E-Governance — Meaning and Concept

1. E-Governance — Meaning and Concept

What e-Governance means. E-Governance (electronic governance) is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) — computers, the internet, mobile phones and networks — by the government to deliver its services, share information with the public, and carry out its administrative functions in a fast, transparent and convenient way. In simple terms, e-Governance means running the work of government electronically instead of only through paper files, physical offices and personal visits. A citizen who pays an electricity bill online, checks land records on a website, or applies for a certificate through a government portal is using e-Governance.

Governance, government and e-Governance. It helps to keep three words apart:

• Government is the set of institutions and persons (ministries, departments, offices, officials) that hold and exercise the authority of the state.
• Governance is the process by which that authority is exercised — how decisions are made, services delivered and citizens dealt with.
• E-Governance is the application of ICT to that process of governance, so that services and information reach people better, faster and more openly.

E-Governance versus e-Government. These two terms are related but not identical, and examiners often test the difference. E-Government refers narrowly to the government using ICT inside its own offices — to automate its records, computerise its departments and improve its internal working (the electronic side of running the administration). E-Governance is a wider idea: besides internal automation it also covers the interaction between the government and citizens, businesses and other arms of government, and the goal of making governance more transparent, accountable, participative and citizen-friendly. In short, e-Government is mainly about how the government works internally, while e-Governance is about the whole relationship between government and the people it serves.

The four pillars of e-Governance. For e-Governance to succeed, four supporting elements — often called its four pillars — must be in place:

1. People — trained officials to run the systems and citizens able and willing to use them (digital literacy).
2. Process — simplified, re-designed procedures suited to electronic delivery (there is little point in merely computerising a badly-designed manual process).
3. Technology — the hardware, software, internet connectivity and secure networks that carry the services.
4. Resources — the funds, data and infrastructure needed to build and maintain the systems. …