Q.What is e-Governance? How does it differ from e-Government?

E-Governance means running government work with the help of information technology; e-Government is a narrower part of that idea.

Define e-Governance, then contrast its wider scope with the narrower e-Government.

E-Governance. E-Governance (electronic governance) is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) — computers, the internet, mobile devices and networks — by the government to deliver its services, share information with the public, and carry out its administrative functions in a fast, transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly manner. In plain terms it is governance carried out with the help of information technology, covering the government's dealings with citizens, businesses and its own offices.

Difference from e-Government.

• E-Government is the narrower term. It refers mainly to the government using ICT inside its own offices — computerising its records, automating its departments and improving its internal working. It is chiefly about how the government works internally.
• E-Governance is the wider term. Besides internal automation it also covers the interaction and relationship between the government and citizens, businesses and other government bodies, with the aim of making governance more transparent, accountable, participative and citizen-friendly.

So all of e-Government can be seen as one part of e-Governance, but e-Governance goes further by focusing on the whole electronic relationship between the government and the people it serves.

Treating e-Governance and e-Government as identical. The examiner wants the scope difference: e-Government = internal automation of government working; e-Governance = the wider government-to-people (and government-to-business/government) electronic relationship.