Apart from this, the portal also contains the latest news of the Ministry and has links to relevant international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and several others.

Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Khirbash, Minister of State for Finance and Industry launching the portal

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WORLD US$10.9bn e-Health initiative in UK The National Health Service in the UK launched a US$10.9bn electronic data initiative expected to connect numerous NHS health professionals into a single national infrastructure. Deemed to be one of the world’s biggest IT projects, it is slated to be complete by the end of 2010.

The project is intended to replace some 5,000 different computer networks with one centralised system, and provide access to some 100,000 doctors, 380,000 nurses and 50,000 other health professionals employed with the NHS. Under the project, medical records of patients would be electronically managed. The new system would enable doctors to access a Choose and Book system that would allow them to select and book hospital appointments for their patients at their own convenience. The Electronic Prescription Service would replace paper prescriptions. The Service would be transmitted electronically to a chosen pharmacy thus enabling it to prepare the patient’s medicine in advance.

The Picture Archiving and Communications System would allow images such as X-rays and scans to be stored digitally and enable health professionals access the images on a laptop or tablet PC. The Quality Management and Analysis System would give GP practices and local health authorities feedback on the quality of care delivered to patients. Besides, the health professionals would also have access to a secure national email and director service.

Kazakhstan organises eGovernance conference The e-Government Practice and the Government of Kazakhstan jointly organised a videoconference recently as part of the ongoing Joint Economic Research Program in which experts from USA, Korea, Sri Lanka and Estonia participated. The session focused on international experiences with regards to | February 2006

the institutional arrangements for eGovernment essential for improving coordination and collaboration between central and local governments, Cabinet and line ministries, government and private sector and other stakeholders.

received 9,100 notifications from data collectors and received 360 queries.

While, 92 complaints were ruled out and only one person had appealed at the competent tribunal.”

The participants unanimously highlighted some common key principles that are critical for achieving success. These include strong political support from the highest echelons of government; strong central coordination and enforcement of common standards; strong linkage with administrative reforms and other sectoral reforms; strong focus on e-Government within broader e-development agenda and institutions; strong linkages between national and sub-national e-Government programs; and, strong multi-stakeholder participation such as private sector, civil society and academia.

Kenya parliament still to get a portal

Zimbabwe to adopt e-Taxation In order to encourage customers to pay taxes through the banks on or before deadlines, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) recently launched the direct banking initiative known as eTaxation. Now, under this cost-effective e-Taxation system, the clients would not be required to physically visit Zimra offices for tax payments. As such, once the payments are done Zimra would make an electronic transfer to its Reserve Bank account through the Zimbabwe Electronic Transfer and Settlement System. Zimra as confirmation of payment would then send receipts to the customers.

The Parliament of the only East African country, Kenya, still does not have a website of its own after being shut down in September 2005 prior to its launch after being on a test run. The website had to be shut down after complaints from Kenyan MPs that the information published by a newspaper The Standard regarding educational background, hobby, age and other details of MPs from the site was “too sensitive” and that they were embarrassed.

The information posted on the website, http://www.parliament.go.ke, says: “Thank you for visiting the Parliament website. We are currently updating this site. Please bookmark this site and visit us shortly.”

However, the Parliaments of other East African countries such as Uganda and Tanzania have their own websites with detailed information on MPs. The information includes MPs’ employment history, political experience, special skills, and performance in Parliament in terms of questions raised and their contributions. Besides, the websites also include parliamentary documents like Bills, Acts, Order Papers, transcripts of proceedings, a summary of development funds and ministry activities, and proceedings of committee meetings.

Launch of e-Government services in Malta UK local e-Government The office of the Data Protection standards body closed Commissioner in Malta would now be getting e-Government services. The service was launched by Minister Austin Gatt, who said that this could become possible owing to continuous cooperation between the Ministry and the Commission.

Paul Mifsud Cremona, Data Protection Commissioner, stated, “In the past two years the Data Protection Commission

The Local e-Government Standards Body (LeGSB) in the UK has been closed down by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) thus leaving councils in the lurk in terms of guidance through online development. The disbandment of the LeGSB took effect after the ODPM cited LeGSB’s non-viability owing to the uncertainty of projected subscriptions and further grants being unavailable.

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Geo-Informatics

Indian Road Atlas launched India’s first comprehensive road atlas, developed by the Survey of India in collaboration with a private company, was launched recently. “India Road Atlas is a unique product and only one of its kind in India,” science and technology minister Kapil Sibal said during its release. A GIS application called Map Plus Professional and a Digital School Atlas were also launched on the occasion. The Road Atlas and the Map Plus Professional have been developed jointly by the Survey of India and Eicher Goodearth. The book is priced at Rs 370 and is a useful guide for travellers and road users.

Satellite Imagery reveals changes in Québec’s boreal forest The results of a complete survey of logging, road building, reservoir construction and other human disturbances in Québec’s northern forests in Canada reveals that the Boreal region in Québec is being rapidly impacted over a wide area, mostly by logging, but also by roads and reservoirs. The study, Recent Anthropogenic Changes within the Northern Boreal, Southern Taiga and Hudson Plains Ecozones of Québec, was undertaken using extensive satellite imagery and analysis and was released recently by Global Forest Watch Canada (GFWC). To complete this project, computer analysis and visual checking of satellite imagery was done over an eight month period in 2005 The GFWC analysis covered forest changes across several ecological regions and found some dramatic results. In one 628,000 ha watershed, 132,000 ha (27% of the forests in the watershed) were logged and roaded over the course of an 11 year period. In one northern Cree (Eeyou Istchee) trapline area, over 60% of the forest (16,539 ha) was logged over a period of 12 years. The largest contiguous logged and roaded area that 12

was impacted over a similar 11 year period is a boreal forest area of almost 150,000 ha in size.

Village information system launched in Indian village

By February 2007, villagers of Sadraskuppam, near Kalpakkam, India have kept a target to be computer-literate and well connected with the outside world and should be able to access information on just about anything. To take up the challenging task, they have the support of the Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) of the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology and Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. The ‘Village Information System’ launched at Sadraskuppam (about 65 km south of Chennai) recently is a joint initiative of the Sathyabama Deemed University and the NRDMS.. Self-help groups could utilise the facilities for their benefit. Scientists from the college’s Remote Sensing unit would be visiting the village regularly to monitor the project. It would also help compile a comprehensive database on family members, educational background and property ownership. Information on loans and government policies would be made accessible to them.

Pentax-Garmin GPS Bundle announced Geospatial Experts, creators of GPSPhotolink software, have announced that they’ve selected the Pentax Optio WPi to be bundled with a Garmin GPS receiver and their software.

The low cost, waterproof, dustproof camera makes the bundle a good choice for first-time photomapping users. The GPS-Photolink software creates a web page for each watermarked image that is overlaid with GIS data (like satellite imagery and street maps). The software links up images to GPS data without the need for cables. Just take a picture of the

GPS screen at the beginning of the day, and GPS-Photolink links everything together. Along with the Pentax Optio WPi, the Garmin GPS60 handheld GPS received was selected because it’s waterproof, rugged, and has upgradeable memory for users who need to capture thousands of data points.

Indian satellite can identify quake prone regions globally

Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS) has shown the potential for mapping the stress field of the earth’s crust that will help to predict areas where powerful earthquakes are most likely, a leading geologist has said recently. “We have shown how remote sensing data can be used in the estimation of stress that will be very useful in evaluating the most seismic vulnerable zone across the globe,” Professor Ramesh Singh of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur said. He has reported his work in the prestigious journal “Geophysical Research Letter” published by American Geological Society.

Singh and his colleagues used as a test case the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat that occurred on 26 January 2001. They compared the data obtained from the LISS-III camera on board IRS-1D before and after the earthquake. They report that the study has clearly shown changes in the stress direction after the main earthquake event. *In collaboration with GIS@development (www.gisdevelopment.net)

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COVER STORY

e-Government in New Zealand

Promising transformation by 2010 The future of e-Government in New Zealand is exciting and holds promise. However, by 2010, if the government is to transform its operations through the Internet then it will have to ensure that the policy development, service design and delivery, democratic and political processes have undergone significant changes.

Quite understandably though, the fate of the next phase of e-Government in New Zealand hinges on the development and successful implementation of effective organisational, governance and funding models for shared infrastructure. | February 2006

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COVER STORY

By Hugh McPhail

T

he power of technology to radically change performance is a continuous backdrop to organisational development. Governments around the world have introduced e-Government programmes to achieve improvements through the introduction of Internet based technology. This “supplyside” push has been matched by a “demand side” pull from citizens who have online access to auction sites, books, travel, banking, news, music, photos, maps, blogs, video, and audio, on a regular basis. e-Government is a way for governments to use the Internet, personal computers, mobile phones and other technologies to provide more convenient access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in our democratic institutions and processes.

Worldwide, governments are seeking ways to use ICT to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and convenience of public services. Successful delivery of online services has rapidly become an important measure of effective public sector management. Countries that have achieved success in e-Government include the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia, the UK and the USA, while New Zealand has also been recognised as a leader.

In New Zealand, there has been eagerness to learn and apply lessons from the countries that have achieved success in e-Governance. Also, New Zealand is actively associated with international bodies that promote collaboration and learning in e-Government, including the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the International Council for Information Technology (ICA). Ideas are being continuously exchanged and participation in international discussions on e-Government has become a regular feature, besides staff have also been made available to the OECD to work on their e-Government Project.

New Zealand has distinct advantages in having a relatively compact, single14

tiered central government – a solid foundation of e-Government standards developed over the last four or five years, a collaborative management ethos across the Public Service, and a populace who is both Internet savvy and early adopter of new technologies.

e-Government strategy In New Zealand, the government response to the challenge of eGovernment has been encapsulated in the e-Government Strategy. The strategy, which reflects the unique New Zealand public management system, clearly sets out the three drivers for the e-Government programme: • Convenience and satisfaction – Services provided anytime, anyhow, anywhere • Integration and efficiency – Services that are customer-centric and efficient • Participation – Strengthening citizens’ participation in government

Agriculture and Forestry for lodgement of export entries and by the Ministry of Economic Development/Inland Revenue Department for the establishment of a new company have received enthusiastic responses from their customers. The experience of these projects provides valuable lessons for future “joined-up” services across government.

In government agencies, more than 400 e-initiatives are currently underway, with the e-government programme working across the public sector including local government, to ensure that online services are customer-centric in design and provide accessible, coordinated and trusted services.

The Digital Strategy The e-Government Strategy contributes to the Digital Strategy launched by the Government in May 2005. This overarching strategy has the goal that New Zealand will be a world leader in using information and technology to realise its economic, social, environmental, and cultural goals, to the benefit of its entire people.

The three enablers of the Digital Strategy are Connection, Confidence and Content. Connection is necessary but not

The e-Government Strategy also established milestones: By June 2004, the Internet will be the dominant means for enabling ready access to government information, services and processes; by June 2007, networks and Internet technologies will be integral to the delivery of government ICT Profile – New Zealand information, Total Population 4 Million services and Percentage of 25 –64 years achieved secondary or tertiary education 76% processes; Computer ownership per 100 inhabitants 41.4 and, by June Percentage of total population access to 2010, the telephone 96% operation of Internet Subscribers 1.24 Million government Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants 30 will have Proportion of households with access to atleast one 71% b e e n cellphone Number of websites per 1000 population 15.3 transformed Source: http://www2.stats.govt.nz, Year 2004 through its use of the Internet.

Achievement of the first milestone was assessed in the report ‘Achieving e-Government 2004’. The current focus is on achieving the goal set for 2007 that warrants networks and Internet technologies becoming integral components to the delivery of government information, services and processes.

Some early instances of joint delivery of services by New Zealand Customs Service/Ministry of

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COVER STORY sufficient – it simply provides the means; Confidence gives the skills and a secure online environment; whilst accessing or creating Content provides a compelling reason to make it happen. Government, business, and communities are the agents of change and their initiatives impact upon each other.

e-Government programme The e-Government Unit was formally established by the State Services Commission (SSC) on 1st July 2000. The eGovernment work programme undertaken by the SSC included strategy, policy, technology projects, resources and standards, and operations (See http:// www.e.govt.nz for full details of the programme).

One of the major achievements during the first five years of the Unit’s existence was the development and operation of the All-of-government web portal, www.govt.nz, which provides a single site for access to services from all government agencies without users requiring specific knowledge of a concerned agency delivering a particular service. Metadata management tools and standards support the service.

A second key achievement was the building of the e-Government interoperability framework – e-GIF (eGovernment Interoperability Framework), which is a collection of policies and standards endorsed for New Zealand government information technology (IT) systems. Use of the e-GIF helps government agencies work together electronically more easily; makes systems, knowledge and experience reusable from one agency to another; and reduces the effort required to deal with government online by encouraging consistency of approach.

As part of the SSC, a new Information and Communication technologies Branch was established on 1 st July 2005 to undertake the work of the e-Government Unit. This was a recognition that e-Government is now part of the mainstream, or core, work of the SSC. The SSC provides leadership and coordination of the e-Government programme. The programme focuses on the need of how to support | February 2006

electronic delivery of citizen-centric government services, the ways such services are designed, governed and managed, as well as how they are packaged and presented when delivered electronically.

Currently, there are two projects regarded to be quite important to the future implementation of e-Government in New Zealand.

http://www.e.govt.nz/

Authentication Authentication is the process of establishing the identity of one or more parties to a transaction to the required level of satisfaction. It is a critical component of most transactional systems in both the government and commercial sectors.

If the authentication process is compromised then identity fraud, identity theft and administrative error can occur.

Other consequences include reputational risk such as inappropriate access to education records, and service delivery risk such as basing youth, justice or health interventions on data held against multiple unlinked versions of a single ‘real’ identity. These risks directly threaten the viability of online service delivery thus threatening New Zealand’s strategic goals for 2007 and 2010.

Since 2000, the All-of-government Authentication Programme has been running and is currently in its initial implementation phase where three streams of work across multiple agencies are being managed that include the development of standards for authentication; development of an All-of-government shared service for the management of Internet logons (the Government Logon Service); and the investigation with the Department of Internal Affairs, of

government’s ability to leverage existing investment in high-quality evidence of identity processes to develop an online Identity Verification Service.

There are six standards being produced that range from business process standards such as the Evidence of Identity Standard to data standards such as Data Formats for Identity Records.

Adoption of these standards over a period of time will allow convergence of system design and operation thereby promoting quality improve-ments, efficiencies and inter-agency interoperability. The standards will be managed under the e-GIF. For users of online government services, the Government Logon Service (GLS) will promote ease of use and convenience by allowing them to use a single logon credential to access online services from all agencies attached to the GLS. Similarly, the GLS will allow easy and cost-effective access to high-quality authentication technologies for agencies.

Thus, existing transactional risk will be reduced and efficiencies achieved.

Moreover, the availability of transactions unsuitable for simple username/password authentication via the Internet would also be made possible. Besides, the new classes of transactions that are only possible using Internet technologies but whose risk profile demands easy and costeffective access to high-quality authentication technologies would also be made. For government, the GLS will achieve a simple “build once, use many times” efficiency in a specialised systems area while allowing it to respond more quickly and with more authority to emerging Internet security threats.

The investigation with the Department of Internal Affairs into a possible online Identity Verification Service recognises that a very high proportion of people transacting with government have already gone through a high quality evidence of identity process and received a government endorsement 15

COVER STORY

of their identity attributes. These include passport holders, citizens by grant and permanent residents. Internet technologies can be used to allow those people to present a government-endorsed copy of those identity attributes online and in real time. This would be the online equivalent of presenting a passport over a counter thus greatly reducing the cost, effort and duration of high-quality evidence of identity. For individuals, this would greatly reduce the time and effort required to register for government services while the service would reduce existing transactional risk and achieve efficiencies for agencies. The costeffective availability of high-quality EoI will allow agencies to redirect resources from confronting identity fraud and identity theft where government currently has a high level of agency-level duplication, and improve focus on those frauds related to entitlement where individual agencies’ expertise does in fact lie.

Government shared network The Government Shared Network (GSN) will provide a high-speed broadband network connecting participating government agencies and will be a foundation for transformational improvement in State Services.

The use of telecommunications by many government agencies can be significantly improved by adopting a corporate approach to security, connection and cost effectiveness.

As such, through this the security of government information systems will be significantly improved by consolidating expertise and resources at a small number of network connections.

A government shared network will provide connection at the telecommunications network layer, which will help to achieve 16

collaboration between agencies for data exchange, shared services and joint service delivery. Significant improvements in cost-effectiveness can be achieved through consolidated use of network services. The GSN will replace and rationalise duplicated services currently employed by government agencies and deliver a full suite of converged voice, video and data transmission at a lower unit cost than that currently available to many agencies through existing supply arrangements. Participating agencies will enjoy unit costs approximating the most favourable being delivered to government.

The future of e-Government In New Zealand, the future of e-Government is an exciting prospect.

By 2010, if the government is to transformation its operations through the Internet then this will mean that policy development, service design and delivery, democratic and political processes will have to undergo significant changes since e-Government facilitates greater participation in government. Keeping this in view, during the policy development there has already been a gradual increase in the use of the Internet to invite input, while concurrent with the expected increase in levels of participation, will be the emergence of more demand-oriented initiatives. Increasing pressures for Allof-government solutions to policy and service issues will likely see an increasing public expectation to participate in the way that government policies and services are designed and delivered.

Government will need to be more responsive, customer-centric and more of a seamless experience for New Zealanders.

The delivery of linked services is being considerably seen as one of the more important initiatives in this transformation. Consequently, a member of the public would thus be able to accomplish a variety of different interactions with multiple government departments in one online transaction.

For instance, if someone wishes to open a business then he/she could go to a business portal and fill out an online form that would be dispatched to the various central and local government departments requiring documentation for this process. If somebody wants to lodge

a change-of-address form online then this could be done and accordingly routed to NZ Post, Inland Revenue, Land Information New Zealand and the relevant local councils.

The challenges presented by this level of interoperability and cooperation between departments, though not insurmountable, would certainly require great strides and putting in extensive effort in both the application of technology and management strategies.

There are lessons to be learned from the experience of overseas jurisdictions – complex and costly implementations, high support costs and difficulties with interdepartmental interoperability.

These problems have been compounded by limited citizen participation and adoption, may be owing to delivery of the wrong services or because the software and hardware requirements were insufficiently intuitive for users to comfortably adopt.

In New Zealand, it is still a long way to go in terms of delivering on the e-Government mission for 2007, 2010 and beyond, particularly in the way government departments view service delivery – from a supply-based model to a demand-based model centred on the customer. Although, to put into place the e-Government mechanism, New Zealand has some distinct advantages – having a relatively compact, single-tiered central government; a solid foundation of eGovernment standards developed over the last four or five years; a collaborative management ethos across the Public Services; and a populace who are both Internet savvy and early adopters of new technologies. However, the fate of the next phase of e-Government in New Zealand hinges on the development and successful implementation of effective organisational, governance and funding models for shared infrastructures. It is only then that the New Zealanders would be able to get a feel of the real transformation of the very process of governance that is truly accessible and accountable.

About the author: Hugh McPhail is Manager, e-Government Strategy and Policy, Information & Communication at Technologies Branch, State Services Commission, Wellington, New Zealand.

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COVER STORY

Connection, Confidence, Content

New Zealand’s digital strategy takes shape Laurence Millar

Government of New Zealand has taken a lot of steps towards largescale implementation of ICTs for transforming public services. Could you briefly trace the path of this transformation?

By the mid-1990s most New Zealand government departments had established a web presence, and the benefits promised

by ICT were being enthusiastically embraced and e-Government was being ushered into the country. However, this early development of online services was not centrally driven or coordinated, and that individual departments and agencies developed their own online initiatives.

There was no overall strategy and no single point of entry for government services online. The beginning of a more coordinated approach came in 1995 when the Ministry of Commerce (now the Ministry of Economic Development) launched the first online government directory. In 1997, this directory was merged with the Department of Internal Affairs’ online Blue Pages project becoming the New Zealand Government Online website – the precursor to www.govt.nz, the current All-ofgovernment web portal.

The State Services Commission (SSC) established an IT Policy Taskforce in 1997 recognising the need for a more strategic approach to the government’s online presence. The Government was advised to develop a guiding vision for online services and initiate the development of a sector-wide strategy by the taskforce, which worked in association with the Chief Executives’ Group on Information Management and 17

| February 2006

With a well-developed IT infrastructure and the three e-mantras of Connection, Confidence and Content, New Zealand is eyeing to become a world leader in using information and technology to realise its economic, social, environmental and cultural goals to the benefit of all its people. But, still more remains to be done, genuinely feels Laurence Millar, Deputy Commissioner Information and Communication Technologies, State Services Commission, Wellington, New Zealand Technology. Culminating with a Vision Statement in May 2000 that outlined a strategic direction for e-Government in New Zealand and addressed some of the issues around its implementation, the taskforce subsequently issued a number of significant policy documents.

Public-private partnerships as such have not been a feature of e-Government development in New Zealand.

Following the Government’s adoption of the Vision Statement, the e-Government Unit was formally established in the SSC on 1st July 2000.

The Unit’s responsibilities were: Strategy – development of overarching e-Government strategy, and common system and data management policies, standards and guidelines; Leadership – facilitate the uptake by government agencies of the e-Government vision and

information system and data management policies, standards and guidelines; Coordination/Collaboration – identify opportunities for beneficial collaboration across government agencies, leverage better returns from existing information management and technology investment, and provide coordination for multi-agency e-Government projects; Policy – provide advice to the Minister of State Services in relation to e-Government; and, Monitoring – monitor progress toward achieving the e-Government vision, and progress on information management and technology investment (the latter function being an extension of the SSC’s existing role in scrutinising public service capacity investments).

A new Information and Communication Technologies Branch was established on 1st July 2005 to undertake the work of the e-Government Unit as part of the reorganisation of the SSC. This acknowledged that e-Government had now become a part of the mainstream, or core, work of the SSC. Government of New Zealand has projected a vision of making intelligent www.egovonline.net |

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COVER STORY

networks and Internet as integral parts of government functioning and information/service delivery by 2007 and reforming government operations by 2010. How do you think the government is performing towards achieving these objectives?

The New Zealand e-Government Strategy, as revised in June 2003, has set out three key milestones. By June 2004, the Internet will be the dominant means of enabling ready access to government information, services and processes; by June 2007, networks and Internet technologies will be integral to the delivery of government information, services and processes; and,

by June 2010, the operation of government will have been transformed through its use of the Internet.

Government departments across the board are making good progress towards the e-Government goals, according to a report on the achievement of the 2004 milestone. Obviously, there are some departments particularly those with a more service-oriented focus that are quite advanced, and there are some departments that are not as far down the road, generally due to the nature of their core business. Quite importantly, the report describes the overall picture as a positive one though some of the findings 18

| February 2006

were not positive. The review also identified how departments could improve their web presence or areas where they could more closely align with the Strategy.

What is the current IT infrastructure situation in the country? Is it well established or a lot more needs to be done?

Although New Zealand has a welldeveloped IT infrastructure, but there is still more to be done. The Digital Strategy, which was launched in May 2005, has set its eye to make New Zealand a world leader in using information and technology to realise its economic, social, environmental, and cultural goals, to the benefit of all its people. The three enablers of the Digital Strategy are Connection, Confidence and Content. Connection is

necessary but not sufficient – it simply provides the means; Confidence gives the skills and a secure online environment; whilst accessing or creating Content provides a compelling reason to make it happen.

The challenges of connection are that New Zealand has high Internet usage but low broadband uptake, and that New Zealand’s small market inhibits investment and limits competition.

Broadband is therefore a critical part of our infrastructure. Moderate-speed broadband with broad coverage is not enough. Our businesses and researchers need higher speed and more affordable broadband to compete and connect globally. Digital technology and the convergence of broadcasting and communications have opened up exciting new ways to deliver content such as digital TV with new challenges and opportunities in broadcasting as much as telecommunications. Opportunities also arise from the convergence of telecommunications and IT. Wireless solutions also offer a way of increasing competition between different kinds of technology, which is important in a small market for developing innovative, lowcost services.

The government being a large network user and significant purchaser can also help drive demand. The government also intends to raise people’s awareness of the benefits of broadband and has set clear targets for broadband speed and coverage, benchmarked against the OECD, under the Digital Strategy. In e-Government, infrastructure developments include the management of standards to encourage and enable interoperability, processes for an All-ofgovernment authentication system, and a government-shared network.

The New Zealand Government policy says that there is no reason inherent in open source licensing why government agencies should not consider open source software on the same basis as commercial software. Agencies should make decisions on the use of software on cost, function, interoperability, and security grounds. www.egovonline.net |

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COVER STORY What strategies are adopted by the New Zealand Government for IT capacity building within the Government and among the public?

The Digital Strategy recognises that developing skills and capability is essential for achieving the goals of the Strategy, and the government is already investing heavily in education and skills training through both the education system in schools, polytechnics and universities, and also through encouraging workplace training. Within the government sector, the e-Government programme has been working with universities to develop an e-Government component degree courses as well as short courses aimed at enhancing awareness and capability among State servants.

What initiatives have been taken in New Zealand for effective use of PPP models?

Public-private partnerships as such have not been a feature of e-Government development in New Zealand.

The government has committed up to US$400mn to digital

What is the policy and vision of New Zealand with respect to open source deployment in public sector enterprises and departments?

The New Zealand Government policy is that there is no reason inherent in open source licensing why government agencies should not consider open source software on the same basis as commercial software. Agencies should make decisions on the use of software on cost, function, interoperability and security grounds. Much information is available, on public websites and from private IT analysis services to help agencies evaluate their software options. Agencies should assess alternatives whenever they are considering upgrades or relicensing existing software.

Community Partnership Fund (US$20.7mn).

What has been the progress of New Zealand in terms of evolving from ‘e’ to ‘m’-Government? What are the future plans in this respect?

Service-delivery agencies make decisions on the use of particular delivery channels including mobile/cell phone delivery. A number of agencies are making use of text messaging and cell phone alerts in their service delivery packages. The ICT 19

| February 2006

programmes, including US$44.7mn in contestable seed funding to implement key partnership initiatives in two streams – the Broadband Challenge (US$24mn) and the

Branch is supporting agencies in this process through the development of a channel framework to assist in decisionmaking, and through the negotiation of a syndicated procurement contracts with Telecom and Vodafone for the supply of cellular services, expected to realise savings of up to 20% for participating government agencies.

What policy measures and strategies have New Zealand Government formulated for ensuring largescale penetration of Internet among the masses? What has been the effort towards bridging digital divide among different sections of the society?

Considering that New Zealand would become a world leader in using information and technology, the Digital Strategy includes specific initiatives to ensure that technology is available to and used by all sections of New Zealand society. In particular, the government has committed up to US$400mn to digital programmes including US$44.7mn in contestable seed funding to implement key partnership initiatives in two streams – the Broadband

Challenge (US$24mn), to enable affordable broadband roll-out based on competitive open-access principles; and, the Community Partnership Fund (US$20.7mn), to support grassroots initiatives that will build ICT skills in communities and regions and help create distinctive New Zealand content.

What monitoring and evaluation measures, success indicators and ROI estimation parameters have been put in place by the Government for reviewing such projects? e-Government initiatives are undertaken by government agencies as part of their normal business processes to provide more efficient and effective services and to improve business delivery.

Accordingly, monitoring and evaluation is covered by the standard performance assessment processes of the New Zealand Public Management System. In addition, the ICT Branch of the State Services Commission evaluates the extent to which e-Government activities collectively contribute to the achievement of the e-Government milestones. www.egovonline.net |

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Opening windows of public sector IT solutions The common knowledge that Microsoft is “a PC running windows” being particularly viewed in developing countries is grossly erroneous and completely out of place. However, the perception of Microsoft varies from country to country in terms of what it does. “We are the only real player that has very strong desktop presence and a very strong server presence,” concurs Peter Moore, Managing Director, Public Sector, Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific Region, in an interview Peter Moore

How do you give a summary of the present e-Government/e-Governance in Asia-Pacific vis-à-vis US or Europe?

Across Asia-Pacific, there is diversity from developed countries in Australia, New Zealand and some of the emerging countries like Indonesia, India and to a certain extent Vietnam. I think that the term e-Governance is probably a term emerging from India since here is a belief that governance and e-Governments are corelated, and I am supportive of such an idea.

I have had many meetings and made many presentations on e-Governance in India, and I think, with a focus on ensuring availability of government services, one can overcome many of the governance issues in the country such as access to the government services by any citizen of India, transparency to ensure that services are available. So the focus is there.

In the US and the UK, for example, government services are made available online. But the US is a very large country, 20

with Ravi Gupta from egov.

it’s very complex for many states.

Naturally, I can draw equivalence to the challenges in US with India. In India, there are 33 states with every state having a certain degree of autonomy. The central government wants to specify things to be done in a certain way but money should be given to the states and just see them perform in whatever way they can. So there is really a struggle going on between the central government and the states.

On the other hand, when we look at a country like Australia, it is advanced in terms of the government’s use of IT to make things easy for the citizens.

We cannot do that without great computerization and great technology. We cannot deliver citizen services without technology.

In this scenario of Asia-Pacific, general public mainly see Microsoft as someone that provides software, but when one talks about e-Government, it is mainly about the backend. These two roles are entirely different. So how old is the e-Government

initiative of the Microsoft? And, what is this initiative?

Again the perception of Microsoft varies from country to country, in terms of what it does. I think that in a country like Australia, many people would know that some of the largest government systems are built on Microsoft technologies such as in the Australian tax office, immigration, and a whole lot of other backend systems.

When I look at developing countries, the interesting thing is that the public’s first view of Microsoft is what you said, “a PC running windows”. This generalisation that Microsoft is a desktop company is from people who only use a desktop and if you ask someone who is not running a backend system, they would not even know what the term backend meant.

We conduct surveys for our customers, all enterprise, organisations, www.egovonline.net |

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

and we ask about Database Systems, about Servers Software, and all sorts of things. However, the result that we get back indicate that people actually know that Microsoft Server Software is a very serious player. We are the only real player that has very strong desktop presence and a very strong server presence.

Is there any initiative, which you would like to highlight in the application development/domain perspective like integration in customs, for example where your company has played a key role in the Asia-Pacific?

When we talk about backend systems – database, messaging system, applications, operating system – as you correctly pointed out, the big enterprise applications system that people normally think about are things like SAP are not Microsoft. But SAP runs on a platform and we have got very large customers that runs on SAP. We have got a lot of customers that have moved from Oracle and Linux systems to Windows Server and SQL Server, running SAP because the overall cost is lower.

And the scalability of their platform, which is Windows, Database, Messaging and so on, the scalability is now proving suitable for very very large customers.

Most things are customs developed, so when a government wants to put a tax system in place or immigration system in place, particularly custom developed applications, those applications are very complex and need a lot of money to produce. That’s where again we have an advantage because our development tools are quite easy to use and extremely powerful and they allow for very rapid development. Our development platform, which is called ‘dot net’, allows developers to use any development language that they would like to use. And it provides an application environment that is very flexible, it can run in a laptop, or parts of it can run in a Windows Serverbased platform. So it is very flexible from that point of view. The unusual things that we learnt as the desktop software company is that people have got all different modes, all different ways of | February 2006

accessing information. Some people use desktop computer, some people use laptop, some people use a phone, some people use different sorts of devices and we think we have got a good environment for that. So when you say ‘our pedigree to provision backend services’, I think we have a good pedigree because of operating system- database, messaging system, collaboration environment that we have, and the portal technologies.

Why is this e-Government phenomenon

When I look at developing countries, the interesting thing is that the public’s first view of Microsoft is what you said, “a PC running windows”. This generalisation that Microsoft is a desktop company is from people who only use a desktop and if you ask someone who is not running a backend system, they would not even know what the term backend meant.

in Asia not as fast as many would like it to be?

It relates to culture and the way people are used to doing business. For instance, if you have a government official who has a job of collecting a fee for delivering services then that’s employment for that government official. It is a manual way of delivering a service. As with any introduction of technology whether it is e-Government or it might be computeraided design system, the draftsman of the past used the drawing board and paper.

That does not exist any more and there was a lot of reluctance of people to move off the drawing board to computer. But now no more modern buildings are built on a piece of paper but on computers because that’s more efficient. The same is true of government service.

I have been seeing in many countries, lets say junior government officials, who have an office of 20 people; they would be just managing the paper work of one senior government official. Whereas in Australia, there might be government official using email, no one is doing that for him/her.

I know in developing countries, even the seniormost people responsible for IT do not even use email. They still speak to people, who write it down, who put it into emails and so it slows things down. I think it has change management. The reluctance of the normal human being behaviour, the reluctance to change that causes the problem.

I think that e-Government services will be truly beneficial to the citizens, who are inconvenienced significantly by not having access to the government, this should be the priority. We look at the land records systems, the Bhoomi project in India, which is a great example, where some great injustices have now been done away with because people know their assets, which they can capitalize. So lots of good examples like this and I think that should be the focus of e-Government.

And, we need to be careful not to generalise technology for just the sake of getting the technology. If the government is going to focus on wide areas like 21

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

investing in technology that will make business more effective, and productivity would go up. I think that’s what e-Governance is all about.

Is your company taking any initiative to share the best practices?

Yes. There is couple of different things that we are doing. We are running a series of government workshops, where we bring out our people and talk about this connected government framework.

We talk to them about government interoperability. We also have dedicated resources in all the countries where we have ‘National Technology Officers’, and their role is to ensure that the government is aware of the implications of any actions that they might take on things like standards. I think that it’s important that people are educated about any policies that would impact adoption of any technology.

We have people who get involved in policy debates and discussions and those sorts of things. We have these workshops with the Government, plus we train our partners on these frameworks. So we would work with the likes of NIC in India and help them to understand how all these components come together.

How do you see the growth of your public sector business in this specific region compared to US? Everything about public sector is very different from one country to another. But in general, it is one of the fastest growing areas of our business. I think that if I look at the developed countries like Singapore, Australia or New Zealand, there has been a significant amount of money that they are going to spend and we get a reasonable percentage of that. I think if you take some of the developing countries they spend a lot less on IT and more on basic infrastructure, building roads, providing water and electricity to the people. Education is huge cost. So we see different ways in which the governments spend their money across these different countries. As a result of that governments in developing countries are becoming aware that they may be under-invested in IT. That’s one area that really does help many different aspects of the economy.

22

So it varies from country to country.

But I can say that the developing countries are certainly growing more rapidly in terms of the business that we do, than in the developed countries, because developed countries are a decade ahead of the rest of the countries. It will not necessarily take a decade for the developing countries to catch up.

How do you see this debate on the open source stuff, especially from the e-Government angle?

First of all, I would say that there is confusion between open source and open standards. This is important. I like to ensure that people understand the difference upfront. When I have a discussion in different countries with governments, people get confused. They know that they have got different systems and they may think that using open source is a way of ensuring that they have an open system. That is not necessarily the case.

When it comes to e-Government, any synchronized appliance can access the backend system as long as the open standards are being used. You can look at compatibility of different websites, for example, and you have to make sure that things are written to a certain standard.

Then you have to make decisions from the backend about whether that system should run one versus the other.

There is a belief that open source is better for local economy than using technologies from Microsoft or Oracle or IBM or whatever. And, that is not necessarily the case. Large government organisation, large commercial organisations are always going to have systems from many people and we think that it will continue to be the case. There is a need for Linux in the market, there is a need for Microsoft in the market, and it should never be the case of only one. It should be a case of choice, based on what is best for a particular purpose.

There are a lot of initiatives of your company in ICT education or teacher’s training, community based schools, innovations in the area of the use of ICT in rural areas. What is the picture that your company has?

We have a programme called partners-in-

learning which talks about the public-private partnership, which we put in place between Microsoft, Governments and the Ministry of Education and the other industry players in a country. In every Microsoft subsidiary in AsiaPacific, we have dedicated resources focused on these programmes on education. We can never reach students by teachers who are unaware of how to teach in technology. And, so we spend significant amount of money to train the teachers. We also have across the region, significant numbers of independent software vendors who we are supporting to develop great applications for learning. The teachers have a computeraided-environment to control the students from the PC. There is also the support for access to technology. So we are helping to fund the cost associated with that access through a very generous pricing for our products in developing countries. That is now a contribution to addressing price and access. We are in partnership with large multinational companies. They lend PCs to us. We have a refurbishing programme that allows new softwares to be installed at no cost on to those PCs so that they could then be used in the school labs without adding to any extra cost. All these things come together.

We focus on how many students have been able to be influenced by technology, how many students have seen better outcomes in their learning, as a result of teachers’ knowledge. That sort of tangible aspects we look at in our project on learning. We work with South East Asian Ministry of Education, work with UNESCO, ESCAP, we work with a number of government agencies and NGOs to ensure that it is rolled out in all the countries across the region. The bulk of our spending goes into partners in learning programmes. The project was started 3 years ago. I think we have got great outcomes already in terms of Ministry of Education recognizing there has been significant contribution towards the education of children.

But also we have seen the independent software development companies have become profitable after they developed these sorts of applications that I spoke about. www.egovonline.net |

TECHNOLOGY

Satellite based e-Government network

Towards empowering citizens Praveen Sharma The need to empower citizens is paramount and a common objective for all the States of India. Accordingly, the Government of India is actively working to implement the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). Certainly, Satellite based e-Governance networks can provide excellent solution to make NeGP a success since they are not dependent on geographical parameters and can ably cater the scattered and medium to low traffic areas.

T

he Government of India has planned a national level initiative - National e-Governance Plan, NeGP for increased transparency, efficiency and effectiveness for delivery of citizen services. The nature and scale of e-Governance initiatives thus planned would supposedly reflect the aspiration level of the government in progressing towards a truly welfare state.

Each state is unique in terms of requirement and application and objectives that it wants to achieve by implementing an eGovernance project. However, there is one common objective which all states would like to achieve is ‘empowerment’ of common citizen. Significantly enough, this is equally paramount for the all concerned. India is a rural country with 80% population residing in rural areas, and any initiative in launching ‘e-Governance’ should target and aim at total coverage of States so that all the citizens can have equal and fair access to the applications falling under aegis of such a initiative.

Types of users and applications The e-Governance network shall primarily address two types of users and applications.The users being State Administrations and Village Information Centres (VICs). State Administrations are in fact those users that would be located in the state’s administrative agencies such as District Collectorate, Block office, Police HQ etc. The users in such locations shall involve such applications that are expected to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative machinery.

The main applications used by them include Video Conferencing, Voice/telephony, Email, and File transfers.

Village Information Centers (VICs) play an important role in the furtherance of e-Governance activities. The VIC Kiosks shall be the access point for the common man in the network. The various services to be accessed by a villager/citizen from the kiosk include land records, birth/death registration, land/ property registration, public distribution system, weather and climatic forecasts, bill payments/tax payments etc., and several other applications.

Apart from the State administrative applications, the | January 2006

network shall also be used for other important applications such as Disaster Management including Flood Management, Emergency situations like landslides, earthquakes, fire, industrial accidents etc.; Tele-education, which plays a vital role in imparting basic education/Adult education/family welfare programs; and, Telemedicine, which promotes and uplift the primary healthcare within the state.

Network design While various technologies can be looked into for building up the network based on the requirements (both from point of view of network coverage and applications), it is very clear that the success of the network shall be highly dependent on the ‘Ubiquitous coverage’ so that it can reach to a common villager in rural and far-flung sites. The requirements envisage a primarily satellite based connectivity. In summary, satellite networks offer numerous advantages including Ubiquitous Network, Rapid Deployment, High MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) and low MTTR (Mean Time To Repair), Dynamic sharing of bandwidth, High reliability, and Low cost.

23

TECHNOLOGY

The basic advantage is that of satellite being ubiquitous network in the sense that each and every inch of the land is under the coverage of the network. Information signals can be beamed and received by small earth stations (VSATs), which can be located in virtually any part of the land. The VSAT technology available nowadays has virtually shrunk up the installation time to few minutes. Once a location of equipment is decided it takes less than an hour to install a VSAT. The major

PSTN. It shall also house a data centre that is to include all application servers like e-Governance servers, email servers, intranet servers etc. In case the data centre can’t be located at the hub, it shall be connected to the hub through a back-haul link. Hub shall also house distance learning servers/equipments and telemedicine studios.

For the remote locations three Tiers are proposed for the network organisation purposes that include Tier 1 (State head offices – Police Headquarters, DM’s office, and other important offices in the district), Tier 2 (Village Information Centres) and Tier 3 (Mobile/transportable VSATs to be used for Emergency and disaster management services).

Each state is unique in terms of requirement and application and objectives that it wants to achieve by implementing an e-Governance project.

However, there is one common objective which all states would like to achieve is ‘empowerment’ of common citizen.

advantage of a VSAT based network is high reliability and MTBF. Since, in VSATs no physical media is involved (unlike terrestrial network) and also the number of components are limited (unlike wireless network which involves base stations, Repeater etc) the reliability is high. In satellite network the sharing of bandwidth is universal i.e. to say that available satellite bandwidth pool is shared by all the nodes in the network (because all nodes fall in the same satellite footprint). This is very important feature as different locations have different loads at different time of the day and hence the terminal needing more bandwidth may borrow bandwidth from lightly loaded terminals. VSAT networks have low cost in terms of say 5-year Total Cost of Ownership model.

Satellite networks are not dependent on geographical parameters and hence have limited number of components in the network. The economics of terrestrial/wireless networks are highly influenced by geographical factors like distance, terrain etc. Hence, satellite based networks offers excellent solution for scattered and medium to low traffic areas.

Network architecture Keeping in view the requirements as described above it is envisaged that the network sites (Nodes) can be broadly classified into a central location (Hub) and three tiers for remote locations.

The Hub shall be located in state capital or any other location where data centre is located, and shall employ Network Control Centre and act as master control earth station. All the critical components at the hub shall be employed in 1+1 automatic redundant configuration, and shall be operated and manned by technically expert personnel. Hub shall act as gateway between the VSAT network and other networks like Internet/terrestrial/ 24

Tier 1- State Administrative Offices: These locations shall be equipped for operating in STAR (VSAT and Hub) and MESH (VSAT to VSAT directly in single hop) configurations. These locations shall be equipped for transmitting Voice, Video and data with State HQ as well as with other Tier 1 locations. This shall enable these sites to establish Video Conferencing sessions with State HQ or other Tier 1 locations in single hop; establish Voice/telephone calls with telephone sessions with State HQ or other Tier 1 locations in single hop; and, transfer data and access servers located at hub or other Tier 1 locations.

Tier 2 – Village Information Centers (VICs): The VICs shall be low cost sites and shall be employed in large numbers to cover the entire state. These locations will primarily act as kiosks for accessing e-Governance applications, Internet and other applications (like weather forecast etc.) from central servers at the hub. These locations shall also be equipped for transmitting voice, video and data to central servers for tele-education and telemedicine applications. The tele-education and telemedicine studios shall be located at the hub or in case they cannot be colocated at the hub they shall be connected with hub via backhaul links. It will be able to receive high speed Multicast data and video stream from the hub, and would be able to establish 384 Kbps videoconference links with the hub and other locations.

Tier 3 – Mobile VSATs: The site should be able to establish high-speed Video Conferencing with the State HQ or other offices located in the network. In order to efficiently use the available satellite bandwidth the network shall operate in bandwidth on demand or DAMA (Demand-Assigned Multiple Access) mode.

This shall allow dynamic sharing of the bandwidth within the network.

About the author: Praveen Sharma is Director, Technical Marketing with Gilat Satellite networks and is looking after India and Asian region. www.gilat.com

www.egovonline.net |

April 26 - 28, 2006

The Asian conference on e-Government

Rama Gardens Hotel and Resort

The Asian conference on ICT and Education

Bangkok, Thailand

Program Advisory Board Ake Gronlund Professor Örebro University, ESI / Informatics Sweden

Karl Harmsen Director United Nations University - Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA),

P K Mohanty Director General Centre for Good Governance India

Legon - Accra, Ghana

Bruno Lavin Senior Advisor (e-Strategies) World Bank USA

Lars H. Bestle Programmae Specialist-Policy Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP), UNDP

Peter Moore Region Managing Director - Asia Pacific Public Sector Microsoft, Singapore

Dennis Pamlin Policy Advisor WWF Sweden

Matthias P. FINGER Professor Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL Switzerland

Richard Kerby Inter Regional Advisor on e-Government, UNDESA

Devindra Ramnarine

San Ng The Asia Foundation USA

Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

Mohamed Sameh Bedair e-Government Program Director Ministry of State for Administrative Development, Egypt

Jeremy Millard Head, eGovernance Program Danish Technological Institute Denmark

Nagy Hanna e-Leadership Academy,University of Maryland USA

Subhash Bhatnagar egov Practice Group World Bank

Jeongwon Yoon Director National Computerization Agency Republic of Korea

Norma Mansor Dean/Professor, Faculty of Economics & Administration University of Malaya, Malaysia

Kenneth Keniston

Nooraini Mohamed Ismail Dean, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia

Advisor (Public Sector Informatics) Governance Institutional Development

Andrew Mellon Professor of Human Development Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Organisers

Co-organiser

Dr. Supachai Yavaprabhas Centre Director SEAMEO Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (SEAMEO RIHED)

Thaweesak Koanantakool Director NECTEC Thailand

Media partners

Institutional partners University of Malaya Malaysia

Supporting partners

Technical Sessions •

e-Government Country Plans

•

Policy and Technology Framework in e-Government

•

Funding and Financing Mechanisms in e-Government projects

April 26 - 28, 2006 Introduction

•

Content Management, Data Standardisation and GUI

•

Public-Private Partnerships and Service Level Agreements

•

Emerging trends in Mobile Government

•

Government Process Re-engineering and Change Management

Asian countries are witnessing a dramatic change in their

•

Project Monitoring, Evaluation and Auditing Mechanisms

economy. So is the scene of e-Governance! Some countries are

•

e-Democracy through e-Government

already topping the international charts of e-Governance, some

•

e-Security and Cyber Laws for efficient Governance

have just begun their journey, while there are a few others

•

ICTs and Rural e-Governance

who are yet to step into the e-Governance arena. The scope for these countries to learn from their advanced Asian

Exhibition

neighbours is immense and opportunities are unbound.

egov Asia 2006 will have an elaborate exhibition of latest e-

The present need is to create a common ground of equitable

Government products, solutions suites, services, initiatives and

learning which facilitates a process of overall development of

case studies from all across Asia and beyond. Professional service

the region.

providers, IT vendors, consulting firms, government agencies and national/international development organisations involved

The Event

in the e-Government domain are encouraged to participate in

egov Asia 2006 - the international conference on e-Government,

the exhibition.

aims to provide a knowledge-sharing platform and a forum for policymakers, practitioners, industry leaders and

Important Contacts

academicians of Asia-Pacific nations to carry forward the

Registration:

registration@egovasia.net

e-Government vision of the region and consolidate them into

Papers:

papers@egovasia.net

actionable programme, through collaborative learning and

For Sponsorship:

sponsorship@egovasia.net

partnerships.

For Exhibition:

exhibition@egovasia.net

Keynote Sessions

For General Information:

info@egovasia.net

Eminent experts and senior government officers from various parts of Asia and outside Asia will discuss the e-Government

Submit abstract online at www.egovasia.net/abstractonline.asp

developments in their respective countries. The discussion will include but not limit to the following topics:

Call fo

•

e-Government trends in Asia

•

e-Government strategies of Asian countries

•

Leadership reflections in e-Government

for egov Asia 2006, Digi Asian Telec

www.egovasia.net

Abstract Submission: Abstract Acceptance: Full Paper Submission:

Asian Telecentre Forum 26-28 April 2006, Rama Gardens Hotel and Resort, Bangkok, Thailand

A conference and workshop programme has been conceptualised to bring the Asian practitioners in a platform for learning and sharing the experiences, and to address critical issues of content, collaboration, sustainability and up-scaling.

Further, issues relating to monitoring projects that have been steered by external financial support, be it from the international development agencies, or from governments in Asia, require close assessment.

We invite stakeholders from various sectors, viz., NGOs, Governments, Private sector, Donors, and Development agencies, Academic researchers etc. to participate in this workshop. Please provide a brief outline (abstract of not more than 500

Keynote Sessions

April 26 - 28, 2006 Today, education and training have become foundation of global competitiveness.

Education and skill levels of human resource are significant determinants of success or failure of human resource-led strategy of a knowledge society in a globalised world. In recent years, several countries in East and Southeast Asia have embarked on the creation of a globally competetive human resource through national education strategies, with a focus on integrating ICT in education at all levels. However countries are still in different stages of this integration, coping with challenges of infrastructure and implementation.

The Conference Digital Learning Asia will take stock of the progress of the Asian countries in utilising Information and Communication Technologies to enhance the quality and reach of education with a focus on building a human capital that responds to the needs of a globalised world. The conference will provide a platform for policymakers, practitioners, industry leaders and academicians to showcase best practices, share experience, knowledge and perspective and learn from exploring solutions to meet challenges of integrating technologies in all level of education.

Exhibition Digital Learning Asia 2006 will have an exhibition of latest e-solutions, services, initiatives and case studies from across Asia and beyond. Professional service providers, IT vendors, consulting firms, government agencies and national/international development organisations involved in the ICT in Education domain are encouraged to participate in the exhibition.

Eminent experts from the education system and senior government officials from various part of Asia and outside will discuss debate the current policies and trends in ICT in education in their respective countries. This discussion will include the following broad themes

National ICT and Education strategies

ICT in Education trends in Asian countries

Best Practices in ICT in Education in Asia

Sessions The conference will focus on the following board thematic sessions

Public private partnership in ICT in education

Technologies for education and training

Information and communication technology education

Online teaching and learning

Distance education/learning elearning in classrooms

Instructional design e-learning content

Monitoring and evaluation of ICT in education

Quality standards in e-content

Future trends in e-learning

Important Contacts Registration:

registration@DLasia.csdms.in

Papers:

papers@DLasia.csdms.in

Sponsorship:

sponsorship@DLasia.csdms.in

Exhibition:

exhibition@DLasia.csdms.in

General Information:

info@DLasia.csdms.in

or Papers

ital Learning Asia 2006 and centre Forum

Submit abstract online at www.DLasia.csdms.in/abstractonline.asp

February 28, 2006

and

We welcome new themes/session ideas.

www.DLasia.csdms.in

March 05, 2006 March 30, 2006 words) of your work and perspectives that you wish to share.

You will have an opportunity to showcase your work, share your experiences in presentation sessions and/or share case stories. The format of the workshop will be participatory, and will be facilitated.

Keynote Sessions Taking stock of Asian Telecentre movement Telecentres: Content, Connectivity, Capacity Building Best models and upscaling For more details: info@asiantelecentreforum.net

Conference Secretariat Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) G - 4, Sector-39, NOIDA - 201 301, India Tel: +91-120-2502180 to 87, Fax: +91-1202500060 URLs: www.egovasia.net, www.DLasia.csdms.in, www.asiantelecentreforum.net E-mails: info@egovasia,net, info@DLasia.csdms.in info@asiantelecentreforum.net

www.asiantelecentreforum.net

Organisers’ profile Supporting partners AEN (Asia e-Learning Network) In September 2001, the Japanese government with the help of people republic of China and republic of Korea helped establish the “Asia e-Learning Initiative” to promote economic development and human resources training in the region. www.asia-elearning.net

APDIP (Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme), UNDP In collaboration with National Governments, APDIP seeks to assist national and regional institutions in AsiaPacific to improve access, knowledgesharing, networking, and management, and application of ICTs for social and economic development.

information technologies through research and development activities. www.nectec.or.th

NOLP NSTDA Online Learning Project (NOLP) was created by the National Science and Technology Development Agency. The main goal of this special project was to research and develop technology for education, provide new methods of education, and to be a leader among online education providers. www.thai2learn.com

SITF The Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) is Singapore’s premier infocomm industry association, which brings together around 400 corporate members from MNCs and local companies. www.sitf.org.sg

www.apdip.net

The Centre for Good Governance

The Centre for Good Governance (CGG) was established by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India in October, 2001 to help it achieve the State’s goal of transforming governance. www.cgg.gov.in

SEAMEO The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) is a chartered international organization whose purpose is to promote cooperation in education, science and culture in the Southeast Asian region. www.seameo.org

SEAMEO RIHED EPFL The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL) is, with its sister school in Zurich, one of Europe’s leading institutions of science and technology. The threefold mission is: to educate engineers and scientists; to be a national center of excellence in science and technology; and to provide a hub for interaction between the scientific community and industry. www.epfl.ch

NECTEC National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) is a statutory government organization under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Ministry of Science and Technology, Royal Thai Government. Its main responsibilities are to undertake, support, and promote the development of electronic, computing, telecommunication, and

SEAMEO RIHED is hosted by the Thai government with the vision is to be a catalyst in higher education with an emphasis on management and administration. www.rihed.seameo.org

SIPA Software Industry Promotion Association (SIPA) is a Thai goverment agency to promote software industries by stimulating the varying channels of marketing both in domestic and international. www.sipa.or.th

SOFTWARE PARK Software Park Thailand is an organisation under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). Software Park Thailand (SPT) promotes and supports those in the software industry in procurement of human resources, marketing, securing investment and access to and understanding of the latest technology. www.swpark.or.th/

Organisers Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) is a leading Asian non-governmental institution engaged in advocacy, research and community building in e-government, Digital Learning, ICT for Development and knowledge management issues. www.csdms.in

Institutional partners The University of Malaya, Faculty of Economics and Administration UNIVERSITI MALAYA, the first University of the countr y, was established on 8 October 1949 as a national institution to serve the higher education needs of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore. The University of Malaya was set up to help lay the foundations of a new nation by producing a generation of skilled and educated men. The University’s motto, “Ilmu Punca Kemajuan” (Knowledge is the key to success) reflects the philosophy of the University in its constant endeavour to seek knowledge in all fields to produce successful graduates and a successful nation. www.um.edu.mu

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA MARA College was officially renamed Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) on 14 October 1967. Its establishment came as a response to a crucial need in the country of Malaysia for trained manpower in the professional and semiprofessional levels. In August 1999, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad announced the change of name of ITM to Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). www.uitm.edu.my

NUS (National University of Singapore) Established in 1905 and acknowledged as one of the finest universities in the world, National University of Singapore (NUS) is a comprehensive university offering a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. NUS enjoys a close teaching-research nexus with 13 national-level, 12 university-level and more than 60 faculty-based research institutes and centres. www.nus.edu.sg

Rangsit University Rangsit University is the most comprehensive private University with the most diverse faculties in Thailand, producing substantial manpower resources for the society and for serving the country. www.rsu.ac.th

Co-organiser GIS Development GIS Development strives to promote and propagate the usage of geospatial technologies in various areas of development for the community at large.

It remains dedicated to foster the growing network of those interested in geoinformatics worldwide and Asia in particular. www.GISdevelopment.net

Danish Technological Institute (DTI), Denmark The Danish Technological Institute (DTI) is one of the oldest technological institutes in the world. DTI has successfully carried out projects like BEEP (Best eEurope Practices), PRISMA (Providing innovative service models and assessment). www.danishtechnology.dk

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

‘Our strategy lies very strongly in mobile telecommunications’ With the boom in mobile telecommunication, Nokia has emerged as a strong player in the Asian market. Not only are they bringing new languages in the mobile phone but also exploring other cost-effective technologies to cater to the rural population.

Jussi Siltanen, System Marketing Manager, Entry Business Line, Mobile Phones, Nokia Corp. in conversation with Anuradha Dhar explains their strategies to overcome the challenges of the emerging markets.

Nokia Head Office in Espoo, Finland

What was the genesis of Nokia telecommunications in 1960s?

When did it enter the Asian Market?

It started in our home country, which is Finland and very soon there was a demand in more markets, such as the Nordic countries, Europe, US and Asia. Nokia has been in the Asian market for a long time. Today, Nokia is strongly present in many Asian markets such as South East Asia, Japan, China and India.

Currently we are building up a production site in Chennai. This factory will be manufacturing not only mobile phones, but also solutions for mobile operators, especially in India. We produce mobile phones in many countries and we also export the phones to other markets.

How do you see the market in India as compared to markets in other countries?

Many of the entry markets are characterized by strong growth.

But for India, we are probably yet in the beginning of growth, | January 2006

which is very strong when we look at the penetration of mobile phones in India. You start to see mobile devices everywhere. So definitely there are some of the characteristics of a strongly growing market, and then there are some special characteristic such as the rural aspect.

What is the strategy of Nokia to explore the rural market in India?

Our strategy lies very strongly in mobile telecommunications.

We believe that mobile telecommunications is the most cost effective tool especially in the rural areas in order to access communications. That’s probably not just in the Indian rural areas but also in other rural areas in different parts of the world. Another thing in strategy that we see in India is the rich culture. In India, there is not just one solution to explore, but there has to be many solutions and we are willing to work with the operators in order to explore them. Most concretely, 29

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

consumers can see that in Nokia we are adding new languages in mobile phone.

Depending on the mobile phone model we can have up to 9 Indian languages supported in a mobile phone and this is of course increasing all the time. Languages are very important.

We try to make user interface more practical for people who have difficulty in reading and writing. Often I hear that someone had bought a Nokia mobile phone and didn’t have to read the handset manual because it was so easy to start to use.

We are also working on having interfaces in mobile handsets, which are more graphical, more intuitive. Also, in some of the new handsets, you can learn already, over the handset how to do certain things, not just by reading but also by watching. It is like watching a learning presentation before you start to use your mobile.

Then we also need to invest in new technology. So ideally, the kind of technology that we have already, i.e. the GSM technology, we can expand through it cost-effectively. GSM also provides a very good coverage. Then there are smaller technologies, which are affiliated to GSM, which help to expand coverage, for example radio technologies such as AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate Codec) and SAIC (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation). Nokia supports all these technologies.

Are you focusing on research to get the user’s feedback?

For us, it is very important to do a lot of consumer research and do it as locally as possible because then we know that we would get the correct information. It gives us a lot of benefits.

Which are the countries, according to you are the emerging markets?

There is not a single country. Some markets are growing more strongly than the others. But still we see that in emerging markets, there is still very strong growth in expansion like Latin America.

Already, in some Latin American countries, they are beginning to show signs of mature markets, like for example Chile.

There are also economic factors and we have seen that for example, increasing penetration of mobile phones can contribute to the GDP of the country. Countries of Africa and the Middle East are going to be the places where the mobile phones penetration is going to be the strongest in the next 4-5 years.

What about Asia and South-East Asia, particularly?

In South-East Asia it depends from country to country. There are some countries, which are mature markets already, like Singapore, Malaysia. But if you would look at India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and put all these countries together, the growth rates would be at the rate of the whole of Africa - a strong growth. I am not talking of growth rate in percentage terms. Emerging markets are what we call the dual markets. There is one section of the population who can afford to pay for more expensive phones, there is also the volume market, for whom buying a mobile phone is a little bit like an investment, it’s a strategic purchase for them.

Is Nokia working on a strategy by which people have more affordable mobile phones?

30

We work for example with mobile operators, we show them that they can implement technology, which make their costs going down, and they can target new customers with lower prices. One thing that is the characteristics of emerging market is pre-paid. One major factor is if you wanted to buy a recharge voucher card, the price was usually like something US$5. And people, who are earning only 50-100 dollars a month, do not have 5 dollars just like that.

But when micro-prepaid was introduced, it means you no longer have these paper vouchers. Paper vouchers cost very much to print and distribute. So now you have electronic vouchers, you recharge your phone through SMS. So if I am a seller and you are a customer, you are giving me, lets say Rs. 50 and I will, with SMS, transfer Rs. 50 from my account to your account. Micro prepaid make mobile communication more affordable for new users in a cost effective way. Operators have already introduced very successfully micro-prepaid for example in the Philippines Compared to other Asian countries, what are the challenges that you face in India?

India is special because it is a very large market by area, where distribution both for handsets and the service must work well.

You must be aware of mobile governance. It is still at nascent stage in India. In developed countries it is a very upcoming and people are using it to interact with government. As a mobile phone company, what role you can play in this direction?

I think our role is to work with different companies to have better knowledge in doing things. We work with smaller companies; we try to see who is the best in the market for doing that and then work together with them. I think that in India, we do a lot of cooperation with smaller Indian developer companies to develop mobile technology, because we clearly see that they are going good work so why not affiliate with them. For this we have special programs like Forum Nokia. Forum Nokia is a programme for developers because there are a lot of people have ideas; they can propose this to Nokia through Forum Nokia.

When they publish it in Forum Nokia, some other people may say- hey! this is a good idea and we may develop it in this way.

We provide them opportunity to spread the idea and sell it.

In rural India, we have a large number of self-help groups, micro-finance groups, is your company trying to empower these groups with mobile devices, probably at a cheaper rate.

We have started to work with micro-finance companies. We announced last year in October regarding our collaboration with Grameen Foundation, which is the leader in micro-finance.

Currently with them, Nokia is doing a project in Africa, where Grameen provides micro-finance in order to get a village phone, which comprises a Nokia mobile handset, a car battery boaster antenna, and a koppler, which connects the phone to the antenna. We prefer to collaborate with Grameen, as they know the market, rather than starting something completely new. The package, which I described above, is something like US$200.

The entrepreneurs in the village, who are doing that can pay the loan in 1 year and do meaningful business. www.egovonline.net |

COMMENTARY

Federal Enterprise Architecture F ramework Framework for e e-- Governance: A winning formula Nilkanth Iyer and Kapil Pant Embarking on massive e-Governance programmes for Governments the worldover to bring about a perceptible change in the very system of governance should not be taken as a matter of course alone – that of planning and implementation. It should be necessarily viewed more than that. As such, to make any e-Governance programme a success there is a dire need to have an architecture in place that is live and adaptable to the changing world, or else…

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ost strategic programs around the world are launched with implementation as the backdrop. Companies, agencies and Governments are purely result focused.

Somewhere in the mad rush to have the programme running, the technology working and seeing tangible results – the focus is lost from planning to implementation. The fundamental questions as to why such a program initiated in the first place is simply not given a thought afterall. Was the current technology being used just to do something that might be beneficial, or was it to have a process in place to solve pressing uses, improving transparency and providing value to the citizens for years to come? A process that is forever evolving with the changing needs of its customers and which is in line with technology.

Agencies look at technology as a means to achieve better return on investment. Technology is evolving so fast that something, which is in vogue today, is redundant before it could even be implemented. Agencies are focused on using technology to reduce cost and improve the service levels. However, there is no mechanism to identify redundant technology investments once the program gets rolling. Thus the sole purpose for which investment in technology was done is rather defeated.

Technology is just a means to the end – not the end in itself. And, what’s important is the vision and how the vision is translated into actionable strategies and tactics – the process that evolves with evolving technology and customer needs.

Problems during implementation As such, it therefore becomes critical for Governments embarking on massive e-Governance programs to have an architecture in place that is live and adaptable to the changing world. It may however be noted that many governments around the world took the path to implementation only to realise a couple of years down the line that they were facing common problems such as Post-Modernisation problems, Paving Cowpaths, Redundant buying, Program Management, Islands of Automation, and Poor cyber security.

In Post Modernization problems, few agencies had business-driven enterprise architecture; a roadmap that showed | January 2006

what IT investments will be used to better performance. Agencies automated management problems instead of leveraging eGovernance to fix them while paving Cowpaths. Multiple agencies bought the same item instead of driving economies of scale or creating one-stop points of service thus making buying redundant. Program Management also faced problems as few delivered on time or within budget. Citizens had to deal with multiple agencies to get service instead of going to a single point of service website or call centre thus creating Islands of Automation. Poor cyber security was also a major problem wherein IT security was seen as an IT or funding issue instead of agency management issue.

Redressing of issues Finally, after much debate and discussion a mandate was set and a two-pronged approach was arrived at to address the above issues that include Agency e-Government progress, Modernisation Blueprint – Enterprise Architecture, Business Cases – Capital Planning and Investment Control, IT Program Management, IT Security, and Multi-agency e-Government Initiative Involvement.

The OMB (Office of Management & Budget) came out with the following fundamentals that all US agencies must comply to: • Fundamentals for success in applying Web Services – Identify common functions, interdependencies, interrelationships, and evaluate barriers to information sharing; Implement in a way that addresses both the opportunities and risks of a “networked” environment; and, Leverage technologies to achieve benefits of interoperability while protecting societal values of privacy and intellectual property rights etc.

• End-to-End Digital service delivery – Developing a modernisation blueprint includes Component-based enterprise architecture that addresses the business lines, data, information, and technology necessary to meet our missions; CIO Council/OMB Analysis identifying internal/ external interrelationships and interdependence at each 31

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The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 mandated that Federal Agencies develop and maintain an enterprise architecture. The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) was established in 1999 by the Chief Information Officers in response to this mandate.

As per the FEAF document – this Framework allows the federal government to organise federal information on a federal wide scale, promote information sharing among Federal Organisations, help Federal Organisations develop their architectures and their IT investment processes quickly, and serves citizens needs better, faster and cost effectively.

of the strategic direction; (v.) Transitional Processes – processes that apply the changes from the current architecture to the target architecture in compliance with architecture standards such as various decision making or governance procedures, budgeting, engineering change control etc.; (vi.) Architectural Segments – subsets or smaller enterprises within the total Federal Enterprise; (vii.)

Architectural Models – provide the documentation and the basis for managing and implementing changes in the Federal Enterprise; (viii.) Standards – standards (some of which may be made mandatory), voluntary guidelines, and best practices, all of which focus on promoting interoperability.

The FEAF Level II (view from 10,000 feet) and Level III (view from 5,000 feet) provide more details on the information to be captured. Architecture drivers (which include business and design drivers) act as a catalyst to drive the current (‘as is’) architecture to a target (‘to be’) architecture. The target architecture should realise the strategic direction, including vision and principles. Transitional processes move the architecture from current to target state. Standards are also involved in this process. Architectural models form the core of the information captured. System Architect is a viable tool for capturing all of the architectural information, and providing it in a repository.

Finally, Level IV (the view from 1,000 to 500 feet) of the FEAF identifies the kinds of models that describe the business, data, applications and technology architectures. A specific set of artifacts, methods and approaches on how the business architecture is supported by the three design architectures (data, applications, and technology) begins to evolve. The FEAF at Level IV provides a matrix of artifacts to capture. This matrix is actually a cut-down version of the Zachman Framework.

Construction of FEAF

The Zachman Framework

layer; Within and across departments. Besides, Privacy and security are key components of this architecture. There is a need to eliminate investments in redundant IT capabilities.

The service delivery mode should be that of ‘Unify and Simplify’ one thus necessitating shared investments and process integration to leverage common components in making government citizen-centred and driving results.

Common business functions are a necessity, and Vertical or horizontal integration needed to perform.

The FEAF consists of four levels. The first level provides a high level description of the above components, and the next three levels extensively describe these components in detail. The fourth level also provides a logical structure for classifying and organising the artifacts. This logical structure is actually a tailored version of the Zachman Framework.

FEAF Levels I Thru III Level I is the highest-level view of the FEAF (the FEAF describes this as the view from 20,000 feet). This level introduces the eight components needed for developing and maintaining the Federal Enterprise Architecture, as follows: (i.) Architecture Drivers – external stimuli that cause the Federal Enterprise Architecture to change; (ii.) Strategic Direction – ensures that changes are consistent with the overall Federal direction; (iii.) Current Architecture – the current state of the enterprise; (iv.) Target Architecture – the target state for the enterprise within the context 32

The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture is an approach for documenting and/or developing an enterprise-wide information systems architecture. Developed by John Zachman, this framework provides multiple perspectives of the overall architecture and a categorisation of the artifacts of the architecture. The Zachman Framework is actually a matrix of 36 cells covering the entire aspect of an enterprise. The enterprise is then split that into six perspectives, starting at the highest level of business abstraction going all the way down to implementation. The framework can contain global plans as well as technical details, lists and charts. Any appropriate approach, standard, role, method or technique may be placed in it.

About the authors: Nilkanth Iyer heads the Government and Defense Business Unit for Telelogic, India. Kapil Pant is Senior Consultant in the Enterprise Architecture, Requirements and Configuration Management, Telelogic, India. www.telelogic.com

www.egovonline.net |

COMMENTARY

Citizen Centric e-Governance: Technology and Management Policy A P J Abdul Kalam

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ood governance is being recognised as an important goal by many countries across the world. They have taken up specific initiatives for open government. Freedom of information is being redefined and supported by detailed guidelines. The Internet revolution has proved to be a powerful tool for good governance initiatives. An important dimension of the Internet potential is the possibility of providing services any time anywhere.

Along with this, there is a conscious effort to put the citizen as the centre of focus of the governance. Citizens are being perceived as customers and clients.

Delivery of services to citizens is considered as a primary function of the government. Particularly the democratic nation of the billion people like India, eGovernance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow of information across the state and central government in the federal set-up.

No country has so far implemented an e-Governance system for one billion people. It is big challenge before us.

Typical scenario I visualise an election scenario, where a candidate files his nomination from a particular constituency. Immediately the election officer verifies his/her authenticity from the national citizen ID database through multifactor authentication, through a multipurpose Citizen ID card. His/her civic consciousness and citizenship behaviour comes from the police crime record. His property record comes from the registration of land authority across the country. His income and wealth resources come from the income-tax department, and other sources.

His education credentials come from the university records. His track record of employment comes from various employers with whom he had worked. His credit history comes form various credit | February 2006

be done by e-Governance at a cost affordable by our nation? If we have this system implemented then I call this as a true e-Governance system for the citizen.

Challenges in e-Governance

institutions like banks. His legal track records come from the judicial system.

All the details arrive at the computer terminal of the election officer within few minutes automatically by the act of eGovernance software agents which crawls across the various state and central government web services directories through the network and collects the information automatically and presents the facts in real-time without any bias.

Artificial intelligence software analyses his credentials and gives a rating on how successful he will be as a politician.

Election officer sitting at the remote block of the country decides on the spot and the election process starts. All the voters vote from their home through virtual polling booths. Is it a dream? Is it possible? If possible, when shall we have it? Can we provide good governance to our one billion people? Can the governance speed up the delivery system? Can the governance differentiate between genuine transactions and spurious transaction? Can the governance ensure immediate action for the genuine cases that satisfies the checklist for a particular service and take action on spurious transactions? Can this

I am trying to seek an answer for these questions by asking another set of questions? Do we have a required eGovernance framework? Do we have a National Citizen database which will be the primary unit of data for all governance vertical and horizontal applications across the state and central governments?

Do we have standards for the exchange of secure information with nonrepudiation, across the state and central government departments seamlessly? Do we have a secure delivery framework by means of virtual private network connecting across the state and central government departments? Do we have data centres in centre and states to handle the departmental workflow automation, collaboration, interaction, and exchange of information with authentication? We should have our administrative systems empowered and reformed, which accelerate the decision-making? When will the entire administrative bodies be able to contribute more for the national development rather than being entangled in the files? I have just visualised the scenario. Let us try to find an answer to each of the above questions towards providing good and smart governance to our one billion people.

Concept of e-Governance In summary, I visualise e-Governance as defined thus: “A transparent smart egovernance with seamless access, secure and authentic flow of information crossing the inter-departmental barrier and providing a fair and unbiased service to the citizen.�

I have always been in my life an advocate of using technology for the 33

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betterment of our society. e-Governance is one such opportunity. I want all of you to remember, the technology is a doubleedged sword. If we don’t have an implementation plan from concept to completion, in less than one or two years, technology will become expensive and we will not be able to reap the benefits.

Transparency in e-Governance India is transforming into a transparent society. It is essential that government functions that have interfaces or interactions with public especially where the state and central functionaries have to serve or support even correct the citizens; such functions have to be done through the tools of information technology and communication. This means, software has to be written to codify the rules, procedures and other related government functions and public access should be through IT. Then the government functions can provide equal access to all based on predetermined rules and even with rules to govern exception being done in a transparent manner.

Since India has the core competence in information technology and communication, the possibility of success to bringing in transparency in administration and management through e-commerce and e-business leading to eGovernance, is definitely possible.

Actions have to be initiated in a mission mode. Appropriate legal instrument to provide government power to such mode of interactions should also be done simultaneously.

National ID The primary data requirement for the effective e-Governance is the National Citizen ID Card. It should be a multipurpose secured and authentic ID card. This card should be akin to the Xerox copy of the individual with the multifactor authentication such as photograph, biometrics - fingerprint, iris-based systems and digital signature. India with a population of one billion people should be concerned about providing this card to the citizens at a cost effective basis.

Hence, there is a need to select the right technology for the preparation of the card and online issue of the card also needs to be determined urgently. This challenge 34

www.presidentofindia.nic.in

must be taken up by the consortium of public and private industries, academic institutions with the Government.

Presently, the government is considering the discussion of a bill for introducing multipurpose Citizen ID card.

Conclusion A comprehensive e-Governance framework needs to be evolved. This framework encompasses the following: • Establishment of e-Governance Commission or empowered Board • Establishment of e-Governance GRID across the state and centre. Setting up of the Horizontal GRID across the state governments and interconnecting the Horizontal GRIDS to the Vertical Central GRID. • Setting up of e-Governance DATA Centre at the Centre and State Level and real time updation of data from various units of the government.

• Setting up a Multipurpose, secure, authentic national citizen-ID database as the primary data for all the e-governance services and online issue of Citizen ID card seamlessly.

• Electronic connectivity through dedicated Broadband, Virtual Private

•

•

Network (VPN) based connectivity from the Centre to State, State to District and District to Block level and Block to village level through the options like wireless, microwave and VSAT. PURA scheme provides an impetus to electronic and knowledge connectivity.

Create a language independent operating systems, databases, application servers, mail servers etc., in the Indian languages.

Ninety percent of work concerning e-governance should be outsourced and government should only manage the Data Centre and maintain it for online application.

These are the challenges that are before us; the conference can discuss and bring out a comprehensive set of recommendations for the effective implementation across the states and central government. There is a new paradigm in the democratised information system “anytime anywhere the information can be accessed”.

The President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, on the occasion of the inauguration of the e-Governance portal at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 13th October 2005 delivered this speech.

www.egovonline.net |

REGIONAL FOCUS BIHAR

e-Government in Bihar

Land of Buddha awaits another enlightenment Nirmal Kishor Prasad At a time when India is in the grip of an IT revolution with most of the States in the country taking a plunge and effectively moving towards eGovernance, the State of Bihar simply does not want to lag behind. Ever since the establishment of Bihar State Unit of NIC for the past 16 years, determined moves are now being made in a planned way towards promoting computer culture and undertaking of various computerisation programmes in different State Government Departments by introducing Information Technology tools.

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he State of Bihar, a land of Buddha with its rich heritage and culture having an area 94,163.00 sq. km. and population of 8,28,78,796, cannot afford to remain behind and become a loser insofar as the embracing of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is concerned particularly when India is itself in the grip of an IT revolution. The National Informatics Centre (under the Ministry of Information Technology) established its Bihar Unit at Patna in 1988.

Ever since inception, NIC has been moving in a planned way towards promoting computer culture and undertaking various computerisation programmes in different State Government Departments by introducing IT tools invariably.

NIC Bihar State Unit (NIC BSU) has already completed 16 years of service in the State of Bihar during which it has provided support to the maximum | February 2006

possible user departments including State Governmentt as well as Central Government and built up substantial socio-economic databases that are related to identify 27 priority sectors. The activities of NIC in the state has increased manifold over the years with the augment in pressure from the new user departments spanned in its 38 districts after its bifurcation on 15 th November 2001 following the creation of the State of Jharkhand.

Major projects since inception Commercial Taxes Department The Finance (Commercial Tax) department plays a vital role in the physical arrangement of decentralised tax collection throughout the State. NIC has developed comprehensive software ‘STAMINA’ (Sales Tax Administration Management Information Network Aided) to monitor the fund flow, defaulters’ list,

reminder letters, cases monitoring etc. The State government is working out on an ambitious program to monitor the revenue receipts through the network. The Software has been into operation in the seven circles of Bihar. The software packages have been designed and developed in ORACLE 8i and Developer 2000. The Software is being effectively used for monitoring of tax compliance of dealers, estimation of tax base and the revenue potential of the department. “It has thus far created additional revenue to the tune of Rs. 50 crores and has the potential to create hundreds of crores of additional revenue for the department,” says Sudhir Kumar, former Commissioner & Secretary, Government of Bihar.

The STAMINA software has been stabilised to provide the necessary inputs to TACKIS (Tax Compliance Knowledge Information System) software, a new Software solution for macro level analysis 35

REGIONAL FOCUS BIHAR

of Sales Taxation developed at Commercial Taxes Headquarters to monitor the distribution network of companies within the state and to track down defaulter dealers regarding tax compliance. The result is encouraging and additional revenue of worth Rs 337 crores (approx) has been generated in a special drive, which resulted in the dealers being compelled to deposit their tax and dues thereby effecting an indirect impact of hundreds of crores on statewide business.

The combination of STAMINA and TACKIS software has been perceived by the Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, as an effective mode in Sales Tax Administration.

Cooperative Bank computerisation NIC Bihar State Unit has developed and implemented Banking Software ‘COIN’ (Cooperative Banking in Place) for the Bihar State Cooperative Bank. The software helps banks to serve more customers efficiently with existing manpower resources. It keeps efficient tracking of agricultural and nonagricultural loans that happen to be the core activity of the Bank. The platform used is the SQL Server and VB6. Besides numerous unique features embedded in the software package, the highlight of the COIN is that for the first time in the country MICR clearing of claques is done through this application.

The then Chief Minister of Bihar Rabri Devi inaugurated the Bihar’s first fully Computerised Cooperative Bank on the 22nd May 2003. The COIN is being presently implemented at the Bankipur branch of the State Cooperative Bank.

Bihar State Electricity Board computerisation Efficient functioning of the power sector is necessary to sustain the economic growth of any state. In Bihar, the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) is the sole agency for all types of work related to power generation, transmission and its distribution across the state. Being a capital-intensive project, regular and accurate billing and timely collection of revenue is also necessary to keep the cash flow in proper shape, and is the focus of this project.

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As such, the BSEB decided to introduce ‘RACE’ (Revenue Administration through Computerised Energy billing system), a web-enabled software package that deals with the consumers’ billing system.

The package is in operation at three divisions in Patna. The IVR facility is also provided at the Kankarbagh Division where consumers can get the answers on their billings.

Recently, the NIC designed, developed and implemented a website for the BSEB (http://bseb.bih.nic.in). The Project cost is around Rs 13.7 crore. The Revenue Manager has been developed on ORACLE RDBMS and Developer 2000.

School Education project Bihar has been provided with a fund of Rs. 15.91 crore towards introduction of Information Technology for the students, studying in classes 8th to 12th. This fund is to create/ expand/ enhance Information Technology based infrastructure in the Secondary/ Higher Secondary schools of the state with special emphasis on the fact that no district should be left untouched.

Altogether 37 district schools have been identified for the implementation of the project. For each district a sum of Rs. 43 lakh has been allocated. In the first phase of implementation 15 districts have been covered while the implementation process for the remaining 22 districts is underway.

High Court computerisation This is an area where NIC Bihar State Unit has got major success and become an example for other High Courts in the country. The cause list preparation, AO filing etc., are the problem areas where computerisation has provided an effective solution. Many useful training sessions are conducted for the benefit of High Court officials. Patna High Court was computerised in the year 1990-91 and achieved the distinction of being the first

High Court in India where computerisation was done. This exercise was extended gradually at the Lower Courts too.

Presently, Indian Law Reports - Patna Series of approx. 200 pages is also

complied and published regularly under the technical support of NIC Bihar State Unit.

Recently, Video Conferencing (VC)based Public Justice for the Undertrials conducted in Bihar created a history in the judiciary system where VC facility was extended from Beur Jail to Civil Court and more than 100 undertrials were released after recording their statements of facts.

This has brought a reform in the Judiciary system and expedited the administration of justice. A proposal for VC facilities for all Jails and respective Civil Courts has been prepared by NIC and submitted to the apex body for subsequent action.

Patna High Court also started “e-Bail System” as the effective and efficient way of passing bail orders to various districts.

It is considered as a paradigm shift in the dispensation of Criminal Justice and is a prelude to e-Court.

Land Record computerisation Land Record Computerisation “BhuAbhilekh” Software has been designed and developed. Buxar and Nalanda districts have taken a lead as far as land record data entry work is concerned.

Chalu-Khatiyan entry has taken momentum in districts like Bhagalpur, Motihari, Bhojpur, Siwan, Jehanabad, Darbhanga and Bhabhua. The ‘BhuAbhilekh’ software facilitates Land Holders Information, Land Detail Information, Annual Demand and Collection, Online Land Transfer and www.egovonline.net |

REGIONAL FOCUS BIHAR

Mutation. It also generates all relevant reports like Chalu-Khatiyan, Khesra Panji and Khata Pustika alongwith RoR. Online Mutation has been started in Buxar Anchal from August 2002. Nalanda is going to be the first district to bring all land record related data on computer. Presently, the data entry work has been started in 22 districts.

Apart from this the NIC BSU has also designed, developed and implemented several software packages such as the Petition Monitoring System, Computerisation of Elementary Education in Bihar, Rural Development related Scheme Monitoring, Public Distribution System, Surplus Ceiling Land Projects etc.

Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) A website for Bihar State Tourist Development Corporation (BSTDC) has been designed and developed to provide crucial information to the tourists about the sites and routes across the state and how to reach a particular spot.

It is rich in graphical contents and illustrations that exhibit the potential of different tourist spots. Online booking software for Transportation and Hotel has also been prepared. The website provides facilities for a person to book a room and make payment from any part of the world.

NIC Transport - NICTRAN NIC has successfully implemented the computerisation programme of the State Transport Department and developed a package NICTRAN (NIC Transport), which takes care of Tax Collection, registration, renewal of licenses etc. The package has made the entire process of Revenue Collection very fast, easy and convincing to the taxpayers. Presently, five District Transport Offices (DTOs) have been fully computerised after the bifurcation of Bihar. While, the remaining DTOs would be computerised soon.

Finance computerisation The Budget 2001-2002 was prepared through an innovative computerisation technique, which resulted in saving of Rs. 40 lakh to the State exchequer. It was also released on a CD-ROM to facilitate the users in micro level planning and analysis. | February 2006

District Treasuries of Bihar were computerised in a phase manner through TRAMSNIC (Treasury Account Management System). Thirty-seven district treasuries were taken in the purview of the computerisation programme. In Bihar, all districts including the Sachivalay (Secretariat) Treasury have already been computerised. For the current financial year sub-treasuries would be taken up for the computerisation plan, and the work is currently underway.

‘Bhabisyanidhi’ - GPF computerisation The Directorate of GPF, Government of Bihar, deals with almost 3,00,000 state government employees for the maintenance of their GPF subscriptions, loans, withdrawals and refunds. NIC has initiated the computerisation programme for the Patna District office comprising of 60,000 employees. The software package has been successfully designed, developed and implemented in Patna in ORACLE RDBMS with Developer 2000.

Seeing the success of the GPF Directorate computerisation, state government is showing keen interest in extending the computerisation programme to all the districts.

Election Confidential –ELECON Designed by the NIC BSU, ELECON (Election Confidential) is a software package for fulfilling the MIS requirements of the District Administration during Parliamentary and Legislative elections.

ELECON has the ability to initialise itself, generate its own database files, and to create its own data-entry screens based on local requirements.

Urban Basic Services for Poor (UBSP) The UBSP scheme was put into operation by the Urban Development Department, Government of Bihar. The project is centrally sponsored scheme financed by UNICEF and executed by NIC BSU. The main objective of the project is to improve the overall living condition of the slum pockets of the cities in Bihar. NIC is engaged in generating various MIS and GIS based reports to monitor the lifestyle of slum dwellers vis-à-vis their existing environment. The Project is worth Rs.

66.06 lakh, and has been implemented in the Gaya District as a pilot project.

Computerisation of statewide Registration Offices under Registration Department, Governmentt of Bihar – SCORE SCORE (System for Computerised Registration) has been designed and developed to simplify the registration process for the registry offices, accountability as well as transparency of the registered deeds. The features of SCORE include online capture of details of a Deed, identifier, auto-valuation of the property(s) based on the Minimum Value Register (MVR) requisite criteria; autocalculation of required stamp duty, additional Stamp duty, registration and other fees; Photo captures of parties, identifier; fingerprints capture of parties and identifier; generation and printing of all endorsements, receipt, memo of presentation, and final registration endorsement. SCORE has been presently implemented as a pilot project at Registration Office, Patna. Ever since its implementation, manual registration has been completely discontinued.

Launched on 5th September 2005, SCORE is being implemented on a BOT (Build, Own and Transfer) model. The project has been successful and is to be extended to few more districts and Sub-Registry Offices.

Bihar official website Bihar official website (http://bihar. nic.in)was inaugurated by the then Bihar Chief Minister Mrs. Rabri Devi on 14th August 2001. The website contains valuable information about Bihar, besides containing information on various State Government schemes for the downtrodden and economically backwards citizens.

Future e-Governance plan Recently, NIC BSU submitted a plan worth Rs. 7.75 crore for the improvement of overall IT infrastructure and implementation of e-Governance for Bihar to the Planning Commission, Government of India About the author: Nirmal Kishor Prasad is State Information Officer at National Informatics Centre (NIC), Bihar.

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REGIONAL FOCUS BIHAR

‘Bihar to emulate e-Seva, adopt e-Governance soon’

Sanjeev Kumar Sinha

Clearly, the State of Bihar is in the throes of adopting e-Governance soon. With the new Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the State has again become hopeful to see things moving at a fast pace. Currently, there is not much to showcase but Bihar would certainly like to emulate the most popular project e-Seva, which is easy to replicate, says Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Science & Technology, Government of Bihar, to Anuradha Dhar from egov.

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You have taken over as the new IT Secretary of Bihar in December 2005.

What are your plans in taking ahead e-Governance initiatives in Bihar?

I have done lot of work in Bihar earlier. In 1997-98, during my tenure as Director, Treasury, I got all the treasuries in Bihar computerised. Later, I also got the GPF (General Provident Fund) computerised, which is still being implemented in all the districts. These were my earlier initiatives.

I have recently joined. Lot of things need to be done, as you know much has not been done in Bihar. We have to start almost with a clean slate and so many things are on my priority list such as having a roadmap for e-Governance. We are already working with NIC, and the work has already been sub-contracted to Wipro. In the meantime, several departments are working on eGovernment initiatives. Commercial Taxes department has developed its own website. Registration Department has also done a lot of work and they have expanded to many of the field offices. Transport Department is already using the software.

I myself did some work on a pilot basis when I was Divisional Commissioner, Munger.

What are the key challenges you are facing to implement IT at the government level?

As far as government organisations are concerned, inertia is certainly there. Let me tell you what I have realised when recently I implemented one pilot project in Munger – Inter Office Communication.

Suppose my office is to send letters to different Collectors. The other side was expected to see that the letter has been received and they were supposed to enter the date of receipt and then my office would come to know that this letter has been received. But there is lot of inertia in entering the data including from my office and that of the recipient’s. I want to

remove this inertia. If data needs to be entered then the employee thinks that this is an extra job and that he/she is not paid for this. They simply think that this would become permanent when done regularly.

The other difficulty is that they do not know the entire technicalities. They would think that if some mistake is done then tomorrow they might be penalised or may face problems of other kinds. We need to remove this fear from their mind, and get them trained and motivated. There is also a need to pay them some extra remuneration because if we try to involve any private agency we have to pay them in any case. They are the custodians of the data. They are the custodians of the files. They will not part with the data. Now they say that if we give that file or letter to them then where is the guarantee that we will get them back. Now this is a matter of concern and their apprehension is valid because they say that the information is confidential and it would be difficult for them to part with. So we have to come up with some solution that may work. This is the phase that I consider them as the starting stumbling block, and for that I have already taken some initiative and trying to train all the employees up to Class III because they are the key players.

In my opinion e-Government cannot be implemented until and unless you have a backend for it. This will make it strong because what is happening that we are basically jumping to the top of the hill without making the foundation strong.

Creating a website is the simplest thing to do in e-Government. The most important thing is to ensure that the website has a proper system and data should be appropriate, adequate, accurate and up-to-date. Only then this should be treated as permanent and final. Until and unless we reach that stage there would not be any value of the data. I have already instructed my department on how to use email accounts. Currently, we do www.egovonline.net |

REGIONAL FOCUS BIHAR

not have infrastructure to provide email account to all the employees. I have requested NIC to provide the available infrastructure and create email account of all employees. I am planning to bring this into effect soon.

What about capacity building and training of the employees?

I am also trying to make all employees net savvy so that the objective of e-Government is achieved easily and effectively. I have already started working in this direction. We have started to train employees in using email and providing them computers. We will have training of trainers. From each department at least two or three employees would be trained as to how to use computers, and then they will in turn train other colleagues. That is how we are going to cover the entire Secretariat. Then we will go to the field access. For field access we will have Deputy Collectors who will be imparted training, and later on would similarly train others. We have already spent Rs. 50 lakhs for the training of employees.

When do you expect Bihar e-Governance roadmap to be there?

I do not know at this point of time because we are on the verge of signing an agreement and then this will take about 3-

4 months, which will depend upon the efficiency.

What kind of political buy-in is there for e-Government projects in Bihar?

Right now, everybody is keen and wants that something should be done immediately. Recently, there was an NRI meet and a lot of demand made from them.

They want an interaction with the government easily and on a frequent basis.

We are going to launch a website for NRIs as well. This would be later extended to other investors.

What is the allocated budget for eGovernment in Bihar?

It is about Rs. 48 crore at present. This is just to start with. As we move on we will get more and more funds.

Keeping in mind the strengths of Bihar, are you planning to take e-Government initiatives in some specific departments, which would further accentuate them?

I am basically in touch with agriculture workforce and specialised artisans. There is scope for tourism. I do have some idea but am still yet to get government’s approval. However, I have instructed departments to publicise this and get advertisements published in Newspapers.

Currently, there are thousands of unemployed waiting to get the right

opportunity and avail jobs. Through eGovernance, the State government can help them through the website to find the right kind of job. The government can actually facilitate this, as this would be quite easy. My idea is to create a format and place the inputs. Either you invite them to your offices and get the data captured or engage some private agency and get everything captured, process the data, and then map that individual. This would enable to know that the particular individual is fit for a particular job. In this way the employability of the individual would be increased through right assessment and he/she would be able to get the right kind of job.

Is agriculture department also implementing any e-Governance project right now for farmers?

Right now, nothing is being done regarding this but we do have some plans.

At some stage, projects would surely be implemented.

Any specific model, which you would like to showcase as part of your successful endeavour?

One project that is very popular is e-Seva, which is something easy to replicate. We would like to emulate this in Bihar as well for making available various kinds of services to the public.

e-Government Grants Program of the Development Gateway Foundation The Development Gateway Foundation’s e-Government Grants Program provides a mechanism for the rapid implementation of locally-driven and scalable e-government initiatives in developing countries. The steering committee includes representatives from the Government of Italy and the World Bank. They are particularly interested in the areas of procurement, accounting, statistics and international aid management. It provides a framework for rapid deployment of e-Government projects within national e-Government strategies, delivers immediate operational value for partner governments, provides donors and recipients with low-risk test vehicle for | February 2006

large-scale initiatives and its collaborative approach allows additional co-funders to join.

The objectives of the program are to: • Increase transparency and efficiency in government operations • Enhance the quality and effectiveness of governance • Stimulate social and economic growth

Till date grants has been made to Government Electronic Network (GovNet) Pilot Project, which has connected 15 public administrative entities in Maputo, Mozambique, for improved internal operations and better service to citizens and Land Information Management System, to digitize land records in Mozambique. Three eProcurement projects in the Middle East and North Africa were launched in 2005 and many other projects are in the process of review.

For details - http:// egovernment.developmentgateway.org/ For more information contact Pietro Ferrari Bravo at pferraribravo@dgfoundation.org 39

COUNTRY FOCUS BAHRAIN

Bahrain eVisa Emirates go gungho over ePassage Mark Broomhead

The eVisa (electronic Visa) system in the Kingdom of Bahrain is an online method for travellers to Bahrain and local sponsors to find information on visas, securely apply and pay for King of Bahrain Hamad bin Essa Al-Khalifa

eVisas, and track the progress of their eVisa application. The eVisa system was recently chosen for local, regional and global eContent awards by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

T

he General Directorate of Nationalities, Passports and Residence (GDNPR) is responsible for managing immigration procedures through Ports of Entry – land, sea and air – for the Kingdom of Bahrain, and for contributing to government efforts to support tourism, trade and national security. In 2003, GDNPR engaged SITA Inc. to deliver an eBorders solution to further the objectives of GDNPR’s Strategic Plan. The eBorders project is aimed to give better information to GDNPR for decision-making, while making it easier for genuine travellers to enter Bahrain.

The eBorders project was also aligned with the e-Government strategy for the Kingdom of Bahrain, where GDNPR has stated objectives including progress to an online presence allowing customers to interact and transact online, providing customer-focused services, systems and processes, eliminating manual application

40

forms and utilizing workflow to make back-office business processes more efficient and encouraging electronic payment.

The eBorders project included an eVisa system, which went live as a Proof of Concept in May 2004. This system was the first in the Middle East and one of the first of its kind in the world. The Proof of Concept was migrated to a full system in November 2004.

The eVisa system The eVisa system (www.evisa.gov.bh) is a secure online method allowing customers to apply and pay for visas for entry into the Kingdom of Bahrain. In addition, the system is a workflow-driven visa-vetting tool for GDNPR back-office staff. The functional part of the eVisa system, being the data capture, processing and display, is built with Java Server Pages (JSPs), processed by a Tomcat server.

Supporting the JSPs are programme modules, written in Java, where the bulk of the processing is done.

There are a variety of eVisas available through the eVisa system, and these can be separated into two categories – sponsored and unsponsored. Sponsored eVisas require a Bahraini company to register online before receiving usernames and passwords for allowing nominated company users to make eVisa applications. Whenever the sponsors logon they will only see the visas they are eligible to apply for. This is governed by the type of organisation.

Most eVisas are electronic versions About the author: Mark Broomhead was eBorders Project Manager for GDNPR until the end of 2005 and is a member of the Project Management Institute, Arabian Gulf Chapter. He is currently a Project Manager with SITA.

www.egovonline.net |

COUNTRY FOCUS BAHRAIN

www.evisa.gov.bh

of existing manual visas, the main differences being the method of application, which is over the Internet rather than a manual application form hand-delivered to GDNPR headquarters.

The online application form does not require superfluous data to make data entry easy for the applicant, supporting documents such as passport copies, which are only needed in exceptional cases for eVisa applications and the authoritative record of the visa is in GDNPR’s computer system and not physically endorsed in a passport until the passenger arrives in Bahrain.

Printouts can be obtained from the eVisa system for reference purposes if required.

Registered users of the system are generally corporate sponsors such as hotels, travel agencies and airlines, who apply for eVisas for their guests and customers, and also include government entities and the system’s biggest user, Bahrain International Circuit (BIC). There is a major event at BIC on average every few months, including the Formula 1, and thus the BIC therefore considerably saves time in using the eVisa system instead of filling out manual application forms.

However, certain groups of people without a Bahraini sponsor can apply for Unsponsored eVisas. Those applying for Unsponsored eVisas are not required to register as a user of the website.

A substantial business analysis exercise was carried out with visa subject matter experts within GDNPR to create a repository of business rules relating to | February 2006

visa types and their conditions. This repository, which covers all visa types – manual visas as well as electronic visas, and sponsored and non-sponsored visas, can be accessed by the eVisa website so that individual travellers are able to easily check as to which visas they are eligible for and the available options for obtaining this visa from the eVisa homepage. The conditions and fees are also made available. The business rules in this way are thus made much more accessible and explicit for registered and non-registered users.

the traveller’s details are already in the system thereby removing the need for immigration staff to carry out any data entry.

The eVisa system also provides benefits to registered Bahraini sponsors.

These benefits include One-time on-line registration; Visas can be applied for over the Internet outside of government hours, and without physically travelling to GDNPR; Streamlined and simplified application and payment process; and, Tracking and reporting facility on applications made by the sponsor is available.

However, benefits are not restricted to customers. The eVisa system allows GDNPR to introduce new visa types easily and quickly, such as during the Formula 1 events. Also, the visa officer has complete and clear information to base the visa decision on since all applicants fill out online forms that are validated, which may however sometimes found lacking in a manual handwritten visa application form.

The online form is flexible because fields can be added and removed as and whenever required, depending on the visa type.

Organisational impacts In order to process eVisas and answering queries on the system a dedicated

The eVisa system provides benefits to registered Bahraini sponsors. These benefits include One-time online registration; Visas can be applied for over the Internet outside of government hours, and without physically travelling to GDNPR; Streamlined and simplified application and payment process; and, Tracking and reporting facility on applications.

System benefits Unsponsored eVisas are an alternative to the manual visas that can be obtained by certain nationalities on arrival at a Port of Entry. For travellers eligible for unsponsored eVisas, there are following advantages: Visas can be applied for, and progress checked, over the Internet at any time; Quicker processing at Bahrain’s Ports of Entry because the payment is made online before travelling, and because

specialist centre was set up with GDNPR visa and helpdesk staff who could be contacted during working hours by phone, fax or email. However, the preferred method of communication is email due to its flexibility and particular attention was given to answering emails promptly so that customers did not feel that their email was going into a ‘black hole’. This organisational change was specifically intended to encourage users and give 41

COUNTRY FOCUS BAHRAIN

Overview of eVisa Application Process them confidence in carrying out their transactions online.

The approach to implementing the eVisa was first to use a Proof of Concept, which was a fully-functional system, but with limited low-risk visa types and no access to the business rules repository.

This gave GDNPR staff an opportunity to become familiar with the new way of carrying out their job, and for the project team to plan better for the implementation of the full system. This ensured that the eVisa system evolved at a manageable pace without compromising quality of service to customers, as opposed to a ‘big bang’ approach.

The eVisa lifecycle On the visa officer’s workflow the application is instantly shown whenever an applicant applies and pays for an eVisa application. Certain data are retrieved from the GNDPR mainframe using MQSeries while viewing the application on the eVisa system, and eVisa accordingly applies business rules to show the status of the applicant record in the mainframe. Later, an email is automatically sent to the applicant with the visa record being created on the mainframe using MQSeries again after the approval of the application on the eVisa system. The visa details are thus made available on the mainframe to the Ports of Entry officer when 42

the traveller arrives and presents the passport.

The eVisa system, however, is not the authoritative record of the visa created even though it acts as a mechanism for receiving and approving visa applications. As such, the authoritative record of the visa remains with the legacy system.

The use of MQSeries to create the eVisa on the legacy system means that the GDNPR staffs do not carry out any data entry. Apart from saving time, this also means that the responsibility is on the customer to ensure that the passport details are entered correctly failing which problems might occur at the immigration counter.

The entire session is 128-bit encrypted to protect personal data, from when an application is started, through the payment procedure to finally allocation of reference number. All sessions involving the checking of the progress of a visa application are also encrypted just in the same way as the sessions of registered users.

The payment is handled through the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) payment gateway. However, outsourcing this responsibility to an experienced third party only meant that GDNPR did not have to develop the complex payment gateway requirements, and while the applicant is

aware of the handover to the BBK gateway and back, the process is seamless and uncomplicated.

There is no physical endorsement of the visa, such as a stamp in the passport.

The applicant or sponsor however can print out details relating to the visa approval for reference when travelling.

The airlines were duly informed and advised that the Bahrain government had introduced an electronic visa so that passengers were not held up during checkin time.

Future plans GDNPR, which won local, regional and global awards from WSIS for eContent in 2005, has a challenge to make the eVisa system even better in 2006.

Enhancements planned for eVisa include introducing more eVisa types and visa extensions that are currently only available manually; integrating with other government systems, leveraging off eVisa workflow capabilities; integrating with the other eBorders sub-systems to build a more complete picture of a traveller; and, involving Bahrain embassies to reach a wider audience overseas.

Queries regarding eVisa can be directed to Mr Thabet Al-Sharoogi, GDNPR Manager Vetting and Approval. alshrooqit@gdnpr.gov.bh.

www.egovonline.net |

EVENT DIARY

Health-FarmIT seminar

Need to integrate health, agriculture and technology domains

N

ational e-Governance Seminar ‘Health-Farm IT’ was held at Hotel Taj, Hyderabad (Indian city in the state of Andhra Pradesh) on the 12th January 2006. Mr. P. Raghuveer, IFS Additional Secretary (egov), Government of Andhra Pradesh, gave a brief introduction about the seminar, its purpose and theme. In his Keynote address Prof. Raj Reddy, Carnegie Mellon University, USA, empha-sised on the role of Information Techno- logy (IT) in agriculture and health care.

Inaugural session was followed by paper presentations by eminent experts from all over India on the twin topics: IT in Farm Sector and IT in Health Sector.

Mr. Vikas Nath, Digital Governance, Geneva and Ranjan Dwivedi, UNIAIDS, New Delhi moderated the sessions.

Session on ICT and Agriculture sector The major issues discussed in the session on ICT and its role in agriculture sector are as follows: • ‘AGMARKET’, the practice of market led agriculture in India, was discussed. Here inter-linkages and intralinkages offering diffusion of ICT for sustainable development right from grassroots level was reiterated.

• ‘Knowledge Empowerment of Agriculture through ICT’ was deliberated through some exemplary case studies such as KISSAN-Kerela.

• ‘E-Sagu’ - meaning e-cultivation, was elaborated as a three-tier system with farmers as end users.

Session on ICT and Health sector The major issues discussed in the session on ICT and its role in health are: • National Initiatives in Healthcare using ICT, the promises of telemedicine and the achievements of Media Lab Asia projects were informed. | February 2006

•

•

‘Technology Enabling Rural Health Care’ with emphasis on standardisation of information for effective transmission of data and information, integration of initiatives and three Bs (Biology, Broadband and Bytes) were discussed.

Connectivity was termed as the ‘lifeblood of telemedicine’.

Panel discussion: ‘Where to go from here’ The seminar concluded with the panel discussion on ‘Where to go from here’.

The panelists included: Dr. S.R. Rao, Gopikrishnan, Vikas Nath, Ranjan Dwivedi, P. Raghuveer and Sukhbilas Barman. The role of government as public service provider and public involvement in the process was emphasized.

The important point that came up in the panel discussion was regarding the variation that is there in the value factor in agriculture sector. A lot of employment is actually disguised employment in the agriculture sector, which needs to be taken care of. ICT can be utilized to create more

employment opportunities in the developing countries like India. The problem lies in lack of information- gap between projects and beneficiaries.

Panelists shared their information and knowledge in health and agriculture sectors. They stressed on integration of all the domains - health agriculture and technology. Creation, dissemination and application of knowledge in this direction was emphasised.

An interesting discussion by the participants followed the panel discussion. The issues raised by them included social sector initiatives, target group identification, initiatives taken so far for preventing the diseases like Diabetes, centralization and decentralization of the activities, customization of software, emphasis on HIV/AIDS and GIS application in the field of land resource and natural resource information.

In the concluding remarks the seminar was described as the beginning of the discussion, and not an end.

Saswati Paik 43

EVENT DIARY

Map India 2006 A special focus on ‘Enhancing Land Registration and Cadastre for Economic Growth in India’

A

three-day conference on ‘Map India 2006’ on the theme ‘Finding mainstream, High resolution imaging’ took place at New Delhi from January 30 to February 1. Jointly organised by Centre for Science Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) and Survey of India, the conference drew scores of national and international experts hailing from countries such as Norway, Nepal, Scotland, Hungary, Sweden, UK, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, USA, Dubai etc., besides India.

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology, inaugurated the conference. Stressing that Geospatial Information (Mapping) tools have become part of life worldwide and were extremely important in utility and infrastructure management, Sibal said, “Geospatial activities in India would definitely get a much-required boost with the release of guidelines and new mapping policy that would augment and expedite the implementation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), an initiative jointly undertaken by Department of Science and Technology and Department of Space, intended to facilitate the availability of geospatial data like roads, schools, health centres, tourism spots etc.

The new National Map Policy (NMP) would make available two types of maps the Defence Series Maps (DSM) and the Open Series Map (OSM) meant to cater to civilian requirements. I hope that the mapping policy and guidelines would allow industry and individuals to use entire country’s digital maps for the sake of national growth.”

Dr M. P. Narayanan, President, CSDMS, in his welcome address pointed out that with the worldwide advancement in computer technology the utilisation of mapping technology as such has increased manifold. It is not limited to 44

traditional flat representation of the earth surface but is related to technologies like Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Remote Sensing, which are new subjects for the business and technology schools in India. It is being used for various utility managements including telecom, business application, infrastructure management, defence, natural resource and disaster management, forestry conservation, power and financial services. Dr. Narayanan, disappointingly, exclaimed, “Worldwide nobody moves out of houses without studying a map. However, in India one can find people sitting in cars standing on the middle of the road asking for location details,” and lamented, “The central and state governments in India spent more than Rs 2000 crore annually on developing maps but they were not available to industry, municipalities and individual users for various utilities due to age old mapping policy.”

Notably though, the usage of GIS is vital for utility and infrastructure management including laying of roads, telecommunication, irrigation, sewage and water system, stopping encroachments, pollution control, street lights, gas pipes, land ownership, mapping areas for selection to put up hazardous industries and wastes, locating mining areas, monitoring epidemic areas and vector borne diseases including malaria, leprosy control, family planning, marketing of new products, ambulance service management and creating of health atlas.

The second day of ‘Map India 2006’ began with the inauguration of ‘International Conference on Enhancing Land Registration and Cadastre for Economic Growth in India’. Maj. Gen. M. Gopal Rao, Surveyor General of India, inaugurated the conference, which was jointly organised by FIG Commission 7, GIS Development and CSDMS. www.egovonline.net |

EVENT DIARY

Expressing dismay over the fact that violation of land laws had become the order of the day and need to be urgently stopped, Rao said, “Survey of India wants to get into partnership with State governments for effective management of land records and land registration.”

The importance of land registry is now being acknowledged by majority of countries, both developing and the developed. However, there are not too many land registration and cadastre in most of the countries particularly the developing ones where the need for providing security for land registration is of paramount importance. “Process of sustainable management requires sustainable infrastructure. State governments have to find new solutions.

Proper registration of land and properties is essential for developing countries,” commented Dr. Andras Ossko, Vice Chair, FIG Commission 7, and Department Head, Budapest Land Office, Hungary, in his guest address.

Dr. V. Sampath, DG, National Institute for Rural Development, explained about the initiatives being taken by the Government of India in the area of Cadastral Mapping. Sampath spoke on the theme ‘Cadastral Mapping: Government of India initiatives’. There is an urgent requirement for comprehensive land management. Unless the State governments are involved the task for effective implementation of land registration and management would not be fully achieved. “There should be resurvey and resettlement assessment once in three decades, which is lacking and responsible for the present anarchic situation in India. Proper and correct maintenance of land records is therefore a must. There is a need for all land records to be computerised and regularly updated. Efforts for integration of land records and registration be made. The application of GIS and LIS techniques can advance things optimally,” Sampath said.

The Government of India has launched the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) under which computerisation of land records have been earnestly taken up. Already, 40% of district data centres have come into existence, while 3,236 talukas covered. The States of Karnataka, | February 2006

Highlights • • • • • • • • • • •

Make land information accessible Strategy development a key issue Low transaction costs a must Implementation of low cost surveying and mapping systems Evolving of proper data modelling and process design Risk management security Urgent innovations required Citizens participation and involvement Development of Public Private Partnerships Separate Court for trial of land disputes Upgrade reference system

Goa, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have succeeded in computerisation of land records, where landowners particularly farmers have expressed satisfaction over the computerisation process. However, in Grade III states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram etc., the process is slow. “The problem can be effectively addressed if the issue of resurvey and resettlement is redressed; arriving at clear and uptodate Titles by resorting to Quick Dispute Resolution Tribunals; enormous capacity building of traditional revenue and survey building mechanisms; proper legislative framework to be in place; and, evolving of uniform common laws across states,” suggested Sampath.

In his keynote address, Dr. P. L. Sanjeeva Reddy, Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), exclaimed that not much headway has been made in land reforms regime while the very access to land by the poor remains a problematic issue crucial to social justice. Particularly, livelihood systems are at stake in rural areas. Citing that the rise of Japan after World War II was on the basis of land reforms, Reddy said, “Computerisation of land records is extremely vital.

Modernising data collection and storage is a must to enable users a cost-effective approach. Strengthening of survey and printing of map is essential, besides improving accuracy of survey and strengthening of revenue machinery at village level involving panchayats is of

utmost importance,” and added, “If a man owns land; the land owns man.”

A Panel Discussion on Land Registration and Taxation in India also took place in which Revenue Secretaries from various states participated. In his introductory presentation on ‘Removing barriers of land markets’, Dr. Ravi Gupta, Director, CSDMS, placed the agenda before the participants saying that the key issues at present include Housing for All, Access to Justice, Access to Legal Land, Corruption and Paying of Bribes, and Low Access to Credit to the Rural Population.

Dr. Gupta commented, “On an average 1500 deaths were taking place annually due to land disputes. If Online Cadastral System programs are effectively implemented, US$72bn would hopefully by saved.”

National and international experts, who presented their papers and presentations, among others include Kjell Einar Aadnevik, Norwegian Survey and Cadastre Authority; P. P. Oli, Principal, Himalayan College of Geomatic Engineering and Land Resources Management, Nepal; Eng. Marwan Ahmad bin Ghalita, Technical Administration Director Land Department, Government of Dubai; Dave Sharp, Director of International Consultancy, Registers of Scotland; Tommy Osterberg, Technical Director, Swedesurvey, Sweden; Puthiyavalappil Rajakeshar, Survey of India, Karnataka; Jonathan Atkey, Head Strategy and Finance, HMLR London, UK; Guy Perkins, DLI, WA and ER Mapper, Australia; P. Sarangi, Director, Land Records, MORD; Vinod Agarwal, Commissioner, Survey and Settlements, Andhra Pradesh; Dr. D. R. Shukla, HOD (NIC); Christaan Lemmen, Kadaster/ITC, The Netherlands; Simon Wolfgan, Kampsax, USA; Dr. Arbind Tuladhar (ITC), The Netherlands; and, Dilsher S. Virk, UniTech, Canada.

The conference came to a close with the concluding remarks of Christaan Lemmen, who said that Land issue is part of a broader development policy and that only innovative institutional arrangement would be able to cope with increasing population and greater investment in land.

Danish A. Khan 45

EVENT DIARY

9th National Annual e-Governance conference

Actionable e-Governance at a snail’s pace!

The Department of Information Technology and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public grievances, Government of India (GoI) along with Department of Information Technology, Government of Kerala organized the ninth National Conference on e-Governance in Kochi from 2-4 February 2006. The theme of the conference was ‘Accelerating eGovernance: Collaborate, Replicate and Extend the Reach’. The previous one, which was hosted at Bhubaneshwar, focused on Capacity Building for eGovernance.

The three-day conference discussed various e-Governance projects and strategies in more than 40 presentations. The conference was inaugurated by Minister of Works, Dr. M.K Muneer and Brijesh Kumar, Secretary, Department of Information Technology delivered address in the inaugural session. National awards for excellence in e-Governance were also distributed during the conference. The conference saw participants mostly from government and Information Technology private companies.

In the formal inauguration, Dr. Muneer emphasized that Kerala has benefited a lot using IT and will continue to promote e-Governance initiatives in the state. He spoke about the FRIENDS project, which had enabled citizens to pay the bills of 1500 public utilities at a single window. He also announced that 46

with the support of World Bank funds, the state public works department (PWD) is planning to introduce satellite project management system in order to strengthen the engineering and public works in the state. He also said that the Kerala State IT Mission, the implementation agency for e-Governance projects, is in the process of rolling out the computersation programme to 1400 local bodies. So far, 34 government departments and 54 municipalities had been computerized in the state. The Vellanad panchayat in Thiruvanthapuram district and Thalikulam in Thrissur had become the first computerized gram panchayats.

Giving an overview on National e-Governance Plan, Brijesh Kumar also remarked that the theme of the conference is apt as the event aims to give an opportunity to share the success stories emanating from states.

According to PI Suvarathan, Addl. Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the government of India will shortly come out with mandatory benchmarks for the performance of government departments to make them more accountable and transparent. The government is also in the process of formulating a Public Service Law (PSL) for government officials, which will help to make them immune from political pressures. The draft of the PSL is being prepared by the administrative reforms department in collaboration with

the Ministry of Personnel and the Prime Minister’s Office. The draft is expected to be ready within two months and would be circulated for wider consultation. Among the highlights of the proposed draft was fixed tenures for various categories of public servants. Such a system would assure a reasonable tenure to officers to show performance and also protect them from indiscriminate transfers. In another major administrative reform, the Central government would notify by March-April this year www.egovonline.net |

EVENT DIARY

Awards for Exemplary Initiatives in e-Governance Category

Golden Icon

Silver Icon

Bronze Icon

Special Prize

Professional Excellence New Entrant in Process Professional Reengineering

HIMRIS - Himachal Pradesh Hyderabad First - AP

Koshvani - Maharashtra e-Nagarpalika Vejalpur - Gujarat

Dharitree - Assam HALRIS - Haryana

Golden ICON to Gail India

Exemplary Leadership and ICT Achievement

ASHA - A hope for Farm Prosperity - Assam

Putting ICT in the hands of Women - Datamation Foundation

Recruitment and Assessment Computerization

New Entrant

Kerala

Innovative Operations

Service Delivery

Professional

AISECT - Multi-Purpose Rural ICT Centres

IT@School - Kerala

Infinite PossibilitiesFrom Nadir to ZenithGovernment of Delhi

New Emtrant

Site Suitability for Water Harvesting - Andhra Pradesh

e-immunization Andhra Pradesh

Rural Health Call Center Andhra Pradesh

Professional

e-Pension: Himachal Pradesh

Unreserved Ticketing Result through .System - Indian Railways Binocular Haryana

New Entrants

Lokvani - Uttar Pradesh

Vahan - Jharkhand

Professional

E-Delivery of Tax Payers Income Tax

Khazane - Karnataka

Aarakshi - Online FIR Rajasthan Gramdoot Mission Maharashtra

Relevant observations

the benchmarks for the functioning of ten key departments such as health, education, public distribution and customs.

R. Chandrashekhar, Secretary e-Governance, Department of IT talked in detail about the Union Government’s ambitious plan to launch Community Service Centres in one lakh villages in the country. He informed that investment of about Rs 6,000 crore would be made in the project.

Other presentations from the government showcased State Wide Area Network (SWAN), Andhra Pradesh Broadband Network, Rural Technology Networks, e-Seva, e-Courts, Leveraging IT in Implementing Right to Information, Panchayat Portals, e-Readiness Assessment methodology. The event saw many interesting presentations from the private sector over the course of three days. Some of them focused on Open Standards, WiMax, m-Governance.

R.L. Bhatia, Governor, Kerala and E. T. Mohammed Basheer, Minister for Education, Kerala Government, addressed the closing session. | February 2006

•

Need for clear service goals, service levels and projectization

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Radical overhaul of procedures and change management needed to achieve service levels

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Standard bodies need to be set-up for standardization across various e-Government projects

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Need to use Private sector capabilities

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Need to replicate successful projects

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Need to identify capacity and build capacity

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Adopt IT to move towards accrual-based accounting

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Leverage mobile governance for accessing services

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Need for systematic assessment and evaluation of projects

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Need to implement disaster management systems

•

States to work for projects, goals, timelines and capacity gaps

Overall the 9th National e-Governance conference discussed very similar themes and initiatives to those what had been discussed last year in Bhubaneshwar. Same issues were reiterated and stressed over and over again. Though the progress made over the last year was highlighted but those were few. The conference saw less time for discussions and audience participation compared to last year. Nevertheless it provided a good platform to learn about some current key e-Government projects and their status, meet the implementers and build networks.

Anuradha Dhar 47

numbers 454% 368 is the rate of growth of Internet users in the Middle East region during the period 2000 to 2005.

10

years in prison and a AED200,000 (US$54,449.92) fine would now be the maximum penalty for committing cyber crimes in the UAE, according to the Cyber-Crime Law No. 2 of 2006.

$140 billion is the current estimate of the popular search engine Google, which is almost five times its value at flotation, and comfortably more than the like of CocaCola and Time Warner.

25% annually is the growth rate of terrorists websites, most of which are based in the US and terrorist organisations are recruiting from within the United States.

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million pages are there in the US’ .gov domain. This is amongst the largest contingent of government pages in the world with no other government coming close to it.

1,935 government websites were surveyed during June, July and August 2004. The survey showed 89% of websites having online publications, 62% having links to databases, 14% showing privacy policies and 8% presenting security policies.

1/3 of American Internet users surveyed in 2005 said that they go online just for fun rather than to check email, read news or use a search engine, a sharp increase from a year ago.

Source: 454% – http://allafrica.com/stories/200602090230.html 368 – http://colab.cim3.net/file/work/SICoP/2006-02-09/EGov%20Wiki.pdf 10 – http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snLAW_article100568.html $140 – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4598090.stm 1,935 – http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2004-05/04-020.html 1/3 – http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-0215T233907Z_01_N15241681_RTRUKOC_0_US-INTERNET-CONSUMERS.xml 25% – http://fifth.estate.rmit.edu.au/the-number-crunch-facts-on-online-hate.php

www.egovonline.net |

ABOUT TOWN

This section lists upcoming e-Government conferences, exhibitions, and other public events for the benefit of our readers.

7-8 March 2006

19 - 21 April 2006

6 - 9 June 2006

EGov Summit London, UK

Knowledge Management Conference (E-Gov) Washington DC USA

4th International Conference on Applied Cryptography and Network Security (ACNS’06) Singapore

http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/ gurteen.nsf/id/X000D3FFA/

http://acns2006.i2r.a-star.edu.sg

http://www.egov.worldtradeco.com/

8 - 9 March 2006 2006 Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo Ottawa, Canada http://gov.wowgao.com/

26 - 27 June 2006 19 - 22 April 2006 Eastern European e|Gov Days 2006 Prague (CZ)

8 - 11 March 2006 The 4th ACS/IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA-06) Dubai, UAE http://www.cs.utk.edu/aiccsa06

http://www.uni-koblenz.de/FB4/ Institutes/IWVI/AGVInf/Conferences/ eeegovdays2006

24 - 28 April 2006

E-Government Evolution 2006 Canberra, Australia

2nd International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies: from Theory to Applications - ICTTA’06 Damascus, Syria

http://www.iqpc.com/cgi-bin/templates/ singlecell.html?topic=592&event=8611

http://ictta.enst-bretagne.fr/ index.php?PAGE=callforpapers.php

28 - 29 March 2006

30-31 March 2006 European e-crime Congress 2006 London, UK http://www.e-crimecongress.org/ecrime2006/ website.asp

5 - 6 April 2006 local e-gov London EXPO 2006 Docklands London http://www.localegovnp.org/ default.asp?sID=1133363230094

10 - 13 April 2006 2nd International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST-2006) Portugal http://www.webist.org/cfp.htm

25 - 28 April 2006 Bangkok Thailand www.egovasia.net www.DLasia.csdms.in

27 - 28 April 2006

govNET Summit 2006 West Virginia USA http://www.govnetsummit.com/

http://www.cbs.dk/forskning_viden/ fakulteter_institutter_centre/institutter/ oekonomi/inf/h_jreboks/arrangementer/ 1151309100_icmb_conference_2006

26 – 29 June 2006 EEE’06- The 2006 International Conference on e-Business, Enterprise Information Systems, e-Government, and Outsourcing Monte Carlo Resort Las Vegas Nevada, USA http://www.world-academy-of-science.org/ worldcomp06/ws/EEE/index_html

12 - 13 July 2006 The European Conference on IT Management, Leadership and Governance Paris, France

ECEG 2006: 6th European Conference on e-Government Marburg Germany

http://academic-conferences.org/ecmlg/ ecmlg2006/ecmlg06-home.htm

http://www.academic-conferences.org/eceg/ eceg2006/eceg06-home.htm

The EURO mGOV 2006 Sussex University Brighton, UK

15 - 19 May 2006

www.icmg.mgovernment.org

Government Technology Conference West 2006 Sacramento, CA USA

9-11 April 2006

International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB) 2006 Copenhagen Denmark

http://www.govtech.net/gtc/index.php/ GTCWest2006

3 – 5 September 2006

4 – 8 September 2006 International EGOV conference 2006 Krakow (Poland) http://www.uni-koblenz.de/FB4/Institutes/ IWVI/AGVInf/Conferences/egov2006

Tell us about your event at info@egovonline.net | February 2006

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FACTS AND DATA

Fighting for freedom A major global survey by Freedom House, “Freedom in the World”, announced that the number of countries rated as Not Free has declined from 49 in 2004 to 45 for the year 2005, the lowest number of Not Free societies identified by the survey in over a decade.

Freedom in the World

The people of the Arab Middle East experienced a modest but potentially significant increase in political rights and civil liberties in 2005. On the whole, the state of freedom showed substantial improvement worldwide, with 27 countries and one territory registering gains and only 9 countries showing setbacks. The number of electoral democracies increased by three, from 119 to 122. This represents 64 percent of the world’s countries-the highest number in the survey’s 33-year history.

Of the four countries that registered an outright decline in status, the most significant was the Philippines. The decision to downgrade this country from Free to Partly Free was based on credible allegations of massive electoral fraud, corruption, and the government’s intimidation of elements in the political opposition. Nepal declined from Partly Free to Not Free due to a palace coup in which the king dissolved parliament

and declared a state of emergency. Thailand declined from Free to Partly Free because of a progressive weakening of opposition political parties and a lack of political competitiveness. Guyana declined from Free to Partly Free because of the growing influence of the illegal narcotics trade on the political system.

There are 45 states that are rated as Not Free, in which a broad range of freedoms are systematically denied. Among the Not Free countries, 8 states have been given the survey’s lowest rating of 7 for political rights and 7 for civil liberties. Cuba and North Korea are one-party Marxist-Leninist regimes.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are Central Asian countries ruled by dictators with roots in the Soviet period. Libya and Syria are Arab countries under the sway of secular dictatorships, while Sudan is under a leadership that has elements both of radical Islamism and of the traditional military junta. The remaining worst rated state is Burma, a tightly controlled military dictatorship.

Freedom and World Population

Global Trends in Freedom

Freedom by Region Year Under

Free

Partly Free

Not Free

Review

Countries

Countries

Countries

1975

40 (25%)

53 (34%)

65 (41%)

1985

56 (34%)

56 (34%)

55 (33%)

1995

76 (40%)

62 (32%)

53 (28%)

2005

89 (46%)

58 (30%)

45 (24%)

Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org

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www.egovonline.net |

23 - 25 August 2006 The Taj Palace, New Delhi

This is the common refrain people have when they talk about e-Government.

Perhaps its time to change your mind about it. Participate in egov Asia 2006, which is Asia's Largest Conference and Exhibition on e-Government. The dates are 26 - 28 April 2006. Forget it. At your own peril.

Nothing really happens in the Government!