Think Big Start Small

The huge congregation at the "8th National eGovernance Summit" in

Bhubaneshwar really shocked me. There were over 700 people-ranging from IT

minister Dayanidhi Maran to a school teacher from Balasore-who had got

together, in what seemed to be a big movement to bring IT in daily governance. I

had not imagined that so many people in the country, from across so many

sections of the society, had taken such a fancy to this new phenomenon.

To put the deliberations at the Summit in a nutshell would not be easy. But,

fortunately, some of the challenges of e-gov that were raised, discussed and

generally agreed to by everybody, were a welcome change. It gave the feeling

that the bureaucrats and political leaders, generally perceived as opponents to

change, are ready to learn and move on.

Most of us who are involved with e-gov either as vendors or consultants or as

e-gov project managers, I am sure, are aware of the challenges. The biggest

challenge to e-gov initiatives all across the country seems to be, as generally

referred to, "inability to projectise". That is, though lots of e-gov

project programs are being run, most of them are not run professionally. There

are no clear milestones to measure the progress; the end objectives are not

clearly defined and there is lack of co-ordination between various departments.

The 'project management' approach to the entire exercise is missing.

IBRAHIM AHMAD The Andhra government might have fallen due to its alleged focus on e-gov, but most other governments can come back to power if they focus on just that

Most of these e-gov programs are a result of one man's passion. As soon as

that man moves out (in most cases, transferred) the project is orphaned. So,

even if the e-gov initiative was accepted, there is nobody to take it to the

next phase. Actually, not many people want to take up e-gov projects.

There is also a lot of duplication that is happening-for instance, there

are several states trying to develop a land record system. When the best route

can be to implement successful models in other states, this process of

re-inventing the wheel causes delays, and unnecessary spending. Besides,

disparate systems do not talk to each other, so growth beyond a point is stuck.

While many of us blame e-gov for the TDP government's fall last year, the

fact is that IT is making an impact. In fact, Chandrababu's downfall,

according to experts, was primarily because of setting up of unrealistic

objectives for e-gov, thereby creating un-achievable expectations from the

masses.

I just want to bring to everybody's notice that there is a huge interest

that seems to be building up for e-governance. This is one big opportunity for

all stakeholders. For vendors, e-gov will give the dormant domestic market a big

boost. And, most importantly, for the political leaders. Today, there is no

state in the country-from Sikkim to Tripura, Himachal Pradesh to Orissa,

Rajashtan to Bihar-that is not tinkering with e-gov. Of course, there are the

trend-setters-Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

While the last NDA government initiated many of the e-gov plans, this Congress

led UPA Government can actually reap the benefits in the next general elections.

There are very strong reasons for e-gov to succeed now. The communications

infrastructure is much better and much cheaper. The level of IT awareness of

people running e-gov programs is much higher. The number of success stories is

much more. Peoples' expectations from e-gov, is also getting much closer to

reality. The governments themselves are showing much more interest in this now

and have been able to define a mantra for themselves: "Think Big, Start

Small, Replicate Fast".

If this wave does not take off and e-gov fails to make an impact and grow, I

will only call it a big goof-up or a sabotage. If e-gov does not succeed we are

all doomed.

The author is Editor of Dataquest IBRAHIM

AHMAD