[Winona Online Democracy] Dear Colleagues,
This is the first newsletter from Digital Governance Initiative http://www.digitalgovernance.org in 2004 and we wish you a full of learnings and imaginative year ahead! The theme of this newsletter is - Increasing "Public Value" of Information through Electronic Governance Models. We explain why Governments becoming online" does not always mean Good Governance. Instead Good Governance occurs when Electronic Governance is able to enhance the "Public Value" of information supplied. To those who joined recently, I wish to inform that Digital Governance Initiative http://www.digitalgovernance.org is a global, voluntary network aimed at identifying, researching and propagating innovative electronic governance models that are applicable in developing countries. Since its initiation in 2000 it has assisted several organizations in their egovernance related projects. The website http://www.digitalgovernance.org is becoming a portal to Egovernance related Case-Studies, Publications, Events, Forums, Jobs and other activities in developing countries. This newsletter is subscribed by over 2600 colleagues and new readers can subscribe to this free newsletter by sending a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I hope that Digital Governance Initiative can push forward the thinking that Electronic Governance has to be viewed as a governance reform process which requires both political will and demands from the civil society. Further, Electronic Governance in developing countries has to be used as a development tool to provide benefits of good governance to cross-sections of the society and especially to those who so far have been bypassed of benefits of governance. To those interestd, we will shortly be initiating our national Digital Governance Networks in Ghana, Nigeria and Nepal this year to foster national-level dialogues on egovernance. For more information on these networks and how to participate in them, see http://65.110.68.184/artman/publish/network.shtml Your suggestions on how we can incorporate the learnings from Digital Governance Initiative into specific egovernance activities taken up by governments in developing countries, and any new resources worth highlighting on Digital Governance website and newsletter will be most appreciated. Please write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or at [EMAIL PROTECTED] I wish you a happy reading and learning. Best, Vikas Nath Founder, DigitalGovernance.org and KnowNet.org Initiative Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage: http://www.vikasnath.org --------------------------------------- Newsletter 5. January 2004. --------------------------------------- Content A. Increasing "Public Value" of Information through Electronic Governance Models. B. New Resources Added: Case-Studies, Publications, Events, Jobs relating to Electronic Governance in developing countries *** A. Increasing "Public Value" of Information through Electronic Governance Models. There is no dispute that "Electronic Governance" is gradually entering the domain of public administration concepts and strategies in developing countries. (or, in what we term as the broader governance sphere) In spite of the best intentions to make Electronic Governance work for people- by providing them with easy access to governance products and services with which they can enhance their quality of lives, the end-results are often very different. i. Governments around the globe are becoming online Many developing countries are now implementing a general policy to make available government information electronically to the "public". For instance, countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea, Lao PDR, Malawi, Moldova, Niger, Qatar, Togo and Yemen have recently committed to Electronic Governance by taking steps to make government information available online. According to the UNPAN Report on "Benchmarking E-government: A Global Perspective", in 2001, of the 190 UN Member States, 169 (88.9%), of their national governments used the internet in some capacity to deliver information and services. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan003984. pdf Governments registering an online presence is a progressive step from the situation where even the most basic of government information is confined to government bureaucrats and departments that are logistically and administratively inaccessible to the public. Under earlier situations, there is a high transaction cost (in terms of time, efforts and opportunities lost) to access timely and relevant government information, which governments turning online can "potentially" reduce. ii. Is Government becoming online leading to increase in "Public Value" of information provided? Governments have always been providing information through means such as government notifications, newspapers and radio/ TV broadcasts. Providing the same information electronically through Internet is a significant step in making such information more easily accessible to the "public" but does not necessarily reflect governance reform or a political change within the government. Countries such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Cambodia, Cote D��Ivoire, Cuba, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Kyrgystan, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, for instance, maintain official government websites on the Internet with provide information to the "public". (See the Digital Governance Initiative website at http://www.digitalgovernance.org to access official websites of these countries). There is no doubt that maintaining these websites have positive utilities. Yet it would be imprudent to state that -maintaining an online government presence has significantly enhanced the flow of government information of "value" to the public. As a governance information user, the key question which concerns me is: Is Electronic Governance providing me with information which is of "value" to me and that I can use for my private benefit? We now introduce a term - "Public Value" of information - to understand the difference between information being provided and information of "value" to the public being provided by the governments. ii.1 Public Value of Information Public Value of information refers to the "value" of the information being provided, as determined by the public. PV == v(1) +v(2) + v(3) + v(4) + ... v(i) + ... + vN Where, N is the number of people reached by the governance sphere And, v(i) is the value derived from the public information by an individual i Thus public value of information will increase when: * More number of people are brought under the governance sphere [increasing the N] * More relevant government information is provided to each individual [increasing the v(i)] iii. Two Lessons: How can Electronic Governance increase the "Public Value" of Information? For Electronic Governance to increase the "public value" of information, planned efforts have to be made to provide information which is of use to larger number of individuals. Two key lessons emerge: Lesson 1: Electronic Governance models will have to be designed to provide governance information which is of "value" for end-users, instead of providing information that can be readily supplied by the governments. Governance information will have more "value" for me, when information is: i. CUSTOMIZED : Is useful for my information needs ii. TIMELY : Updated information is readily available when required iii. TRUSTWORTHY : Is usable, and individuals/ institutions can be held accountable for any wrong information provided At present, a fundamental flaw exists- Governments turning online are providing governance information along sectoral lines, for instance agriculture ministry, water-resources ministry, mining ministry, industrial development ministry and rural development ministry are each bringing more information about their ministry online. Information requirements of end-users are however more geographically inclined rather than sectorally. For instance a farmer is not interested in what government schemes and subsidies are offered by agriculture department, rural development department and water-resources department. Instead his / her need may be to know schemes and subsidies that are available in his/ her area irrespective of which department they comes from. Thus Electronic Governance models needs to take into cognizance this interface where specific user requirements get matched with information availability. Lesson 2: Electronic Governance models should try to reach those sections of the society who have been bypassed and remained out of governance sphere due to high transaction costs of accessing governance information. And yet the need for governance information for these sections of society may be the highest. Due to high transaction cost of gaining governance information, several sections of the community, for instance, small and landless farmers, urban poor, tribal and backward communities, minorities, unemployed rural youths, often remain outside of governance sphere and remain unaware of governance information which could be useful for them- for instance information about government schemes and subsidies, credit and loans availability, employment opportunities, new bills and notifications etc. When Electronic Governance models are specifically designed to serve information needs of these marginalized communities, they bring more number of people into governance sphere and thereby increase the "public value" of information being provided by the governments. When the above 2 lessons are followed, the Electronic Governance models become a catalyst to efforts towards good governance. See the example of Egovernance for farmers in China in Quzhzou http://www.developmentgateway.org/download/221732/NJ110_ITG_Case.pdf or the Naga City Egovernance http://www.naga.gov.ph/cityservices/ in Philippines or the Vishakapatnam Municipal Corporation (India). http://www.visakhapatnammunicipalcorporation.org/ In all these cases, the focus of e-governance services is geographically rooted in a small area and there is an increased focus to identify and design governance services that will be useful for cross-section of the community. (See http://www.digitalgovernance.org for links to their websites and other information) *** B. New Resources Added on the Digital Governance Website CASE-STUDIES Browse 105 case-studies on DigitalGovernance.org Case-Studies section at: http://65.110.68.184/artman/publish/casestudies.shtml Recent Additions: India: SWAGAT- State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology [ http://newsletter.gujarat.gov.in/vol2/NewsletterDec03.pdf ] To see that the aggrived person does not have to come all the way to the capital of the State, it is also desirable to put up a system at the local level to resolve the grievances and monitor the same with IT tools. Lebanon: Thousands of Government Forms Available from a Single Access Point [ http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp? CaseStudyID=363 ] A team of reformers went "underground" into all the corners of Lebanon's 21 ministries and 44 agencies in search of every government form. The paper documents were digitized and placed together on a Web portal called Informs. Citizens can now access any form over the Internet, or over the telephone through a four-digit hotline, so they no longer get lost in the bureaucracy and waste their time making repeated visits to government offices. Latvia: Ventspils City Council -AVANTI Drives Uptake of E-Government Services [ http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp? CaseStudyID=521 ] Ventspils City Council in Latvia is reaching more citizens with its online service offerings thanks to a collaborative pan-European project with other municipal councils, Microsoft and Fujitsu. The initiative, called AVANTI, enables visitors to the Ventspils Web site to interact with an animated character called an avatar. This has built in voice recognition and speech technology, which enables it to understand and respond to spoken queries relating to e- government information or services, such as online licence applications. Philippines: eBoto [ http://eboto.org/ ] A movement to inform and empower Filipinos in politics through the Internet. The organization strives to arm every Filipino involved in the electoral process with adequate information about candidates for election, as well as provide a forum for each individual to communicate with these candidates. Through this project, eBoto aims to provide a medium for concerned Filipino voters to get to know candidates in terms of concrete issues, platforms, and principle rather than mere personality and posturing. Peru: Automated Public Registry [ http://www.orlc.gob.pe/homepage.asp ] Peru's public registry-and many of its problems-have existed since 1888. The last major change at the registry was in 1970 when it graduated from handwritten to typed records. The agency?s many problems-such as the length of time it took to send a certificate and the illegal sales of homes to more than one buyer-were well known, but viewed as an unfortunate reality. But with automation, the user-friendly website (www.orlc.gob.pe) instilled confidence in a new generation of customers. PUBLICATIONS: Browse 120 publications on DigitalGovernance.org Publications section at: http://65.110.68.184/artman/publish/publications.shtml Recent Additions: Pre and Post Internet Activities towards e-governance- the Sri Lankan Experience [ http://www.cicc.or.jp/english/hyoujyunka/15-19.pdf ] S. T. Nandasara, Sri Lanka One of the main demarcation points of pre Internet era in e�V governance in Sri Lanka was the introduction of Computers for assisting the Election commissioner for counting votes in the 1982 Presidential Election. For this project, BBC microcomputers were used. Since then to-date, the computer have being assisting the Election Commissioner for the release of election results of all the elections that were held in Sri Lanka without a single break. Latin America and the Caribbean: Democracy online [ http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/index.cfm?thisid=69 ] Growing numbers of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean are finding that better government is just a keystroke away. Governments throughout the region are putting information and communication technology to work to serve their citizens more efficiently and to open up the workings of government to public view. At the same time, they are demonstrating the benefits of these technologies by helping more people learn how to use computers and by increasing access to them. Mexico-Project E-Local: Internet for All Municipalities [ http://www.developmentgateway.org/download/221756/Elocal_ITG_Case.pdf ] E-Local is promoting access to public information in a governmental system that historically has been closed to citizens. The purpose of this project is to improve communication among the different structures of government and between those structures and the citizenry at large. It is the first effort of a federal administration to encourage the use of IT in municipalities in order to strengthen democratic governance, improve municipal management tools, and promote the building, within the local sphere, of an "authentic federalism" in Mexico. Final report of Online Consultation In GOL-IN Countries - Initiatives to foster e-democracy [ http://governments-online.org/articles/17.shtml ] The report shows that governments around the globe are actively promoting online consultations in order to strengthen democracy and development. The report provides guidance for governments that wish to establish a productive form of online public consultations. In order to achieve this, knowledge, initiatives and experience already present in this field are clustered and made available. Role of Mobile Communication for Effective e-Governance [ http://www.mgsipap.org/egov- conference/Post_Conference/conf_Papers/Papers/Yogesh_Dharminder.pdf ] But all efforts at e-governance would be futile if information is not available to decision makers/ administrators and a common user as and where required. In order to do so mobile communication system can play a very important role in providing information as and where required. In this paper we have discussed how mobile communication system can be used for effective e-governance by suggesting methods of providing information to decision makers as and where required. EVENTS: Browse upcoming and past events on DigitalGovernance.org Events section at: http://65.110.68.184/artman/publish/events.shtml Recent Additions: E-Government and Sectoral Development in Caribbean States: "Charting an Agenda for Action [ http://www.comnet-it.org/news/future.html ] 10-12 February 2004, St. Lucia The Commonwealth Secretariat, through its Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD), is organising this workshop in conjunction with the Government of St Lucia for the region's policy makers, senior public service management and private sector and other institutional stakeholders likely to be impacted by the deployment of e-Government throughout the region. The 3rd International Conference on Information Technology and Economic Development [ http://www.intercedconferences.org/27256_44787.asp ] 3-5 March 2004, Accra, Ghana The theme of the conference is "The Challenges of ICT development: Policy, Strategies, Equity and Access." The gathering provides a neutral ground for government, academia and civil society actors to dialogue, re-educate each other and build a new and positive culture for collaboration and development. Dialogue amongst different participants bring different perspectives to common problems and offers insights on how to translate information technology innovations into practical and meaningful results. XXVIth International Congress of Administrative Sciences on E- Governance: Challenges and Opportunities for Democracy, Administration and Law [ http://www.iiasiisa.be/iias/aicor/aikorea.htm ] 14-18 July 2004, Seoul, Korea Workshops 1) E-Governance: effects on civil society, transparency and democracy; 2) E-Governance: changes in administrative structures and processes; 3) E-Governance: perspectives for countries in transition and development; 4) E-Governance and the evolution of law. _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
