Digital Divide v2

E-governance is the latest buzz word. There is a lot of

excitement about it in the industry because of the Rs 12,000 crore that is

planned to be spent in this area. And with a mention in the latest finance

budget, no one is left in any doubt of its importance to the country.

There are many ways to define e-Governance. All of them go

beyond  'computerizing the

government'-a term that is used often, but means little. A more general

definition is-it is a way of empowering citizens by bringing in transparency

in the system and reducing corruption. To me it means using information

technology to provide better services to customers by the government sector organizations.

I like this description because it puts the focus right where it should

be-customers and services.

There is a lot of talk about the urban and rural digital

divide. There is also another divide that is constantly widening. The corporate

vs non corporate one. In many areas such as private banks and telecom, we are

seeing increased levels of customer service courtesy use of information

technology. In many others such as property, judiciary, and other aspects of

governance we see very little use of technology to make the citizen's life

better. And this is the Digital Divide V2.

G2C or citizen-centric e-Governance projects will be

successful only when the masses start using them. This needs first the

applications-with in built process changes to make things more efficient-and

then they need access points for citizens. Bring down the cost of a computer to

less than Rs 10,000 and see its numbers rise as quickly as those of mobile

subscribers. The Internet came to India before the mobile phones. Then what has

made mobile services beat Internet services in subscription numbers hands down?

In January 2006, the subscriber base touched 80 mn, with 62 mn GSM and almost 18

mn CGMA connections. It became a mass phenomenon in 3-4 years when the handsets

became cheap and readily available, call rates crashed and because mobile phones

were easy to use and had a high utility. Nobody had to push mobiles. They just

happened because the conditions fell in place. Can these conditions be

duplicated for computers?

The G2B story is not a happy one either. By and large

government processes with respect to industry are not computerised. Information

about laws, rules and regulations, clearances are available on websites, which

are often dated. Online applications and clearances are a rarity. And of course

the processes are from the previous century. It is appreciated that making these

things happen in the government sector is a complex job. But there is little

evidence of a strong move towards making these applications happen.

Ultimately if the governance has to become better the

government has to become more efficient. G2G makes its own contribution to the

great Indian digital divide. Computerizing the government departments and making

the incumbents use even e-mail is no mean task. But even basic steps like these

can improve decision making and therefore the quality of service to the

citizens.

e-Governance will happen when we get the above examples and

much more going. That needs a massive overhaul of much of the government working

. This can happen if there is a push from the top and a pull generated from the

bottom. Ministers and secretaries have to insist on using computers themselves.

And then they have to provide the computers, the communication infrastructure

and the training to their departments.

We have come a long way from the time that the need for

such initiatives was questioned. But we have also taken a long time over it. It

would be a tragedy if the act-time is as long as the talk- time.

The author is editor-in-chief of CyberMedia, the publisher

of Dataquest. He can be reached at shyamm@cybermedia.co.in