perspectives on ICTs and the Right to Information

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2006

The e-Government magazine for Asia and the Middle East

ISSN 0973-161X www.egovonline.net

RTI & e-Government

Shall thetwain meet?

Chief InformationCommissioner of Indiaspeaks...‘Using Right toInformation to its fullestcapacity is challenging’

19

COVER FEATURE: “Bottom Up” perspectives on ICTs and the Right to Information

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| August 2006 3

COVER FEATURECOVER FEATURECOVER FEATURECOVER FEATURECOVER FEATURE: Right to Information: Right to Information: Right to Information: Right to Information: Right to Information

Read all the articles online at www.egovonline.net

11 “Bottom Up” perspectives on ICTs andthe Right to InformationMichael Gurstein and Parminder Jeet Singh

16 Empowering people: But how?Prachi Shirur

19 ‘Using Right to Information to its fullestcapacity is challenging’Interview: Wajahat Habibullah

27 Balancing the inequalities of informationaccessAndy Williamson

29 Information revolution: Giving birth to anemergent Global CitizenryMarcus Leaning

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEW

6 Asia

10 Business

22 World

37 India

41 Middle East

43 Geo-Informatics

IN PRACTICEIN PRACTICEIN PRACTICEIN PRACTICEIN PRACTICE

8 Implementing Linux on IBM server zSeries

IN THIS ISSUE

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVEINDUSTRY PERSPECTIVEINDUSTRY PERSPECTIVEINDUSTRY PERSPECTIVEINDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

34 Interview: James Shoon LoiYong, Director, Public SectorPrograms - ASEAN, Cisco

REGION FOCUS: UTTARANCHALREGION FOCUS: UTTARANCHALREGION FOCUS: UTTARANCHALREGION FOCUS: UTTARANCHALREGION FOCUS: UTTARANCHAL

39 ‘In Uttaranchal, we are at anadvantagesous positionregarding e-Governance’Interview: Sanjeev Chopra, ITSecretary, Uttaranchal

REGULAR FEATURESREGULAR FEATURESREGULAR FEATURESREGULAR FEATURESREGULAR FEATURES

44 Facts and Data

45 numbers

46 What’s On

31 The right alone is not enough!Klaus Stoll

Preview on pages 23-26

*Cover image courtesy: Krish Dev, Co-Founder,

International Transparency and Accountability Network, India

4 www.egovonline.net |

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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

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| August 2006 5

Information per se is an inalienable part of any civilisedhuman being. It is through the availability of appropriateand adequate information that the very life process of humanbeings becomes liveable and easy. It is in this context thatthe Government of India (GoI) enacted the Right toInformation Act (RTI), 2005, through a parliamentarylegislation mandating Indian citizens the right to “demandinformation” whenever so desired, and which every publicauthority is liable to share as and when asked for, thus

recognising the importance of informed citizenry and maintenance of transparencyof information. Ipso facto, the pre-requisites for good governance too lie inaccountability, authenticity and transparency.

Believed to be one of the most advanced RTI legislations in the world, the Act isbased on the principle that all government information is the property of people.The chapter II - 4 (1-a) of RTI Act specifically states: “Every public authority shallmaintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the formwhich facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all recordsthat are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable time and subjectto availability of resources, computerised and connected through a network allover the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated…It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps inaccordance with the requirements of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide asmuch information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through variousmeans of communications, including Internet, so that the public have minimumresort to the use of this Act to obtain information.”

Indeed, the RTI Act is an important accelerator to take the e-Governance movementforward in India. Digitisation of all government documents, which is vital tostrengthen e-Governance, is quite important to address the information needs ofcitizens. Effective online services as such gives an average citizen instant accessto Government services at a faster and convenient pace, which the RTI Act stronglyand truly advocates. This would not only make the citizen e-nabled but also stampout the scourge of middlemen and rampant corruption. Undoubtedly so, the RTIAct could surely prove to be a boon for various e-Government initiatives in thecountry when implemented fully. It is equally important that citizens be madeaware of their inalienable ‘Right to Information’, such that they demand access tothe existing provisions in the RTI Act while acknowledging the fact that informationcannot be monopolised now. Hats off to prominent civil rights activists Ms. ArunaRoy, Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, who valiantly carried forward the RTIcampaign and made people aware of their intrinsic right to information and to beinformed.

Ravi Gupta

[email protected]

Vol. II, Issue 8 August 2006

PresidentDr. M P Narayanan

Editor-in-ChiefRavi Gupta

Sr. Assistant EditorAnuradha Dhar

Assistant Editor

Danish A. Khan

Sub EditorPrachi Shirur

Designed byBishwajeet Kumar Singh

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RTI Act vis-à-vis e-Governance

EDITORIAL


Now, technologicalATMs to benefitChinese farmers

China’s Jinglingqiao village of SongjiangDistrict in Shanghai began trial operations ofan information service kiosk specificallydesigned for farmers. The kiosks, which aretermed as ‘agricultural, scientific andtechnological ATMs’, would offer agriculturalknowledge, weather reports and marketinformation to farmers. The kiosks would beeasily accessible to farmers, from where theywould also be able to purchase pesticides and

receive them on a specific day. By the end of2006, Shanghai has decided to establish 40comprehensive service centres for farmerswhere such ATMs would be installed. Besides,installation of ATMs on a trial basis wouldalso be done in 40 villages in Songjiang District.

Bangladesh’sGrameenPhone setsup CICs‘Community Information Centre (CIC)’ hasbeen launched by GrameenPhone (GP) inBangladesh as a pilot project through itsnationwide EDGE (Enhanced Data rates forGlobal Evolution) connectivity. The projectaims to provide Internet access and othercommunication services such as using emails,fax and instant messaging to the rural people.Besides, the centres would also providepassport forms, birth and death certificatesforms, market prices of agricultural productsthrough government website to the

customers. According to Stein Naevdal,Director of IT Division of GP, the CICs wouldensure self-employment for at least one ortwo youths in each village thereby contributeto building advanced knowledge of wirelesscommunications and information technologyin areas being served by these centres.

Presently, GP has till date established 26 CICsacross Bangladesh ever since it launched theproject in February 2006. CICs have beenestablished in districts such as Sylhet,Rajshahi, Khulna, Dhaka and Chittagong.

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWAAAAASIASIASIASIASIA

K-AGRINET launches Connect Now campaign in rural PhilippineA 2-month K-AGRINET (Knowledge Networking for Enterprising AgriculturalCommunities) Information and Communications Technology Roadshow has beenlaunched by the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture that has brought Internetconnectivity in the rural areas across Philippine. K-AGRINET is a campaign that urgeslocal chief executives to allow their agricultural extensionists to go online. During theroadshow, 5 big buses equipped with notebook computers with wireless Internetaccess travelled down from La Union to Cagayan de Oro during the summer in a bidto promote KONEK NA! (Connect Now).

K-AGRINET, which is funded through the e-Government fund under the administrationof the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, has 4 components.This includes e-Learning

and Knowledge Bank through Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture, managedby PhilRice; the e-Consortia and e-Farm managed by PCAARD; and the e-Agrikultura, managed by the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and the Philippine Rice Research Institutelaunched the Internet connectivity for agriculture extension workers in NegrosOccidental in November 2005. Currently, OPAPA, also known as the Pinoy FarmersInternet, is advocating modernisation through access of information in theInternet. A network of national, local and international institutions providing e-extension advisory services and distance education to extension workers andfarmers, OPAPA aims to empower farmers’ groups through interactive networkservices giving them direct access to extension agents and agricultural experts.

| August 2006 7

Pakistan launchesPIMS e-GovernmentprojectAwais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Pakistan’sMinister for Information Technology,inaugurated the PKR39mn (US$647,088) PIMS(Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences)automation project recently at Islamabad.The ambitious e-Government projectwas launched in collaboration with theMinistry of Health, amidst the presence ofMuhammad Nasir Khan, Health Minister;Farrakh Qayyum, IT Secretary; Fazal-e-Hadi,PIMS Executive Director; and other seniorofficials.

The PIMS has been equipped with computers,printers, and an MIS (Medical InformationSystem) application that includes all functionsof the hospital including patient care,inventory and stores. A further 100 additionalcomputers and accessories to PMIS would beprovided to extend the project at all its allieddepartments.

Thai softwaredevelopers invited fore-Governmentprojects

In Thailand, local software developers wouldnow be able to participate in e-Governmentdevelopment projects. The Office of ComputerCluster Promotion (CCP) is already workingwith Thailand Science Park, the SoftwareIndustry Promotion Agency (Sipa) and SoftwarePark Thailand for establishing ‘OpenDevelopment of e-Government Collaboration’project. According to CCP’s Director SmithSuksmith, the software developers wouldcomplete the project in three stages. The firststage would be to develop requirement

Brunei e-Health project to take off soonIn order to give a further pushto e-Government, Bruneigovernment’s Ministry of Healthrecently signed a contract withPricewaterhouse Coopers as partof a continued effort to pushforward the implementation ofthe e-Government project, e-Health. Pricewaterhouse Cooperswould undertake the study ofrequirements for InformationCommunication Technology (ICT)

in the Health Services Department and identify potential areas in the Medical ServicesDepartment and Health Services Department that can utilise TeleHealth technologies to improvethe current service delivery as well as to conduct a study on the requirements and propose amodel for TeleHealth in Brunei. The study is likely to be completed within 3 months.

Dr Hj Sablee bin Hj Aspar, Director of Healthcare Technology Department, and Mr Lee Kin Chee,Managing Partner of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, signed the agreement. The services to becovered under the project include Outpatient Services Department, Health Promotion andEducation, School Health, Community Nutrition, Psychology, Maternal, Child Health Care,Immunisation, and District Health.

analysis, design the flow of informationbetween government agencies and establishthe system architecture and programspecifications for information exchange. Thesecond stage requires the developing ofgraphic design and programming related tothe designs. Finally, programs would be test-run for quality control and evaluation.

Some 10-15 software vendors would initiallyparticipate in the project that would run fromAugust to December 2006. However, thenumber of participants is likely to increase innext year’s projects. The selected vendorswould be provided with software tools,facilities and training. CCP would function assuper-project manager, and is responsible toallocate e-Government projects fordevelopment to selected vendors.

e-GovernmentLeadership Centre atSingapore soonDr. Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information,Communications and the Arts, announcedthat Singapore would soon establish an

e-Government Leadership Centre for trainingof industry and government personnel.

To be launched by the end of 2006, thee-Government Leadership Centre wouldbe jointly set up by the Infocomm DevelopmentAuthority of Singapore, the NationalUniversity of Singapore’s Institute of SystemsScience and the Lee Kuan Yew School ofPublic Policy. Aiming to be a world-classleader in e-Government education, researchand consulting, the e-GovernmentLeadership Centre would offer executivemanagement programmes covering topicsrelating to public policy, ICT policy andmanagement and case studies in innovativee-Government.


made the urgency felt for therequirement of a more powerful serverplatform, which would have put the usersat ease while bringing speed in responsetimes. Moreover, even MÁV Informatikahad also decided to cut operational costs,and possibly to reduce the number ofphysical servers and operating systems itneeded to support.

“We had a diverse range of systems,including IBM S/390 [the predecessor toIBM server zSeries] and Intel®-basedservers running Linux® and UNIX®. Wewanted to preserve the core operationalsystems running on the S/390, includingLotus Domino applications, while cuttingcosts and developing our Webcapabilities. This needed to be donesecurely and reliably – it is not acceptable

Hungarian NationalHungarian NationalHungarian NationalHungarian NationalHungarian NationalRRRRRailways reduces workload, cut costsailways reduces workload, cut costsailways reduces workload, cut costsailways reduces workload, cut costsailways reduces workload, cut costs

MÁV Informatika (www.mavinformatika.hu), the Hungarian National Railways(Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV)information services division, isresponsible for designing and supportingthe entire information infrastructure,which includes online ticketing systems,business inventories, carriage tracking,and freight wagon allocation services.Based in the Hungarian capital ofBudapest, MÁV Informatika currentlyemploys about 500 people.

Over a period of time it waswitnessed that MÁV Informatika’sworkload began to subsequently increasewith the rapid expansion of the Hungarianeconomy. Slowing in response times wasbeing considerably experienced by bothinternal and external users. This ultimately

IN PRACTICE

Implementing Linux on IBM Implementing Linux on IBM Implementing Linux on IBM Implementing Linux on IBM Implementing Linux on IBM server zSeriesserver zSeriesserver zSeriesserver zSeriesserver zSeries

“We had a diverse range

of systems, including IBMS/390 [the predecessorto IBM server zSeries]and Intel®-based serversrunning Linux® andUNIX®. We wanted topreserve the coreoperational systemsrunning on the S/390,including Lotus Dominoapplications, while cuttingcosts and developing our

Web capabilities”

| August 2006 9

to MÁV for systems to be unavailable,”explained János Németh, SystemsProgrammer.

Single platform for reduced costsMÁV Informatika standardised on Linuxas its strategic operating system, andchose IBM server zSeries as its mainconsolidated server platform as part ofits drive to cut costs. As such, MÁVInformatika placed the primary zSeriesserver in Budapest, while a second systemhas been placed at a remote location as astand-by ready to resume operations inthe event of a disaster. Existing legacyapplications run in a z/OS partition, whileLinux partitions support both Linux andported UNIX workload.

According to János Németh, MÁVInformatika has reduced both operatingand maintenance costs by implementingIBM’s Linux on zSeries. Németh said, “Wealready had the Linux skills, which wecould transfer directly to the zSeries,making it easy for us to implement newworkload. Since implementation, Linuxon zSeries has proved to be highly secureand extremely available.”

The zSeries supports 1,400 users,authenticated using the highly secureRemote Access Control Facility (RACF),enabling access to a wide range of legacyprograms, Lotus Domino applications,and the MÁV online ticketing system.Data is stored on an IBM TotalStorageEnterprise Storage Server, with a capacityof 1.6TB.

High security for dataConcluding that the security and reliabilityof zSeries made for an unbeatablebusiness case, MÁV Informatika said thatit considered implementing Linux onIntel-based servers rather than on zSeries.Considering that both the legacy andLinux solutions use IBM DB2 datamanagement software, MÁV Informatikaimplemented DB2 data sharing across thepartitions to ensure that all corporateinformation is consistent.

MÁV Informatika, which is currentlydeveloping the online ticketing system,has also decided to run it on a LinuxzSeries partition, with IBM WebSphereApplication Server providing access to thetravel planning, booking and paymentssystems.

János Németh said, “MÁVInformatika has been using IBMtechnologies since 1992. We haveconsidered other platforms for our Linux-based systems, but the security andavailability advantages made zSeries theonly choice for MÁV Informatika.”

MÁV Informatika has expressedimmense satisfaction with the new Linuxand zSeries solution. The company is nowable to reduce its IT maintenance costsand simplify the management of its ITinfrastructure by consolidating to a singleplatform.

According to János Németh, thenext step now would be to implementTivoli Storage Manager on z/OS, whichwould give the ability to back up andarchive data from every system withinMÁV Informatika, including Linux onzSeries. This would provide muchbetter system resilience and disasterrecovery options.

Linux on German FederalRailwaysBesides the Hungarian National Railways,even the German Federal Railways hasdecided to rely more heavily on IBM’sLinux as a server operating system in aneffort to achieve sustainable cost savings.According to DB Systems, the GermanFederal Railway’s Intra-group IT ServicesProvider, Linux offered greater flexibility.Detlef Exner, head of IT Operations at DBSystems, said, “It is our job to developand run the most efficient and cost-effective IT for the Federal Railways. Forus there is no getting way from Linux.The changeover projects are all beingerected upon a uniform Linuxarchitecture. One of the main projects hasbeen the Lotus-Notes/Dominoswitchover from z/OS to zLinux for IBMmainframes. The backbone of the FederalRailways’ IT system is made up of 32redundant servers and has a data volumeof about 6.5 terabyte. Because of the highvolume in particular savings on licensecosts of about 50% can be expected.”

Italy’s Alpitour migrates to Linuxon zSeriesLeading player in the Italian touristindustry Alpitour SpA (Alpitour), whichhas a presence in 7,000 travel agenciesacross Italy, has also selected IBM

mainframe technology to run its corebusiness systems since the mid-1980s.When IBM opened up its mainframe tothe possibilities of Linux, Alpitour wasdelighted and jumped at the possibilityof running new Linux-based systems onexisting zSeries servers. Working withGruppo Formula and IBM Italy, Alpitourhas been able to implement and takeadvantage of Linux without losing theavailability and performance offered byzSeries.

Initially, Diapason – a modular ERPsystem that holds second place in theItalian market, was implemented underz/OS on Alpitour’s IBM zSeries 900 server.However, the development under z/OSwas too slow to meet the growingdemand even though Diapason fittedAlpitour’s functional requirements well.Finally, Alpitour decided to port it to Linuxto improve flexibility and reduce costs.Alpitour’s z900 is now divided into twopartitions – one running z/OS for legacyworkload; the other one is running Linux,for Diapason, with 120 local and remoteusers, and boasting a WebSphereapplication connecting over 1,500 travelagencies. Alpitour is now expanding itsuse of Linux, creating new Web-basedbooking applications running under IBMWebSphere.

The Challenge• Provide faster system response• Reduce infrastructure complexity• Lay plans for business resilience• Cut operational costs

The Solution• Implement IBM server zSeries• Running z/OS and Linux®• Port UNIX® workload to Linux• Migrate existing Linux workload

to zSeries• Plan for Tivoli Storage Manager

The Benefit• Reduced administration and

maintenance costs• Support for Web-based ticketing

system• Legacy COBOL applications on a

single physical server


system is to be supplied to the Ministry ofTransport, Posts and Telecommunications forrealising its e-Government vision. The IBMsolution, which is aimed to make the processcompletely paperless, would reduce the timeneeded for the preparation and execution ofpublic procurement, and decrease the costsrelated with repeated tenders. Bids would alsobe accepted online once the solution isimplemented.

Called EVO, the e-Procurement system wouldsupport the tendering cycle, from notificationsto national and European agencies, topublication of tender documentation,enquiries, submission of binding offers andthe evaluation of bids. IBM’s e-Procurementsystem has already been successfullyimplemented in several European countries,including Portugal.

Cisco to undertakeME e-Governmentstudy ‘Net Impact’

Samer Alkharrat,General Manager,Cisco Systems, Gulfregion, announced thatCisco is to undertake astudy named ‘Net

Impact’ in the Middle East to measure theeffectiveness of e-Government, includinginvestments on productivity. Alkharrat, whomade the announcement recently at the CiscoExpo 2006 in Bahrain, said that the entirelyCisco-funded study would be conductedcountry by country in the Middle East.

The New Impact system would be able toascertain results about moving from

transactions into interactions that aims atimproving the relationship betweenthe governments, companies and thepeople. Cisco executives claim that thetechnology is the catalyst for governmenttransformation and organisations thatcoordinate process reengineering, Internetbusiness applications and advanced networkinfrastructure for achieving success withe-Government.

‘e-Payments to boostgrowth in Asia-Pacific’

Michael Cannon,Visa InternationalA s i a - P a c i f i c ’ sGeneral Manager,C o m m e r c i a lSolutions, said thate-Payments wouldlead to significantcost saving benefitsin the Asia-Pacificthis year given theexpected size ofbusiness andg o v e r n m e n tspending of morethan MYR57.6trn(US$16trn). Cannon,while addressingVisa’s GovernmentServices Conferencein Perth, Australia,suggested that

governments in the Asia-Pacific shouldabandon outdated procurement processesand adopt modern e-Payments system toboost their economies.

Cannon remarked, “This figure underpinsthe phenomenal speed at which the Asia-Pacific economies are growing and with it,the greater opportunities to improvegovernance through maximising resources,reducing costs, simplifying processes,disbursing funds and making it easier forpeople to pay their taxes and governmentservices.”

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWBBBBBUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSSAP emerges leaderin all ERP softwaresegmentsA Gartner Dataquest report publishedrecently declared that SAP AG has emergedas a leader worldwide and now ranks first inall four of the ERP (Enterprise ResourcePlanning) software segments that includefinancial management systems, humancapital management, enterprise assetmanagement and manufacturing operations.SAP achieved a 21.4% y-o-y (year-on-year)growth in the enterprise asset managementmarket. SAP enhanced its leadership positionas the number one CRM worldwide marketshareholder with a y-o-y growth rate of 19.6%based on total software revenue. Presently,the company is envisaging a strong customeradoption of mySAP ERP, the company’s flagshipERP application, at a fast pace.

Gartner Dataquest, a division of Gartner,Inc., for the first time calculated the marketshare for the worldwide enterprise softwaremarket segments based on the total softwarerevenue metric to reflect the changes in theindustry, such as open-source software (OSS),on-demand business models and newregulations.

Slovak Republic toget IBM help in e-ProcurementAiming to leverage its procurement services,the Slovakian government would acquire anintegrated system for electronic publictendering from IBM. The e-Procurement

| August 2006 11

Michael Gurstein and Parminder Jeet Singh

As natural resources and readily available, easily transformableenergy were the raw materials out of which the IndustrialRevolution was forged, so Information and Information and

Communications Technologies (ICTs) are the raw materials out of whichthe Information Revolution is being forged. And just as the IndustrialRevolution was transformative of all aspects of daily life including allaspects of economic and social production (and reproduction) so theInformation Revolution is similarly transformative.

It is in this context that we must understand the concept and theprinciples underlying a “Right to Information” (RTI) and both the likelyimpact of the broad-based introduction of such a right and the mannerand type of outcomes which will be its result, particularly as these affectthose at the local and grassroots levels.

Why “Bottom Up” and the Right to InformationThe challenge of the “Right to Information” is that while such rights mayhave been translated into laws, the practice of enforcing such rights is one,which in many contexts is out of the reach of those without considerableaccess to legal or financial resources. And it is those with the least resourceswho may have the most need to have access to such “information”.

It is pertinent to understand

the concept and the principles

underlying a “Right to

Information” and both the

likely impact of the broad-

based introduction of such a

right and the manner and

type of outcomes which will

be its result, particularly as

these affect those at the local

and grassroots levels

“Bottom Up” Perspectiveson ICTs and the Right toInformation

COVER FEATURE


Having a “right to information”makes little sense if “access” to thatinformation is too costly for ordinarycitizens to operationalise, or if such“access” is limited only to those who forexample, have a high level of literacy skillsor advantageous access to computerfacilities and the Internet. The exercise ofthis right may be denied in practicewhatever the law if information access isunnecessarily restrictive, too costly ordiscriminatory.

In this context, the ‘Right toInformation’ can be understood as havingtwo facets from the perspective of thegrassroots: (a.) Access to generalinformation such as the information thatgovernments (and others) make availablefor example, concerning entitlements andbenefits, medical information orinformation that might be of interest froma working conditions or occupationalhealth and safety perspective amongothers; and (b.) Access to specific infor-mation such as might those concerningindividual files, services or entitlementsrelated to individuals, specific decisionsmade and decision making bygovernment officials and so on.

In both of these instances informa-tion technology can play a significant role.In the first instance, by lowering the costof information access and by facilitatingits broadest possible distribution (andpotential accessibility) through email orthe World Wide Web. In the secondinstance, by enabling the developmentand enhanced ‘transparency’ of informa-tion records, tabulations, databases andso on to which ordinary citizens can haveready and low cost access throughelectronic means.

Also, it should be noted that the issueof “digitisation of records” is still subjectto attitudes critical of computerisationamong many of those involved in publicpolicy issues – inside governments andoutside. In fact, a position critical of newtechnologies is often seen as being nece-ssary if one is to be understood as beingsupportive of disadvantaged people.

In fact, the (Right to Information) RTIAct is India’s first law that obligatesgovernments to take up e-Governance.Quoting the Act: “Every public authorityshall… ensure that all records that areappropriate to be computerised are,

within a reasonable time and subject toavailability of resources, computerisedand connected through a network allover the country on different systems sothat access to such records is facilitated.Public and judicial activism canprogressively increase the interpretationof all records that are appropriate to becomputerised.” In a recent workshop onRTI in Delhi many participants wereconcerned that too heavy focus on theInternet was not appropriate consideringthe conditions of rural India today, whereconnectivity is low.

Effective use and the Right toInformationIt should also be noted that a “Right toInformation” is meaningless andparticularly for those with little meanswithout a consequent means for enablingthe “effective use” of this information.

In another context, the notion of“effective use” has been developed as anapproach to ensuring that access that ismade available in attempts for example,to “bridge the Digital Divide” are in factof value and benefit to the populationtowards which these applications areaddressed. An “effective use” approachwould be concerned to ensure that RTIwas supported not simply by the meansto access the information element but alsothat it was usable by those making accessthus that it is accessible to those withvarious types of disabilities; designed tobe usable given various types of Internetaccess; available in local languages andsupports use by those with little or noliteracy skills; downloadable with localmeans to print in a usable and affordablemanner; and perhaps of most importancethat there are institutional andorganisational structures and supportsthat enables the translation of “accessedinformation” into real and valuable useby citizens as for example, in linking theinformation in public records to themaking of formal complaints.

RTI and e-GovernanceIn India, in particular, there is theadditional issue that if the RTI were to befully executed it is likely that the currentgovernance system would be unable tocope. The scope of this issue is in Indiaenormous and its potential impacts very

substantial given the very high cost ofservicing even a single request forinformation. The argument that isfrequently made that one successful RTIrequest obviates the need for manyothers, as the system perks up and beginsto deliver better, may be underestimatingthe inertia of the system and notrecognising the impact of the pettycorruption which surrounds informationaccess in India (and in many otherdeveloping countries as well).

Digital technologies which providethe means for very low cost publishingand information distribution are quiteevidently the necessary supports for theRTI, and without them the promise of anyRTI law or similar ascribed right cannotbe optimised.

An additional issue with RTI pro-cesses where ICTs may have a significantinfluence is that in many cases wheninformation is requested this request hasto be addressed to the very office orofficial where the information in questionmay potentially have the most damagingeffect. In this instance, the officials inquestion have the least incentive todisclose and the most incentive (andmeans) to undertake “damage control”(information access restrictive) measures– a situation where the citizen isnecessarily at a significant disadvantage.

The electronic publication of govern-ment information could ensure remoteaccess to information without giving a‘warning’ to the potentially affectedofficials. Such processes also allow seniorofficials up to the highest levels to monitorRTI access to government informationremotely, once again without any parti-cular office/official to having knowledgethat such a monitoring is being done.

The costs of e-Governance, i.e.broadly, digitising records and processes,though expensive, has to be seen in thecontext of the overall cost of governmentand particularly for the Indian govern-ments which runs a quite expensive estab-lishment. This establish-ment however isone with low levels of efficiency and highlevels of wastage and one, which wouldalmost certainly be very positivelyimpacted through the widespreadintroduction of ICTs.

Today, even a small office of, say, agrassroots NGO has begun to realise that

| August 2006 13

computer-based office work ismore cost effective than manualprocess – whether it be foraccounting, documentation orcommunication. Governmentsin developing as in developedcountries are simply smalloffices multiplied into the tensof thousands or even millionswhere each in turn could benefitfrom computer applications.When linked together by meansof the Internet, these couldachieve very significantadditional improvements ineffectiveness and potentiallymassive cost and overallefficiency benefits as well; butof course while also taking stepsto limit the opportunities for thepotentially very significantwastage and corruptionleakages that changeovers ofthis scale can themselvesengender and particularly incountries such as India wherethere are entrenched patternsof corruption.

There is of course the need to buildthe institutional systems and processesthat give body to the provisions of theAct. These processes and systems includeinstitutionalisation of practices ofseeking and obtaining information fromgovernment bodies and also being ableto use this meaningfully. Great vigilanceand high level of activism by citizengroups is needed in the initial andpotentially protracted period of RTIimplementation as practices areestablished and institutionalised, andwhere they can be expected to havesignificant resistance from thebureaucracy. Often this will requireworking with some supportivebureaucrats to build good workingsystems of obtaining information throughRTI, and using it to enforce accountabilityand improve public service delivery.

As against getting one-off access touseful information, building workingsystems over the new legal provisions ismore important. Many in the establish-ment have the good intention to improvegovernance but are impeded by poorexisting systems, and working with themto build new citizen-empowering systems

is an important work for citizen groups.Perhaps what is needed as a start is

to take a simpler, more home-grown,approach to e-Governance – one where2-3 years are taken to digitise all processesand documents in one district in a mannerthat all systems work ideally as per plan(for which will be needed local politicaland employee level “buy in” including anunderstanding of what this will meanfrom personal employment and incomeperspectives). This being done, the costsaving and output improvements will beeasily proven. And since in most cases,governance processes are the same acrossall the districts within each nationalgrouping, the system can be exportedeverywhere within the country.Additionally, of course in support of thisit is important that civil society activistsand the media gives as much attention tothis kind of system piloting andmainstreaming as it has to the one-offexamples of ICT implementations and theeffective application of incidences of RTI.

RTI and Community InformaticsThe above was about theinstitutionalisation of the RTI at thegovernment end, and the imperatives

involved in this process. Anequally important issue is that ofinstitutionalising processes at thecommunity level. At present, inmost jurisdictions it is the urbaneducated population, oftenactivists, who have used the RTI.It is relatively easy for a city-based educated pensioner, forinstance, who is used to officialprocesses, to undertake an RTIaction. But the vast majority ofthe population in developingcountries, mainly rural, poor andotherwise disadvantaged, i.e.those who are most excluded bythe existing processes ofgovernance, are mostly absentfrom the RTI picture. It isimportant for these elements ofthe population and thesecommunities that RTI processesare embed and institutionalisedinto appropriate local communityinformatics systems.

ICT-enabled processes arealso needed in communities for

RTI to be operationalised to its realpotential and this goes beyond theobvious observation that if most publicinformation is put on the Internet, peoplewill need to have the Internet available inorder to access it. Community informaticsimplies making use of ICTs to developnew empowering systems of informationand communication processes at thecommunity level. RTI is emerging at atime when access to information hastaken on a new meaning and set ofpossibilities due to the spread of ICTs.Village tele- (or information orknowledge) centres are being promotedas a new institutional form in manyDeveloping Country contexts includingrural India, to become local nodessupporting a variety of existing and newinstitutional processes including in thearea of small business development, socialorganization, governance, and educationand health services.

An ideal community informaticsimplementation will however, not simplybe a one-way flow of information intothe village community. Equally it willprovide opportunities for peer-to-peer aswell as bottom-up information flows asfor example, community built databases


which could complement andauthenticate official records or providealternatives to existing records which maybe faulty or otherwise misleading.

The development of suchcommunity-generated data has been oneof the most important ways in which truly“effective uses” of the RTI provisionshave been implemented bydisadvantaged communities. Two RTIactivist groups in India, Mazdoor KisanShakti Sangathan and Parivartan, havecollected their own data – MKSS aboutdaily wage payments in public worksactivities, and Parivartan about the Public(Food) Distribution System (PDS) – andhave challenged official records in theseimportant areas. These activities have ledto significant community empoweringoutcomes. These examples demonstratethe value of further systematizing suchprocesses and of placing RTI in the contextof the development of communityinformatics applications specific to eachcommunity.

In a mature community informaticscontext, the information collection activityneed not only be oppositional andconfrontational. Community processesin telecentres can also support theefficiency and effectiveness of publicservice delivery. One instance of this is inthe IT for Change Mahiti Manthanaproject in villages in Mysore wherewomen self help groups ‘own’ suchtelecentres. It is anticipated that thetelecentre or Village Information Centre(VIC) operators will collect informationmonthly on the health intervention needsof pregnant women and young childrenin the village. This information will bepassed on to public health serviceproviders, so that they can plan their visitsaccordingly. This information will also becopied to all higher officials. This will savethe visiting health staff the need to visitevery house to find out which householdsrequire their services during a particularvisit. The VIC operator, at a later time,will collect data on actual interventionsmade by the health system, and thisinformation will be available to becompared with the earlier set, whichidentified the needs.

Ultimately all of this information willbe routinely sent to all levels of the healthservice machinery. However, it may not

be sufficient to trust that there will be anautomatic intervention from the higherlevels even when information concerninggaps in service provision is routinely andsystematically made available. The sameVIC which will build the communityinformation base will also act as a RTIfacilitation centre helping communitymembers to obtain access to officialinformation concerning healthinterventions that may be mentioned inthe official records but may not haveactually been performed or which have

been made but which have not beenentered into the official record. In this wayproviding access and the means foreffective use of health information at thecommunity level will enable a people’saudit of the health system and its overallaccountability and transparency as wellas ensuring that the field workers will bekept on their toes because they will knowthat information is flowing to the higherlevels.

Such an integrated communityinformatics approach to village levelinformation gathering and managementcan also be seen as a viable alternative tothe currently cumbersome and ofteninaccurate manual public health data filingsystem which of course, is a majorcontributor to the system’s overallinefficiency.

Similar information access andcommunication processes can beestablished in other areas such as themanagement and delivery of publicworks (including workforce enrolmentand wage payments), governmentrevenues and expenditures, taxation,education services, agriculture extensionamong others. However, as pointed outearlier, it is essential that these processesare systematized and institutionalised, sothat they both contribute to thecontinuing upgrading of the machineryof government at the same time as theyare increasing the transparency and

accountability of governmentaloperations. It is only when robustinformation and communication systemsare set up, and are sufficientlyinstitutionalised at the community end,that real and sustained benefits from RTIwill begin to flow.

RTI, ICTs and Good GovernanceThe formalisation of a Right toInformation carries with it the potentialof far-reaching transformation of Indiangovernance, but for this purpose the RTI

law needs to be exploited systematically.It is important also to recognize that

the opportunities presented by aformalized RTI, as for example, the IndianRTI Act, can only be fully operationalisedand routinised through the developmentand implementation of appropriateinformation systems and the automationof government operations. Incorporatingnew processes built around theappropriate and effective use of the newICTs, both at the government end and atthe community end, is absolutelyessential for this purpose and overall forachieving “good governance” at both thelocal and the national levels.

The fears that the bureaucracy hasexpressed, and attempts to dilute the law,and stall its implementation in variousways, only serves to show the potentialof the RTI law. The Indian RTI law is widelyaccepted to be very progressive, andcarries the means to build a popularmovement for re-claiming and re-enabling the institutions of citizen basedgovernance and real democracy.

It should be noted that a “Right to Information”

is meaningless and particularly for those with

little means without a consequent means for

enabling the “effective use” of this information

About the author

Michael Gurstein is associated with

Centre for Community Informatics

Research, Development and

Training, Vancouver, Canada.

Parminder Jeet Singh is Executive

Director, IT for Change, Bangalore,

India


Prachi Shirur

The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of

2005) enacted on 15th June 2005 is an Act to pro-

vide for setting out the practical regime of right to

information for citizens to secure access to infor-

mation under the control of public authorities, in

order to promote transparency and accountability

in the working of every public authority. The Act is

enacted to primarily contain corruption and to hold

Governments and their instrumentalities account-

able to the governed

Right to Information Act 2005

The Right to Information Act (RTIAct) in India (http://persmin.nic.in/RTI/WelcomeRTI.htm) became fully

operational from 12th October 2005 (120th

day of its enactment on 15th June 2005).Some provisions have come into forcewith immediate effect viz. obligations ofpublic authorities [S.4(1)], designation ofPublic Information Officers and AssistantPublic Information Officers[S.5(1) and5(2)], constitution of Central InformationCommission (S.12 and 13), constitutionof State Information Commission (S.15and 16), non-applicability of the Act toIntelligence and Security Organizations(S.24), and power to make rules to carryout the provisions of the Act (S.27 and

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Empowering people:But how?

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28). The Act extends to the whole ofIndia except the State of Jammu andKashmir [S.(12)].

The right to information includesan access to the information which isheld by or under the control of anypublic authority and includes the right toinspect the work, document, records,taking notes, extracts or certified copiesof documents/records and certifiedsamples of the materials and obtaininginformation which is also stored inelectronic form.

Right to Information Act, 2005Lack of information denies peoplethe opportunity to develop theirpotential to the fullest and realise thefull range of their human rights.Individual personality, political andsocial identity and economic capabilityare all shaped by the information thatis available to each person and tosociety at large. The practice ofroutinely holding information awayfrom the public creates ‘subjects’rather than ‘citizens’, and is a violation oftheir rights. This was recognised bythe United Nations at its veryinception in 1946, when the GeneralAssembly resolved: “Freedom ofInformation is a fundamental humanright and the touchstone for allfreedoms to which the United Nationsis consecrated”.

As per the Constitution of India,information means any material in anyform including records, documents,memos, emails, opinions, advices, pressreleases, circulars, orders, logbooks,contracts, reports, papers, samples,models, data material held in anyelectronic form, and information relatingto any private body which can be accessedby a public authority under any other lawfor the time being in force but does notinclude “file notings” [S.2(f) of theConstitution of India].

The Right to Information includesthe right to inspect works, documents,records; take notes, extracts orcertified copies of documents or records;take certified samples of material; andobtain information in form of printouts,diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettesor in any other electronic mode orthrough printouts.[S.2(j)]

Information exempted fromdisclosureThe Right to Information Act, 2005, underSections 8 and 9 exempt certain categoriesof information from disclosures. Theseinclude:• Information, disclosure of which

would prejudicially affect thesovereignty and integrity of India,the security, strategic, scientific oreconomic interests of the State,relation with foreign State or lead toincitement of an offence

• Information, which has beenexpressly forbidden to be publishedby any court of law or tribunal orthe disclosure of which mayconstitute contempt of court

• Information, the disclosure ofwhich would cause a breach ofprivilege of Parliament or the StateLegislature

• Information including commercialconfidence, trade secrets orintellectual property, the disclosureof which would harm thecompetitive position of a third party,unless the competent authority issatisfied that larger public interestwarrants the disclosure of suchinformation

• Information available to a personin his fiduciary relationship, unlessthe competent authority is satisfiedthat the larger public interestwarrants the disclosure of suchinformation

• Information received in confidencefrom foreign Government;information, the disclosure ofwhich would endanger the lifeor physical safety of any personor identify the source of informationor assistance given in confidencefor law enforcement or securitypurposes

• Information which would impede theprocess of investigation orapprehension or prosecution ofoffenders

• Cabinet papers including records ofdeliberations of the Council ofMinisters, Secretaries and otherofficers

• Information, which relates topersonal information the disclosureof which has no relationship to any

public activity or interest, or which,would cause unwarranted invasionof the privacy of the individual

Request for InformationAny citizen can request for informationby making an application in writingor through electronic means inEnglish/Hindi/official language ofthe areas, in which the applicationis being made together with theprescribed fees.

Delivery of InformationA request for obtaining informationunder Section 6(1) of the Act needs to

be accompanied by an applicationfee of Rs.10 by way of cash againstproper receipt or by DD or bankers’cheque.

As per the Right to Information(Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005,the public authority shall charge:• Rs.2/- for each page (in A-4 or A-3

size paper) created or copied• Actual charge or cost price of a copy

in larger size paper• Actual cost or price for samples or

models• For inspection of records, no fee for

the first hour; and a fee of rupees fivefor each subsequent hour (or fractionthereof)

The awareness about

the provisions of the

RTI Act amongst

officers is poor at the

lower rungs of the

administrative ladder,

at the block and

panchayat levels. Fee

structure notified by

various governments

has no uniformity

across the country


Further, to provide informationunder Section 7(5) of the Right toInformation Act, 2005, the publicauthority shall charge:• Rs. 50/- per diskette or floppy• For information provided in printed

form at the price fixed for suchpublication or Rs. 2/- per page ofphotocopy for extracts from thepublication

Authority delivering InformationAny public authority would designateCentral Asst. Public InformationOfficer (CAPIO) at various levels, whowill receive the requests for informationfrom the public and necessary numberof Central Public InformationOfficers (CPIO) in all administrative units/office who will arrange for providingnecessary information to the publicas permitted under the law. Thepublic authorities are also required todesignate authority senior in rank toCPIO, as Appellate Authorities, whowill entertain and dispose off appealsagainst the decision of the CPIO asrequired under the Act. Any personwho does not receive the decision fromCPIO either by way of information orrejection within the time frame, maywithin 30 days from the expiry of periodprescribed for furnishing the informationor 30 days from the date of receiptof the decisions, may appeal to theAppellate Authority.

Role of Central Public InformationOfficers (CPIO)The CPIO will receive the application/request for information under the Actand process the request for providingthe information and dispose of thesame, either by providing theinformation or rejecting the request,within a period of 30 days from the dateof receipt of request.

Gaps in the Right toInformation ActThe Right to Information has itsfundamental limitation with respect to thefact that there are areas of informationthat should remain protected in public andnational interest. There are also certaingaps in implementation of the RTI Act.Till date, Information Commissions

(mandated by the Act) have been set upin 22 of the 28 States only. Requesters arethereby deprived of the statutorycomplaints and second appellatemechanism in these states to dealwith unreasonable action of PublicInformation Officers and publicauthorities. The awareness about theprovisions of the RTI Act amongst officersis poor at the lower rungs of theadministrative ladder, at the block andpanchayat levels. Fee structure notified byvarious governments has no uniformityacross the country. The Act does notempower any public authority orInformation Commission to collect feesfor considering appeals from citizens.The Act and the subsequent Rules do notspecify a time limit for InformationCommissions to dispose of appeals andcomplaints (Source: Report of the

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National Conference on the Working ofthe Right to Information Act, CHRI andISI, 2005).

The Right to Information Act isoften seen as the magic pill that willbe the panacea for all our ills. Butunless it is preceded by technologyenabled knowledge systems, mandateddisclosure and structured citizenparticipation, it will be a damp squib.The gap between what the stateknows and what the people are told isthe root of repression, corruption andinequity. It is this complete opacity thatallows those who have subverted thestate to use it for their own ends.Eliminating this asymmetry andsetting the foundation for an opendemocracy is what will truly empowerIndia.

| August 2006 19

leads towards public participation ingovernance. The public can participate ingovernance if it knows what thegovernment is doing, and why it isdoing what. Once they know what andwhy, public can either give itsrecommendations, vote for somebodywhom they feel can do what they want,change the government if it feels it needsto be changed, it can raise questions inthe parliament, it can raise questions inthe street. There are so many means toparticipate. But first the public needs tohave the information and only then it canparticipate. Therefore, this Act isconsidered more important than theConstitution itself because it makes thedemocracy real, makes it for the peopleof this country. It extends to every citizenof India, gives the right to every citizenof India.

It is not that the government did notgive this right before. Article 19 of the

‘Using Right to Information to itsfullest capacity is challenging’

Being an intrinsic part of

democracy, the Right to

Information should have

come soon after we

became a democracy. It

has come a little after than

it should have come, admits

Wajahat Habibullah, Chief

Information Commissioner,

Government of India, in an

interview to Anuradha Dhar

& Prachi Shirur of egov

What has been the purpose andobjective behind the passing of the Rightto Information (RTI) Act? Has it come atthe right time, or it has come early or itshould have come long time ago?The Right to Information (RTI) is anintrinsic part of democracy. From thatpoint of view, to answer your questionwhether it has come early or late, I wouldsay it has come a little after than it shouldhave come. It should have come soon afterwe became a democracy. But there arereasons why it could not be there becausewe were a new democracy; we did nothave a long tradition of democraticgovernance. This tradition had to beestablished which took time. Now I thinkthat we can claim to be among the moreadvanced democracies like anywhere inthe world. We have our weaknesses;every democracy has its ownweaknesses. But this is something thatadds strength to the democracy, which

INTERVIEWINTERVIEWINTERVIEWINTERVIEWINTERVIEW::::: W W W W Wajahat ajahat ajahat ajahat ajahat HHHHHabibullahabibullahabibullahabibullahabibullah


Constitution of India also gives the rightto freedom of speech; and freedom ofspeech and right to information gotogether. But there was no mechanismearlier through which citizens could accessthe information. Now that mechanism isthere. The other point is when I am talkingabout why is it important for democracy.In a democracy, as per the classic definitionof democracy, Government is of thepeople, by the people and for the people;and if this is so, that means that themoney which is collected by thegovernment is public money. It is literallypublic money because they pay the taxes,and therefore own this money. Thegovernment is only holding it on behalfof the public. It is not an imperial systemwhere the emperor has taken money forhis own durbar. So, when the money isgiven to the government in trust, thepeople have the right to know what thegovernment has done with this money.And therefore, this Act extends to all thepublic authorities. Public authorities areall those organizations, which haveaccepted public money – they are notonly government organizations but alsothose private organizations and NGOsthat have accepted public money. So theyare answerable to the public. However,this is subject to few exceptions since thereis the question of security – national andeconomic, there is the question of privacy.So it is not unfettered access toinformation. I, as an individual, wouldhave given something in trust to thegovernment; the government may beholding my bio-data in trust. In that caseif somebody comes and asks for it, it isdenied. With these few exceptions, largelyall the information, which is the propertyof the government, is the property of thepublic. And therefore, this Act is therecognition of that, and is a mechanismfor accessing information by the public,which is their right.

How do you rate the success of theimplementation of the RTI Act?The Act was introduced in the IndianParliament in May 2005 and passed in June2005. So, it is one year since it was passed.But it came into operation only in the endof October 2005. It was supposed to be inoperation by 12th October, but theinfrastructure was not ready by then. I

was sworn in as Commissioner only onthe 26th October 2005. And the wholeCommission became fully operational bythe end of November last year. So, theCommission has been there for only 6-7months, and therefore still in its earlydays. I give you an example of the UnitedKingdom, where the RTI Act was passedin January 2000, and it came intooperation in January 2005. The wholeinfrastructure was put in place before theAct was implemented. In India, the Actcame into operation withoutinfrastructure being in place. Andtherefore, there have been avoidabledelays and things like that. For example,the states of Bihar, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh (UP), they have appointed theirInformation Commissioners only acouple of months back. And the UP ChiefCommissioner says he is having tooperate from his home due to lack ofinfrastructure.

These things would not havehappened if we had taken the advantageof using the time from June till Octoberto set up the infrastructure. Even in theCommission, staff was not there, thefacilities were not there. Initially it was abit tough; and now we are an ongoingCommission. But still there are delays;delays in the receipt and dispatch, theroutine kind of official working that wetake for granted. It is only now that it iscoming into position now. Even the spaceis limited; the staff sanctioned by theMinistry could not be accommodated dueto shortage of space. Now we have gotlittle more space.

In certain states such as Delhi andMaharashtra, infrastructure is therebecause they had the law for a long time.Delhi, in fact, surpassed the Governmentof India in passing of the RTI Act. TheChief Information Commissioner forDelhi is myself. But they do not have aseparate Information Commission and soon. They have the awareness becausethey have practiced this law for the pastfive years. In other parts of the country,this is not so. Awareness is supposed tobe promoted by the government.

What is the role of this Commission?The role of the Commission is the finalappellate authority. The wholemechanism, which is to be set up, is that

every public authority has to set up aPublic Information Office, one window.So if you need any information from anypublic authority, it may or may not be agovernment department, you go to thatpublic authority and get the information.If you do not get the information, or theinformation is delayed beyond the timelimit, or the information given to you ismalafide/misleading, then you can goand appeal. The appeal will lie with theappellate authority, which is inside theministry or the department of the publicauthority, a nominated person, and isusually an officer (PIO), senior to thePublic Information Commissioner. Sohere you see that it is already a stepforward.

Earlier, if you sought theinformation, you had to go to the seniorofficer. Now you have to go to the CentralPIO, who is the officer, it has to be aSecretary or Deputy Secretary levelofficer. It is the Central PIO who isresponsible for giving the information,the other PIOs will hold the informationfor you, if you go to them they will givethe information to you otherwise theywill give it to any other PIO who asks forthe information. So far as you areconcerned, you have to go to only onePIO. He/she cannot say “Please go to thatofficer, or that officer”, which used tohappen earlier. You cannot be given therun-around here. You get the informationfrom whom you ask. If you do not getthe information, then you go in for thesecond appeal and that is before thisInformation Commission. And thisCommission is outside of thegovernment. It does not have to upholdany directions of the government. It hasto uphold the law. Or if you are notsatisfied with the work that has been doneat the level of PIO itself, he/she is notgiving you the information, has been rudeto you, or thrown you out of the office,you can go straight to complain to theInformation Commission. So there arethese two roles of the Commission –appeal and complaint. Then the third roleof the Commission is monitoring. At theend of the year, every ministry of theGovernment of India and everydepartment of State Governments haveto submit an annual report to the CentralInformation Commission and State

| August 2006 21

Information Commission respectively,which will give its comments on the workthat is being done. If the work is not beingdone to the satisfaction of theCommission, then it has its way ofmonitoring the work being done in theministry.

Is there any apprehension that youhave regarding the implementation ofthe RTI Act in the coming years?The apprehension that I fear is that thenumber of appeals is going to multiplyhugely. And we may not keep pace. Ourpace has increased considerably. Like forexample, we have about little over 900applications so far. But we have got over300 cases settled, which is one-third. Ouraverage time of settling cases is little over3 months; we plan to reduce it to 2months. I feel that if the settlement is notspeedy, it defeats the purpose. Butwhether we would be able to achieve, thatis the apprehension. At present theappeals, which are coming to us, arepeople from the government since theyare aware of the Act and its provisions,and from the people of Delhi as well sincethey have been practicing it. But whathappens if the Delhi case starts spreadingto all parts of India, then how are we goingto cope with the huge numbers ofappeals, that is the apprehension.

What steps is the Commission takingwith regard to spreading awarenessabout the provisions of the RTI Act?The spreading of the awareness is theresponsibility of the government – theState government and the Centralgovernment, and not the Commission. Itis not the responsibility of theCommission. Even if it takes theresponsibility, we need funding for that.With these funds, we could sponsor NGOsand others to go to areas where I thinkthat the information or the awareness isless. For this, the Department ofPersonnel is considering setting up of aregular centre, which would be mandatedto develop programmes and other thingsto spread awareness, and they will beproperly funded by the DAVP(Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity),and also by business and otherstakeholders. So it would be anautonomous and independent agency,

working with the government to spreadawareness. This is an idea that has comefrom in fact one of our members, formerSecretary DAVP Mr. Tiwari, and theproposal is now under activeconsideration of the DAVP.

RTI Act has been very successful inmany of the developed countries. Sowhat do you think how India can learnfrom their experiences?Our laws, of course, are very strong –one of the strongest in the whole world.But it is not the question of the law itself;it is a question of how it is used. A largesection of the UK population is using thislaw. In Ireland, the public awareness is90%; in Scotland it is 80%. Therefore, thelaw is being used in these countries to itsfullest capacity. My problem is thatthough the Act is very good, but will it beused to its fullest capacity; that is thechallenge I have to face.

Do you have the apprehension that thepublic might misuse this Act?Yes it could be, it has been also. But that is

for us to see how to keep it to the righttrack. That is the role of the InformationCommission.

How can ICT or e-Governmentinitiatives play a role in theimplementation of RTI Act?This is the only Act, which lays downInternet as the mandatory provision forthe implementation of the Act (seeSection 4 of this Act). It mandates that alloffices, within reasonable time, have toproduce all records in an easily accessibleform. The ideal form is digitization, CDsor any other form with all information,so that it could be accessed by anybodythrough the Internet. So you see it is theonly law in this world, which has this kindof provision. In Section 4 of this Act, youwill find a load of where e-Governmentwill feature.

How do you see the whole e-Governance initiatives coming up inIndia, especially in the Panchayati Rajdepartment, of which you were theformer Secretary? What are yourobservations?The Information Technology andPanchayati Raj should go together. If thetwo do not go together, neither willsucceed. In Panchayati Raj we had madeso much stress on making informationpublic, putting it up in the walls so thatthe people could see. And what better waythan to putting it on the Internet. I maybe living in any part of the world, andmay be able to access information aboutmy village in Barabanki district of UttarPradesh. I click and I know theinformation – about roads and lakesthere, how much money spent on the lake,about school there, how much moneywas spent on the school, whatdevelopment activities are there, what arethe decisions taken by the Panchayati RajDepartment, how the houses under IndiraAwas Yojana are being built there andother such information. If I get all thisinformation, I could write to the Sarpanch(village head) if things are not being doneas per the plans, could give suggestionsfor improvement – this all comes underpublic participation. So RTI plays a majorrole in Panchayats, and the instrumentthrough which RTI can work is throughthe Panchayats.

This is the only Act,

which lays down

Internet as the

mandatory provision for

the implementation of

the Act. It is the only

law in this world, which

has this kind of

provision


Europe gets model inDenmark e-Invoicing

Denmark is now able to save EUR120-150mn(US$152.90-191.14mn) annually through themandatory e-Invoicing and a good publicprivate partnership (PPP) effort. As part of itsnational e-Government strategy, Denmarkmade e-Invoicing mandatory on 1 February2005. Now, all paper-based invoices sentearlier to the government on all levels arenow being managed electronically. The newset-up has resulted in significantly eliminatingkeyboarding and postal handling. e-Invoicinghas been set up after successful implemen-tation of proven market solutions, includingthe infrastructure and the systems that areable to receive and process e-Invoices. Thesuccess of e-Invoicing in Denmark haspresented the rest of Europe a good model tobe replicated. Currently, the Agency ofGovernmental Management, under theMinistry of Finance, is handling theimplementation and ongoing administrationof e-Invoicing in the country.

Kazakhstan e-Govportal by DecemberThe Kazakhstan e-Government portal wouldbe up and running by this December. This was

informed by Askar Zhumagaliyev, chairman ofthe Agency for Computerisation andCommunication of Republika Kazachstán (RK)at a round table ‘Development of the e-Government of RK and Kaznet’. This is in linewith the strategy of the e-Governmentdevelopment in Kazakhstan, which is to beimplemented in four phases: an informationalphase (currently), an interactive phase(planned for late 2006-2008) a transactionphase (2008-2009) and ‘information society’phase (2009). The launch of this e-Governmentportal marks a shift from the informationalphase to the interactive phase of e-Government development.

“The transition from the informational to theinteractive phase suggests an opportunity ofreceiving certain permitting documents,references, and licenses via the Internet andthe ‘e-Government’ portal,” Zhumagaliyevstated. It is expected that by the year 2009,the number of services provided by the e-Government portal would increase to 900

services. At present, the Kazakh governmentportal is providing more than 500 servicesthat are of informational nature only.

Bulgaria allocatesEUR5mn for e-Government projectsThe Government of Bulgaria has allocated arecord EUR5mn (US$) for the implementationof e-Government projects. According to theState Administration Minister NikolayVassilev, the EU-initiated informationtechnology (IT) project is intended to aid thework of state bodies, and simplifycommunication for people and the businesswith institutions. Meanwhile, intensivecapacity building initiative in IT is taking placethroughout Bulgaria. Some 20,000 stateemployees across the country are beingtrained in information technologies. Besides,the Bulgarian government has activelyadopted the usage of the digital signature.

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWWWWWWORLDORLDORLDORLDORLD

Senate Committee questionsUS e-Government drive

The Senate Appropriations Committee in its report decided notto recommend any funding for the e-Government activities forthe fiscal 2007 terming the US President George Bush’s e-Government initiatives vague and realistic earnings uncertain. In its report on the 2007Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, the Committeesaid that the Bush administration was unable to quantify the benefits of cross-agencyinitiatives because cost-benefit analysis was conducted on a governmentwide basis only.The Committee said that it had no confidence whatsoever that the assessed amounts in anyway related to the benefits anticipated to be returned.

The Senate Committee expressed concern that the transfer of funds might go beyond whatthe e-Government Act and other statutes regarding revolving funds allow. According to it,such transactions conceal the total costs of developing and maintaining e-Governmentinformation technology systems, and also hides government and contractor performance inmeeting budget, schedule and program requirements. The report recommends that in viewof the difficulties the federal government face in managing large and complex IT procurements,e-Government should be administered in a manner that does not impede congressionaloversight. The appropriations bill is yet to be passed by the Senate.

Organisers Co-organisers Media partners

knowledge for change

Department of Information

Technology

Government of India

U ND P ov L CATION

Supporting partners

23-25 August 2006Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi

Vision 2010

www.egovonline.net/egovindia www.i4donline.net/indiantelecentreforum w w w. d i g i t a l L E A R N I N G. i n / D L I n d i a

Shri Kapil Sibal

Hon'ble Minister of Science &

Technology and Ocean Development

Government of India

Aruna Sunderarajan

CEO, Common Service

Centre Initiatives

Government of India

Aminata Maiga

Afrilinks

Mali (Africa)

Basheerhamad Shadrach

Sr. Programme Officer

Telecentre.org

Dr Dorothy Gordon

Director, Kofi Annan

Centre of Excellence in ICT

South Africa

Edilberto de Jesus

Director, SEAMEO

Thailand

Justice Gopi Chand

Bharuka

Chairman, e-Committee

Computerisation of Courts

Hyunjung Lee

ICT Specialist/Economist

Knowledge Management

Center

Asian Development Bank

Klaus Stoll

Chasquinet

Ecuador (LAC)

Kiran Karnik

President

Nasscom

Maxine Olson

UNDP Resident

Representative in India

Michael Gurstein

Centre for Community

Informatics Research,

Development and Training

US (North America)

Mark Surman

Managing Director

telecentre.org

Prof. M S Swaminathan

Chairman

M. S. Swaminathan

Research Foundation

Morten Falch

Center for Information &

Communication Technologies (CICT)

University of Denmark

Denmark

Neelam Dhawan

Managing Director

Microsoft, India

N Vijayaditya

Director General

National Informatics Centre

Government of India

Subash Khuntia

Joint Secretary, Ministry

of Human Resource and

Development

Government of India

S Sadagopan

Founder Director

Indian Institute of Information

Technology, Bangalore

Subhash Bhatnagar

egov Practice Group

World Bank

Tess Camba

Director of Operations,

Community e-Centres

programme, Government of

Philippines (South East Asia)

Wajahat Habibullah

Chief Information

Commissioner, Central

Information Commission

Government of India

R Chandrashekhar

Additional Secretary

Ministry of Communications

& Information Technology

Government of India

Key Speakers

Dr Yin Cheong CHENG

Director

Asia-Pacific Educational

Research Organization

Hong Kong

'egov India 2006' aims to focus mainly on howIT in public sector could be an instrument toincrease India's competitiveness for fostering aleadership economy. It will address other importante-Governance issues reflecting present situationand future aspirations. It would also provide aplatform to hear case studies and debate on the

realities and strategies of e-Governance in India.

SESSIONS

Panel Discussion• India’s e-Government Journey: Where will

India be in 2010?

• e-Government in India: How not to re-inventthe wheel?

• Harnessing Public-Private Partnerships fore-Government

Technical sessions

• Capacity Building: Roadmaps & Roadblocks

• Standards and Interoperability

• Central Mission Mode Projects: Current Statusand Way Forward

• State Wide Area Network: ImplementationIssues

Indian Telecentre Forum 2006 aims to discuss, anddeliberate multi variate issues concerning policy,technology, best practices and business modelsrelating to implementation and sustainability of ruralICT centres and their returns in terms ofsocio-economic development. The event is expectedto follow a consultative mode, with dueconsideration for making it highly participatory andinteractive in nature, bringing together the best ofminds, thought leaders, practitioners andstakeholders from government, business and civil

society.

SESSIONS

• Indian government initiatives in telecentres

• International perspectives on telecentres

• Mission 2007 - The way forward

• Indian telecentre networks

• Rural connectivity model for telecentres

• Telecentre models - Global experiences

• Telecentre - where can India be in 2010

Panel Discussion

• “Investing, Engaging, and Impacting thetelecentre movement in India for povertyreduction and achieving the MDGs”

The Digital Learning India 2006 conference aimsto take stock of the progress made by India inusing technologies as an enabler of education.The conference will deliberate on the enablingpolicies and infrastructure, challenges of resources,identify the critical success factors that build andsustain initiatives in ICT in education, and the roleof the school principals/teachers and strategies/programmes to strengthen their capacities to achieve

the goals of education.

SESSIONS

Panel Discussion• Framework for ICT in education policy• Successful Technology integration in classroom• Public Private Partnerships for ICT in Education• Technology in schools - Building partnership

for success

Special Sessions• International perspectives in ICT in Education• Government initiatives in ICT in ‘Education for

All’• Government perspectives in ICT in Education

Workshop

• ICT for Children

ExhibitionThe ICT triple conference will host an exhibition oflatest e-solutions, services, initiatives and casestudies from across Asia and beyond. Professionalservice providers, IT vendors, consulting firms,government agencies and national/internationaldevelopment organisations involved in the ICT inEducation domain are participating in theexhibition.

Exhibition Fee (per square meter)Shell Scheme INR 9800

Important Contacts

For ExhibitionRakesh Tripathie ([email protected])Mo: +91-9899821364

For RegistrationHimanshu Kalra ([email protected])Mo: +91-9818485406

3 conferences - 6 tracks - 40 sessions - 50 exhibitors - 600 people ...AND YOU?

Register NOW !

Participation in all three events is through registration only. All registered particiants are free to attendto any of the conferences and/or sessions. Individuals interested in participating in any of these eventsare encouraged to register themselves online at http://www.egovonline.net/egovindia/del_registration.asp.

Conference Registration FeeConference Academics/Institution Govt. NGO’s Private

Delegates INR 3000 INR 4000 INR 5000 INR 7500

Spot Registration INR 4000 INR 5000 INR 7500 INR 10000

The Delegate Registration entitles the individual to participate in all technical sessions, workshops,keynotes and plenary sessions and social functions for all three/any Digital Learning India 2006, egovIndia 2006 & Indian Telecentre Forum 2006 conferences.

Entry to the Exhibition is FREE

Organisers

Centre for Science,Development andMedia Studies (CSDMS)

is a leading Asian non-governmental institutionengaged in advocacy, research and communitybuilding in ICT for Development through capacitybuilding and media initiatives. www.csdms.in

GIS Development strives topromote and propagate the usageof geospatial technologies invarious areas of development forthe community at large. It remains

dedicated to foster the growing network of thoseinterested in geo-informatics worldwide and Asia

in particular. www.GISdevelopment.net

Co-Organisers

Department ofInformation Technology(DIT) under the Ministry ofInformation Technology,Government of India isthe Central department

responsible for all administrative functions relatingto formulation, execution and implementation ofIT policies in India. www.mit.gov.in

UNDP is the United Nation’sglobal development network, anorganization advocating forchange and connecting countriesto knowledge, experience andresources to help people build abetter life. They are presently

working in 166 countries, working with them ontheir own solutions to global and national

development challenges. www.undp.org.in.

knowledge for change

Department of Information

Technology

Government of India

U ND P

CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT

Centre for Science, Development and MediaStudies (CSDMS)

G-4, Sector 39

Noida - 201301, India

Tel. : +91-120-2502181- 87

Fax: +91-120-2500060

Web: www.egovonline.net/egovindia

Email: [email protected]

Exhibitors

egov India 2006 sponsors

Silver sponsor Technology partner Associate sponsors

Digital Learning India 2006 sponsors

Learning partner Silver sponsor

Indian Telecentre Forum 2006 sponsors

Technology partner

Dinner co-sponsor Banking services partner Registration counter sponsor

Tea coffee co-sponsor

| August 2006 27

farming knowledge and access tonew markets. It has also connectedthem to international environmentalnetworks where, for the first time, theyare able to see the big picture ofthe damage caused by exploitativemining practices.

Role of GovernmentsGovernments have a strategic role toplay in ensuring that citizens areconnected and confident users of ICTs.Governments spend increasinglyvast amounts on IT but internal systemsor even online service delivery is notwhat matters here. Building skills andawareness is of primary importance atthis relatively early stage of digitalmaturity. Citizens need to know whatICTs can do for them. They must learn torecognise the value in technology forthemselves if they are to avail benefits.Information literacy ensures that peopleare able to find the information that theyneed and formal processes, includinglegislation, are needed to ensure thatinformation access is managed fairly andequitably.

Balancing the inequalities ofinformation access

Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs) are becoming asimportant as roads and access to new

technology must be viewed as a basicright, like electricity and water. Wherepeople are in contact with the Internet, itcan transform lives and communities.However, the same powers that havetraditionally restricted access toinformation and controlled informationflows, are at work online. Access to ICTsis not ubiquitous and many people lackthe skills to use them effectively.Knowledge is power and information isthe vehicle that conveys knowledge.Control the flow of information andyou limit what people are able to knowand, therefore, do. Digital exclusion, interms of both access and information, isan extension of traditional forms ofexclusion and control. Those who arealready marginalised, risk becoming evenmore so when they lack access totechnologies.

Barriers and overcoming obstaclesThe barriers to technology access areprimarily socio-economic, educational,geographical and disability related.Poverty is a barrier to adopting ICTs,hence the importance of public accessfacilities. Adoption is often related to edu-cational achievement, hence the impor-tance of just-in-time skill acquisition andlife-long learning strategies. These are realbarriers that must be overcome if we areto create a ubiquity of information access.

Where access is available individualsexperience new opportunities for life longlearning, communication and alternativesto traditional work. Where individuals areonline, they are better connected, betterinformed and better able to participate ineconomic, social and democratic life. Forremote communities in Latin America thearrival of the Internet has meantconnection to distant family, better

Andy Williamson

Knowledge is powerand information is thevehicle that conveysknowledge. Yet manycitizens experiencedigital exclusion inaddition to traditionalforms of control.Where access to ICTsis available, individualsenjoy newopportunities to learnand communicate.They gain access to awider range ofinformation.However, others havea vested interest inmediating this flow ofinformation andrestricting access


Rights go both ways. I have the rightto discover information that is in thepublic sphere on a topic I am interestedin. I have a right to know whatinformation you hold about me. You havean obligation as the custodian of thatinformation to protect it. It is privateinformation but not simply private to me.Information access is not necessarily clear-cut. Ethical issues largely guide theexamples above but limitations on accessare also economic and political.Information access is a continuum fromthe entirely private to fully public. Inbetween lie grey areas where ownership,access and even the existence ofinformation are contested.

Role of mediaThe media has a significant role to play inmanaging the flow of information. Thetraditional concept of newspaper as‘reporter’ has been eroded by thecorporatisation and globalisation ofmedia. As the Australian governmentmoves to liberalise media ownership theeditorial in ‘The Australian’ is less theindependent view of a concernedjournalist and more a media statementfrom a self-interested publisher. TheInternet counters some of this media biasas alternative sources provide the readerwith another perspective. If you knowwhere to look, both sides of the debateare available. No longer is it necessary toaccept one side of the story, ratherindividuals are able to filter informationfrom many sources in order to build amore informed view.

For civil society the Internet is apowerful and relatively low cost way ofpublishing. Community groups in adisadvantaged community in NewZealand decided they needed a website.They reasoned that reporting of theircommunity in the mainstream media wasoverwhelmingly negative. Here is acommunity proud of what it is doing butnot recognising the representation of itselfin the media. Harnessing digitaltechnologies allows them to convey theirown message.

The other side of publishing isreadership. Information can be hard tofind online and content is not createdequal. Ensuring equitable access totechnology must include equitable access

to content. Models for dissemination oftopical or geographical information, suchas regional portals, can facilitate this byproviding links to a range of publishers.One answer to the advancement of ICTscomes in the form of New Zealand’s‘Digital Strategy’(New ZealandGovernment, 2005), which marks asignificant change in government policyand the first time that a government hasadopted a whole of governmentapproach to ICTs. The strategy focuseson three core areas – connection,confidence and content. The contentcomponent of the Digital Strategy focuseson a vision of knowledge as a currency ofexchange. In this vision, ideas and contentare shared, traded and used to make newknowledge. This encompasses formal,informal and commercial knowledgeinstantiated as digital content, building aframework for the management,exchange and preservation ofinformation.

Demand for open informationDemand for open information sources canbe facilitated by ensuring that there arenetworks of free public-access computers;that basic computer literacy courses andmore advanced training is available, andthat broadband is available to all who wantit. Civil society can lead and promote suchcampaigns but often lacks the skills andresources, relying instead onunsustainable voluntary contributions.Local and central government support isessential to sustainability and, where thisis not available, the role of the NGO sectoris likely to be critical.

Civil society groups often play amediating and bridging role betweenstate, media and citizens. New Zealandresearch shows that there are barriers tothe effective use of ICTs within civilsociety. The sector tends to be relativelypoorly funded and cannot afford thetechnology it would like to use. Second,volunteers do not have the time to learnabout new technology or implement itand, third, a lack of strategic planning skillsmake it difficult to effectively integrateICTs into the operational structures andprocesses of the organisation.

Despite these very real barriers ICTsare becoming an invaluable tool forinformation retrieval, communication

About the author

Andy Williamson is Managing Director of New

Zealand-based Wairua Consulting (www.wairua.

com) and an advisor to the New Zealand

government’s ‘Digital Ministers’

Magsaysay award for RTIactivist Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal, an Indian RevenueService officer who is currently on leavefrom the Government for two years,has been awarded the Asian version ofNobel Prize – Ramon MagsaysayAward for 2006 – for emergentleadership. A Mechanical Engineer fromIIT Kharagpur, Kejriwal heads a Delhi-based NGO ‘Parivartan’, which isspearheading a movement to createawareness and empower poor Indiancitizens to fight corruption, besidesmaking the government moreaccountable. A special Right toInformation (RTI) campaign wasorganised and led by Kejriwal from July1-15, involving 700 civil societyorganisations. Some 1500 volunteerswere trained to handle RTI centres in55 cities. Over 20,000 applications underthe RTI Act 2005 were filed in the 15-day campaign, which was more thanthose filed in the eight months since theRTI Act came in force.

and publishing in civil society (Williamson& Dekkers, 2005). The Internetdramatically increases the quantity anddistribution of information andgovernments must recognise that theyhave a role to play in ensuring free flow.The rights and responsibilities of thedigital age will increasingly challenge themargins of privacy and public sphere.Many of these challenges will require awhole of society approach to resolve.

| August 2006 29

much noted tendencies: its deepening oflinks between – while at the same timefracturing links within – societies; theincreased awareness and actuality ofthreats and collective risks, e.g. terrorismand environmental catastrophe; and thematuration of truly global systems offinancial, institutional and cultural activityhave brought about a new way ofthinking about our relationship withpolitics and power.

The Global CitizenIncreasingly, we are witnessing theemergence both semantically and inreality of what may be termed ‘globalcitizenship’. By this we are not only talkingabout the realisation that we are all partof the same world and actions in one areaaffect people in other areas but also thatbecause we all get affected we should allhave a say. This is the much-touted abilityto ‘speak back’ or answer the historicallyone-directional flow of information andis often viewed as stemming directly fromthe qualities of new communicationstechnology. The global citizen is a way ofconceptualising our role in the worldwhere global citizens are not just passiverecipients of the policy of other nations,organisations and pan-nationalconglomerates but are internationallyactive (electronically at least) agents,engaging in discussions and seeking tofurther their own interests.

Of course, this is an idealistic viewand quite clearly we do not normallyhave a say in how those in power behaveand many do not have the ability to‘speak’ at all, being on the wrong side ofthe feared digital divide. Even those wholive in the particular political constituenciesthat select the powerful elites and havethe technical and social capital to be ableto use the new technologies, may nothave much say in the actual selection ofthe leaders due to a number of factors.

Information revolution

Giving birth to an emergentGlobal Citizenry

and developed world face today.Similarly, the instruments to deal

with such problems were also present inearly democracies – the most importantbeing, of course, the press. So importantwas the press that it was even consideredto be an intrinsic component of ademocratic system. The 19th centuryBritish author, Thomas Carlyle termed thepress the “Fourth Estate” of democraticgovernment after the executive,legislature and judiciary.

According to such classicaldemocratic political theory, the media fillstwo central functions in a democracy – itfunctions as a watchdog chastening thosein power, and it keeps the citizenryinformed of the actions of those in powerand provides enough information so thatinformed choices can be made.

Since the late 18th century, a numberof radical transformations have takenplace in the political systems of variousWestern societies. In Western Europe, thegradual decline of the absolute rule of themonarchy along with the emergence ofnew merchant classes led to the changefrom ‘subjects of a monarchy’ to ‘citizensof a country’. Moreover, in the later halfof the 20th century the disintegration ofthe British Empire and the FrenchOverseas Empire (La France d’outre mer)saw the emergence of numerous newrepublics with citizens, not subjects,populating them. Indeed, the ideals offreedom of speech are written into manyconstitutions particularly those that hada strong US influence.

In recent years, the pace and breadthof political, technical, economic andcultural transformation, the veryprocesses of globalisation, and parti-cularly those referred to as the ‘informa-tion revolution’ have necessitated andindeed brought about a number ofchanges in the role (and even the nature)of the media. Three of globalisation’s

Marcus Leaning

The role of the media is

considered to be an

intrinsic component of

the democratic system.

Considering the freedom

of the press vital for the

functioning of

democratic societies, its

role has become

extremely important for

the development of the

global citizenry. As such,

the progress towards

information societies

depends on the ability to

access, produce and

disseminate information

in the right perspective

Democracy is an ideal that isaccepted in theory but is, moreoften than not, mitigated in

practice. Moreover, the very people whocry out for democracy when out of powerare the ones, when in office, who find thechallenges and difficulties of governingwith democracy more difficult than theythought or that power is just a little toogood to give up. Bending the rules, hidingthe truth and even changing the law areall tools in the arsenal of those jealous ofpower. None of these problems are newof course; the emergent democracies ofthe 18th and 19th centuries were beset bycorruption and many of the sameproblems that countries in the developing


George W. Bush’s win in 2000 eventuallydepended on a majority of 537 votes inthe state of Florida (and some evendispute this). Moreover, with the gradualtransformation of societies that occurredwith industrialisation and more recentlythe emergence of the ‘informationsociety’ and globalisation, the media hasalso become subject to overt corporateand commercial pressures that are deeplytied to the political elites. Many wouldargue that the watchdog role of the pressis now extended to both the corporateworld as well as that of the political one.Indeed, the lack of a significant divisionbetween the corporate and politicalspheres of activity means that the pressmust pay attention to the actions of largecorporations if it is to function properlyas a watchdog.

However, if the state and commercialinterests are becoming more overtlyintegrated (and perhaps they always havebeen deeply linked, the British state hasnever been shy of initiating militaryconflict for the benefit of a few well placedcommercial actors) changes have alsotaken place in the organisation of thecitizenry. Indeed, one of the mostimportant social phenomena in recentyears has been the startling rise of NGOsand social movements. This can beunderstood as the emergence of a formof ‘global civil society’, a way of thinkingabout the collected actions of individualcitizens outside of the traditional modelof states and nations. The sheer numberof NGOs and other components of civilsociety and the volume of comment madeby these groups have had a dramaticeffect on international politics. Whereaspreviously we have seen political leadersmeeting in private to discuss issues andcommunicating the decisions to a largelypassive audience, we now have ‘globalsummits’ attended not just by politicalleaders but representatives fromgrassroots organisations the worldover.

Advocating and Defending RTIIt is for this reason that those engaged incivil society work must advocate activitiesthat promote the right to fair informationat all levels and across internationalboundaries. Challenging as it may be,there is ground to be won and advancesto be made in the furtherance of global

citizenry and it istowards this end we,along with manyothers, argue for thefollowing four-pronged approach:

Promotion ofopen and trans-parent decision-making in govern-ment: To promote citizen empowermentand accountability, the governmentaldecision-making process must be openand verifiable, stakeholders must beclearly identified and their interestsdeclared. State and quasi-stateadministrative processes must be open,and this includes making documents suchas the minutes of meetings available. Moreimportantly, the criteria used to makejudgements should be available online.To encourage the freedom of informa-tion, records held by state agencies andprivate organisations should be availableto individuals to check for their accuracy.

Continued and critical evaluation ofstate restrictions on media and communi-cation: Whilst it is accepted that a statemay seek to restrict the passing of militarysecrets these should be the exception. Thefreedom to share, duplicate, and publishinformation should be the norm andattempts to restrict the flow of informa-tion should be continually challenged andexamined by legally empoweredindependent arbitrators. The state andlegal machinery should be used absolutelyminimally and with great reservations torestrict the flow of information.

Stringent policing of anti-monopolymedia ownership controls: Ownership ofthe media, editorial control and

About the author

Marcus Leaning is Senior

Lecturer at School of Creative

Arts and Humanities, Trinity

College, University of Wales, UK

restrictions upon theability to publishand disseminateinformation should becarefully monitored.Media ownership(state as well as

private interests) has traditionally playeda large part in editorial control of the pressand accordingly freedom to publishcontroversial information is oftencurtailed. The right to disseminateinformation in spite of media ownershipneeds to be rigorously advocatedand defended.

Advocacy of pluralistic media andcommunications ownership andproduction: ‘Small’ media such ascommunity radio and television,independent presses, and the variousforms of Internet journalism shouldbe encouraged. Support should begiven to activities that encouragecommunity and citizen participation inmedia production and disseminationand forms of civic communicationbetween citizens.

These activities are of course veryidealistic but the pursuit of them doesprovide direction. They represent a goaltowards which we may aim and abenchmark against which we may chartprogress. At the very least, they offergeneral orientation for those concernedabout what the information society offersto those traditionally without a voice.

| August 2006 31

The Right alone is not enough!The Right alone is not enough!The Right alone is not enough!The Right alone is not enough!The Right alone is not enough!Klaus Stoll

Right to Information (RTI) in thecontext of ICTs is not just aboutthe “right to” and the “availability

of” information, as it is oftenmisunderstood. RTI is a much broaderconcept and has several importantcomponents that are crucial forestablishing and implementing the Rightto Information. Affordable access to anadequate technical infrastructure and theavailability of the information in a formand language that are accessible to therecipient of the information are just twoof them.

One crucial component is oftenoverlooked and even more oftenignored in the conceptualization ofRTI and the implementation of RTIinitiatives – Training in the StrategicUses of Information. The RTI andthe information itself in the context ofICTs are without value if they are notimplemented with training and supportin the strategic uses of the availableinformation. What is meant by this isthat it is not sufficient to haveinformation available and accessible,but the important next step is thatthose who access the informationhave the abilities and the skills totranslate this information into a toolfor their individual and theirrespective community development.Any information available and accessiblethat cannot be translated by thosewho receive it into positive action andimpact is as useless as if this informationwas not available in the first place. Whatimpact has the availability of a land registerwhen those who are affected byirregularities and corruption have noskills to interpret the available dataand then don’t know what to do in orderto denounce and rectify the situation?What impact has the availability ofuptodate market prices when farmersdon’t have access to these markets andare forced to deal with unfair middlemen?What good is it to the same farmers toknow which will be the next high pricegropes to plant when they don’t have theskills to grow it?

Overcoming SensibilisationBut before we can come to the strategicuses of Information we have to overcomeone more basic obstacle – Sensibilisation.Information has only value if there arerecipients of this information that are opento receive and put to use this information.In order to demonstrate the value of theinformation, the recipient has to beconvinced that this information has somevalue for him and his community and thisvalue can only be demonstrated bydemonstrating a practical use of theinformation. Not only is it important to

demonstrate where certain informationcan be accessed but also even moreimportant is to demonstrate how thisinformation can be put to good use. Notonly what are the current environmentallaws in my country but also how can Iuse the ICT tools available to enforce themand to stop those who break the law. Notonly what are the current market pricesbut also how do I get my goods to themarket and how can I use the availableICT tools in such a way that I avoid themiddleman.

Having demonstrated the value of

Right to Information in the context of ICTs is not

just about the “right to” and the “availability of”

information. One crucial component often over-

looked in the RTI initiatives is the training in the

strategic uses of information. The problem is that

they offer only a one-size-fits-all training compo-

nent, which is not adjusted to the needs of the

respective communities


Information and strategic use and havingopened up the potential users to receivethe information is just the first step in thedynamic that must be followed by asecond step of training the potentialrecipients and users of information in thestrategic uses of this information.But what kind of training? Makingbasic training available in the use ofComputers and the Internet is just a smallpart of the process. Every communityis different; every community isliving different realities and hasdifferent strength and needs. That’s whybeyond a basic skills training which iscommon to all communities, those whowant to support the strategic uses ofinformation need to work togetherwith the communities to identify thecommunities needs and strength andto identify and implement together withthe community the training content thatis needed.

A community that is situated in anarea which is under environmentalpressure needs skills to make their blightknown and skills to arrange for outsidesupport in order to rectify the situationand it will not be a priority in thecommunity to receive training in how touse accounting software. On the otherhand, a community that has a strongproduct but limited access to the marketsneeds administration, business andmarketing skills and might not be veryinterested in the skills needed to alertat the same time a very specific audienceto a problem. Although the skills neededfor both might be very similar, they mustbe made relevant, taught andimplemented according to the specificcircumstances.

The use of an Excel sheet can bedemonstrated either by showing howit helps to keep accounts uptodate orby demonstrating how it can helpto organize and compare vitalenvironmental data. The chances thatthe environmentalist adopts the useof this tool are much greater when heis taught to use it by organizingenvironmental data and not how tokeep accounts.

The problem with many RTIinitiatives is that even if they have a strongstrategic use component they offer onlya one-size-fits-all training component,

which is not adjusted to the needs ofthe respective communities. On theother hand, it is quite understandablewhy working with the communitiesis often not implemented because itis simply a time consuming andexpensive process that requires a lot ofresources and working hours. If doneproperly this process will at the endrepresent the biggest item of the overallbudget.

Relevance and SustainabilityBy just looking at the questions ofrelevance and sustainability in the contextof RTI it can be demonstrated that this inthe medium turn might be a rather costlymistake.

Sustainability: By demonstrating thevalue of the information to the recipient,the recipient is also becoming thecaretaker of this information and theinformation becomes sustainable in theholistic sense of cultural, social, political,technological and financial sustainability.The information is adapted andinterpreted by the recipient and useraccording to his cultural needs and servesthe social development. The recipient anduser of the information are prepared todefend the information against political

manipulations and influences becausethis affects the value of the informationto him. The recipient and user of theinformation will maintain the physicalinfrastructure needed to access theinformation and will pay for the runningcosts of access to the information as longas the investment into the information issmaller than the perceived benefits of theinformation.

It might be therefore shortsighted toavoid working with the communitiesdirectly in identifying and implementingtheir training needs because eventhough those who implement aRTI initiative might have the bestintentions by doing so but their effortswill simply not be valued, used andsustained by the community and whenthe promoters of the initiative move onthe initiative dies a quick death because itwas not sustainable.

Relevance: The Right to Informationand the Right Information. Sensibilisationand training transforms informationinto the right information to the recipientand user because it results in positiveimpact. As a key effect, the Right toInformation which was for the user ofinformation before just an abstractconcept is now for him a vital andimportant concept, worthy to protectand defend.

RTI initiatives will fail if they don’ttake training in the strategic uses ofinformation into account. Training in thestrategic uses of information is oftenneglected in RTI initiatives because eitherit is conceptual not seen as an integral partof RTI or because the necessaryinvestment in time and resources but aswe have seen training in the strategic usesof information does not only makeinformation relevant for its users but alsostrengthens the Right to Informationitself because it has become treasuredand valued.

About the author

Klaus Stoll is President of

Chasquinet in Quito,

Ecuador, to promote the

strategic use of the

Internet for development

and involved in the policy

discussions regarding information

technologies in LAC and worldwide

It is not sufficient to

have information

available and

accessible, but the

important next step is

that those who

access the

information

have the abilities and

the skills to translate

this information into a

tool for their

individual and their

respective community

development


What is your perspective on the emerg-ing trends of e-Government in theASEAN region?e-Government is an area that’s constantlychanging. Although strictly, e-Govern-ment has been around since the early dayswhen IT was first introduced in govern-ment functions, I think the turning pointwas really when the popular web arrivedand when government bodies began toleverage on the power of the Internet.Across Asia, you will find many innova-tive ways in which e-Government appli-cations have been deployed. I am veryclear that there is rarely any “one-size-fits-all”. I often highlight this fact, when I amadvising my clients in governments, thatwhen they look westwards – say towardsthe US, Europe – at the many promisingapplications there, that seem to be verysuccessful, they should also rememberthat Asia has unique challenges which mayneed to be tackled in unique ways.Asia is a very heterogeneous region witha diversity of languages, religions, cul-tures, government systems and so forth.In that respect, it is happening to find whenyou go to different countries how theyhave evolved their own unique and inno-vative systems and models to cater fortheir own challenges. Cities, say likeSingapore, where you have very urban-ized population, there you have a wiredsociety and literate society, where com-puter and Internet penetration is high, theyhave a certain way of doing things. But if

you try to transplant the completeSingapore model into another country,you will find more often than not, it facesproblems and fails. Each country needsto realise its own challenges and find so-lutions to these challenges.

A second perspective that I want topropose is that the developing countriesand the developed countries tend to bevery different. In Asia, when you talkabout the developed countries, you’reprobably referring to Singapore, HongKong, Japan and Korea. In China and In-dia, the cities are very advanced, but whenyou go to the countryside the scenario isradically different. So developing coun-tries need to basically find their own mod-els that work and to tackle the issues oftheir rural population. I think India is afascinating example with some uniqueprojects, like Bhoomi, e-Seva and so forth.The western world would never think ofas it is not relevant to their circumstances.

The third perspective is that we havereached a point whereby more govern-ments have gone through a first cycle.That first cycle was a cycle of websitesand was in a way a bit cosmetic. I thinkwe are in the stage, maybe a second orthird cycle, where the original projectshave either passed the test of time or failedmiserably, and people are re-looking atthe lessons learnt. I think this is the timein some countries, where governmentleaders and administrators are putting alot more critical assessments to find ap-

Believing in ConnectedGovernment

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

e-Government is an area that is constantly changing.

One can find many innovative ways in the deployment

of e-Government applications across Asia. There is

rarely any “one-size-fits-all” theory being

implemented, argues James Shoon Loi Yong, Director,

Public Sector Programs – ASEAN, Cisco, in an

interview to Anuradha Dhar of egov

plications that can meet the real need oftheir constituents.

I think ASEAN countries are movingat different rates, each at its own pace.There are many e-Government rankings,e.g. by the UN, Brown University,Accenture etc., which offer plenty of in-teresting content. Government leadersoften peruse such ranking tables, and ask“Are we ahead of our neighbours?” This Ifeel is not the right question to ask. Theright question should be, “Is there any-thing I can learn by a country which has asimilar environment as mine, and fromwhere I can borrow some good practicesto adopt?” Within Asia, one tends to looktowards Korea or Singapore as leadersin e-Government. But if you observe whatthey are doing, their basic focus is on ser-vicing a largely urbanized population. Ifyou ask me, there are many good successstories in various states of India, as well aseven in the major cities in China wherethey customize the applications to cater totheir own requirement.

What are the key factors that publicsector should bear in mind while imple-menting e-Government solutions?In our conversations with e-Governmentleaders and practitioners in different coun-tries who have spearheaded e-Govern-ment initiatives, we have basically pre-sented them with a stark statistic that ahuge majority (60-70 percent) of e-Gov-ernment projects globally, actually fail, or

| August 2006 35

do not meet the objectives they set out forthemselves. We took that fact and wentaround talking to various e-Governmentleaders asking them of their experience ofdeploying all these projects, what havethey found some of the things that if morefocus is placed on them, the probability ofsuccess rises.

We got a range of responses that canbe categorized into four main areas. Ithink, in implementing e-Government,obviously the first one to consider is theSERVICES. e-Government leaders shouldask: Are the services provided the onesmost relevant to my constituents? Not sim-ply the services that my neighbouringcountry provides, or the leading e-Gov-ernment countries provide, but services,which I know my constituents (i.e. citizensand businesses) really need. Because I amclose to them, know them and thereforeunderstand their real issues. So, when Iprovide services I can customize them ac-cording to the needs of my constituents.The second area for e-Government isabout EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVE-NESS and use of technology to improveprocesses, to streamline, and to do morewith less. The third area would be TRUSTBUILDING – are the e-Governmentprojects being implemented helping in thetrust building prospect for the govern-ment. In this regard what we hear fromthe people we interviewed is that trust is ashort form for saying that at the end ofthe day the systems of e-Governance thatwe do ought to strengthen trust betweenthe constituents and the government.

The fourth area is what we callPOLICYLINK. An e-Government projectshould have a goal and some how thatgoal should be linked back to the nationalagenda. Whether that is in areas of envi-ronment, national competitiveness, im-proved healthcare, public education, andso forth. Very often when you drill downinto an e-Government project and askwhat is it for, it should not be just for thesake of technology, but for, say for ex-ample, processing the documents faster.Why? You just keep asking why. And withthe better projects, you find you are striv-ing for a higher-level goal – at a depart-ment, ministry or national level. Theprojects that are not so good will showdisjointment. Even if the project achievesits goals, it probably does not meet any

higher-level goal. Linking the e-Govern-ment goals to the national policy/ agenda,is therefore an important criteria.

Service, efficiency, trust building andpolicy link are therefore, some of the keyfactors that are important to payattention to while implementing anye-Government project.

What is your opinion regarding im-portance of publicity and awareness gen-eration among the public about e-Gov-ernment services?Publicity and awareness generation oughtto be part and parcel of any e-Govern-ment initiative. It is critical when deploy-ing a system to communicate to the public– to inform them that the system exists,what the benefits are and how they canmake use of it. At the same time, it may betimely to deliver some kind of trainingprogramme for the community on this.Some countries skip this step or do notput enough emphasis on it, and as a resultthe response to their e-Government ser-vices is lackluster. On the other hand, whenSingapore embarked on its e-Governmentprogram, there were a lot of such trainingcourses being conducted. But Singaporeis a small country. When you aretalking about a country as large as India,you need to have a totally different wayof doing this.

What do you think of the m-Govern-ment (mobile government)? Is it goingto happen?I think this will gradually but most cer-tainly happen. Our lifestyles are definitelymore mobile these days. Just look at howmany mobile devices some of us carryeveryday, Governments need to cater toa mobile workforce so mobile govern-ment will certainly come about. I do notthink it is here yet. I certainly think thatpeople are quite used to sending SMS andall that, but they do not think interactingwith the government very much in mostAsian countries.

Though, Philippines is one exception.Philippines often refer to itself as the ‘SMScapital of the world’. The number of SMS’sent per capita in the Philippines exceedsanywhere else in the world. Indeed Filipi-nos use their mobile phones more forSMS’ than for making voice calls. If sit in ataxi in Manila, at the back of the seat, thetaxi company’s SMS number is oftenprovided, which you could send acomplaint SMS to if the driver is drivingerratically or not providing good service.That is one example of how widely theSMS is used there.

You would think that places like Japanwould have wholly adopted this. I inter-viewed some of the Japanese officials whoare spearheading this, and found that theyhave started considering m-Governmentseriously, on the back of private sectorsuccesses like NTT DoCoMo. Today, how-ever, mobile phone usage in Japan is morefor communication and entertainment,than government interactions.

How keen do you think are thegovernments of the Asian region towardspublic-private partnerships (PPP)?I think most Asian governments havetaken a keen interest in what public-pri-vate partnerships can offer in terms ofgovernment. Government over time, Ithink, has realised, in the words ofOsborne and Gaebler, that its primary roleis to steer the boat, and not to row it. But ifyou look back in history, government hasdone both steering and rowing. The policyor the steering function of the governmentis something, which it can never outsource,but the rowing function may beoutsourced. Also, for reasons of nationalsecurity, there are certain functions that a

Across Asia, you will

find many innovative

ways in which

e-Government

applications have been

deployed. I am very

clear that there is rarely

any “one-size-fits-all”. I

often highlight this fact,

when I am advising my

clients in governments.

Asia has unique

challenges, which may

need to be tackled in

unique ways


government can never outsource. Butthere are many functions that are mun-dane, that can and probably should beoutsourced to private companies, if theycan do it more efficiently and can givegovernment greater value for money.

Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong,Brunei have already begun outsourcingto private companies. Thailand is consid-ering PPP as a possible model for futureprojects. So countries in Asia are really atdifferent stages, but I think most of themhave an interest in considering e-Govern-ment outsourcing.

What are the Cisco’s initiatives in pub-lic sector in all these countries of Asiaand what is its future plans?Cisco Systems is a premier networkingcompany. Our public sector initiativescome under the umbrella name of Con-nected Government. We emphasize a loton connectivity – connecting people, com-munities and organisations inside and out-side government to put people at the cen-tre of responsive networks of knowledge,service, trust and accountability. This is notjust branding. If you read a lot of writers,they have basically recognised that one ofthe key success factors of government ef-ficiency and effectiveness is when you getgood connections within the governmentagency. Traditionally, government agen-cies have worked very much in silos. Ifyou can achieve even a modest level ofintegration across different agencies, it canlead to tremendous productivity improve-ment. If one were to ask what is the “killerapplication” of e-Government, my answerwould be information sharing. Thinkabout it, how many government todayhave agencies A, B and C are collectingthe same information in their own data-base, information about you for instance,it can help in the registration department,help in the taxation department, healthdepartment who knows how many integ-rity issues are across these departments.But I think you have tremendous efficiencyimprovement already. Cisco is very muchinto connecting organisations – both in theprivate and public sector. So, that is oneaspect of connectivity. Any market sur-vey would reveal that Cisco is the marketleader in connectivity and collaboration.

Cisco is strong not only in wired butwireless solutions as well. We cater to wire-

less solutions for both enterprises and con-sumers. We recognise that world is mov-ing towards mobile workforce. Peoplewant to work/study/play wherever theyare, and not be tied to fixed locations. So,wireless technology is going to be a verykey part of a lot of public sector initiatives,whether in education, healthcare, publicsafety and so on. We play a major role inthe public safety domain. The way we lookat it is from the standpoint of emergencyresponse to disasters – either man-madeor natural. In case of such emergencies,what you need to do is to evacuate people,care for the injured, quickly set up a com-mand center whereby the police, firemenand other civil defense units can coordi-nate and communicate with each other.So, we play a major role in public safetyand having equipments that withstandsand, high temperature, dust or smoke,whereby in case of any emergency thesystem can be operationalised instantly.

Would you like to mention brieflyyour success stories in Asia-Pacificregion?In Singapore, the biggest IP telephony(also referred to as Voice-Over-IP)installation is in a local university, theNational University of Singapore. Wehave implemented 5,000 IP phones acrossthe whole campus. The users are veryhappy to get the flexibility and addedservices. In the past the concept was ‘aphone is a phone, is a phone’. But now aphone is not just a phone because you canintegrate it with your voice mail and otherapplications. There are many other coun-tries, which are using our IP phones. Mostof the institutes of higher learning inSingapore are using wireless.

Is there any particular strategy that youare going to adopt to increase Cisco’smarket share in the public sector?Ours is an ongoing set of strategies. Forsome years, Cisco Systems has taken verydeliberate steps to hire people who arenot so ‘technology focused’ as they are“industry domain focused”. Cisco realisedquite long ago that it needed to evolvefrom a company that was equally good atconceptualising solutions for different do-mains as it was on technology innovation.The public sector was one such area whereCisco engaged consultants, ex-consultants

or government people, brought them toCisco to share with others so that theybetter understand how things are done ingovernment, what the key challenges are,what are the national priorities and soforth. Through that we can better servethe needs of the public sector. This is thefirst strategy. The second is, Cisco hassponsored a number of research studiesfocused on things like e-Governance, col-laborations and connectivity in either edu-cation or health care, to understand andadd to the existing body of knowledge inthese areas. This is very significant. Forinstance, we have sponsored a ‘chair’ inOxford University for several yearsfocused on e-Governance. The thirdstrategic activity that Cisco conducts is aconstant stream of conferences andseminars around the world. We havesupported an APAC Public SectorSummit in China for the past 3 years,where we bring together not just peoplefrom China but from the whole region aswell as experts from Europe, NorthAmerica and Australia. Practitioners comeand simply share their knowledge. All thisprovides an opportunity for Cisco tolisten to what are the key concerns andchallenges of different countries andhopefully we can take it back and built itinto our new products and services.

What is your opinion about differentgovernments’ spending on IT in thisregion?I think the governments’ spending on IThas so far continued in a robust, upwardtrend. The organisational mindset isgradually changing from thinking of IT asexpenditure, to IT as investment, helpingto enhance the value of the organisation.This is the shift that should happen inevery economy.

Please tell us briefly about the futureplans of Cisco.Cisco Systems will continue to focus onthese strategies that I cited, evolving them,sharpening them, at the same time broad-ening and deepening the base of knowl-edge and industry familiarity. What Ciscobelieves in is Connected Government, inwhich is built the notion of productivity,effectiveness and greater public valuethrough connectivity, collaboration and avariety of innovative solutions.

| August 2006 37

Capacity building ofgovernment staff fore-Governance

The government is planning a massivecapacity building drive to train governmentstaff in the various ministries and departmentswho do not have the skill-sets required toimplement the e-Governance projects. Thiswill speed up the e-Governance projects ofthe Government of India under the Nationale-Governance Plan (NeGP), which is due tobe implemented aggressively.

The national e-Governance Plan (NeGP) covers26 Mission Mode Projects (MMP) and eightsupport components, to be implemented atthe Central, State and local governmentlevels. The fundamental requirement towardsfulfilling this goal is to build capacity of theimplementing staff. Towards this, thegovernment plans to use the expertise of notonly the existing government officials but also500 professionals with project managementand process re-engineering skills fromexternal agencies who will be hired on acontract basis for a three-year duration.Besides, the Government of India is also tolaunch a new project called ‘e-district’ soon.

Rethink on the need toconserve e-LibrariesDuring a workshop recently conducted on‘Care and Maintenance of Library Materials’,Prof. NR Satyanarayana, Head of LibraryScience, Lucknow University, suggested thatthe National Research Laboratory for

Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC)needs to work in the direction of preservationand conservation of e-Libraries and digitallibraries. Tracing the history of library materialsfrom clay plates to bhojpatras to paper andnow e-libraries, Satyanarayana said thatNRLC should work on computer storagedevices such as disks, CDs etc.

Trainees from over 10 libraries across thecountry attended the 5-day workshop. Thetrainees are being trained on how light, heat,biological agents lead to different kinds ofdeterioration in library material and aboutde-acidification, stain removal and also thestorage, transportation and packaging oflibrary materials.

Emigration goes ITway!In a significant step aimed at boostingbusiness reengineering process and e-Governance, the Ministry of Overseas Indianaffairs (MOIA) has decided to computerise 20-year records, and also standardise the formatfor applications and the processes. Besides,steps would be taken for computerisation ofdatabase, system integration andstreamlining of processes. According to MOIAminister Vyalar Ravi, the automation of theemigration offices would simplify theimmigration process, lead to speedy clearanceand make the emigration offices transparent.With computerisation, the ministry would beable to access data of its eight centres fromDelhi and get weekly updates on the numberof applications.

National Institute of Smart Governance, a non-government organisation formed under theaegis of the Andhra Pradesh government,NASSCOM and the Ministry of InformationTechnology are assisting the MOIA inimplementing this project.

e-Payment for BSNLcustomers

Leading state-owned Indian Telecom companyBharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) hasdecided to introduce e-Payment system forits customers. With the completion of theproject, all bills for both cellular and landlinephones would be made through electronicpayment. Previously, phone bill payment wasmade through cheque, which was cumbersomeand time consuming. Announcing the switchover plan to e-Payment mode, BSNL has issueddirectives to all circle heads to graduallymigrate to the e-Payment mode.

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWIIIIINDIANDIANDIANDIANDIA


Bihar ministers to gotech savvy soon

As part of its effort to implement theNational e-Governance Plan (NeGP), theBihar government, taking cue from otherdeveloped states, has decided to equip all its26 ministers with sophisticated laptopcomputers.

According to Bihar’s Science and TechnologyMinister Dr. Anil Kumar, the Science andTechnology department has approved thepurchase of several laptops, over 250 servers,hundreds of desktop computers and 40projectors to strengthen the non-existent ITinfrastructure in the state. Earlier, thegovernment allocated a laptop, a printer,a facsimile machine and other peripheralsattached with the computer for eachNDA minister. After the completion of theprocess, the state would provide computersand necessary software to each district andblock offices.

Computerised landadministration inManipurThe revenue department in Manipur hasdecided to launch various administrativereform measures aimed at modernisation, skillupgradation and application of new technologyin the land administration system. The stategovernment has announced that themodernisation plan would cover all the sub-divisional offices (SDOs) where a computerwould be installed with Internet connectivity.The work would be completed during this

current financial year 2006-07. The Nationalinformation Centre (NIC) would providecomplete assistance in the automation ofthe SDOs.

The state has implemented a pilot project forcomputerization of land records in Porompatcircle and has introduced issue/distributionof computerized record of rights to the people.The state revenue department has also begundigitisation of cadastralsurvey maps ofthe valleydist r ic tsof the

s t a t e .D u r i n g

t h ec u r r e n tf i n a n c i a l

year, computerised land information centreswould be set up at the directorate ofsettlement and land records and in two valleydistricts. Earlier, computerisation of thedirectorate of settlement and land recordsand the offices of all the deputy commissionerswas taken up as a fully assisted centrallysponsored scheme during the period from2000 to 2005.

Online registration forGujarat votersThe Gujarat government has launchedan online registration system on itsportal www.ceogujarat.nic.in. The websiteprovides a link to the enrolment forms,

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister

which are to be filled and submitted online.Upon submission of the filled-up form, aregistration number is given to the applicantsto check application status. The applicantwould receive an email, and would also begiven the option of withdrawing applicationswhenever required. The online registration issignificantly expected to ease the process ofenrolling in the voter list.

Home delivery ofrailway tickets just anSMS awayMajor Indian telecom industry players suchas Reliance Infocomm and TATA BPO serviceare into talks with the Indian Railways tomake tickets available through mobile phones.The plan is to develop a system that wouldmake home delivery of railway tickets possiblevia SMS. When implemented, this will be astep ahead of e-Ticketing.

As per this project, a 24/7 call centre wouldbe set up for booking tickets and answeringcustomer queries. A customer calling at thecall centre would get a customer identificationnumber, which be stored on the computer andthe berth and seat number will be SMSed tothe buyer. The payment would beautomatically credited to the phone bill incase of a post-paid connection or deductedfrom the pre-paid card, as may be the case.

Currently, the penetration of Internet is stillnot as wide as is the penetration of cellularphones in India. There are over 10 croremobile phone users.

| August 2006 39

What are your plans in taking ahead e-Governance initiatives in Uttaranchal?In Uttaranchal, as compared to the rest ofthe country, we are already at fairly anadvantageous position. What the e-Gov-ernance projects are able to do for the restof the country, we already have thisprogramme with the World Bank bywhich we have taken up Bank’s projectswhich includes development of portals forinstance, the social welfare portal, thehealth monitoring and information sys-tem, and a whole set of other serviceswhich are going to be integrated with the‘Uttara’ portal (www.uttara.in), which isbeing developed. So, in a way, our rolloutshould be at the end of this year, we are atfairly advanced stage as compared to therest of the country. Besides, in Uttaranchal,all treasuries are computerized. The payroll is entirely computerized. We are the

first state in the country to do that. So, wehope to internalize e-Governance in thefunctioning of the government. The otherprogramme that we have is the project‘Saksham’, each of the 55,000 governmentemployees are going to be trained in ba-sic skills and computer literacy.

What are the key challenges that youare facing in implementing e-Gover-nance projects in your state?We do not really envisage any problemsas such. Our key challenge basicallywould be to reach out to the remotestregion. It is again not an insurmountablechallenge. It is a challenge because of thetypical terrain that we have; it is an areaof vast distances, reaching out to the re-moter areas would be more difficultthrough the existing PPP models. I meanto say, PPP models would not work in

‘In Uttaranchal, we are at an advantageousposition regarding e-Governance’

REGION FOCUS

the remoter areas, it will work very wellin Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital butnot in Chamoli and other places situatedhigh on the hills in Uttaranchal. So, we haveto balance, and make sure to link some ofthe remote districts with the mainstreamdistricts. We need to build the backboneof connectivity to reach out to theremote areas. This is the issue we aretrying to address.

What are the initiatives in the area ofcapacity building and training of the gov-ernment employees?Under the project ‘Saksham’, we are takingup the basic capacity building of all ouremployees. All employees under govern-ment of Uttaranchal are going to be com-puter literate. The process is alreadystarted. As far as the computer penetra-tion in our offices is concerned, almost all

UTTARANCHAL

Uttaranchal is at fairly an advantageous position as

compared to the rest of the country. All treasuries

are computerised. The payroll is entirely

computerised. It is the first state in the country to do

that. e-Governance would be internalized in the

functioning of the government, says Sanjeev Chopra,

Uttaranchal IT Secretary, in conversation to

Prachi Shirur of egov


sections of the various departments arecomputerised. Regarding the changemanagement, the reluctance to using com-puters is not there, as it exists in severalother states. This is because Uttaranchal isa new state; the average age ofgovernment officers is 29-30 yearsas compared to 39-40 in other states. Thatmakes the acceptance of technologyquite easy. Also there is no legacy ofearlier system.

Can you please elaborate on what arethe other advantages of Uttaranchal ascompared to other states in implement-ing e-Governance?One of the biggest advantages ofUttaranchal in the government side is thatthere is no constraint of resources, there isno constraint of political commitment, ifthe Chief Minister or Chief Secretary isdriving e-Governance in the state.

When do you expect Uttaranchal e-Gov-ernance roadmap to be ready?The work is already going on in this re-gard. Our IT policy has been put up forwider consultation with the stakeholdergroups. But the fact that IT policy is stillunder preparation does not mean that weare not working on the IT side. Our strat-egy is to make Uttaranchal not juste-Governed; we are looking at IT as oneof the main drivers of employment.Under our project ‘Aarohi’ every child inthe school, in all the government schoolsof Uttaranchal, including Madrasas andAshram padhatis (traditional educationalsystems of Muslims and Hindusrespectively), will be taught computers.Uttaranchal is the only state in thecountry where all Madrasas andAshrams have computers. So the nextgeneration of children is going to comeout of school are going to be totallycomputer literate.

Then, we are implementing the project‘Shikhar’ for students in the degree collegelevels. The objective of this project is toimpart world class and job oriented ITeducation to the students of the degreecolleges – both governmental and aided –at an affordable cost. Under this project,interested students can do MCA equiva-lent degrees at a very reasonable cost. So,we hope to roll out a large number of MCAprofessionals.

Uttaranchal government has enteredinto collaboration with CII (Confederationof Indian Industries) to set up trainingfor BPO centers, there are about 10-15BPO training centers here, and 26BPO call centers which are here for thepast 3 years.

We are looking at IT as one of the maindrivers for e-Governance, BPO, back of-fice support, trainings- CAT, accounting,legal services and so on.

Uttaranchal is going to be the knowl-edge center; we already have 9 industriesin the state. IT and knowledge go together,that’s how we are looking at a really de-veloping state. So, IT is going to be a veryimportant component in the state’s devel-opment plan.

Regarding the e-Governance roadmapbeing in place, we are very clear aboutwhat we want to do. Also, the Govern-ment of India’s plans, whether it is SWAN(State Wide Area Network) or CSCs(Common Service Centres), it is veryclearly laid out. We already had our meet-ings as far as the CSCs are concerned. Infact, we already have about 100 CSCsrunning through the Kisan SoochanaKendras (Information Centres). We havethe additional 66 such centres being run atthe primary agricultural societies throughthe IFFCO (Indian Farmers FertilizersCooperative Limited. We have about21 Janadhar Soochana Kutirs (InformationCentres) that are running under the UNDPprogramme. So we have already 200 CSCsalready operational in Uttaranchal.In many ways we are more advanced thanthe roll out plan of the government ofIndia. The latter’s target is to have CSCsby 2007, but we would be able to do it bythe end of 2006.

You mentioned introduction of IT inschools of the various religious groupssuch as Madrasas and Ashrams. Pleasetell us about what has been their accep-tance level?Their acceptance has been pretty good.The training of the Madrasas’ teachersstarted by reciting from Quran and wenton to computer education. It has been verypositive and ambitious experience for allof us because the acceptance of comput-ers and computer learning has to be there.We made the Muslim Education Board thestakeholders in this mission; the Board has

been very very proactive. The results havebeen very very successful.

As far as the acceptance by the Ashrambased schools is concerned, the very factthat there is a Haridwar (religious place ofHindus) portal shows that acceptance forIT is definitely there.

What is the allocated budget to the Stateof Uttaranchal for e-Governance?This year we spent INR500mn(US$10.75mn) on IT. Next year we plan todouble up the expenditures on IT and ITrelated services and infrastructure. But theimportant thing is not how much youspend, but how well you spend. Anotherpoint that needs to be kept in mind whiletalking about the IT budget of the state isthat the budget comes from various de-partments and not just from IT depart-ment. For instance, the budget for thecomputer literacy programme comes fromthe schools; transport department has alot of computerisation, and the budgetcomes from transport department. If wecalculate the amount spent on IT by dif-ferent departments other than IT, theamount would be much higher. But let mesay this that funds are not a constraint sofar as the implementation and develop-ment of IT is concerned.

What is your opinion regarding pub-lic-private partnership, can it add valueto e-Governance?Definitely yes. I am very clear on this. Weneed this collaboration; we need thispartnership to leverage the strength ofboth. There are certain very strongadvantages, which the government has,and certain advantages of the privatesector; if these two work in tandem it is awin-win situation for both. The kind ofinvestments we are talking about, thoseinvestments cannot be generated by theprivate sector, and those have to comefrom government budgets. And yetresource efficiency, competitive models,planning, customer care, designingsystems, that is definitely areas that pri-vate sectors have their strengths. Lever-aging the strengths of both – public andprivate sectors – is something, which isvery relevant for our country. Ultimately,it is India that must win. And if India is towin, the private, public and the citizenshave to go together.

| August 2006 41

MoU on portal foraviation e-LicensingIn an initiative of the first of its kind, the UAEGeneral Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) hassigned a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Emirates Airline to enhancecooperation through electronic links (e-Licensing). Electronic transactions would bepossible between the two sides enablingemployees in the aviation industry to obtainlicenses through a special portal. A movetowards e-Governance by the aviationindustry in the Middle East, e-Licensing wouldfacilitate transactions and help save the timeand effort of pilots, engineers and allemployees in the aviation industry who needto obtain necessary licenses, who will be ableto get the licenses electronically.

The MoU was signed by Waleed Al Ghanim,Head of the Licensing Department at theGCAA, and Raed Al Rahma, Director, SystemApplications at Aviation Operations, EmiratesAirline.

Technical hitch stallsonline renewal ofhealth cardsA technical glitch is warding off somesubscribers of Qatar e-Government fromrenewing the health cards of their dependantsonline. While speaking to the Gulf Times, anaggrieved user complained that instead ofrenewing the health cards of his familymembers in just 24 hours he had to wait forone month this year as the e-Governmentportal refused to accept the applications on

the premise that their residence permit hasexpired. However, expressing shock, theaggrieved user said that only this February hehad got the residence permit renewed for two-years. Though, the user’s health card wasrenewed, but his family members were notlucky enough.

The benefit of online renewal of health cardsis that the new card could be collectedimmediately after 24 hours from the HealthCard Office, provided the application was madeon a working day and the next day is also aworking day. Further, if the subscriber opts fordelivery through the postal channel, at extracharge, the health card would be receivedwithin three or four days. However, if therenewal is done through the Primary HealthCentre concerned or the specific counters at

Hamad General Hospital, it would take at leastone month to get the new card.

e-Government surveyin BahrainIn Bahrain, authorities plan to undertake anonline survey for businessmen to measure theprivate sector’s expectations of the new e-Government initiative. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has prepared the survey. Thesurvey is being posted on the BCCI (BahrainChamber of Commerce and Industry)’swebsite, www.eztrade.bh. Central InformaticsOrganisation (CIO) is leading the project, andit would receive the results.

Mahel Al Khan, CIO programme managementoffice head, said that some services such asCR renewals, paying off traffic violations andunemployment registration, already existonline at a very advanced level, while othersare yet to be developed. The aim would be toeventually turn it into a one-stop-shop for allgovernment services to be inter-related, so

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWMMMMMIDDLEIDDLEIDDLEIDDLEIDDLE E E E E EASTASTASTASTASTe-Village launched in Jordan

An e-Village was launched inLib and Mleih areas of Jordan.According to Haifa AbuGhazaleh, UNIFEM (UnitedNations Development Fund forWomen)’s Regional ProgrammeDirector, the two areas werechosen because there were1,860 households here livingbelow the absolute poverty

line, while illiteracy rate is 14% and the unemployment 47%. The e-Village, which aims tobridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas thereby improving the standards ofliving for its residents, is a collaboration of UNIFEM’s Arab States Regional Office and theMinistry of Information and Communications Technology.

The initiative would help benefit some 10,000 residents in accessing entrepreneurial services,technology, and communication tools. Apart from a computer lab, the e-Village would havethe first local community radio station, a mosaic workshop, a lego robotics lab, a printing andpackaging centre and a café. The e-Village programme is intended towards empoweringwomen, students, business owners, people with special needs, the unemployed and volunteers.More e-Villages would be created in other parts of Jordan in future.


that one online application covers therequirements of other ministries as well. Otherservices listed on the survey include customs,ports and related services, registration ofcontracts, public procurement, submission oflegal information, registration of leases/rentalagreements, multi-storey owners permits,obtaining medical certificates, makingGeneral Organisation for Social Insurancecontributions, obtaining, renewing andcancelling residence permits and others. Thee-Government in Bahrain is expected to befully operational within three years.

Oman’s fifth ‘Sanad’service centreinaugurated

Oman’s Commerce and Industry Under-secretary Ahmed bin Hassan Al Dheebinaugurated the fifth ‘Sanad’ service centrein Al Khuwair (Muscat). The Sanad centresare a part of the national campaign tointroduce full-fledged e-Governance byassisting young Omanis with the clearance oftheir businesses with various governmentoffices and reducing pressure on governmentestablishments and private sector companies.

Perceived as key drivers of e-Government inOman, the Sanad services specifically aim toprovide gainful employment and businessopportunity to Omanis by delivering

government and corporate serviceselectronically. The centres would provide allnecessary services under one roof, such aspayment of electricity, water and telephonesbills and translation and Internet services.

Drive to eliminatecomputer illiteracyin DohaWith the aim to raise IT awareness andincrease the usage of computer and Internet

across the various sectors of society,particularly among educators andgovernment employees, the SupremeCouncil of Information andCommunications Technology (ictQATAR)signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with ICDL GCCFoundation. This is part of ictQATAR’se-Citizens initiative. The e-Citizen isaimed to bring about transformation toa digital knowledge-based society.

Dr Mohamed al-Ansari, ictQATAR’s e-Education Manager, and Jamil Ezzo,ICDL GCC Foundation General Manager,signed the MoU. The initiative aims to equipcitizens with the essential IT skills to be ableto utilise e-Government services such aspaying bills, enrolling in courses, makingholiday reservations, shopping, banking,trading, searching for jobs, or taking part inonline discussion forums. ictQATAR is makingefforts to end computer illiteracy amongQataris.

ictQatar has decided to work in associationwith other government sectors wherein allqualifying government employees would be

asked to undergo the mandatory officialICDL testing, leading to ICDL certification,regardless of their computer backgroundor job level. ICDL certification is consideredas the global benchmark for computerliteracy for all qualifying governmentemployees, and is endorsed by governmentsworldwide.

First automatedmachine for self-infoservice in Kuwait

Kuwaiti Interior Ministry announced thelaunching of its first automatedmachine for self-information servicethat enables citizens and expatriatesto know procedures and documentsneeded to carry out transactions relatedto the ministry. The machine displaysinformation on its screen in both Arabicand English, and provides servicesrelated to traffic violations, bails, drivinglicenses, Kuwaiti passports, and vehiclecards. The machine also provides

information on how to carry out transactions,locations of service centers, and InteriorMinistry vehicles.

Lieutenant-General Adel Al-Munayes,General Manager of the General Departmentfor information systems at the Ministry,informed that the launch of this new serviceis aimed at easing services throughgeographic expansion and concluding thee-Government project by providinginformation of citizens and residents in a jointdatabase.

| August 2006 43

ISRO to guide citieson waste disposal

Waste disposal, which is the biggest challengebeing faced by several cities in India, is nowgoing to be ably guided by the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) through itsexpertise in Remote Sensing. P. G. Diwakar,Head, Regional Remote Sensing ServiceCentre (RRSSC), said that Remote Sensingand communication satellites like Cartosat-1, Resourcesat-1 and the IRS series ofsatellites were already being used to obtaina wide variety of high resolution images anddata in spatial resolutions. “The 2.5m highresolution data obtained from Cartosat-1 canbe used in locating the drainage map and theexact area for the disposal of waste. Thedata is also useful to locate for urbanisation,soil texture, infrastructure, ground waterprospects, road network and land use,”Diwakar said. Currently, the RanchiMunicipality in the state of Jharkhand is usingcustomised solutions of ISRO in tracingsuitable landfill sites.

Digital cameras toclassify properties inHyderabadAs a precursor for implementation of the newarea-based property tax system from the nextfinancial year beginning April 1, the MunicipalCorporation of Hyderabad (MCH), India, plansto use digital cameras for classifying ofresidential and commercial properties in thetwin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.During the survey, digital data would berecorded, which then would be combined withspatial data obtained through the

Geographical information System (GIS) forgetting a complete picture of properties.

B. Ramesh Babu, Additional Commissioner(Finance and IT), said that the new systemwould only rationalise collection of propertytax as the exercise would enable correctestimates to be made regarding the plintharea and the rental value of properties.

Satellite to trackMalaysia’sleatherback turtles

A million-dollar satellite study of turtlemigration, focusing on the leatherback thatis nearing extinction, is to be conducted bythe coastal Malaysian state of Terengganufamed for its exotic beaches. A sum ofMYR5mn (US$1.35mn) has already beenallocated for the purpose. According toMohamad Jidin Shafee, Terengganu stateexecutive councillor, the transmitterinstallation exercise to study turtle migrationis likely to be held this September.

Earlier, only one leatherback turtle consideredthe most endangered of Malaysia’s turtles wassighted last year. Also, for the first time inhistory, neither of the other important species- Olive Ridley and hawksbill turtle, landed atthe traditional nesting sites. Turtles arehunted for their meat and shell, and often getkilled by entangling in the fishing nets.

China launchesbiggest oceanicenvironment surveyIn order to probe the conditions of its maritimespace, China launched its biggest oceanic

environment survey recently. Sponsored by theNational Bureau of Oceanography, theprogram would last two years and cover 1.02million square kilometres of sea area offChina’s coasts. Data on water depths, waves,water levels, ocean currents, watertemperatures and colours, mineral contentsand plankton in four seasons would berecorded during the survey by scientists. Theprogram is part of a comprehensive surveyand evaluation project on China’s inshoreocean launched in 2003.

Upon completion, the research findings arelikely to guide development of the maritimeeconomy, tapping of oceanic resources,maritime disaster relief and prevention, andoceanic environmental protection.

NASA satellites totrack wildfires’progress in USNow, it would become possible to track theprogress of wildfires in the United States owingto joint efforts by NASA (National Aeronauticsand Space Agency), the U.S. Forest Service,the University of Maryland and the NationalInteragency Fire Center. MODIS (Moderate

Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)imaging devices mounted on 2 NASA satelliteswould monitor the earth and will be able tolocate a fire within a 500m distance. The datasent by the instruments is turned into maps.

MODIS Rapid Response System is used byNASA as part of its SensorWeb project,wherein sensors circling the earth act in anetwork detecting fires or other events.

NEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWNEWS REVIEWGGGGGEOEOEOEOEO-----INFORMATICSINFORMATICSINFORMATICSINFORMATICSINFORMATICS


eUser survey on publicadministration ande-GovernmentPotential demand for eGovernment services is about 50 percent andwill continue to rise. This, among other findings, came out of the eUserstudy held in 2005, funded by the European Commission’s IST(Information Society Technology) programme. The survey conductedin Europe, focused on a number of themes – the public’s use ofgovernment services, the different channels (or media) employed, thenature of potential future demand for eGovernment, the barriers andexperiences in using eGovernment, and the socio-economic attributesof eGovernment users compared with non-users. Some of the highlightsof the survey as follows:

• While in some countries like UK telephone and post haveovertaken face-to-face contact with the government (74%telephone and only 51% face-to-face), the latter is still the mostimportant channel for contacting government. 81% of allcitizens who contacted government in the last year did so inperson, although not necessarily exclusively by this channel. (seetable 1)

• The potential demand for eGovernment services isabout 50 per cent of all government users, and could behigher. This is mainly for information services, followed bycommunication services, and lowest for transaction services.(see table 2)

• The survey result showed that one of the barriers whichusers anticipate they will meet when using eGovernmentrelate to difficulty in actually starting, with a feeling thatface-to-face is better and the fear about data privacyimportant.

• In terms of government services generally, citizens rate theiroverall satisfaction at about 3.5 out of 5.0.(see table 3)

Users of eGovernment services tend to be younger, male andbetter educated, and have higher socio-economic status and be inemployment.

FACTS & DATA

Source: http://www.euser-eu.org

| August 2006 45

per 1,000 is the PC penetration in India in 2005-06,according to data provided by the Manufacturers’Association for Information Technology. It has increasedthree times from 6.3 per 1,000 people in 2000-01 to 18per 1,000.

numbers

15th http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9726899

18 http://www.business-standard.com/common/

storypage.php?autono=98398&leftnm=8&subLeft=0&chkFlg

34 http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/136327/1/

60 http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/14/

business/14837322&sec=business

123 http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/07/19/

china.internet.ap/index.html

120 - 150 http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/6669

23,000 http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=17_7_

2006&ItemID=28&cat=5

Source

15th 18is the ranking of Ireland in the league table of online publicservice availability, according to the new survey carriedout by CapGemini on behalf of the European Commission.Ireland has slipped from 12th place last year to 15th placethis year.

million EUR will be spent by the Government of Serbia inelectronic governance by the end of 2007. The investmenthas been included in the first sector plan under the supportof the National Investment Plan in the area of science ande-Governance, adopted recently by the Government.

34 60

million Internet users are there in China, which is anincrease of nearly 20% over the past year, reveal the officialChina Internet Network Information Center annual survey.The number of Internet users in China with broadbandservice jumped by 45% over the past year to 77 million,or about two-thirds of the total online population

123 120-150

crore INR (USD 49.21) is what the Indian government willspend on the various e-Governance initiatives. A part ofthe funds invested would be recovered through aninnovative e-Service tax to be paid by the users of theelectronic governance.

23,000

percent of the populated areas in the state of Perak inMalaysia will go wireless in September this year, accordingto the Perak government. With Perak’s own MSC in placeand businesses coming in, the state is expected to becomethe next regional hub for telecommunication services.

million Euros are saved per year in Denmark with the useof e-Invoicing and a good public private partnership (PPP)efforts. This saving is due to the elimination of keyboardingand postal handling. Electronic invoicing becamemandatory in Denmark on 1 February, 2005.


23 – 25 August 2006Hotel Taj PalaceNew DelhiIndia

3 – 5 September 2006

The EURO mGOV 2006Sussex University, Brighton, UKwww.icmg.mgovernment.org


International EGOV conference 2006Krakow (Poland)http://www.uni-koblenz.de/FB4/Institutes/

IWVI/AGVInf/Conferences/egov2006


I-KNOW ’06 - 6th InternationalConference on KnowledgeManagementGraz, Austriahttp://www.egovonline.net/events/events-

details.asp?EventID=79


2nd Conference on eServices inEuropean Civil RegistrationTallinn, Estoniahttp://www.riser.eu.com/Conf/

conf_intro_new.htm


The 6th Enterprise ArchitectureConference & ExhibitionPractical Approaches for FederalProgramsRonald Reagan BuildingWashington, DChttp://www.e-gov.com/EventOverview.aspx?

Event=EA06&NoCache=632870559470560595


International Conference oneGovernance Enhancement viaKnowledge ManagementSelangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysiahttp://www.eg2km.org/main.html


GCC Government Organizations QualityWebsite Development ConferenceRebuilding Quality & Service Excellencein GCC Government OrganizationWebsitesBurj Al Arab HotelDubai UAE http://www.datamatixgroup.com/

conferences/agenda.asp?id=339

13 September 2006

Conference on ‘The impact ofeGovernment in Europe’ – Tracking theProgress of the eGov Action Plan (2006-2010)Helsinki, Finlandhttp://www.egov-goodpractice.org/

event_details.php?&eventid=125


Smart Event ’06 – World e-ID 2006Sophia AntipolisFrancehttp://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/5642/5744

22 September 2006

2nd International Workshop oneGovernment and Data Protection(EG&DP-2006)VarnaBulgariawww.tu-sofia.bg/saer/


4th Quality Conference for PublicAdministrations in EUTampereFinlandhttp://www.egovonline.net/events/events-

details.asp?EventID=77

2 – 3 October 2006

First Iberoamerican Congress on e-GovernmentSantiago, Chilehttp://www.sumaq.org/egov/

This section lists upcoming e-Government conferences, exhibitions, and other public events

for the benefit of our readers.

Tell us about your event at [email protected]

WHAWHAWHAWHAWHAT’S ONT’S ONT’S ONT’S ONT’S ON

5 – 6 October 2006

European e-Skills 2006 ConferenceThessalonikiGreecehttp://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/5640/

5744

9 – 11 October 2006

t-Government World Europe 2006AmsterdamThe Netherlandshttp://www.terrapinn.com/2006/tgov/

25 – 27 October 2006

eChallenges e-2006 ConferenceBarcelona, Spainhttp://www.echallenges.org/e2006/

9 – 10 November 2006

Global Forum 2006Paris, Francehttp://www.items.fr/

globalforum.php3?id_rubrique=75

20 – 22 November 2006

Arab eGovernment SummitDubai, United Arab Emirateshttp://www.datamatixgroup.com/

6 December 2006

2nd Annual EventInformation Management in the publicsectorLondonhttp://www.kablenet.com

7 December 2006

eGovernment Conference 2006Copenhagen, Denmarkhttp://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?

containerId=IDC_P11911

15-17 December

International Conference of E-governanceICEG 2006IIT Delhi, Indiahttp://www.iceg.net/2006

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