The Need for ReForms: November 2006 Issue

Volume II issue 11, November 2006

ISSN 0973-161X

www.egovonline.net

COVER FEATURE eForms: Bridging paper-digital divide PAGE 9 Dubai e-Government Mobile Portal PAGE 29 SCORE: One-stop e-Registration of properties in Bihar PAGE 36 The e-Government magazine for Asia and the Middle East

The need for ReForms

d d A ON

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The first and only medium to reach top Government policy makers, implementers and industry leaders in Asia and Middle East egov is the only monthly print magazine on e-Government for Asia and Middle-East. It is an effort to cover public sector/industry requirements in planning and implementing e-Government initiatives and provide a holistic view of the developments and issues in the sector. The portal (www.egovonline.net) is engaging readers with the content of its magazine available for free and full access. It provides daily e-Government news, case studies and promotes academic and anecdotal discussion on wide-ranging issues pertaining to the use of information technologies for governance - a platform for user groups, researchers, implementers, NGOs, policy makers and administrators (from the government and the private sector).

Frequency: Monthly Print run = 15,000 Readership: 95,000 www.egovonline.net monthly hits: 6,58,512

Readership Profile A Government departments/ ministries B IT industry, Telecom Industries, Finance, PSUs and Banking sector C International agencies SDC, UNDP, ADB, IFC, World Bank etc.

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IN THIS ISSUE INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

COVER FEATURE

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e-Forms: Bridging paper-digital divide

17 Redefining the desktop experience

Madaswamy Moni and Pratibha Lokhande

13

Adobe: Providing form processing solution for governments

Interview: Michel Gambier General Manager-Information Worker Business Group, Microsoft Asia-Pacific

Santhanaswamy Angiah

16

e-Forms: Way forward REGION FOCUS: Orissa

Priya Sharma

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NEWS REVIEW

7 21 27 32 42

Asia

e-Sahayata: Efficient information and service delivery for citizens Susant Kumar Panda

Business

IN PRACTICE: SCORE

Middle East

36

India World

One-stop e-Registration of properties in Bihar Nirmal Kishor Prasad

COMMENTARY

39

Developing mechanism for Instant Electoral System Dhrupad Mathur

COUNTRY FOCUS: Dubai eGovernment

29

Providing 24×7 mobile services through innovative PPP Hisham Malak

REGULAR FEATURES

6 44 45 46

In Box Facts and Data numbers What’s On

Read all the articles online at www.egovonline.net | November 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 e-Government 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

•

•

•

•

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.

•

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 Calendar 2006-07 Solution Focus

Application Focus

October

Interoperability (Open Standards, Open Source Software)

Transport

November

eForms

Police

December

Information and Network Security

Passport Visa

January

Metadata and Data Standards

Income Tax

February

e-Governance Architecture

Courts

March

WiMAX

Posts

Have your daily cup of hot morning tea with hot ee--Government news!

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Log on to www.egovonline.net www.egovonline.net |

EDITORIAL Vol. II, Issue 11

November 2006

President Dr. M P Narayanan Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Sr. Assistant Editor Danish A. Khan Sr. Sub Editor Prachi Shirur Research Associate Sanjeev Kumar Shrivastav Marketing Gautam Navin Mobile: +91-9818125257 email: gautam@csdms.in Designed by Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web Zia Salahuddin Ramakant Sahu Circulation Lipika Dutta Editorial and marketing correspondence eGov G-4 Sector 39 NOIDA 201301, India Tel: +91 120 2502181-87 Fax: +91 120 2500060 Email: info@egovonline.net 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.

Forms: The need for ReForms Filling in forms is usually one of the most common and essential means for citizens to interact with government departments, agencies and other public sector bodies. Forms per se are quite important in the delivery of public services.

M. Moni and Pratibha Lokhande in their article ‘e-Forms: Bridging paper-digital divide’ point out that paper forms remain the primary data-gathering interface with the citizens for governments. Paper forms introduce rigidity, logistics burdens, hidden costs and time delays to critical business information flow. Also, handling large volume of forms often becomes impossible resulting in fragmented work processes that duplicate work, reduce productivity, add cost and drain resources. The role of e-Forms in this context therefore becomes crucial for the development of future e-Government. However, this depends on how the citizens perceive this. In fact, the way in which e-Forms have been designed could have an impact on citizens vis-à-vis public services delivery and the modernisation of the public sector. If the forms are badly designed, difficult to comprehend and complete, and onerous in demands, the citizens would tend to view the services as largely unresponsive and inaccessible. On the other hand, if forms are well designed and able to be handled easily then there would be fewer errors with reduction in administrative load, and considerable efficiency gains.

In India, conducting of national and state elections is quite cumbersome, marked with moments of tension and unease among the citizens. The existing voting system in the country has several lacunas. These include exorbitant costs, system not being foolproof and secure, low level of awareness among voters, and Election ID card not uniformly implemented. Dhrupad Mathur, in his article ‘Electoral sector reforms: Developing mechanism for Instant Electoral System’, has advocated alternative mechanisms.

The issue of land registration remains ticklish and taxing task as ever. In the State of Bihar, the system of manually copying of deeds in the registers has completely collapsed and utterly failed. There are about 20-25 lakh of documents still to be copied across the State. The backlog is about 7 to 8 years. Presenting as a best practice, Nirmal Kishor Prasad in his article in this issue has highlighted the design and development computerised system to provide one-stop non-stop registration of deeds blended with task accountability as well as process transparency.

As usual, we welcome readers’ feedback on this issue.

Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in

egov is published in collaboration with GIS Development (www.GISdevelopment.net) © Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2006 www.csdms.in

| November 2006

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IN BOX

Open Standards based e-Governance

Good effort Please refer to the news “Krishnagiri district administration initiates eGovernance project” posted on http:// www.egovonline.net/news/All_Comm ents.asp?newsid=5853 dated October 16.

Good effort by the admin people. Guess this is the beginning of effective system Rajkumar R., India rajkumar_kvr@yahoo.co.in

Implementing ‘Sakshat’ in India Please refer to the news “Sakshat, new eLearning programme launched in India” posted on http://www.egovonline.net/ news/All_Comments.asp?newsid=6216 dated October 31. Is this implemented anywhere yet? Or is there a sample design or prototype?

Bipin Prasad, USA bipin_prasad@yahoo.com

Please refer to the article “Open Standards based e-Governance” published in October 2006 issue of egov Magazine. This is an excellent article that enlightens us to the issues of Open technologies and for the need to adopt Open Standards for e-Governance. This article is a must read for all policy makers.

Chandrashekhar, India

Excellent article to go through. Provides very useful insights for all stakeholder groups in e-Governance.

Lovneesh Chanana, India lovneesh.chanana@gmail.com

Common Service Centres Common service Centre project proposed

by Government of India is also targeting setting up of kiosks to be operated on a franchisee-based model. In Kerala, it has already begun in Malappuram district and about 150 entrepreneurs are already

doing e-Pay and e-Krishi. Anyway it is a good sign. Competition means better facility on cheap rate to public and we should support the projects which are innovative.

V.R.Ajith Kumar, India ajith@keralaitmission.org

e-Governance impacts Gujarat Please refer to the article “e-Governance impacts Gujarat: Corruption reduced, tax revenues increase at interstate border checkposts” published in January 2006 issue of egov. This article gives me a lot of pleasure. In fact during my tenure as State Informatics Officer in Gujarat, I had taken the initiative of bridging the digital divide at the check posts. When I went to the CP near Shamlaji in Himmatnagar, I had gone to the counter and immediately some one pushed a 50-rupee note. I spent the whole day there along with my colleagues. This was at the Sales Tax Counter. I further probed why suddenly trucks disappeared after the drivers were asked to show proper papers. I had made them follow two trucks along with me and found that the driver’s licenses were retained by the owners. And this factor was overcome by giving money to the people at the Sales Tax. I also saw that the Transport Department man was lying on a cot and the trucks passing by would give money to a bearer. I came back to Ahmedabad 6

and insisted the then Sales Tax Commissioner Mr Jose and the Transport Commissioner Mr Arvind Agarwal to convene a joint meeting at the Check post and it was decided to implement a common software on a stand alone basis.

The NIC took responsibilities of providing the hardware and also the software. We

had also posted a person for at least a month for making the system comfortable for the people at the Offices there. Two months after the implementation, I again went to the CP and saw the Officials very happy as they said that they could recover their quota of funds in less than fifteen days. When I asked why they were not

raising more fund, they said that the truckers used a bye pass where there was no CP. I asked them if they had informed the Commissioner the answer was in the negative. When I returned back to Ahmedabad, I wrote a note to the Commissioner about this and immediately, he installed a mobile squad on the byepass. Ten days later, About 150 truckers gathered at the original checkpost and destroyed the computers, etc. This excited the then Chief Minister and the process of bridging the digital divided started. This process may also be followed by other States. Leakages are happening there. Thus there is a need to strengthen the checkposts and involving all stakeholders as a single window system.

Dr Subir Roy, India subir@wb.nic.in [Edior’s Note: This article appeared in the January 2006 issue of egov. The writer read this article on egov website http://egovonline.net/ and sent his comments on 13th October 2006.] www.egovonline.net |

A SIA e-Community centre in Philippines town opens Alicia town in the Philippines recently opened its e-Community centre aimed at providing access to citizens to a wide variety of services and opportunities using ICT. Napoleon S. Dy., Mayor of Alicia, said that the centre is a part of the National Computer Centre project in Cagayan Valley region. The centre has been specifically opened for Alicia residents seeking employment abroad. The centre would offer services such as Internet browsing and downloading, computer rental, Voice-OverInternet-Phone (VOIP), CD burning, desktop publishing, scanning, computer tutorial, email, photocopying and other computer works and activities.

Besides Alicia, all the barangays (villages) in Bulacan province would now have access to the Internet as part of the government’s e-

NEWS REVIEW Top e-Government award for Korea Korea bagged the top award for e-Governance system recently at the 7th International eGovernment Forum held in France. The 3-day event saw the participation of 45 countries.

Nations having the best records in the fields of e-Democracy, e-Public Participation and eGovernance are bestowed with the award. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs said that ever since 2001 eGovernance initiatives are being undertaken in the country. Korea intends to bridge the information gap between cities and regional villages, and improving communications between the metropolitan administration, citizens and businesses. The ministry said that currently 305 eGovernments (www.invil.org) are operating countrywide, with plans to increase the number to over 800.

Now, e-Tickets mandatory for Chinese airlines Governance initiative. Under the initiative called “Barangay Online Program”, initially computers have been distributed to 17 pilot barangays. There are plans to cover about 30 barangays in 2006, and the entire 569 barangays to be completed in 2007.

Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) Ver Pena has accused the government of going slow in the implementation of the e-Government projects. Pena said that there were no proposed e-Government projects on the pipeline, and that the biggest problem remained about how to spend the US$1bn allocated for e-Government programme. | November 2006

The China Air Transport Association (CATA) has made it mandatory for sellers to issue eTickets and instructed to stop providing paper tickets immediately. This is in accordance with International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s directive requiring its 261 member airlines to compulsorily begin issuing e-Tickets by 2007 end. The CATA directive would be currently

applicable to domestic flights. Foreigners intending to buy domestic tickets would also be issued e-Tickets upon furnishing their passports. However, special passengers like infants and those flying to small airports without automatic check-in machines would continue to use paper tickets.

Over 20 e-Services being planned in Pakistan Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Technology, has

stated that over 100 major urban centres would be provided wireless broadband services for laying the groundwork for provision of e-Services to the citizens soon.

Leghari informed that the World Bank would provide US$125mn to Pakistan to fund projects aimed at increasing universal access in the country. The government decided to increase teledensity and broadband penetration by setting up telecentres, which would provide over 20 e-Services in both urban and rural areas with the assistance of the private sector. Leghari also said that the ministry would be investing heavily into the content development in local languages, particularly Urdu which would be used as a medium of e-Services distribution. The proposed telecentres would provide eServices and telemedicine facilities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Sindh province government is into negotiations with a Malaysian company for awarding a US$500mn contract for the automation of its public service institutions. The proposed automation includes vehicle testing system and registration, computerisation of the police record, and Karachi Civil 7

Hospital. The government would be taking up 24 police stations across the province during the first phase in order to test the impact of automation.

Thailand’s CustomsConnect to become fully operational soon CustomsConnect provided by Citigroup for the Royal Thai Customs would become fully operational soon. Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the e-Customs tax payment services was signed between the Royal Thai Customs and Citibank Thailand as part of the e-Government policy of the Thai government. CustomsConnect, which is aimed at increasing the business efficiency, would facilitate the importers and exporters to handle customs tax payments through the Internet easily thus resulting in overall cost saving for the business operation of both the importers and exporters. CustomsConnect contains several features such as the 24 x 7 customs tax payment enabling the tax payment after the bank’s operational hours, the email alert of payment status, invoice details and importer-exporter documentation.

In a separate development, a “One Stop Services” payment gateway has been launched by the Thai ICT Ministry and the Software Industry Promotion Association (Sipa) after the technology was piloted for one year in Phuket at http://www.thaionestop.org. The portal, which is SOA (Services Oriented Architecture) based, would provide partners

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with a secure, low-cost and effective means to offer online or one-stop services. According to Sipa, one stop services portal is a gateway to e-Government through which people would have access to easy payment for their utilities, healthcare, immigration, education and employment services.

Payment reminders through email, mobile phones in Taiwan The Government of Taiwan has decided to send bills and payments reminders to its citizens through email and mobile phones. The move

‘Need to create QCC portal in Brunei’ Dato Paduka Haji Abd Rahman Haji Mohiddin, Brunei’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, while addressing 3-day Quality Control Circles (QCC) convention said that QCC plays a crucial role in helping civil servants improve their work performance and competency, and uphold their work ethics. This can be done only by improving the status of QCC by taking advantage of modern technology especially by using ICT and e-Government programmes.

Mohiddin said, “There is a need to create a QCC portal equipped with a systematic and comprehensive data vault that is easily accessible thus providing the chance for all civil servants to analyse and make use of the best methods that have been practised by exemplary organisations that have had previous successes with their QCC projects. This will allow

comes in the wake of people’s complaints that the tax bill or traffic fine sent to them usually got lost in the mail. Shih Nenchieh, a Cabinet official in charge of planning and research, said that the service would be inaugurated in December this year, and would alert citizens to pay their bills and tickets before they are due by integrating various government websites.

The service is a part of Taiwan’s decade long effort to put government services and information online. According to the World Economic Forum 2006 report, Taiwan’s online government service ranks fourth in the world, after Singapore, Denmark and Estonia.

for a simpler way of sharing knowledge in the QCC community, and the speedy exchange of information and innovative ideas will undoubtedly increase the professional interaction in the civil service.”

It may be recalled that the concept of QCC was introduced in 1984 and has since been employed as a management tool in the civil service. www.egovonline.net |

COVER FEATURE e-Forms

Bridging paper-digital divide

P

ublic Administration is concerned with the activities of the three branches of Government – Legislature, Executive and Judiciary – at the national level, state level and grassroots levels (district/sub-district levels) in the country. Good governance means providing opportunities and proper delivery of goods and services to the people in a fair, just, effective, responsible and open way. Transparency means openness in the laws, rules and

e-Forms are being increasingly used as a tool to capture data, serve as an interface to business processes and to bridge the paper-digital divide. Research reports suggest that more than 50% of the eGovernance complexities can be overcome through

Madaswamy Moni and Pratibha Lokhande definition refers to ‘executive administration’ where as the second one refers to ‘legislative administration’. Our RTI Act 2005 is considered to be one of the best in the world, but it will be effective only if the independence of RTI Commissions is maintained.

Good governance, especially at the lowest level of administration, is closely dependent on the degree and the extent of people’s active participation and involvement in the matter of policy framing and also in implementing or executing the planned programmes. eGovernance (Electronic Governance or Digital Governance) is the effective use of Information Technology (IT) to improve the system of governance that is in place, and thus provide better services to the citizen. Emergence of IT on the national agenda and announcement of IT policies by various state governments has recognised the ‘Convergence of Core Technologies (Information Technology, Communication Technology and Broadcasting Technology) and e-Governance’ as the tool for sustainable development and globalisation of economy. Introduction

of e-Governance is considered as a high priority agenda in India, as it is considered to be the only means of taking IT to the citizen.

e-Governance model The four main target groups that can be distinguished in e-Governance concepts are Government (G), Citizens (C), Business (B), and bilateral/multilateral Institutions (X). The most common interaction in e-Governance is G2C, G2B and G2G. The e-Governance model does not imply that all institutions have to go through all the phases and all at the same time. Most governments start by delivering online information, but public demand and internal efficiency soon require more complex services. A good approach towards implementation of eGovernance is to combine short-term projects and long-term goals.

DISNIC programme of NIC (National Informatics Centre) envisaged development of information system on 28 sectors and initiated an “information system revolution” in districts. According to John P. Roberts (2001), it was estimated that only 10% of government bodies

adoption of e-Form technology, and also provide a profound Return-onInvestment impact procedures, and the decision-making processes of government and its public institutions. Concept of accountability means government and its institutions must be duty bound to honestly account to the public and the media, in relation to their performance in carrying out their responsibilities. There are two schools of thought with respect to SMART governance: (a) smart, measurable, accountable, realistic and time-related process, (b) smart, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent. The first | November 2006

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around the world were able to move towards e-Governance by 2005, and India was absent from the picture due its poor infrastructure, and its slow response to the cyber culture. Each state in the country has now its own model for implementing e-Governance initiatives/ programmes, but the basket of services offered remains identical across states.

e-Governance solutions based on Standards Standards are regulated definitions of data formats or processes, and are created and maintained by industry groups, governments, and organisations. There are three basic categories of standards – De Jure Standards, De Facto Standards and Mandated Standards.

De Jure Standards are those formats and processes directly developed and overseen by industry standards groups.

De Facto Standards work in reverse as their standardisation is driven by market adoption. They emerge when a particular format or process becomes overwhelmingly prevalent. De Facto Standards can be developed by anyone, and are often the result of widespread adoption of commercial specifications.

Mandated Standards are formats and processes that are specifically required and controlled by governments or corporations. Adherence to a Mandated Standards may be a prerequisite for interacting with a particular corporation 10

or government. Any of these three types of Standards can also be an Open Standards, which means that the nature of the Standards is controlled by some sort of committee and that the specification is publicly available.

National e-Governance Programme The Union Cabinet has approved the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP) at the estimate cost of INR2300mn (US$51.20mn) on 18 May 2006, and all measures are underway to accelerate the pace of implementation of its various components. The perceptible need to institutionalise the task of codifying standards and processes for ensuring interoperability of applications and solutions for rapid development and deployment across the country is also being addressed. Towards this, the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India, has set up eGovernance Working Groups (eGWGs) in the areas that includes Technology Standards and e-Governance Architecture; Localisation and Language Technology Standards; Total Quality Management and Documentation; Metadata and Data Standards of Application Domains; Network Security and Information Security; Legal Enablement of ICT Systems; and, Government Process Reengineering (GPR), for formulating, adapting and adopting Standards and also formulate

guidelines for their implementation to provide profound Return-on-Investment (ROI) impact. Domain specific working groups are also being established to workout Metadata and Data Standards and Digital Library Science concepts to utilise Internet resources in an organised and contextual manner. The bottom line is to usher in best practices, global solutions and integrated services for reaching the unreached through e-Governance/eGovernment programme.

National Informatics Centre National Informatics Centre has been entrusted with the responsibility of formulating e-Governance standards through these eGWGs in view of its expertise in government computerisation for about three decades. The strategy adopted by NIC through brainstorming sessions, state level workshops, and working group meetings has been welcomed by the industry and government stakeholders of the eGovernance programme. Many technical papers, advisory notes, and suggestions have been published in the Portal (http:/ /egovstandards.gov.in) for peer review.

In this process, areas that will have a greater impact for accelerated development and deployment of ICT systems have been identified for discussion and formulation of policy guidelines through national summits.

These areas include e-Forms; Identity www.egovonline.net |

Access Management; Network Security – Client level security; Information Security – Lock or Lose; Automatic Identification Technologies (biometric, SmartCard, barcode, RFID); Email Services and Architecture; Web Services and Architecture; Applications Development Strategy; Digital Preservation and Life Cycle Management; Language Computing; e-Office (e-Form, e-Document, Web services, Workflow systems); Intranet Solution; and, Online Auditing.

Technology becomes successful only when it is made affordable and available at grassroots level for the citizens to get benefited from e-Governance/eGovernment applications. Appropriate

stage of our life cycle – birth, schooling, examination, college, university, job search, purchasing property, and finally death. Every sector has business processes with usage of forms whether it is administration, education, census and survey, passport, banking, insurance, health, tourism, export, import, manufacturing or transport. Thus, the biodegradable paper is the currency for any form of transactions among governments, business and the people.

The paper forms are typically used to gather information from a user, which in turn starts a particular business process inside and outside the governments.

The Indian governments (both

policy guidelines to use “appropriate technology” and “technology appropriately” become necessary. Under the e-Governance standards initiative, efforts have been undertaken to formulate such policy guidelines in the identified areas.

The National Summit on e-Forms held in June 2006 at NIC assessed the realistic requirements of the NeGP and strived to arrive at a policy document for implementation of e-Forms as electronic front-end to all key applications, and also the current technical challenges faced in using e-Forms with respect to security and privacy issues, problems of complete integration with Web Browsers, Business Process Management, Document Management, Workflow and Imaging.

Central and states) have an inventory of more than million different types of forms used for various transactions meant for improved efficiency and improved citizen services. Paper forms are perhaps the most common front-end for any business process. Banking and other regulated industries must comply with a variety of government regulations, and must be able to produce reliable audit trails to demonstrate their compliance, and hence records must be maintained for many years and those records must be secure. Sometimes, these forms cannot be viewed by other people due to privacy laws or other legal requirements.

For governments, paper forms remain the primary data gathering interface with the citizens. Manual paperbased forms introduce rigidity, logistics burdens, hidden costs and time delays to

Paper forms Paper forms have become the integral part of modern life and exist in every | November 2006

critical business information flow. Many a times, it becomes virtually impossible to handle large volume of forms and respond to citizens’ request in timely manner.

It results in fragmented work processes that duplicate work, reduce productivity, add cost and drain resources.

e-Form: A technical overview A stiff competition among the businesses and mandate to become SMART government has driven both businesses and governments towards becoming more responsive, efficient and, at the same time, cost effective, through automation of critical business processes.

Budget pressures, increased collaborations, safety and secured issues, limited human resources, trend in setting up of on-demand Government, need to avoid tasks based silos of automation, and interoperability issues, have created the need for e-Forms.

An electronic form (e-Form) is a selfcontained collection of declarative metadata that defines how a form is realised via generalised computer software. In other words, an e-Form defines how a form should look, behave and operate on a computer. An e-Form allows the capture of a response dataset, which represents the data provided by a respondent via a keyboard entry, importing, or by other means. The data capture technology has come a long way from standard data entry forms used in stand alone applications to HTML forms and presently e-Forms. e-Forms are distinct from standard custom coded data-entry applications in the respect that e-Forms are self contained declarative metadata and applications. Metadata driven e-Forms provide an opportunity to reorganise the government’s data collection activities eliminating redundancy, promoting data sharing, facilitating component sharing architecture, promoting reuse and harmonisation across paper forms, high degree of inherent consistency across forms, reducing reporting burden and reducing cost. e-Form participates in workflow, which involves a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and is therefore accessible to people with disabilities also. The workflow should also be based on Open Standards such as BPEL 11

where the processes are represented in XML. This will ensure interoperability of process definitions between vendors.

However, e-Form incurs a few disadvantages such as restrictiveness, which must be recognised. In addition to this, the current e-Form landscape also faces some technical challenges such as restrictiveness; incomplete integration with web browsers; lack of Standardsbased component stack; security and privacy issues; legal status; Business Process Reengineering; Digital Signature; Accessibility and localisation; Integration with Legacy systems; and, Archival and future accessibility.

SOA and XML enabled e-Form Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has become a mainstay of solution architecture. SOA is an attribute and architectural approach than a project in and of itself. The benefits are broad, ranging from reduced integration costs, improved component reusability, and the ability to leverage existing infrastructure investments. A SOA-based framework is capable of providing support for multiple XML standards.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) makes content accessible to multiple applications, including content creation.

Applications are moving XML to mainstream use, increasing content integrity and reducing front and backend costs. The major challenge for enterprises when using XML will be to know which tools are appropriate for the level of metadata creation and manage-ment that users require for the processes that they want to support.

“XML inside” is not enough. XML eForms integrate data-centric information with a front-end presentation to, and data input by, users. XML data models and sophisticated XML-aware processes will be needed. Rita Knox (2004) estimated that through 2006 XML-enabled e-Forms would at least double in use as a standard enterprise document format (0.7 probability). e-Forms are made available through Intranet portal, Email, Document Management System, Internet Portal and Extranet Portal. Suggested Approach to e-Forms implementation, among others, includes ensuring XML interoperability 12

between multiple vendors’ products; model should be agnostic in regard to the means used to capture data. Mandating a single standard would imply that data will not be permitted to be captured in any other way; output data - irrespective of capture mechanism - should comply with XML/e-Governance Standards to ensure interoperability between systems and avoidance of vendor lock-in; mandate that at the point the resulting data is submitted to government it must be in a vendor-neutral format – namely XML – and in particular would need to comply with e-Governance standards; any data capture application or product that can output data in vendor neutral XML format should be acceptable for use; any data capture/forms vendors supplying their products for use with e Government/e-Gover-nance services must ensure compliance with vendorneutral XML standards, particularly those schema requirements set out under the e-Governance stan-dards; use of proprietary output formats for the communication of forms-related data should not be permitted; focus on widely used and adopted standards (open standards); and, local language support imperative to succeed in India.

Implementers of e-Form shall adhere to various steps involved in systems design for profound impact on ROI. It is expected to have e-Government initiatives in USA such as Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) and Electronic Record Management Standard 5015.2, as a follow up of e-Form, in India.

Conclusion e-Form technology varies from simple (print-and-fill, Web forms) to advanced (digital signatures, offline storage), and its landscape is evolving rapidly. In India, e-Form technology is still in infancy stage.

In the e-Form Life Cycle Management there are two players – one is the e-Form producer (Government), and the other is the e-Form Consumer (Citizen). In order to make NeGP to reach the unreached, it is essential to develop applications and solutions based on e-forms in local languages with strong Workflow Process Automation over SWAN and NICNET. The e-Forms are becoming an increasingly important role in how government

operates its business and communicate with its citizens. The benefits are more. It is efficient; can be made secure through encryption; can be authenticated using digital certificate; and is user-friendly. All e-Governance/e-Government applications (G2G, G2B, G2C, G2E, and G2X) should be based on e-Form technology in order to have profound ROI impact through 100% pixel perfect with localisation. e-Forms based on Open Standards are necessary for increased interoperability, faster time to market and reduced development costs, reusable components and multi-platform support. e-Form + e-Document + Workflow + Web services, over Intranet/ Internet/Extranet/email, form a complete business process. This e-Form should also be accessible to people with disability.

Initiatives such as issuance of digital signature and legal acceptance of electronically submitted documents may create a correct ground for implementation of e-Form technology. The e-Forms may be accessed through post offices and CSCs (Community Service Centers), Information Kiosks, Internet Cafes etc. Hybrid models may be introduced for seamless switching between modes using paper-based and electronic based forms to increase the comfort level of user. Awareness programs may be carried out to educate the user for technology. e-Form is a solution to share knowledge globally and to bridge Paper-Digital divide in eGovernance/e-Government programme, which will result in enhanced citizen satisfaction; improve government compliance; more easily share information; integration with backend systems and processes; encourage development, delivery and take-up of new services; encourage Private-Public Partnership model; achieve data interoperability; and, higher productivity.

About the author Madaswamy Moni is Deputy Director General, National Informatics Centre, India. He can be reached at moni@nic.in.

Pratibha Lokhande is Scientist D, NIC - AGRID, India. She can be reached at pratibha@nic.in

www.egovonline.net |

Adobe Intelligent Document Platform

Providing form processing solution for governments Santhanaswamy Angiah

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eaching out to government departments with responsive, convenient, and cost-effective services does not remain a daunting challenge it previously used to be. The government is now able to replace inefficient, standalone processes with automated, interoperable business processes by leveraging open technology standards such as XML and Web services.

Documents and forms, arguably the effective “frontlines” of many government-facing services, are crucial to these efforts. Forms are a common interface between a government department and its back end systems and work processes, but tend to be costly, cumbersome and vulnerable to data errors when traditionally produced and distributed on paper.

Adobe Intelligent Document Platform Using forms is one of the most common ways for government departments and governments to interact. However, traditional paper-based communications are costly, time-consuming, and susceptible to errors. And digital workflows are often disparate, incompatible back-end systems, making it difficult to extend electronic forms outside the agency’s network.

The Adobe Intelligent Document Platform provides an efficient and costeffective solution for form processing that helps agencies streamline the more secure movement of forms and data - to and from government departments, between agencies, and across business processes.

Through this solution agencies are able to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively deploy PDF (Portable Document Format) and XML forms online; create a single form for print or online use; access | November 2006

LiveCycle Reader Extensions - How it works

electronic forms using free Adobe Reader software; allow users to download forms and complete them online or offline; leverage 2D barcodes and XML to reduce dependence on costly, error-prone manual data entry; capture form data through XML into back end systems; more securely share form data with other agencies inside and outside the firewall; and, add document controls to certify document authenticity and privacy for respondents.

Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions software enables to easily share interactive, intelligent Adobe PDF documents with external parties - without requiring respondents to invest in costly software. With LiveCycle Reader Extensions, document-based processes can be extended outside ones business while accurately capturing critical data from customers, partners, government departments, and colleagues. The software activates hidden functionality within Adobe Reader; enable end users to save, fill in, annotate, sign and submit PDF documents; streamline collaboration for document reviews; automate data

capture with electronic forms, enabling anyone to complete and submit forms online or offline; and, provide enhanced security with digital signatures.

Key participants in business processes are located inside and outside ones organisation. Whether internal or external, customer trading partners, suppliers, and employees are integral to your business processes. But not all of them can be counted on to use the same computing platform or to invest in the same software, while one is creating applications, CAD drawings, marketing collateral, purchase orders, or forms.

With Adobe LiveCycle™ Reader Extensions, no costly software is required to easily and efficiently equip third parties to participate in the individual’s business processes. LiveCycle Reader Extensions works with existing IT assets to create an automated environment for capturing information and feedback vital to helping the company or government agency cut costs, improve customer satisfaction, speed time to market, and extend the value of investment in enterprise applications.

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How it works LiveCycle Reader Extensions allows embedding one-time usage rights within an Adobe PDF document. These usage rights “turn on” hidden functionality within free Adobe Reader software, so as to enable end users view and interact with intelligent Adobe PDF documents. To manually assign rights to a small number of documents or forms one at a time, LiveCycle Reader Extensions provides an intuitive Web browser interface. The Web interface enables any authorised user of LiveCycle Reader Extensions to assign functionality, with no special technical expertise required. Using a programmable Application Programming Interface (API), one can also assign functionality to a large batch of documents.

LiveCycle Reader Extensions software works hand in hand with the ubiquitous Adobe Reader universal client,

which is available free of charge and already has been distributed to more than 500 million desktops. Normally dormant end-user capabilities are automatically activated when the rights-enabled Adobe PDF document is launched within Adobe Reader. When the respondent is finished working with the document, those functions are once again disabled until the user receives another rights-enabled PDF file. All of this functionality comes at no additional cost to customers, government departments, partners, or colleagues.

provide users with intuitive tools that make it easy to highlight or underline text, create sticky notes, add stamps, and add attachments to documents; equip users to sign, certify, and authenticate documents with support for digital signatures (VeriSign, Entrust, and other PKIs); and, empower users to electronically submit PDF documents and forms online or via email.

LiveCycle Reader Extensions software streamline process administration by applying rights via an intuitive Web browser interface; automating processes further using an API; take advantage of the free, ubiquitous Adobe Reader to ensure compatibility with any respondent; and, extend the reach of critical processes to any Web browser.

It leverages existing IT investments by integrating with other enterprise applications that have SOAP-based

interfaces, and deploying on a scalable, high-performance server architecture.

In government, LiveCycle Reader Extensions software streamline the processing of tax forms, license and passport renewals, vehicle registrations, and other documents that require information and approvals from government departments; and, enable end users to easily and intuitively interact online with agencies, promoting faster service and enhanced constituent satisfaction.

Success stories Key features Add collaborative functionality to Adobe Reader enable users to save a copy of PDF documents including any data or comments they have added; allow users to interact with PDF documents offline, while retaining their data and comments for submittal when they reconnect; 14

The Ministry of Company Affairs, Government of India (GoI), is using Adobe LiveCycle Solutions forms for its MCA-21 project, which has seen millions of hits, and 2.5 lakh filings happen amongst the registered Companies in India. Adobe’s Tier 1 Partner, TCS Ltd, carried out this project.

It may be recalled that DCA-21 [as it was a Department then] sought the service of few professionals along with NISG (National Institute of Smart Governance) who embarked upon rendering services to the registered companies in an output-based manner.

While the department was trying to see which area of its sovereign function impacted the stakeholders, it was no surprise that forms were the key components of interaction and transactions between companies and the department alike. That’s where electronic forms were considered to alleviate the pains associated with paper-based forms and processes. It was then that Adobe stepped in with its partner who helped develop the application, integrate the eForms with end users possessing just the free Adobe Reader to see the impact and experience the benefits therein. Based on the outcomes and that Adobe PDF Forms supports XML and interoperable was key, an RFP was raised by the department seeking IT Vendors to bid for the modernisation project. This RFP clearly directed the selected IT vendor to carry out a pilot and rollout as envisaged in the extensive development stages. That’s how Adobe entered this Mission Mode Project and since then has never looked back. As the project matured, there were hundreds of forms that were designed and hosted in Adobe PDF LiveCycle technology; the forms were prepopulated using Adobe’s LiveCycle Forms servers, and the Digital Signatures were catered to by Adobe’s Security Server. Even the mandate that all supporting documents to be in PDF format was addressed by Adobe with help of a Dynamic PDF Creation Server Engine – PDF Generator at the back end.

Another major e-Forms success story in the making is that of Department of Income tax, which is to render couple of forms from Adobe. These forms are designed by our Adobe ACE Tier 2 Partner, EBridge Solutions.

About the author Santhanaswamy Angiah is Business Development Manager, India & SAARC, Adobe Systems India Pvt Ltd [http://www.adobe.com].

He can be reached at sangiah@adobe.com

www.egovonline.net |

e-Forms: Way forward Priya Sharma

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early 70% of paper documents that are being shared across governments and corporate world deal with forms of some kind or other. Be it for example, in creating a new customer record, adding data to existing database, providing information to someone, seeking information by someone, or even transacting and sharing information is more often done through paper based forms. These paper-based forms are then fed into electronic systems via human interface to then process the same. The need for electronic processes was always there and the time has come where practically every IT enabled processes seek to render forms electronically.

The market dynamics over last 3 years have been studied. As such, with the help of customer interactions across specific verticals like government and other industry segments it has been found out that the biggest hurdle for e-Forms adoption and proliferation includes user experience; look and feel of electronic forms should match the paper like fidelity as existent today; the learning curve for people to adapt to e-Forms is very limited and hand holding during initial stages is paramount to success; there should be less technology and IT jargons but more of human processes that need to be unconsciously built into the e-Forms paradigm for user acceptance; people and processes would need to be the main focus while trying to render paper forms as electronic forms; the end users should not be tasked to buy or install expensive software in order to participate in e-Forms processes and the onus of doing so should lie with the service provider of such eForms; keeping in mind that end users are across a wide spectrum of literate and illiterate IT background, the e-Forms should be intelligent to allow people to fill the form at their convenience, preferably offline, have tips and validations to help them relate to the forms and have the confidence that the form they submit electronically is as 16

intended by the user with 100% security and non-repudiation; and, the look and feel of a form should be human readable and fillable while the machine reading and processing can be at the background using XML as the data transfer mechanism which is privy to the end user.

Keeping the above pointers in mind EBridge Solutions (http://www.ebridgesol. com) picked some of the most difficult customers and enabled them to flawlessly render e-Forms services in a most optimum manner having less people process conflicts.

Adobe’s

Reader software that is free and avaialble with 95% of all Internet connected systems helped EBridge Solutions to leverage it fully. The forms, which were in paper, were rendered as electronic forms with the exact look and feel of existing paper form by EBridge Solutions engineers using Adobe’s designing tool – Adobe LiveCycle Forms Designer that is XML based. After having designed the form, the validations and simple tips are put into the form so that even when a user works on the forms in an offline mode, one gets to relate to the intelligence of the PDF form as originally envisaged.

These e-Forms are then Adobe Readerenabled to enable all intended audience to just interact, fill, save, sign digitally, prefill, scrutinise, process, comment etc., all this and more with just a free Adobe Reader.

Currently, a strategic defence vertical in India has got around 1300 paper forms designed into e-Forms with built-in logic and processes. The e-Forms service being provided in the country now is enabling lakhs of people to fill the e-Forms and print the same with embedded business

logic to process the forms quickly and efficiently. At a later stage 2D Bar-codes would also help in avoiding re-keying of information as well as to support wet signature requirements in select government mandated processes. The Department of Income Tax has also started the use of e-Forms for the registered corporates to file their returns electronically. The Finance Ministry has

mandated only electronic filing, and is using the e-Forms in Adobe PDF which has extensive validations and checks thereby allowing the end user to conveniently fill these multi page forms offline. By utilising the power of the Adobe Reader at client level, the service provider or parent organisation would need to invest in minimal s/w expense at back end but then be able to address the entire population as the Adobe Reader is on every desktop.

Now that NeGAP is kicked off well in India with MCA-21 being the first eGovernance project gone live, little wonder that even here the forms are entirely rendered in Adobe PDF and Adobe LiveCycle Solutions by Adobe and it’s other Tier 1 Partner. Currently, the success of Indian Defence forms project or Department of Income Tax rides on the new wave of e-Forms proliferation.

Organisations like DAPRG, Judiciary, Passports etc., have also started taking to e-Forms.

About the author Priya Sharma is Promoter, EBridge Solution, India. She can be reached at psharma@ebridgesol.com

www.egovonline.net |

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

INTERVIEW: MICHEL GAMBIER

Redefining the desktop experience Please tell us about the objectives behind the launch of 2007 Microsoft Office System.

People are at the heart of any organisation’s success be it in public or private sector. In this ‘New World of Work’, organisations are always on and ever connected. The public sector environment too is becoming more and more dynamic – communication is changing, collaboration is vital, and decision makers expect information at their fingertips. These types of demands present new challenges and incredible opportunities for technology.

The 2007 Microsoft Office System opens new possibilities for personal, team and organisational productivity and partner marketplace growth. We have redefined the desktop experience and are delivering a single platform for business intelligence, collaboration, enterprise content management, enterprise project management and enterprise search capabilities.

| November 2006

“In this ‘New World of Work’, organisations are always on and ever connected. The 2007 Microsoft Office System opens new possibilities for personal, team and organisational productivity and partner marketplace growth. We have redefined the desktop experience and are delivering a single platform for business intelligence, collaboration, enterprise content management, enterprise project management and enterprise search capabilities,” concurs Michel Gambier, General Manager – Information Worker Business Group, Microsoft Asia Pacific, in an interview to Prachi Shirur of egov 17

What are the features of this new Office solution?

The 2007 Microsoft Office system is a major release of many new products, technologies and services. It includes progra-

As a result, with the new Office user interface, information workers will be able to produce high-impact presentations, effective spreadsheets, and powerful desktop database applications. [For more de-

mmes, servers, services, and solutions that operate together to increase individual impact, simplifying collaboration, streamlining business processes and content management, and improving business insight.

This will enable agencies and enterprises to work smarter and more efficiently.

One of the key innovations that users worldwide will experience is the new user interface of the popular Microsoft Office programmes. The overriding design goal for this new, results-oriented user interface is to make it easier for people to find and use the full range of features these applications provide so they can deliver better results faster. We’ve made it easier to find powerful features by replacing menus and toolbars with a Ribbon that organises and presents capabilities in a way that corresponds more directly to how people work.

We also wanted to preserve an uncluttered workspace that reduces distraction for users so they can spend more time and energy focused on their work. The streamlined screen layout and dynamic resultsoriented Galleries allow people to spend less time trying to get the application to do what they want it to do.

tails on individual feature enhancements, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/office/ preview/ui/overview.mspx]

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What additional value will the 2007 Microsoft Office provide for government and enterprises in better managing and organising documents and collaborating with others?

Many agencies currently have disparate systems among social welfare and other industries thus limiting inter-agency communication and collaboration. At the same time many business processes within agencies remain unautomated because information technology has not delivered a cost effective solution for that automation. This also creates inefficiencies as people spend time searching and accessing information and processing redundant data, and even duplicating work. In fact, it is estimated that people spend 30% of their working time looking up, arranging, managing, and distributing information.

The innovations in the 2007 Microsoft Office user interface aim to significantly decrease the time taken to execute information work tasks. For example, the new tabbed interface across Office 2007 appli-

cations provides contextual information so people can get to the right information more quickly, and the Instant Search capabilities of Office Outlook 2007 allows people to search through email, email attachments and RSS updates quickly. Attachments can also now be previewed within one click directly from within Office Outlook 2007, saving users time and effort. This is especially critical as it is estimated that by 2010, the average knowledge worker will receive no less than 50 times as many emails as in 1997.

The 2007 Office system will also provide a rich set of tools that lend greater collaboration among agency staff and between agencies by expanding agency borders, and bringing dispersed groups together in a virtual agency. For instance, information workers can create a virtual team environment using Office Groove 2007 workspaces for quick collaboration and knowledge sharing online and offline.

They can create a centralised repository of templates and documentation, orchestrate workflows and initiate ad hoc discussions with other agency workers using wikis and blogs built in Office SharePoint Server 2007. All of these will not only reduce the time and costs of generating performance reports by centralising information and automating workflow, but also empower employees with the ability to work seamlessly online or when disconnected from the network.

How will it enhance e-Government initiatives of the public sectors in different countries? e-Governments use technology and webbased tools to streamline and/or improve their processes and save budget dollars.

Yet many policymakers still use outdated environmental or societal conditions as the basis for government programmes and policies. This is where the 2007 Office system can come in to help agencies cope with the lack of timely, reliable and objective information needed to make smart decisions and analyse the long-term impact of legislation.

The powerful presentation aids with enhanced graphics and formatting tools in Office PowerPoint 2007 enable effective monitoring of overall performance in real time and identification of performance iswww.egovonline.net |

sues by providing business intelligence tools. The charting engine in Office Excel 2007 can also create rich visualisation enhancements to data collected for research and analysis reports and presentations to decision makers, and in-depth diagramming and visualization tools. Centralised data and analysis reports via Office SharePoint Server 2007 also provides the transparency into project and programme operations and resource allocation needed for making decisions based on alignment of project performance with budget and organisational goals and overall strategic initiatives.

A scalable communications platform allows for quick access to crucial information for emergency response. Office Groove 2007 provides field units and onscene response teams to share information with central offices without the need for reliable connectivity. Situation-specific data can be centralised through Office SharePoint Server 2007 to provide rolesbased access to the right information when it is needed.

The Office SharePoint Server 2007 also acts as a repository to house agency’s digital information for citizen-facing online libraries, thereby enabling optimised citizen access to information, and faster response to citizen requests.

Agencies will be able to track and analyse trends in programme performance through applied conditional formatting and rich visualisation themes in Office Excel 2007 and Office Visio 2007. By analysing and evaluating relationships between key performance indicators and tangible strategic objectives in real time through Centralised Report Centre sites in Office SharePoint Server 2007, agencies have an integrated platform for information workers to effectively monitor their environment and provide timely proactive responses to opportunities, events or crisis. | November 2006

What about its compatibility with the Windows Vista launched earlier this year?

Windows Vista will be made available to businesses, together with the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Exchange Server 2007 towards the end of 2006.

With Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft is delivering the platform for the next decade that will drive significant change for everyday users. These products working in concert will help businesses empower their people to make great contributions in four key areas – simplified communications and collaboration, better content protection and management, finding information and improving business insight, and reducing security risks and deployment costs.

All this within a familiar Microsoft environment, therefore mitigating any potential end-user reservation or resistance to an upgraded Office system.

What security protection will the new Office 2007 provide to the users?

Information work happens at all levels of government – an individual working in a cubicle, employees joining forces to collaborate as a team, a leader making strategic decisions for a department, personnel responding to an emergency. This means that the need to protect data from viruses has become part of the everyday business of working on computers and sharing data with colleagues.

The 2007 Office system products have many in-built tools and features to help secure information, websites, and data.

For example, to gain control over content lifecycle and keep data more secure, Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides content authors and auditors with protection for sensitive data via document versioning controls and content expiration and archive settings. Forms and templates can also be protected from unauthorised changes by implementing Information Rights Management (IRM) in 2007 Office system applications.

These come over and beyond the security features and enhancements in Windows Vista, which has been designed to make Windows PCs more secure and online experiences safer, such as User Account Control and Windows Defender, to name a few.

What are your plans for popularising this new product?

The joint launch of Windows Vista, the 2007 Office system, and Exchange Server 2007 is potentially the biggest and most strategic launch in the history of Microsoft.

For the last several months, we have been working very closely with early adopter customers, our partner ecosystem and our internal teams to prepare for the market introduction of these products. Our beta testing process participation has been unprecedented with several million people worldwide testing these products in a wide range of scenarios. In the coming months, Microsoft will be investing in major marketing and sales programs consistent with the impact we expect these products to have in the marketplace. These investments will include activities such as launch events, advertising campaigns, online marketing, retail marketing, joint marketing campaigns with partners, customer one-on-one briefings and proof-of-concepts engagements, designed to articulate the value of these products, and inspire people around the world at work and at home to use their computers in new and innovative ways!

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BUSINESS Microsoft, Hughes to roll out 5,000 rural kiosks in India

Some 5,000 broadband-enabled ICT rural kiosks would be rolled out in India following a tie-up between Microsoft and Hughes India. The ICT kiosks would be operated on a franchisee-based model offering budding rural entrepreneurs to use technology for eCommerce, education and e-Governance. The ICT kiosks would be deployed across 200 small towns and rural regions.

Microsoft is already undertaking its ‘Saksham’ initiative aimed at creating an

NEWS REVIEW engagement model with kiosks service providers and various governments for delivering e-Government and other B2B (Business-to-Business) services. According to Rohit Kumar, Country Head, Public Sector, Microsoft, the partnership with Hughes is a step towards providing a holistic ecosystem under ‘Project Saksham’ at the ground level and enable the rural ecosystem. Expressing his opinion, Pranav Roach, president and CEO, Hughes Network Systems India, said that the ICT kiosks would not only provide a platform for exchange of information and knowledge, but also serve as a platform to create over 15,000 jobs and self-employment opportunities.

Gemalto bags Estonia e-Passport contract Estonian Republic’s Citizenship and Migration Board has awarded the digital security company Gemalto with e-Passport contract, under which travel documents including a

powerful microchip for biometric identification are to be manufactured by Gemalto and the complete personalisation system delivered to Estonia. Besides, Gemalto would also provide the Estonian Ministry of Interior a comprehensive solution with enrolment software and equipment for capturing and digitising the data, picture and signature. The contract agreement would run through 2012 with a possible extension to 2015. First deliveries are scheduled to start in early 2007.

Earlier, Gemalto had bagged e-Passport contracts from countries such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden and the USA.

e-Trading system for India’s largest vegetable market In an attempt to modernise its working and bring in greater transparency in trade transactions, India’s largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market, Azadpur Mandi, would soon go online. This is also one of the largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Asia. The market is spread over an area of 90 acres in Delhi’s northern and southern regions. In 2004, the Government of India declared Azadpur Mandi a market of national importance. Currently, it has become a nationwide distribution centre with an annual transaction of 4.5 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables.

Earlier, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee of Azadpur Mandi awarded INR15mn (US$ 333,656) contract to Birlasoft – the IT division of the C. K. Birla Group – for computerising the market in June this year. Under the contract, the company created the Integrated Mandi Management System (IMMS), and would maintain it for 3 years. During the first phase of automation, the Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board would also be putting in INR30-40mn (US$ 667,360- 889,770). The computerisation of the market is aimed at reforming the administration, reduction in manual labour and improving revenue generation. Besides, with IMMS effectively in place corrupt retail practices like the creation of artificial scarcity of a commodity to hike its price would be curbed.

Pawan Mehra, Birlasoft’s General Manager, informed that by early 2007 the market would be fully computerised. Birlasoft is already executing a similar project for 82 other markets under the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Marketing Board. In his remarks, P.K. Chakraborty, Senior Marketing Officer, Directorate of Agricultural Marketing, commented, “The computerisation of the Azadpur Mandi will be helpful as well as beneficial in many ways for the agriculturalists, traders and consumers across the country as Delhi is a major trading hub for all sorts of agricultural produce,” and added, “With the help of an e-trading system, the process of auctioning of the produce will be streamlined as bidders will be able to bid from anywhere now. Not only that, it will also help in forward and backward linkages of the produce.” | November 2006

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e-Customs solution on trial Now, satellite and mobile technology would be used to create a paperless documentation trail of beer shipped from Europe to the US. In an innovative attempt that would make easier international trade, computer maker IBM, Dutch brewer Heineken, international shipping company Safmarine, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (University of Amsterdam), and customs authorities in the Netherlands, US and UK, have joined hands to launch the ‘Beer Living Lab’ project that would wirelessly track beer shipped from Europe to the US. The project is aimed at reducing security concerns, curbing tax fraud, making faster deliveries and reducing costs for international trade by simplifying tracking processes. This project is part of the Information Technology for Analysis and Intelligent Design for e-Government (ITAIDE) research project funded by the European Commission.

IBM would be providing its e-Customs solution ‘Secure Trade Lane solution’ to provide real-time visibility and interoperatibility through wireless sensors linked to IBM’s WebSphere platform. The solution enables the linking of distributed data sources allowing data to be shared in real time between Heineken, Safmarine and relevant customs authorities instead of building and maintaining a large central database with huge amounts of information. Stefan Reidy, IBM’s Manager of Secure Trade Lane, said, “The Beer Living Lab project is

VIA Technologies launches solar cyber community centre

Chipmaker VIA Technologies recently announced the launch of South Pacific’s first ever solar-powered cyber community centre in Ulutogia, a remote Samoan village in Aleipata District, which is known for its multiple local user communities besides abundance of sunshine. Until now the South Pacific lagged behind in global ICT deployment initiatives, but is now efforting to improve the region’s e-readiness by building the infrastructure. The VIA pc-1 Information Community Centre, which would be accessible to all, is expected to help address issues of e-Education, e-Health and e22

the first step in building the ‘Intranet of Trade’, which will help to substantially i m p r o v e efficiency and security in the global supply chain.”

Under the Beer Living Lab project, Safmarine would ship 10 containers of Heineken beer from locations in the Netherlands and England, through their customs authorities, to the Heineken distribution centre in the US. The project would be coordinated by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and best practices documentation shared across the European Union. More than 30 different documents are associated with one single container crossing a border equalling roughly five billion documents annually, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. With e-Customs solutions, international trade becomes easier as there are fewer physical inspections by custom authorities for shipments.

Governance, besides providing business opportunities and offering Internet access to tourists.

ChinaPay, INICIS, Econtext into ePayment partnership Chinese e-Payment service company ChinaPay has decided to tie up with South Korea’s INICIS and Japan’s Econtext, and would be cooperating with each other in future.

ChinaPay recently signed a letter of intent to

set up a one-stop online payment alliance named “One Payment Alliance” in order to help international businesses speed their capital turnover. This would also enable international clients access the gateway of the alliance to easily handle the transactions in the three countries, and reduce overall administration costs.

Philippines eGovernment contract for Omega Tender The Government of Philippines has given the contract for the e-Government system to the South Korean high-tech company Omega Tender to build a video networking system. The contract was signed between Lee Kyu-haeng, Chairman of Omega Tender, and Ramon P. Sales, Philippine Minister of Information and Communication. According to an Omega Tender press release, the Philippine Government would start to build an e-Government system and construct a global e-trading network. www.egovonline.net |

Host Organisation

Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications Government of Malaysia

Improved communication and information services are directly related to social and economic development of nations. Internet and modern communication platforms offer immense potential as multipurpose tools through which information and services can be delivered anytime and anywhere. However, upon delivery, the uptake of information and online services depends on the capacity of people and organisations. Again, of prime importance is service access points such as telecentres and borderless technologies like mobile technology as an way to address the 'reaching the unreached' and empowering the rural community. In the emerging global knowledge economy, it is imperative for countries, communities and enterprises to strategise towards adoption and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and enhance their overall capacities. Asian countries are increasingly realising these critical factors of success and are becoming proactive in improving existing conditions.

A lot of collaborative efforts are required between governments, industry, academia and civil society across nations to materialise these objectives of balanced development in a digital era. eASiA 2007 is an open ICT for development cooperation platform for Asian countries for discussing opportunities and challenges for promoting growth of ICT for development in Asia through consultative dialoguing, strategic planning, knowledge networking and business partnering. eASiA, through its five seminal conferences, will focus on five emerging application domains of ICT for Development - e-Government, ICT in Education, ICT and Rural Development, ICTenabled Health services and Mobile application and services for development. The five conferences - namely egov Asia 2007, Digital Learning Asia 2007, Telecentre Forum 2007, eHealth 2007 and mServe 2007 will address the issues of digital divide and identify and explore opportunities for Digital Asia.

ASiA 2007

ASiA 2007 1

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Asian nations are emerging as most promising global economies; traditional governments and their ways of governance surely need to be redefined. With a plethora of public management and administrative challenges facing most Asian nations, coupled with heightened expectations of rapid socioeconomic development, the need for efficient government is higher than ever before.

Modern ICTs provide boundless potential with proven credibility in transforming organisations and economies; governments across the world are increasingly getting active to embrace technology and leap-frog administrative reform.

With a purpose of creating an invaluable Asian platform for consultative dialoguing, strategic planning, knowledge networking and business partnering in the field of e-Government, egov Asia 2007 will bring together some of the best minds from the highest echelons of government, industry, academia and civil society to discuss and deliberate on the key strategies for e-Government.

Highlights: • National e-Government strategies • International and regional projects, case studies and best practices • Policy reforms for ICT-enabled governments • Models of e-Service delivery • Emerging technology solutions for eGovernment • Public private partnerships in eGovernment

ASiA 2007

ASiA 2007 3

Today Asian countries are competing with each other to be the frontrunner in technologyenabled education. While most countries do not want to miss the opportunity to connect to this ‘connected world’, the struggle to close the existing divides continues. Research and practices have confirmed that a holistic approach that integrates and emphasises process, be it capacity building of the educators or transforming pedagogy or creating localised and relevant ICT-based content, has substantial impact and sustainable and effective integration.

Asia has geared up to this challenge. Within these countries, while the private sector and the civil society has assumed leadership in some countries, governments in others are drawing the roadmap for a systematic integration of technologies in education.

Digital Learning Asia 2007 will bring some of the key drivers from the leading countries of technology-enabled education to deliberate on the pressing challenges of technology enabled education from capacity building to reengineering pedagogy, change management to providing digital access.

Highlights • National strategies on ICT in education • Localisation, customisation and content development • Educating the educators • Re-engineering pedagogy • e-Learning trend and practices in higher education and school education • Education technology trends in Asia

eASiA2007 EXHIBITION

Telecentres are increasingly emerging as one of the most important equalisers of digital divide among urban and rural citizens. Telecentres or common service centers are aimed at expanding access to ICTs. Telecentres as sustainable, multi-purpose service centres are emerging as a tool for empowerment of the community, enabling their access through ICTs to relevant information and common services.

The Asian Telecentre Forum 2007 aims to bring the Asian practitioners on a platform for learning and sharing the experiences. Experts will be engaged in close assessment of issues relating to project monitoring steered by external financial support, from international development agencies and governments in Asia.

Stakeholders from various sectors, viz., NGOs, Governments, Private sector, Donor agencies, Research organisations etc. will participate in this conference. There will be opportunity to showcase key project work and experiences through presentation sessions and/or panel discussions and through an exposition of products and projects.

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There is a significant action happening in the sphere of e-Health globally led by experts in healthcare and hi-tech industries with an aim to fully harness the benefits available through convergence of the Internet and health care. eHealth is today’s tool for substantial productivity gains, while providing tomorrow’s instrument for restructured, citizen-centred health care.

The lack of adequate connectivity has been one of the biggest cause of the limited impact of ICT to bridge the digital divide. Mobile phones have spread throughout much of the developing world more quickly and deeply than any previous technology based as rolling out a mobile phone network is far cheaper than building a fixed-line systems and Internet networks for computers.

There are many examples of successful eHealth developments taking place in Asia including health information networks, electronic health records, telemedicine services, portable monitoring systems, and health portals. However, there are challenges to overcome in access, technology and the right practices. There are much more to gain from sharing knowledge on the existing practices and deliberating on the opportunities and possibilities that ICT use for healthcare delivery.

Mobiles offer a lot more services than phones and entertainment (Games, Screensaver, Ring tones, Movie clips). These include: news, stock prices; location tracking; telephone directory; mobile banking; ticket reservation; trading and so forth.

eHealth Asia 2007 aims to provide a platform to discuss the recent trends and emerging issues in the development of Information & communication science and technology and its integration in healthcare systems.

• Telecentre movement in Asia: Road ahead

Highlights

Highlights

• Partnerships for developing telecentre networks

•

e-Health in developing countries

•

e-Health administration and management

• Financing mechanism and sustainability factors of rural telecentres: A reality check

•

Rural telemedicine

•

Emerging technologies in e-Health

• Service delivery and capacity building through telecentres

•

Challenges and opportunities for collaborative action in e-Health

• • • • • • •

Highlights

For any information/enquiry contact: Himanshu Kalra himanshu@csdms.in Tel: +60166852201

PROGRAMME ADVISORY BOARD Chairman

Dato Dr. Halim Man Secretary General Ministry of Energy, Water & Communications Government of Malaysia

Convener

Dr. M P Narayanan President CSDMS India

Members

Dr. Milagros Rivera Associate Professor & Head Communications and New Media Program National University of Singapore

Maria Teresa M Camba Director, Field Operations National Computer Centre Commission on Information & Communications Technology

San Ng The Asia Foundation USA

Walter Fust Director General Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation Switzerland

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mServe Asia aims to discuss and showcase the different aspects of mobile services, technologies, implementation and implications, developments on the public administration and tie them to the existing and future m-Government, education, agriculture and other applications.The conference will provide a platform to share local and international developments, experiences and lessons learnt for knowledge sharing, and promote networking and business opportunity development.

Important Date Last date for receipt of abstracts: 25th November 2006

The eASiA 2007 conference will host an exhibition of latest e-solutions, services, initiatives and case studies from across Asia and beyond. Professional service providers, IT vendors, telecom venders, satellite providers, consulting firms, government agencies and national/ international development organisations involved in the domains of ICT for Development, education, governance and health, are participating in the exhibition.

ASiA 2007

Amitabha Pande Secretary Inter-State Council Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India

Devindra Ramnarine Adviser (Public Sector Informatics) Governance & Institutional Development Division Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

Nooraini Mohamed Ismail Dean, Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia

m-Government m-Learn m-Agriculture m4development m-Health m-Infrastructure m-Services

Conference Secretariat Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), G-4, Sector - 39, Noida - 201301, India Tel. : +91-120-2502181- 87 Fax: +91-120-2500060 Web: www.csdms.in Email: info@csdms.in

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

Dr. A T Ariyaratne Founder Sarvodaya Sri Lanka

R. Chandrashekhar Additional Secretary Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Government of India

Host Organisation Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, Malaysia The Ministry if the key policy formulator and service regular in Energy, Water and Communications sector in Malaysia. The Ministry's main thrust is to facilitate and regulate the growth of industries in these sectors to ensure the availability of high quality, efficient and safe services at a reasonable price to consumers throughout the country. The regulatory function of the Ministry is undertaken through its regulatory bodies, namely, the Energy Commission and the Communications and Multimedia Commission. With an objective to establish Malaysia as a global centre and hub for communications information content services; the Ministry has provided leadership in the provision of infrastructure and services for the effective roll-out of eGovernance and eLearning. www.ktak.gov.my

International Government Partners The Commission in Information and Communications Technology is the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating, and administrative entity of the executive branch of Government that promotes, develops, and regulates integrated and strategic ICT systems and reliable and cost-efficient communication facilities and services. The Commission's aim is to develop the country as a world-class ICT services provider, provide government services to stakeholders online, provide affordable Internet access to all segments of the population, develop an ICT enabled workforce, and create an enabling legal and regulatory environment. www.cict.gov.ph

The National Computer Center (NCC) fundamental functions were to provide information bases for integrated planning and implementation of development programs and operational activities in the government. It was also tasked to provide computer service support, integrate electronic data processing (EDP) operations in government, and establish an EDP Educational Center.

Today, NCC lends its full support to the administration's ICT thrust by forging strategic alliances with the private sector, coordinating ICT activities, developing human capital, promoting ICT utilization in all sectors of the society, and advocating Philippine ICTs services worldwide. www.ncc.gov.ph

Supporting Partners The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, nongovernmental organization that supports programs in Asia that help improve governance and law, economic reform and development, women's empowerment, and international relations. The ICT Program of The Foundations encompasses eGovernance, ICT in Economic Growth and eCivil Society for fostering education and training through eLearning. www.asiafoundation.org/ Bellanet promotes and facilitates effective collaboration within the international community, especially through the use of ICTs. Bellanet aims to support effective development practice by sharing its expertise in information and communication technologies as well as its skills in facilitating organisational learning and knowledge sharing. www.bellanet.org The Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace.To help address disparities in education and improve its delivery the Secreatraiat directs its efforts at improving enrolment and retention in primary education and gender disparities at the primary and secondary education levels. www.thecommonwealth.org Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is Switzerland's international cooperation agency within the Swiss Foreign Ministry. Together with other federal offices, the SDC is responsible for overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as humanitarian aid. SDC's development cooperation activities in the Asian region aims at diminishing poverty, developing structures for a sustainable use of resources, supporting good governance, reducing social tensions, improving environmental conditions etc. www.sdc.admin.ch SEAMEO,The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) was established on 30 November 1965 as a chartered international organization whose purpose is to promote cooperation in education, science and culture in

the Southeast Asian region. The vision is to have a dynamic, self reliant, strategic, policy-driven and internationally recognized regional organization for strengthening regional understanding and cooperation in education, science and culture for a better quality of life. www.seameo.org Sarvodaya is dedicated to making a positive difference to the lives of rural Sri Lankans. Sarvodaya are dedicated to the sustainable empowerment of people through self-help and collective support, to non-violence and peace. Sarvodaya's District Telecenters are the coordinating centers for all development activities of the organization in a particular district providing IT facilities for community development island-wide and coordinating between the Village Information Centers and each serves over 300 villages representing all the divisional secretariats within the district. www.sarvodaya.org telecentre.org is both a social investment program that supports grassroots telecentre networks and a loose family of organizations with a common commit-ment to helping the telecentre movement thrive. Telecentre.org aims to reinforce a global movement by finding ways that people, communities and networks can connect over common issues to make telecentres stronger and better, together. The telecentre.org strategy is to make investments to benefit the whole telecentre ecosystem. www.telecentre.org In India USAID is investing in economic growth, health, disaster management, environment and equity in India and in programs that focus on areas where help is needed most and people-level impact is high. USAID is also encouraging cutting edge alliances between U.S. and Indian organizations to quicken the pace of progress. USAID also promotes use of cutting-edge approaches in agriculture (biotechnology, improved production methods and marketing) and “e-governance� systems and promotes public-private partner- ships as the cornerstone of success of such initiatives. www.usaid.gov/in Warisan Global is a project management for knowledge initiatives and services outsource company based in Malaysia.

Set up in 2000, the comapny helps out government and corporate enterprises to deliver specific and specialised initiatives in ICT development and training programmes, aimed towards reducing the digital divide. www.warisanglobal.com

Institutional Partner The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a multi-campus university of global standing, with distinctive strengths in education and research and an entrepreneurial dimension.The NUS mission comprises three mutually reinforcing thrusts: quality education, high impact research and service to country and society. NUS strives to provide a balanced, high quality education that nurtures the spirit of inquiry and initiative, and which allows students to realise their aspirations and potential. In recent years, NUS has carried out extensive researches in eGovernance and community development. www.nus.edu.sg

MIDDLE EAST Dubai Municipality’s first phase EPIMS unveiled Dubai Municipality’s IT Department recently launched the first phase of the Engineering Projects Information Management System (EPIMS) within the municipality, which is aimed towards creating a knowledge-based e-Society. According to Hussain Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, the EPIMS would allow various departments in the municipality such as Contracts & Purchasing, General Projects, and Finance to submit their applications through the Internet.

These applications would range from accreditation materials, graphics, plans, programmes and reports about the implementation of the engineering projects, besides financial requirements.

Bahrain to issue renewable Smart Cards

Under its ambitious e-Government project, Bahrain would soon be issuing Smart identity cards for its citizens. The renewable cards would be valid for 5 years. Bahraini citizens would have the choice of paying BHD2 (US$5.30) for the basic Smart card or BHD5 (US$13.25) to include the e-Gate, e-Wallet and e-Signature. However, the cards would cost non-Bahrainis BHD10 (US$26.51). | November 2006

NEWS REVIEW

According to Mohammed Ahmed Al Amer, Under-Secretary, Central Informatics Organisation, Bahrain’s Smart card is the cheapest, regionally or internationally, compared with an equivalent BHD10 (US$26.51) for UAE nationals, BHD23 (US$60.99) in Finland, and BHD25 (US$66.29) in Sweden.

Meanwhile, Bahrain would be introducing eTickets by November 2007 as part of a global e-Ticketing drive. Already, e-Ticketing is being

implemented on a trial basis in Bahrain by some airlines. According to Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Affairs authorities, the cost of passenger processing for the airlines would also be significantly reduced, besides facilitating of self-service check-in. Notably, the International Air Transport Association is backing the move globally, and aims to phase out paper tickets from the travel market within 1 year thus saving the global aviation industry an estimated US$6.5bn.

Saudi Arabia approves first e-Crimes law King Abdullah

In a remarkable development Saudi Arabia’s first law to combat e-Crimes was recently approved by the powerful 120-member Shoura Council, which was submitted to it by the Commission for Telecommunication and Information Technology. Under the e-Crimes law, violators would be severely punished by fines or jail terms or both for hacking into other people’s personal information of hacking websites and damaging their contents. The punishment provision includes a prison sentence of 1 year and a fine of SAR500,000 (US$133,543.44) or both to unauthorised persons who gain access to electronic networks; a prison sentence of 3 years and a fine of SAR2mn (US$534,174) or both, for any person who is found in unauthorised possession of electronic documents or property documents; a prison sentence of 4 years and a fine of SAR3mn (US$801,261) or both will apply to any person who gains unauthorised entry to a public network; a prison sentence of 5 years in addition to a fine of SAR5mn (US$1.33mn) will apply to anyone who constructs a website or creates a program that violates the general law of Saudi Arabia, Islamic values or public ethics; and, a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of SAR5mn (US$1.33mn) or both will apply to any person who constructs a website that supports terrorist activities or who advocates how to make explosives as well as persons who use the Internet to establish means of communication between terrorist cells. The punishment also applies to any person who hacks into government networks and steals information related to national security.

Successful online visa applications Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry has termed the online application of visas by foreign nationals as hugely successful. Saudi Arabian daily Arab News quoted Osama Nugali, Director of Saudi Arabian Information Department, as saying that more than 3 million visa applications online have been processed so far since the system was implemented 6 months ago. The official website http://visa.mofa.gov.sa includes forms for business, commercial and family visit visa requests besides Umrah and Haj requests as well.

27

UAE Ministry of Economy to adopt e-Government As part of a wider framework to adopt eGovernment across UAE fully, the Ministry of Economy (MoE) has awarded AED6mn (US$1.63mn) contract to the telecom provider Etisalat. The contract is to establish a comprehensive IT infrastructure to facilitate the implementation of e-Government services for the MoE’s internal operations and internal services.

Voting system that would ensure security of the system and privacy of the electorate while maintaining its user friendliness. The National Election Committee (NEC) has reviewed the upgradation. Dr. Anwar Gargash, State Minister for FNC Affairs, recently made a presentation on e-Voting at the Presidential Palace.

The NEC suggested that a model e-Voting centre be established soon to make the members of the Electoral College (EC) acquainted with the process soon. The EC members have also been asked to interact with the NEC through the newly launched website http://www.uaenec.ae, which is dedicated to provide information and the latest updates on the FNC elections.

Kuwait Ministry to monitor charity collection through e-Device The MoE would see the implementation of 86 new services by the end of 2007. Of the 86 e-Services, some 27 of them would be developed for the internal operations of the MoE while the remaining 59 services would upgrade the MoE’s public services ranging from a commercial registry system, certificate of origin system, commercial trademark system, foreign companies system, trade agency system, intellectual property and central statistics.

28

Meanwhile, in another development, Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has decided to provide Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) with a ePayment portal following an agreement reached between them recently. KAC would be applying the e-Payment system for the first time in its history. KAC customers would be able to purchase tickets using credit or charge card at any given time by entering the website http://www.kuwaitairways.com. According to Sheikh Talal Mubarak Adulla Al-Ahmad AlSabah, Chairman and Managing Director of KAC, the e-Portal is one of the major vital projects of KAC under which the e-Ticket issuance plan would be completed. The step is expected to boost the sales of KAC. The reservation system of KAC would be linked with the e-Payment portal thus enabling online collection of KAC funds, in or outside Kuwait, in case of using credit or charge card upon issuing the ticket.

Dubai public transport passengers to avail e-Tickets soon

Upgraded e-Voting system in UAE The UAE Federal National Council’s election would see the utilisation of an upgraded e-

would be able to monitor the movement of charity funds by having direct access to them and monitoring all projects carried out using them both locally and internationally,” said Al-Ammar.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour has decided to install new electronic device at all charity organisations in the country in an attempt to streamline charity collections by various charitable organisations. Nasser Al-Ammar, Charity Organisations Manager, said that the device would enable the ministry to monitor each and every penny instantly.

The new device would now replace charity kiosks and boxes, which were hard to monitor.

“The device will receive donations through credit cards as well as cash. The ministry

In the near future passengers using public transport such as buses, Metro and water taxis in Dubai would be able to buy e-Tickets.

According to Ahmad Hashem Bahrozyan, IT Director, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the RTA is into the process of developing its web portal to initiate its e-Government facilities. Upon completion, the portal would offer online services for payment of traffic and parking fines, renewal of driving licences, car registration and a number of other e-Services.

www.egovonline.net |

COUNTRY FOCUS Dubai eGovernment Mobile Portal

Providing 24×7 mobile services through innovative PPP Hisham Malak

O

ne of the pillars for Dubai’s unprecedented growth has been the effective use of technology by its population. To improve access to public services to a rapidly expanding population who are ever more faced by time constraints, the Dubai eGovernment initiative was launched with the unveiling of a web portal, www.dubai.ae. The portal provides online access to 81% of the 1,900 public services offered by Dubai government including payment of electricity and water bills (ePay); payment of traffic fines; job searches (eJob); a Dubai city guide; Dubai airport flight information, and information about the municipality’s public transport. The aim of the Dubai eGovernment project is to create an online platform for all of its services. The Dubai Municipality would increase the percentage of services available online from its current level of 81% to 90% or 1,750 different transactions by 2007. In line with its aim of providing access to all of its population, the Dubai Government is also extending these services to people on the move.

Mobile portal The Dubai eGovernment project incorporated a mobile portal solution in September 2005 in a bid to provide government services to UAE (United Arab Emirates) nationals, residents and visitors wherever they may be in the Emirate. This mobile portal is designed to allow the public to access information and carry out transactions instantly via handheld mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. The increase in mobile penetration in Dubai – one of the highest in the world, had made the launch of the mobile portal necessary. More importantly, the people are spending ever more time at work. The mobile phone has become the best means to access information. The focus is now on utilising the latest technology in e-Services provisioning for mobile devices besides adopting a multichannel approach to ensure that people access Dubai’s Municipality, whether they are on the move, in the office or at home. By providing a means | November 2006

Considering the jump in mobile penetration in Dubai – one of the highest in the world, Dubai eGovernment incorporated a mobile portal solution. With the help of Sybase’s Unwired Accelerator Technology, Dubai eGovernment’s mobile portal has evolved as the most convenient method for the city’s public to access information and carry out transactions while making use of the municipality’s services instantly via handheld mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs 29

to access municipal amenities and pay bills with the minimum of fuss and effort, Dubai’s eGovernment mobile portal is the most convenient method for the city’s public to make use of the municipality’s services at a time of their choosing and from a location of their choice.

Online survey Underpinning the development of the eGovernment project was a public census designed to gauge the interest of Dubai’s population in online services. Conducted during a two-week period from the 2 -16 July 2005, 953 responses were received from potential users. The mobile portal online survey included several questions to identify customer expectations ranging from the types of services that users would most benefit from online to whether they feel confident of making payments from their mobile phone or PDA. The survey results aided the Dubai eGovernment in determining customer expectations, a list of services that customers would most benefit from accessing

online, customer mobile usage patterns, potential barriers for using mobile services, and the level of confidence in making payments from mobile phones. Dubai eGovernment was overwhelmed by the positive results of the survey, which showed that there was clearly a significant demand for access to municipal services through platforms such as mobile phones and PDAs .

Following the feedback received from the survey, Dubai’s government decided that with the right set of services and awareness campaigns, the eGovernment scheme could achieve a significant level of mobile adoption if tailored to meet the needs of Dubai’s population. Mobile eGovernment services were designed with simple interfaces and were developed to be used in short interactive sessions rather than imitating Internet based services.

The project included 15 mobile services from various sectors of government in30

cluding traffic fines and inquiry; Islamic services and prayer times; financial services; updates on the Dubai Financial Market; currency conversion; travel booking and flights on Emirates Airlines; Dubai Airport arrivals and departures flight information; One TV weekly programme schedules; Dubai city information; UAE visa information; embassy and consulate details; Dubai hotel and mall searches; and sales and promotions in Dubai.

Choosing Sybase technology To ensure the success of the eGovernment project, senior planners from the government started evaluating a number of solutions from various enterprise software companies to determine the best technology and solution. The Dubai government chose Sybase’s Unwired Accelerator Technology to realise the full potential of the Mobile portal initiative.

The Sybase Unwired Accelerator allows for rapid deployment of services and applications, therefore significantly lowering the total cost of ownership. The solution

also assures consistency of service provision by replicating content from the eGovernment’s online portal.

The Sybase Unwired Accelerator is a secure and scalable mobile platform for quickly and easily extending enterprise applications such as SAP and Oracle, business intelligence packages such as Hyperion, Business Objects and Cognos, help desk applications such as Remedy, as well as web applications, databases, and web services to a wide variety of mobile devices for an “always available” connected experience.

With Sybase Unwired Accelerator’s application development tool, users can create new mobile applications or mobilise their existing ones with zero impact to existing mobile software applications and systems, and zero web application development without any requirement for pro-

gramming. The application also allows for zero downtime, provides multiple mobile applications and device support, and a secured access to backend data. Enterprises can also manage and extend their existing enterprise applications and data sources to a wide variety of mobile devices within days with Unwired Accelerator.

Innovative approach Dubai eGovernment is the first such project in the Middle East to launch a mobile portal platform for both public and private services. In order to provide private sector services (such as stock quotes, airline bookings, entertainment and Dubai city information), Dubai eGovernment has partnered with the Emirate’s industry and business communities. This is the first instance whereby a public organisation has partnered with the private sector to provide mobile services in the Middle East. It

was an innovative approach and provided a single point of contact for customers to avail the most frequently demanded mobile services under a single umbrella. This has helped Dubai eGovernment ease the lives of customers to use services over the mobile channel anytime and anywhere, in a responsive manner without them waiting in line or placing telephone calls that procrastinate the service acquisition time.

Earlier, these services required relatively longer procedures and communication methods for accessing them. In only one month of the launch of the project, it received 26,500 hits without any full-fledged marketing campaign.

About the author Hisham Malak is Channel & Marketing Manager, Sybase Products Middle East. He can be reached at hisham@sybase.ae

www.egovonline.net |

E-GOVERNMENT BRUNEI CONGRESS Creating a Citizen-Centric Government to Achieve Excellence in Public Service 21 – 22 November 2006 • The Empire Hotel and Country Club, Brunei Darussalam

% 0 1 nt for u o c s Di lic Pub r Secto

MINISTERIAL ADDRESS

Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abu Bakar Haji Apong ( Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna ) Minister of Communications, Government of Brunei Darussalam

Featuring Case Studies, in-depth Analysis and Strategic Insights from our International Experts including: • • • • • • •

Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation, Denmark Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Western Australia Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance, Canada Ministry of Manpower, Singapore National Heritage Board, Singapore National Library Board, Singapore

Congress Workshops

• • • • • • •

NCS Pte Ltd, Singapore Accenture Strategis Partners Pty Limited, Australia Brunei Darussalam Computer Society IDG Communications (S) Pte Ltd, Malaysia Joyce A. Tan & Partners, Singapore Rajah & Tann, Singapore

Organised by:

● Improving the Performance of Managed Services in e-Government ● From Vision to Reality: Adopting a Strategic Approach to Government Service Transformation ● Building the Foundation for Effective e-Government ● The Practice of Developing and Using Scenarios for Planning e-Government Initiatives

DZ HAMPTON Supported by:

Supporting Media:

REPLY SLIP For more inquiries and/or register for this Congress, please fax us your detail for Special Discount [ ] Yes, register me for this Congress [ ] Please send me more info [ ] Keep me posted of your future events.

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INDIA

NEWS REVIEW

First “Microsoft e-Governance Awards” announced

M

icrosoft India announced the winners that includes 20 e-Governance applications for its first “Microsoft e-Governance Awards” instituted recently to recognise the most impactful eGovernance applications in India.

Over 300 nominations were received for projects that included those developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), State IT Departments, and Department of Information Technology, Government of India, in partnership with Microsoft. The projects were adjudged on several parameters including effectiveness in delivering project objectives, optimising on delivering government services, innovation, relevance, scalability and replicability. The “Microsoft e-Governance Awards” showcase IT projects that have significantly enhanced delivery of citizen services and have ushered in a more participative and transparent form of governance. e-Government projects to receive awards include Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme (Assam), Instant Money Order (Delhi), Web-based System for Right to Information Act, 2005 (Delhi), SWAGAT (Gujarat), eSuvidha (Tripura), AGMARKNET (Delhi), COIN (Bihar), Apna Khata (Rajasthan), APOnline (Andhra Pradesh), APREGS (Andhra Pradesh), Bhu-Abhilekh (Madhya Pradesh), Web-based Inventory Management System of Central Zoo Authority (Delhi), eDharti (Delhi),BhuLekh (Uttar Pradesh), e-Dhara (Gujarat), Data Centre Infrastructure (Delhi), Integrated 32

Dr Deepak Phatak, Professor, IIT Mumbai, along with Jean Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International, releasing the book

Information System for Foodgrains Management (Delhi), DDWS IMIS (Delhi), Office Procedure Automation (Delhi), NREGAsoft (Delhi), Lokvani (Uttar Pradesh), Courts Information System (Delhi), DRISTI (West Bengal), HimBhoomi (Himachal Pradesh), OTIS (Haryana), PRIASOFT (Orissa), PORTNET (Lakshadweep), Exam Results through the Internet (Delhi), SMARTMOVE (Kerala), SUWIDHA (Punjab), AICT – School Education (Punjab), and MCC (Pune).

Jean Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Corp, presented the awards at a ceremony in New Delhi. Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India was also present. On the occasion, Dr Deepak Phatak, Professor, IIT Mumbai, released

a book People Ready Governance , which is a compilation of the 33 finalists of the e-Governance applications and the impact it has had on the lives of the citizens.

In his awards presentation speech, Mr. Courtois said, “At Microsoft, we share the Indian governments vision for technology as an enabler of economic development. The level of involvement and partnership we have today with the government on the building of an e-governance roadmap for India is truly exciting, and we look forward to working with the government to deliver solutions that bring government services closer to the people.” Mr. Venkatesan alluded that eGovernance has become a critical necessity for India, and that Microsoft would be happy

enough in working with the Indian governments on creating important e-Government applications.

It may be recalled that for the last 13 years Microsoft has been working closely with various departments of the Central and State governments and Public Sector organisations for developing e-Government applications. Currently, Microsoft is partnering with 14 State governments, and there are nearly 150 e-Governance applications running on the Windows platform. Additionally, Microsoft is also continuing to create benchmarks in local language computing and community outreach programs that help facilitate affordable access to technology in rural areas for effective delivery of eGovernance service. www.egovonline.net |

‘Fuse e-Governance, RTI’: President Kalam “The Government should expedite the INR2300mn (US$50.69mn) National e-Governance Grid Programme (NeGP) to make the revolutionary people friendly Right to Information (RTI) Act a real success,” said President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam while inaugurating the 3-day national conference on RTI organised by the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) here at New Delhi recently. The completion of the ambitious NeGP is necessary if the objective of the RTI is to be achieved, Kalam stressed. “The NeGP would help faster and transparent dissemination of information to the citizens with the integration of information network at the district, states and national level to a common e-Information grid,” the President said. Kalam also suggested the CIC to make effective changes in its website for enabling the applicants easy access in demanding information. Besides, the CIC also needs to put on its website the role and duties of the different departments and officials in the country’s federal structure.

In another development, President Kalam recently asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to initiate online auditing to avoid time lag between auditing work and completion of the project concerned.

“There is a need to install e-Governance system for project management and monitoring at the commencement of the project itself,” Kalam said during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new CAG office at New Delhi.

MP planning e-Ration cards The Madhya Pradesh government plans to give e-Ration cards to its citizens soon in an attempt to streamline the public distribution system and check blackmarketing in essential commodities. Under the pilot project, a computer-based automated ration card and | November 2006

public distribution management system is to be set up for connecting the shopkeeper, the warehouse and the consumer through computers. The e-Ration card system would enable monitoring of fair price shops from one place. Some 10 million e-Ration cards are to be prepared in the first phase at an estimated cost of INR800mn (US$17.67mn).

Initially, 23,000 fair price shops would be connected.

Chidambaram launches e-Filing portal

P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister, recently launched e-Filing portal http:// incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in here at New Delhi. The portal is aimed at enabling companies and other categories of assessees to file their income tax returns online using the Internet. It has been made mandatory for the companies to furnish the return for assessment year 2006-07 online to the Income tax Department. However, furnishing an eReturn has been made optional for other class of taxpayers – individuals, non-corporates and trusts. Tata Consultancy Services and Hero Honda Motors were among the first companies to file their respective e-Returns through the newly launched e-Filing website.

The filing of e-Returns would be jurisdictionfree. Ever since the e-Filing scheme was launched in September 2004, the Income Tax Department has received e-Returns from 1,600 companies.

Meanwhile, the All India Chartered Accountants’ Society has raised doubts about the quality of the e-Filing system complaining of technical snags in electronic uploading of returns. The Society demanded that the eReturn filing by corporates be extended beyond the October 31 deadline. According to T. N. Manoharan, President of the Institute

of Chartered Accountants of India, the Finance Ministry has extended the due date by one month (up to 30th November 2006) for filing corporate e-Returns, Tax Audit for companies and FBT returns for companies. Earlier, some 4 lakh assessees were expected to file e-Returns by October 31.

Karnataka’s Education department to go hi-tech The Education Department in Karnataka plans to adopt e-Governance to ensure transparency in administration and prompt information access to the people. M. Madhangopal, Public Instruction Commissioner, informed that under the first phase touch-screen kiosks have been installed at the Public Instruction Commissariat at Bangalore, and also at the Additional Commiserates in Gulbarga and Belgaum. Simialr kiosks would be installed in the offices of Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPI), and at the Block Education Offices (BEOs) throughout the State, under the second phase. All 202 BEOs in the State have been provided with satellite connectivity.

According to Madhangopal, information about teachers’ transfers, promotions, seniority, grant-in-aid to schools, shifting of schools, new courses to be started and complaints received from the public would be easily accessed.

Website for Tripura Forest Department In an attempt to move towards eGovernance in the State, Tripura Forest Minister Jitendra Choudhury recently launched the F o r e s t Department’s official website at the s t a t e c a p i t a l Agartala.

The total forest cover area has increased thus making Tripura the only State in India to do so.

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REGION FOCUS a iss Or

e-Sahayata

Delivering efficient information and service for citizens

e

-Governance initiatives in India has taken a giant stride with the launch of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The plan seeks to create the right governance and institutional mechanism towards ensuring citizen-centricity by adopting suitable standards and best practices. Under NeGP, a number of mission mode projects are being implemented throughout the country. Moreover, a number of independent initiatives are also underway in various states. e-Sahayata is one of the major e-Governance initiative in the state of Orissa being implemented through National Informatics Centre (NIC)’s Orissa State Unit. e-Sahayata is an integrated single-window based information and service delivery system to offer various public related information and services. The information to be offered includes the information about the ongoing public-oriented projects and the information need to be provided under the Rights to Information Act. The services include all common services offered to the public by various departments of the government. In addition, e-Sahayata also includes computerisation of related government processes, grievance/complaint redressal, and government office procedure automation under its scope.

The objective of e-Sahayata is to primarily provide all the required information and services to citizens through eSahayata centres located throughout the state. e-Sahayata also aims to cater to the needs of the government machinery by handling the office and inter-office automation needs.

Susant Kumar Panda urban population of the state can get desired information by means of Touch Screen kiosks suitably placed at state, district, sub-division, block and other locations. e-Sahayata information would also be made available on the Internet so that public could also access the information from any cyber café or computer having access to Internet. The kiosk would also provide information on guidelines for obtaining any e-Sahayata related service, services related information and application status.

The information being currently provided through the kiosks include rural Below Poverty Line (BPL) list, land records information (ROR, Homestead Land), Census 2001, DRDA projects and programmes (Indira Awas Yojna, Sampoorna Gramina Rojgar Yojana, Swarnajayanti Gramya Swarojgar Yojna, and National Food for Work Programme), MPLAD / MLA LAD, Social Welfare schemes (Old Age Pension, SOAP, NOAP, ODP, NFBS), Children’s welfare (Orphan-

One of the major eGovernance initiatives in the State of Orissa, e-Sahayata is an integrated single-window based Information and Service delivery system to offer various public related information and services effectively age, ICDS, Mid-day Meal), Women’s welfare (Mission Shakti, Short stay home, Working women’s hostel, Family counselling, Swadhar shelter home), Civil supplies (Antodaya Anna Yojana, Annapurna, List of Retailers / PDS Centres), Education (SSA Works, High Schools, Ashram Schools), ITDA, and Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (Tube wells).

e-Sahayata Information Kiosk e-Sahayata information kiosk is an integrated e-platform through which rural and 34

www.egovonline.net |

Orissa’s PRIASOFT bags award PRIASOFT (Panchayati Raj Institutions Accounting Monitoring Software), a web-based e-Governance application implemented by Panchayati Raj Department, Government of Orissa, was amongst 20 Indian e-Government applications to be recently awarded

by Microsoft.

e-Sahayata Service Counters The e-Sahayata service counter is a one-stop, citizen friendly computerised service delivery counter to provide a wide range of services under one roof so that the citizens do not have to run around various departments for obtaining various services. The list of services, their specified delivery time and the documents and fees to be submitted is displayed at the service counter for public intimation.

Janavani: Public Grievance Redressal initiative The objective of Janavani is to provide an Internet based Grievance Redressal and Information interface for the citizens.

Janavani aims to capitalise on the emerging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) framework to provide efficient, effective, accountable, responsive and transparent grievance redressal system to the public. Janavani is a pioneering attempt to usher in the era of e-Governance in the various districts of Orissa.

Janavani has been developed considering the needs of the common citizens in terms of not only lodging the grievance but also to help them see the online status. Moreover, it also attempts to integrate the concerned administrative | November 2006

functions in the same unified application.

Thus, Janavani provides both G2C (Government to Citizen) and G2G (Government to Government) e-Governance features.

e-Sahayata Office*Suite

PRIASOFT, which is an e-Government application having G2C as well as G2G interface, addresses the monitoring of funds at 3-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) level under different Account Heads on a month-end basis. It also contains the database of Self Help Groups (SHG) created for different key activities. It facilitates the State/District level functionaries to monitor the financial health of each SHG through bank linkages and savings, advance and stock position.

The objective of e-Sahayata Office*Suite is to computerise the various office procedures such as file/document related transactions, maintenance of registers and help create a digital office repository of the various orders, circulars, notifications, decisions, minutes etc.

e-Sahayata Status The project is currently operational at the districts of Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and Koraput of Orissa. Implementation is in process for Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Rayagada and Sambalpur districts.

Janavani is operational at all the blocks and district headquarter of Khurda.

Office*Suite application and the Government Feeder applications are currently under development.

The citizen section of the application provides financial information to the public whereas the government section captures data and generates MIS reports in the specified format as per the need at the State, District, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat levels. The report is operational since 2003.

About the author Susant Kumar Panda is Senior Technical Director, National Informatics Centre, Orissa State Unit, Bhubaneswar. He can be reached at skp@ori.nic.in

Read egov news online at

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IN PRACTICE SCORE

Providing one-stop e-Registration of properties in Bihar Nirmal Kishor Prasad

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he system of registration of docu ment was first introduced in the country in the Presidency of Bengal including the Mufassil by Regulation 36 of 1793. Under this, registration was only optional. But certain cases of documents, if registered, were accorded preference. Nine years later the two other presidencies followed suit. They were Bombay with Regulation 4 of 1802 and Madras with regulation 12 of 1802. The material provisions of both were identical with the regulation of Bengal. Act 16 of 1864 stands out as a landmark in the history of the law of registration. It was the first comprehensive registration on this subject by the Centre. It set the broad pattern, which these later statutes have followed. It introduced for the first time the system of compulsory registration of documents. The next two enactments Act 20 of 1866 and Act 8 of 1871 did not bring about any important charges. The important innovation introduced by Act 3 of 1877 was the extension of preference to compulsory registration documents including leases. The Registration Act XVI of 1908 was extended to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Registration Department, Government of Bihar The object of Registration Act is to provide not only a guarantee of the genuineness of the instrument but also a record from which a person who may desire to enter into dealings with respect to the property may be able to obtain information as to the title. Registration is mainly designed for the purpose of giving legitimacy to the deed. The most important thing about registration system is that it provides safeguard against fabrication of document of title from time to time and to check fraud and forgery.

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SCORE provides one-stop non-stop online registration of deeds of properties in Bihar. It captures details of a deed online, acts as an identifier, does auto-valuation of the property(s), autocalculation of required stamp duty, additional Stamp duty, registration and other fees etc The history of the system of registration in Bihar is as old as of Presidency of Bengal. At present there are 111 registration offices located at different places of Bihar functioning under the Registration Department, out of which 38 offices are at district headquarters headed by District Registrars. District Sub-Registrars/ Sub-registrars, who discharge all the duties of the district Registrar except to hear appeal against his own orders, head 73 offices at sub-district level. The administrative responsibilities of department are Registration Act, 1908, Indian Stamp Act, 1899, Societies Registration Act 1960, Partnership Act, 1932, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Act 1886, Bengal Mohammedan Marriage & Divorce Registration Act, 1876, Quazis Act, 1880, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, and Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872.

Main functions of the department includes registration of all type of Instruments, administration of the duties related to Stamp and Stamp Duty including Court fees stamp, Registration of Societies and Partnership firms etc. The department earns the second position in revenue collection in the State. The sources for the revenue are Stamp duty, Registration fees and Court fees.

Implications of manual registration The manual registration process had its own complications and time requirements.

The deeds are generally written by deed writers in different offices, which take at least an hour to prepare. The introduction of duplicate system consumes another one hour. Then the deed is presented before the concerned Registering Officer. The Stamp duty is checked by some clerk and registration fee is revised by another. Then www.egovonline.net |

the document is again placed before the Registering Officer. The Executant comes and admits his execution. Then the document with serial no and deed no. is entered into different fee books and total collection is entered as receipt of the day in the cash book. Generally, the entire proceed of fee collected is deposited in the bank next day. Then the document is copied down in appropriate Register books, indexed and returned to the parties after final endorsement.

The process at a glance seems very simple and effective. But, in practice, the system of manually copying of deeds in the registers has completely collapsed and utterly failed. There are about 20-25 lakhs of documents still to be copied across Bihar. The backlog is about 7 to 8 years.

An Executant who presented his document in 1998 would probably get back in 20052008. Some of the manually copied Register books at district headquarters are as old as 100 to 150 years. The papers of the Register books have lost their potency. The valuable records of public utility are decaying day by day. This may lead to innumerable litigations in future.

Study divulged the facts and issues that are most significant with the manual way of registration of deeds are assessment and valuation of the property, calculation of stamp duty and fees, recording of the property in the registers, search and copy, issue of encumbrance certificate, archival of records etc.

After User Requirement Analysis (URA) it was proposed that entire working (business rules) of the registration of| November 2006

fices should be computerised adopting BPR (Business Process Reengineering). The stamp duty, fees, valuation of the properly under transaction should be scrutinised within 5 minutes, which takes 4 to 5 hours manually. Similarly, doing all formalities under the rules the data pertaining to deed will be captured in the form of databases on computer. The photos and fingerprint impressions of the party will be taken through devices. The whole contents of the deed should be captured through scanner and three copies of the CD-ROM disc with the contents of the deeds shall be kept in three different safe places as permanent records. Then the original deeds would be returned to the party the same day of presentation. The system also has to have a database of

market value of all the plots/properties in the area in sufficient details. So that checking of the document as to the correctness of the valuation and stamp affixed, which is done manually at present, will be done electronically to make it faster and remove subjective description. The whole process of presentation till final delivery of registered deed to the party should be completed within 20 to 25 minutes.

The department desires that the old records copied in the register, which take up huge storage space and their permanency is doubtful, are transferred into electronic/digital form and stored on hard disks/CD-ROM. The system should be such that its hard copy can be taken on A4 size paper.

Analysis shows that out of 65 types of major instruments, 40 important instruments which are coming frequently for registration like Sale, Gift, Mortgage, Lease, Settlement, Partition, Transfer of Lease, Exchange, Will, Trust, Power of Attorney, Cancellation, Agreement, Adoption, Partnership etc. are taken on the priority.

SCORE SCORE (System for COmputerised REgistration) has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre Bihar Centre, which is under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, with a sole objective to provide one-stop non-stop online registration of deeds blended with task accountability as well as process trans-

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parency. SCORE has been a user-friendly software package designed on the Windows based clients/ server technology.

The database has been on ORACLE8i and the front-end application is on D2K with security feature like user-id, password along with roles and privileges. The features of the SCORE are online capture of details of a Deed, identifier, auto-valuation of the property(s) based on the Minimum Value (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 in Hindi. Lastly, scanning of the deed is done to mark the completion of registration process. Every deed bears a unique token number as a combination of running number and year. All registered deeds allotted a running serial number and book wise deed number.

The Registration Offices keep various registers, books and indexes for meeting the subsequent queries and legal contingencies. SCORE facilitates generation of all registers like daily as well as consolidated fee book, Index I, Index II, Index III, Index IV, Fingerprint register, day-wise registered and not registered deeds as the Back Office computerisation.

SCORE facilitates the online registration of deeds thus bringing reforms in the business, which has not only helped the Registration offices in record keeping, search and copy, EC, but also acted as an online instantaneous help desk for public in exactly evaluating their properties in terms of required stamp duty, registration fees and requisite enclosures. The monotonous jobs like maintaining so many registers for these documents have been taken care by the SCORE Back Office computerisation.

Implementation models The Registration Department of the Government of Bihar has evolved two models for SCORE implementation. One is by BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) model and the other Hardware On Hire Basis (HOHB) model. The pilot implementation of the project started keeping in view the RoI (Return on Investment) and 38

efficacy of the chosen models at Patna – the state capital where the average load of deed registration is around 80 selected on BOOT, and Muzaffarpur – an important district of Bihar where on an average load of deed registration is around 135 is identified for Hire-basis. Despite having their own pros and cons, both succeeded with expected initial hurdles. The ultimate analysis considering the facts emerged by RoI and self sustainability of the project, it was decided that the statewide implementation of the SCORE project would be more effective on the model of HOHB contrary to BOOT as it is not only cost effective, productive, acceptable, but above all suits to the vision and mission of the authorities of the department seeing the forthcoming 3-5 years of plans.

Initially, SCORE has been implemented at Registration Office, Patna, as a pilot project. Ever since the inauguration of the SCORE project the manual registration has completely stopped. The success story of SCORE has been replicated to other district level Registration offices like Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, and Sub-Registry Office, Danapur, adopting HOHB model.

To meet the expenses that will be incurred on HOHB model, the people have to pay at the rate Rs. 20 per side per page, and is deposited in an Escrow Account.

This amount would also be reduced gradually after having a break-even analysis of RoI. Thus, there would be a saving of 92% of the income that is generated through service (Escrow) charge generated in terms of @Rs. 20 per page per side. Simi-

larly, crores of rupees would be saved when the balance amount of 111 Registration offices are calculated upon becoming operational. The balance amount left over can be used in proper infrastructure creation, maintenance of hardware in future, conveyance required in implementation, employee incentives for motivation, training etc.

In order to execute the project on HOHB, Registration Department of the Government of Bihar has made State Level BISCORE Society and District level BISCORE Societies, which are responsible for the effective Escrow Fund Management in the interest of the offices and State.

Implementation status Till date, it has been reported that 65 Registry offices including District Registration offices and Sub-Registry offices have been made SCORE-enabled. Seeing the efficacy of SCORE, the Registration Department of the Government of Bihar has decided to quickly make rest of registration offices SCORE-enable. It is being implemented in a phased manner. Hopefully, it is expected that entire Registry offices would be SCORE-enabled within a month or so.

About the author Nirmal Kishor Prasad is Project Leader of SCORE and presently working as Scientist-C at national Informatics Centre, Department of Information Technology, MCIT, Government of India. He can be reached at nk.prasad@nic.in

www.egovonline.net |

COMMENTARY Electoral sector reforms

Developing mechanism for Instant Electoral System Dhrupad Mathur

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e are moving fast towards an era where the simplified and diverse use of technology will facilitate a number of routine and non-routine activities and behaviours. Needless to mention, that the impact of this amalgamation of technological applications and gazettes with our daily life would be revolutionary not only because of the underlying technology core which is developing very fast but also because of the innovative models, processes and forms where it is applied.

This technological phenomenon extends adequately to reach the domain of governance and will soon play a vital role in assisting and even deciding the fate of the governments. We are witnessing a rapid transformation towards a better world, where all the other forms of governance have succumbed except democracy. The level of awareness among various sections of society is increasing. The opinion of the public is at the epitome, which is also the key driving force in any democracy. Elections and Voting are thus considered the foundations of a democracy. In this context, there is a paramount need for a fair electoral system in order to ensure a healthy government.

By undertaking a careful study of the existing electoral system one can only conclude that there is a need to develop the technological alternatives for effective governance by ensuring infallible electoral system. The model presented here is developed with a perspective to ensure better efficiency, dependency, fault tolerant and robustness of the election system. It is developed with reference to the Indian context. However, this can be applied to | November 2006

Elections and voting are the foundations of a democracy. For ensuring a healthy government, fair electoral system is a prerequisite. There is therefore a need to develop technological alternatives for effective governance by ensuring infallible electoral system, particularly in the Indian context

other countries as well, and can be suitably replicated. It is also fully sustainable and can be used for a variety of other tasks.

Existing electoral system Elections are observed as festivals in a democracy. The nation comes to a halt with its schedule getting disrupted when voting takes place. Everyone is affected – from school kids to stock markets. However, the government departments suffer the most. Their staffs are deployed on election duty and for some days, and the departments suffer due to lack of caretaker. The district and state administra-

tion has sleepless nights. If suddenly there is a calamity or emergency of any kind then the complete system cripples. We have to call the police and security forces from other states to restore the show.

The election commission promises free and fair polls. On the other hand, our existing voting system has several lacunas.

These include exorbitant costs, system not being foolproof and secure, low level of awareness among voters, and Election ID card not uniformly implemented countrywide.

There are exorbitant costs involved in the whole exercise. The present electoral system is in fact a great financial burden 39

on the nation. Over the last 20 years the election expenses have increased more than 14 times. This can be gauged from the fact that in 1967 the election expenditure was INR17,969,000 (US$397,390.43) whereas in 1999 it was INR8,800,000,000 (US$194,619,049.38). Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have provided certain assistance, but we cannot think of a time when we can conduct referendum on fly (relatively) and certainly can’t think of a system which can be utilised for any other purpose also – transforming this cost centre to value centre.

The existing system is not fool proof and secure. Half of the system is automated and half of the system is manual thereby creating an inefficient (and costly) blend. Also, the present system requires a lot of security forces deployment due to easy accessibility of the polling event and the procedure being straightforward with no foolproof checks. There are numerous instances of proxy (surrogate) voting.

Imagine a polling booth in far-flung areas captured by some hooligans and easily taking away the ballots, stamping and putting them in the ballot boxes. On the flip side is the electronic voting machine, which is a step further in curbing the mess.

But ironically the votes collected on a booth reside in the EVM installed there. Hence any damage to the booth or equipment will cause the votes to go void. Also, the existing system does not take care of voters’ mobility. The voter has to be in his own constituency, otherwise he cannot vote. Postal voting ballots are not very popular.

There is a low level of awareness among voters. Most of the times the voters do not know the authorised whereabouts of the candidates. Often the party workers misguide the voters with promises or fringe benefits as a result the voter is swayed away from making a correct decision. At present, there is no facility for comparing and contrasting the achievements and background of the candidates.

Most of the people do not know even a handful number of candidates in their constituency. Voters largely do not know that they may be casting vote for a person who is convicted or has serious criminal record.

The hands-on information about a candidate is not available. Most of the time a voter votes in a judgmental manner.

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Furthermore, it must be noted that so far we have hardly been able to cross the mark of 60% polling. A large part of eligible population (around 40%) has not participated in the elections. In the first General Election held in 1952 only 61.2% of the population participated whereas in the 13 th General Election held in 1999, only 59.99% of the population participated.

In the case of Election ID Card, there exist several discrepancies. The existing voter card identification system has become a financial burden and has not been so far implemented uniformly to all parts of the country thus making the very concept redundant. Also, the concept of unique citizen ID number has not been implemented. Besides, the Election ID card that has already been made does not contain the amount of information to justify the cost of the whole exercise.

Hundreds of thousands of rupees were squandered because of scores of incorrect entries, interchanging the photos of voters, wrong address, name misspells and other information etc. More than 400 million Election ID cards have been distributed till now.

Major discrepancies are reported every year in the election rolls, where due to the lack of any centralisation several names are not found and then the person is barred from voting. A funny situation was once reported when the chief election officer of a state was not able to find his name on the election rolls and could not cast the vote. Later on, it was found that his name

appeared on some other polling booth’s list. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg, the complete gamut of automated and manual process makes it a show that is difficult to manage and run. The existing electoral system therefore gives a clear idea about the depth of intervention, which is required to improve this impoverished system. The complete process in fact needs to be overhauled.

Development of Instant Electoral System There arises a paramount need to develop a mechanism that is more logical, comprehensive, expressive, inexpensive and secure, which eliminates manipulations and use of muscle-power in elections. This can be achieved by the transformation of existing processes and developing a novel Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based model – the Instant Electoral System (IES) – for taking over the existing electoral system in a phased manner.

Instant Electoral System once implemented would be able to transform the existing electoral process to the extent that this manpower and resource intensive ritual would become virtually automated and temper resistant. From security personnel protected booths towards virtually ‘unmanned booths’. Instant Electoral System will be futuristic in approach and efficient. This system envisages an intelligent approach towards having a minimal bearing on the existing system in a safe and secure manner. www.egovonline.net |

Proposed Solution Architecture Instant Electoral System can be implemented using web based VPN tunnelling, specifically using a virtual private dial-up network (VPDN), which is a user-to-LAN connection used by a company that has employees who need to connect to the private network from various remote locations. Typically, a corporation that wishes to set up a large remote-access VPN will outsource to an enterprise service provider (ESP). The ESP sets up a network access server (NAS) and provides the remote users with desktop client software for their computers. The telecommuters can then dial a toll-free number to reach the NAS and use their VPN client software to access the corporate network.

A well-designed VPN will greatly benefit IES in several ways that includes extending geographic connectivity, improved security, reducing operational costs versus traditional WAN, reducing transit time and transportation costs for remote users, improving productivity, simplifying network topology, providing intensive networking opportunities, providing telecommuter support, and providing faster realisation of investments.

IES security through VPN would be ensured by AAA servers (authentication, authorization and accounting). They are being used for more secure access in a remote-access VPN environment. When a request to establish a session comes in from a dial-up client, the request is proxied to the AAA server. AAA then checks authentication, authorisation and accounting.

Depending on the type of VPN (remote-access or site-to-site), we will need to put in place certain components to build IES VPN. These include desktop software client for each remote user, dedicated hardware such as a VPN concentrator or secure firewall, dedicated VPN server for dial-up services, NAS (network access server) used by service provider for remote-user VPN access, and VPN network and policy-management center (to be managed by Election Commission)

IES implementation outcome The election will become a process rather than an event. As using IES we can, not only have polling in a specified duration | November 2006

of time but can also extend it over a comfortable duration, say, a polling week, hence increasing the participation and decreasing the hassles and haste associated with the existing system in extremely secure way. As soon as a vote is cast it goes straight to IES server and does not stays anymore in the booth so what ever might happen to the booth, the votes are safe and confidential.

IES entail introduction of unique citizen identification so that there would be no chance of surrogate voting as the system would not allow duplication in any way. There would be a provision for two-way authentication, one by the voter identification and another by the electoral officer in charge id. As soon as a transaction is committed it, becomes permanent and every transaction is activated and endorsed by the officer in charge.

Now imagine, in case of a possible booth capturing even if someone overpowers the officer in charge, no one can actually put in more than one vote because the unique ID would locked as soon as the voting transaction takes place apart from the officers authentication which would not be available in this case.

Also, with the help of voting log maintained online, such cases can specifically be eliminated.

The system also ensures total geographical freedom. As anyone can vote from any place, provided he has the unique identification card. Postal ballot will not be required at all. It can be taken further towards posting the votes on website by the people who are out of country during the polling. The credibility of the candidate can be judged by the voters to a greater extent, as candidate profile would be available. IES would have arrangements for friendly user interfaces, where the multimedia systems interact with the voter, depicting the official whereabouts of a candidate like, his qualifications, achievements, social interactions, track record, criminal history etc. with the help of audio visual media. Hence, the voter will be stimulated to take a more rational decision.

We can also further think of having referendum of various critical issues, which will assist the legislature in determining the direction of a decision that directly affects society and nation. A major

outcome of IES is extremely fast compilation of results. Result can be extracted virtually anytime at the click of the button. Analysis done of the data obtained during this activity with the help of various data mining techniques can further help the commission to streamline the process. Also, if they want they can share some of the information with the respective parties. IES will have minimal installations at the client side, as the complete framework uses web- based access to the core servers. In the remote areas make shift arrangements can be made using wireless or wired connectivity. Another major advantage is that IES will be one time expense rather than recursive. The enormous money so far spent for conducting elections would be minimised, as the operating expenses are going to be low in this case. IES can also be utilised for other e-Governance implementations like public distribution system, grievance handling etc. Other departments like Post and Telegraph may take advantage of the infrastructure developed through this endeavour.

Literally, there would be no manpower involved in the counting and security of the votes. There is no physical logistics involved in transportation of votes. This will save the nation a considerable amount of money. IES incremental uses are enormous in contrast to the prevailing system that even hinders other national processes.

Various versatile uses and other information that can be stored in the card include Unique Citizen ID Card No., demographic information, Below Poverty Line Card No., Ration Card No., Passport No., Driving License No. etc. Thus IES strives to enable a virtuous cycle – correct information availability, more participation, easy accessibility, elimination of fraudulent practices, fairer elections, enabling selection of capable leaders, and better governance.

About the author Dhrupad Mathur is Senior Consultant at the Programme Management Unit of the National e-Governance Plan, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India. He can be contacted at dhrupad@negp.gov.in

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WORLD Rwanda to advertise tenders online

James Musoni, Rwanda’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister, recently said that the government would soon begin advertising public tenders on the Internet from 2007 as part of its policy of providing transparency and faster services. Musoni announced this during an interactive meeting between several government officials and CEO of Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) Mark Fleeton, who visited Rwanda.

During his visit Fleeton gave presentations to the government about new technological systems such as digital market that brings about transparency and saving for government procurements. DGF has helped Rwanda establish a Regional ICT Research and Training Regional Outreach Centre (RITC), Geographic Information Systems and remote Sensing Regional Outreach Centre, and Rwanda Development Gateway.

UK computer users fear managing finances online According to a report by government-backed Internet security awareness campaign ‘Get

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NEWS REVIEW Safe Online (GSOL)’ in the UK, more than onefifth of computer users have indicated that they would never manage their finances online due to web safety fears or e-Crimes. Tony Neate, GSOL Managing Director, pointed out that fear of e-Crime could potentially damage businesses in the UK even as more companies tend to move services online.

Acknowledging that web safety remains an important issue for all organisations, Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary, said, “A proportion of people are indeed worrisome about the very thought of going online for banking services and what would eventually happen in case their personal information is misused.” He cautioned that people need to protect their computers and themselves by being careful with passwords, financial information and account details, and that it be seen that these initiatives are adopted by more ISPs and companies.

Ireland unveils upgraded citizens information website Ireland’s national agency Comhairle recently launched the upgraded version of its website www.citizensinformation.ie. The upgraded website replaces ‘Oasis’, the existing eGovernment initiative, and also Comhairle’s online Citizens Information Database. The

website, which has been divided into 14 categories, would cover a variety of subjects that includes employment rights, buying a home, moving abroad and education.

Catherine Hughes, Citizens Information Project Manager, said that the website now contains more detailed information. The website also has an added feature called ‘My Information’ where people can store

Lips appointed inaugural Chair in e-Government Dr. Miriam Lips has been appointed as the Inaugural Chair in e-Government at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Lips is a Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Internet Institute and an Associate Professor in the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. Lips, who would take up her position early 2007, has a strong track record in Europe for research on e-Government.

Besides, her research and teaching interests include identity management, digital citizenship, personalisation, Internet governance, regulation in the information society and public management.

The Chair is believed to be the only second such Chair in the world after the establishment of the Cisco Chair in eDemocracy at Oxford University. The Chair is being supported by the State Services Commission and Datacom, which are cosponsoring the position through the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation.

references to documents or search results.

Besides, the website has also more support for foreign languages. Currently, the information is available in English and Irish, with certain sections available in French, Romanian and Polish, with translated documents chosen based on their relevance to those communities. The website can also be accessed by users with disabilities. www.egovonline.net |

WORLD Rwanda to advertise tenders online

James Musoni, Rwanda’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister, recently said that the government would soon begin advertising public tenders on the Internet from 2007 as part of its policy of providing transparency and faster services. Musoni announced this during an interactive meeting between several government officials and CEO of Development Gateway Foundation (DGF) Mark Fleeton, who visited Rwanda.

During his visit Fleeton gave presentations to the government about new technological systems such as digital market that brings about transparency and saving for government procurements. DGF has helped Rwanda establish a Regional ICT Research and Training Regional Outreach Centre (RITC), Geographic Information Systems and remote Sensing Regional Outreach Centre, and Rwanda Development Gateway.

UK computer users fear managing finances online According to a report by government-backed Internet security awareness campaign ‘Get

42

NEWS REVIEW Safe Online (GSOL)’ in the UK, more than onefifth of computer users have indicated that they would never manage their finances online due to web safety fears or e-Crimes. Tony Neate, GSOL Managing Director, pointed out that fear of e-Crime could potentially damage businesses in the UK even as more companies tend to move services online.

Acknowledging that web safety remains an important issue for all organisations, Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary, said, “A proportion of people are indeed worrisome about the very thought of going online for banking services and what would eventually happen in case their personal information is misused.” He cautioned that people need to protect their computers and themselves by being careful with passwords, financial information and account details, and that it be seen that these initiatives are adopted by more ISPs and companies.

Ireland unveils upgraded citizens information website Ireland’s national agency Comhairle recently launched the upgraded version of its website www.citizensinformation.ie. The upgraded website replaces ‘Oasis’, the existing eGovernment initiative, and also Comhairle’s online Citizens Information Database. The

website, which has been divided into 14 categories, would cover a variety of subjects that includes employment rights, buying a home, moving abroad and education.

Catherine Hughes, Citizens Information Project Manager, said that the website now contains more detailed information. The website also has an added feature called ‘My Information’ where people can store

Lips appointed inaugural Chair in e-Government Dr. Miriam Lips has been appointed as the Inaugural Chair in e-Government at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Lips is a Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Internet Institute and an Associate Professor in the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society at Tilburg University in The Netherlands. Lips, who would take up her position early 2007, has a strong track record in Europe for research on e-Government.

Besides, her research and teaching interests include identity management, digital citizenship, personalisation, Internet governance, regulation in the information society and public management.

The Chair is believed to be the only second such Chair in the world after the establishment of the Cisco Chair in eDemocracy at Oxford University. The Chair is being supported by the State Services Commission and Datacom, which are cosponsoring the position through the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation.

references to documents or search results.

Besides, the website has also more support for foreign languages. Currently, the information is available in English and Irish, with certain sections available in French, Romanian and Polish, with translated documents chosen based on their relevance to those communities. The website can also be accessed by users with disabilities. www.egovonline.net |

Bringing Europe's eLectronic Infrastructures to Expanding Frontiers 14 - 15 December 2006 The Grand New Delhi Hotel - New Delhi - India Announcing the BELIEF 1st International eInfrastructures Conference

BELIEF - The first ever research and education link to India with National Education and Research Network (ERNET), co-ordinated in Europe by DANTE, UK's research networking organisation

BELIEF Conference Sessions

Media Partners

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A1: Government delivered services driving eInfrastructures

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B1: Connectivity and sustainability: outreach to new user communities

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Get in touch: Projects Networking session 1

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A2: e-health

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B2: Scientific repositories and the future knowledge infrastructure

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Get in touch: Projects Networking session 2

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A3: eInfrastructures Reducing the digital divide in emerging economies

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B3: eInfrastructures for Enabling Business

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EU-India Grid Project information session

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A4: eInfrastructures for Distance and eLearning

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B4: Mobile Grid and the eInfrastructures convergence

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Get in touch: Projects Networking session 4

Participation is free but subject to on-line registration at: http://www.beliefproject.org/intconf001 To find out more about the BELIEF Project, please visit the BELIEF website, http://www.beliefproject.org/.

FACTS & DATA

U.S. mobile web adoption slow Mobile Internet penetration is lower in the U.S. than in many European countries. Data from comScore’s “Mobile Tracking Study” identify differences in mobile Web usage between European and American consumers.

Mobile Internet Penetration by Country, September 2006

Online Population (000) Online Population Accessing Web from mobile phone (%)

U.S.

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

U.K.

152,698

23,980

32,085

17,389

12,281

29,589

19

28

34

34

26

24

An average 29 percent of European Internet users access the Web on mobile devices.

This includes users in Germany (34 percent); Note: The online population consists of people 15 years oldand older from home Italy (34 percent); France (28 percent); Spain and work.

(26 percent); and the U.K. (24 percent). In Source: comScore Networks, 2006 the U.S., 19 percent of Internet users access the Internet on cell phones and other mobile devices. Across all six countries, mobile Web users are with smaller audiences in the U.K. (31 percent); Germany (29 predominantly male (55 percent). percent); Spain (28 percent); and France (24 percent).

“The uptake of mobile usage started sooner [in Europe] and is more evolved than in the U.S.,” said Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe. “The ability to have a mobile phone carrier

Operator portals developed and run by carriers like Vodafone, o2 and T-Mobile are more popular in Europe. Five percent of the U.S. market uses operator portals compared to the U.K. (31 percent); France Mobile Internet Penetration - Most Popular Sites, September 2006 (%) (26 percent); Germany (25 percent); Spain U.S. France Germany Italy Spain U.K. (25 percent); and Italy (18 percent).

Online Portal

74

24

29

34

28

31

Operator Portal

5

26

25

18

25

31

Specific Mobile Site

0

17

17

23

4

0

Commerce Site

4

4

8

7

6

8

News Site

2

10

0

11

2

9

Other

15

22

21

8

35

21

Source: comScore Networks, 2006

in the U.K. and fly to France and use the mobile phone, those connectivity walls broke down sooner than in the U.S.” The category of sites accessed varies between the U.S. and Europe. Portals like Google, Yahoo, and MSN dominate in the U.S. market with 74 percent of mobile traffic. In European countries, the popularity of portals peaks at 34 percent in Italy, 44

“Across Europe, the portal doesn’t translate well, and carriers have created mobilespecific sites,” said Ivins. “I think people in the U.S. are familiar with the concept of a portal…and some of the portals in the U.S. are pushing content suitable for a mobile device.”

The data are part of an ongoing mobile tracking study looking at differences in how Europeans and Americans use the Web on mobile phones. It tracks consumers across the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. Source: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page =3623758

www.egovonline.net |

numbers US$11.3bn

43%

was the worth of the global market for self-service machines (kiosks) in 2005. By 2010, the market will cross the US$24bn mark, growing at an average annual growth rate of 17%.

of companies that suffer large scale data loss never reopen, and another 29% close within two years, according to a research from Sun Microsystems.

60%

30,000

of UK employees have access to computer records at their place of work; and, one in ten has abused this access.

This suggests that databases are open to attack from growing insider threats according to an independent survey published by UK company Secerno.

of UK employees have access to computer records at their and above large and small firms are registered on the Government’s tendering website in Ireland, up 100% since the Department of Finance published the website’s existence.

4000 crore

80%

Indian rupees worth industry is expected for e-Governance in India from Rs 3,014 crore in 2005, according to a study by an Indian ICT consultancy organisation. At this rate there would be an increase of 30%.

65% of Singaporeans use the Internet at least moderately. 22% of the country’s residents encourage or aid others to use the Internet, according to survey results released by Media Development Authority, a group formed to focus on and develop Singapore’s media industry.

annually is invested on data storage facilities by organisations, according to IDC estimates. This constitutes a substantial proportion of overall IT spend.

Source US$11.3bn http://www.bccresearch.com/ift/IFT047A.asp 43%

=News&file=article&sid=5774 30,000

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single6767

60%

http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name= News&file=article&sid=6554

4000 crore http://www.cxotoday.com/India/Aiming_Tall_And_Rising_High_-_eGovernance/551-76563-913.html 80%

http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name= News&file=article&sid=5774)

65%

| November 2006

http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3623907)

45

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

6 – 17 November 2006

24 November 2006

29 Nov – 1 Dec 2006

Utilizing E-Government to improve Government Service Delivery and Increase Transparency (Training) Washington DC USA

7th MODINIS workshop – Common infrastructure for eGovernment services Valencia Spain

Achieving IT Governance & Information Security Grand Hyatt Singapore, Singapore

http://www.ip3.org/t2006/t_workshops_ 1627.htm

http://www.egov-goodpractice.eu/ event_details.php?&eventid=127

27 – 28 November 2006 14 – 15 November 2006

http://www.itapa.sk/index.php?ID=4

Conference “The European legal framework for e-business and innovation” Brussels Belgium

16 November 2006

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/legal/ bxl2006/index.htm

ITAPA 2006 International Congress Bratislava, Slovakia

eDemocracy ‘06 London United Kingdom http://www.headstar-events.com/ edemocracy06/index.php

20 – 22 November 2006 Arab eGovernment Summit Dubai, UAE http://www.datamatixgroup.com/

22 – 24 November 2006 Enhancing Public Administration BackOffices Olten Switzerland http://international.fhso.ch/ted/ted

22 – 24 November 2006 First European Summit on Interoperability in the iGovernment Valencia, Spain

http://www.ark-group.com/home/xq/asp/ sid.02291AF3-9051-4BE3-AD2C-A42655840BC 2/eventid.D2F1FA3D-78E2-46B0-B131-8FF624C AD6AC/eTitle.Achieving_IT_Governance__ Information_Security/qx/events/event.htm

6 December 2006 2nd Annual Event: Information Management in the public sector London http://www.kablenet.com

27 – 29 November 2006

7 December 2006

Enabling Efficiency between Government, Business and the Citizen: A Focus on Current e-Identity Applications London United Kingdom

eGovernment Conference 2006 Copenhagen, Denmark

http://www.eema.org/index.cfm?fuseaction =focus.content&cmid=323

27 – 29 November 2006 The OASIS Adoption Forum London United Kingdom http://www.oasis-open.org/events/adoption forum2006/about.php

28 November 2006 International workshop on the results of the PSOSS study Brussels Belgium

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp? containerId=IDC_P11911

11 – 12 December 2006 2nd eBussiness Interoperability Forum Conference (eBIF) Utrecht The Netherlands http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/business domains/businessdomains/isss/activity/ebif_ interoperability_conf_dec06.asp

11 – 14 December 2006 BroadBand Europe 2006 Geneva, Switzerland http://www.bbeurope.org/

14 – 15 December 2006

http://www.publicsectoross.info/

BELIEF International Conference New Delhi, India

23 November 2006

28 November 2006

5th Good Practice Framework Worksop – eParticipation Brussels Belgium

ENISA Workshop – Information Security Certification Athens Greece

http://www.beliefproject.org/events/ international-conferences

http://www.esiig.gva.es/

http://www.egov-goodpractice.eu/event_ details.php?&eventid=151

http://www.enisa.eu.int/pages/certifications/ index.htm

6-8 February 2007 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

O pportunities for

D igital A sia

http://www.csdms.in/easia

Tell us about your event at info@egovonline.net 46

www.egovonline.net |

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