Vikas Nath
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Vikas Nath (Forum Moderator)
Founder, Digital Governance Initiative
http://www.DigitalGovernance.org
Homepage: http://www.VikasNath.org
Electronic Governance has several definitions, but in simplest terms, e-governance refers to those governance processes in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an active role in delivering governance related products and services. The introduction of ICTs in the governance sphere can lead to one or more of the following 4 key changes:
i. IMPROVE the quality and standards of existing governance products and services being provided
ii. PROVIDE new governance services and products to the citizens or users
iii. ENHANCE the participation of citizens or users in deciding what governance products and services should be provided and in what manner
iv. INCLUDE NEW SECTIONS of the society under the governance sphere, including those who are more likely to remain excluded, namely the poor, the illiterate, the differently abled, indigenous people, migrants and the internally displaced people
Thus, Electronic Governance does not simply mean digitization or automation of existing governance services. Instead, it is a tool for reforming governance services so that they can be provided more effectively and uniformly to all sections of the society, and especially to those who have so far been left out of benefits of good governance.
Importantly, Electronic Governance has to be viewed as a "political process" which engages political actors, citizens and their representatives over a long term, rather than isolate them, with the aim to provide good governance through continuous reforms in governance processes.
It needs to be realized that governance reform is a comparatively slower process, and the resulting changes may take effect only after several weeks, months, or even years as it requires engaging with different governance institutions and bringing about both attitudinal, bureaucratic and constitutional changes.
HENCE, political will becomes the key ingredient to electronic governance and where the political will exists, electronic governance can significantly catalyze the reform processes towards good governance. And in absence of political will, the impact of electronic governance will be weak, superficial, and may not lead to institutional changes in governance processes. In such cases, there is a far greater responsibility on civil society organizations to build strong citizen movements to either create a favourable political will or to bring about a change in leadership.
The task is even more difficult for Central Asian countries, as they are still far behind countries in other regions when it comes to adoption of electronic governance. A detailed analysis of 1,797 government websites of 198 different countries undertaken in 2005 reports that while 53% of websites in North America (including the United States, Canada, and Mexico) and 38% of websites in Asia and 7% of websites in Africa offer online government services the figure is only 3 percent in the case of Central Asian countries. (See Global E-Government 2005, www.insidepolitics.org/egovt05int.pdf).
Constraints such as limited liberalization of telecom sector, high internet access prices, little local internet content, limited access of population to ICTs and their concentration in urban areas, and relatively less developed citizen advocacy groups, are limiting the penetration of electronic governance within Central Asian countries. And yet, large section of population in these countries can benefit from improved governance products and services if electronic governance were to become a reality, even in some sectors.
In view of these constraints (including limited financial resources), it is important to first prioritize sectors (public administration, education, health, commerce, judiciary) where the introduction of electronic governance can provide maximum benefits, and then to develop customized electronic governance models which are best - suited for these countries.
With this, we come to the underlying issue of this debate:
"How can Central Asian Countries to seize the benefits of electronic governance?"
i. Do you think your country is ready to initiate electronic governance, in terms of having the right political will at the national level to undertake governance/ public sector reforms? (Please state which country you are referring to.)
ii. Which sectors, in your opinion, can benefit most from the introduction of electronic governance (for instance: public administration, health, agriculture, judiciary, and education) and why do you think so?
iii. Do you propose or envision any particular Electronic Governance model for these priority sectors? Please answer specifically in terms of:
* Access (how would you bring ICT access to the targeted population?)
* Service Delivery (who or which agency would be responsible for delivering governance products and service?), and
* Trust (how would you ensure that citizens/ users trust the services being provided online and do you propose any mechanism to ensure quality and correctness of the services being delivered?).
So let us discuss these issues.
Please introduce yourself in your replies and let us try to cut general comments and focus on the specifics.
Regards,
Vikas Nath |
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Kyrgyzstan has a basic infrastructure for creation of the electronic government, international experts and participants of the conference on “Rural Internetization in the Kyrgyz Republic” said.
The basis for such infrastructure is a network of 35 Public Information Centers (PIC) “Aiyldagy Internet” (“Internet in the Village”) opened by the Information Future Public Foundation. More than 20,000 villagers have access to the Internet and nearly 1,400 rural inhabitants have received computer and business trainings in PIC “Aiyldagy Internet”.
“‘Aiyldgy Internet’ network is an excellent foundation for implementation of the already existing projects on e-government, - Margarita Vartanjans, Deputy director of the state Public Information Center said. – The only thing necessary for the effectiveness of this network is a strong association.”
Turgunbek Kydyraliev, coordinator of GSAG/GTAG project of the World Bank also voiced a need for PIC’s international association.
“E-government should be available to everyone and everywhere, - Kydyraliev said. – A strong PIC association will help to build infrastructure and provide population with necessary access to the Internet.”
In order to create efficient e-government at least 10% of the population has to have access to the Internet, Kydyraliev noticed.
In addition to talks about e-government establishment, participants of the conference discussed development of the electronic business and marketing. Michiko Enomoto, representative of the UN Economic Commission for Europe suggested leaders of the PIC “Aiyldagy Internet” to draw on successful experience of the developing Ethiopia, Nepal and Cambodia in promotion of the Internet marketing.
Almaz Bazarbaev, First deputy director of the GSM cellular company Bitel suggested emphasizing managerial skills in “Aiyldagy Internet” for business development.
“We are keenly aware that business development in Kyrgyzstan is impossible without development of the rural communicational infrastructure, - Bazarbaev said. – That is why we invest in the Information Future Public Foundation, which deals with both infrastructure and skills development.”
The key goal of the Information Future Public Foundation, opened by the local Kyrgyz businesses, is digital gap reduction between city and village in Kyrgyzstan. The Foundation has been achieving this goal through information infrastructure development by opening Public Information Centers “Aiyldagy Inernet” (“Internet in the Village”) and by providing telephone communications to the villages void of it.
“We encourage villagers to develop their own businesses on the basis of “Aiyldgay Internet” centers, - Nurbek Toichubaev, Director of the Information Future Public Foundation said. – In addition to that we have been working on educational content of our centers. This gives young Kyrgyzstani an opportunity for the better future.”
The conference on “Rural Internetization in the Kyrgyz Republic” was held in Bishkek, on August 17, 2005. |
Evgeniy
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i. Agriculture and Electronic Governance
Electronic Governance, in simplest terms, refers to those governance processes in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an active role in delivering governance related products and services.
When applied to the Agricultural Sector, electronic governance refers to the use of ICTs in delivering governance products and services which are of use to farmers or those working in the agricultural sector, including livestock breeders and cattle herders, milk dairy workers, agriculture extensionists and scientists, agricultural traders, and NGOs working in the agriculture sector.
ii. Governance Products and Services in the Agriculture Sector
There are a range of governance products and services that are useful for the agrarian community and to meet the needs of most developing countries, which are: enhancing crop productivity, efficient cattle farm management, providing for national and household level food security, securing livelihoods, and conservation of bio-diversity.
These governance products and services include: information about the latest seed varieties, fertilizers, pesticides and rainfall prediction; information on various government schemes such as those on water resources management and subsidies on land development and soil conservation activities; information about local agriculture offices and officers, crop testing and training centres; information on milk processing, grain storage, livestock vaccination and crop diseases; information about market prices of various crops, government procurement prices, interest rates on loans and available credit facilities. Apart from these, farmers often need to modify legal documents pertaining to their land/ cattle ownership while purchasing or selling land/cattle, they need to access application forms to apply for government schemes, loans and subsidies, and may need to file applications for getting electricity on their farms, digging new
wells, diverting canal water for irrigation, or for getting reimbursements for livestock eaten by wild animals.
In summary, there are numerous governance products and services which are of importance for welfare of the agrarian community and should be made available to them. And this is of even more significance for developing countries where good annual agricultural production is essential not only to ensure food security but also to guarantee livelihoods of large number of households (and thus, a large proportion of population) who work in the agricultural sector. And a large number of such households comprise of small farmers or livestock owners who do not have the safety net of an alternate livelihood opportunity or source of income.
For instance, in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, over 96 percent of farmers are small, farming less than 5 hectares of land. For such households, the safety net lies in good governance to ensure that required agricultural products and services get delivered to them in a timely and efficient manner. Consequently, national and state governments, NGOs and donor agencies should give high priority to ensure good governance within the agricultural sector.
iii. The Role of Electronic Governance in the Agricultural Sector
ICTs can be applied in the agricultural sector to provide many of the products and services listed in the previous section. And there are several projects: some funded by national governments and donor agencies, and others run by private sector or entrepreneurs which demonstrate the useful role of ICTs in the agricultural sector.
However for these projects to be meaningful beyond their immediate objectives (for instance of providing a specific product or service), ICTs should be used to bring qualitative changes in the governance
sphere which surrounds the agrarian community. In essence, a clear role for electronic governance emerges for the agricultural sector-these electronic governance models should be aimed at bringing 4
key changes:
1) Improve the quality and standards of existing agriculture related governance products and services being provided
This could include improving existing agricultural extension services through use of IT tools, opening new communication channels by which information about market prices and government procurement prices can reach the farmers, or providing updated information about local agriculture offices and the services provided by them.
2) Provide new agriculture related governance services and products to the citizens/users which are needed but have not been provided so far
This could include opening avenues for farmers to access and modify their land records data accurately, providing credit cards to farmers to be used for purchasing of seeds, fertilizers and farm equipments, or installing community based equipment which could update the farmers about rainfall prediction, about prevalent crop diseases, or movements of wild animals in the area.
3) Enhance the participation of agrarian community in deciding what governance products and services should be provided and in what manner
This could include building capacities of farmers so that they can decide how agriculture related government funds should be spent in their village, for instance on repairing the lining of canals or restoring
of rain harvesting structures. They should be able to influence government decisions on the appropriate location of check dam construction, deciding who should qualify for farm subsidies, and courses or extension services that should be offered by local agricultural training centres. This would lead to empowerment of the agrarian community.
4) Bring new sections of the agrarian community under the governance sphere
This calls for bringing new sections of agrarian community within the governance sphere, namely those who are most likely to remain excluded: landless farmers, migrant labourers, women farmers, old farmers and tribal communities.
Only when efforts are made to meet the above four conditions, can good governance become a reality for all sections of the agrarian community, and can ensure a healthy growth of the agricultural sector and improvement in the welfare of households which are dependent on it for their livelihoods.
Thus the role of electronic governance in agriculture sector goes beyond important, but singular applications, such as digitizing of government records, making available government forms online, or putting computers in agriculture training centres. Instead electronic governance should become a tool for providing agriculture related governance products and services more effectively and uniformly to the entire agrarian community. |
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