Taking governance to next new level

The Himalayan Times - English Daily in its Sunday "Perspective" published today (April 15, 2007) an article by Rabindra Pokhrel based on the discussions with me (www.rajeshshakya.com) and Dr. Shailendra Sigdel on e-Governance in Nepal. Here is the full story. To view the article in the Himalayan Times Click Here.


Even as governance in Nepal goes off beam under grinding polarisation, IT experts and e-governance specialists have now taken up the cudgels to take governance to the next new level. While the world has moved on from e-governance to M-governance (mobile governance) to Ubiquitous government, these experts dream of delivering government services and information to public using electronic means to help governance evolve from the grassroots.

E-governance facilitates government an efficient, speedy and transparent process to disseminate information to the public and other agencies, and to perform government administration activities. Though Nepal is yet to take stock of the vast opportunities the use of Internet has opened up, Electronic Transaction Act, 2063 has taken Nepal further in the field of information and communication technology. A lot of initiatives have already been taken in the area, but specialists clamour for things to be implemented. A lot of measures are still to be taken for authenticity and confidence in online transactions.
Explains Rajesh Shakya, Chairman of Hi-Tech Valley, “Farmers in Mustang with access to Internet can sell their apples to dealers in Manhattan. Job opportunity available in Malaysia can be applied to from Bhojpur. Businesses and individuals can submit their income tax to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) from their computers at home. A young entrepreneur can register him/herself a new
company through the Small and Cottage Industries Department without any harassment by unwanted brokers. A software freelancer in Pokhara can work for a buyer in Australia... and innumerable other possibilities are possible for anybody and everybody through the Internet.”
Shakya informs that the House of Representatives (HoR) of the government of Nepal approved the Electronic Transaction Act, 2063 on December 4, 2006, while the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MoEST) formulated the regulations. The new legislation has not only legalised all forms of electronic transactions and digital signatures, but has also clearly spelled out ways to regulate various computer-based activities and punish cyber crimes. The new legislation has set forth a legal framework, administrative and application mechanism for electronic transactions and digital signatures. Besides legal validity of electronic records and digital signatures, the Act has made a provision for Comptroller of Certification Authority (CCA).

“Electronic transactions and digital signatures is valid not only for the private sector but also for government agencies, which allows government offices to use electronic medium regarding tender notices, vacancy announcements and others. It also validates public procurement and acceptance of electronic applications. Even corporates could avail of the benefits of the new legislation, after ICT tools such as telephone, Internet connectivity is made accessible in all areas. ICT also has a vital role to play in all transactions that the government undertakes. It helps the government cut red-tapism, avoid corruption, and reach citizens directly,” says Dr Shailendra Sigdel, institutional and governance specialist.
But the legislation still suffers from a few setbacks.
“The current Electronic Transaction Act is limited in asymmetric cryptography with key pairs for digital authentication, whereas there are already several other promising authentication technology and algorithms popular and established in the world. Key pair concept is not wrong, but the Act should have opened up scope for possible future developments as well,” says Dr Sigdel.
Shakya points out another big issue — online payment method. He complains the absence of any Act, law or regulations or government directives, which allow conducting legal online financial transaction.
“I cannot imagine reaping the full benefits of Internet technology without online payment possibilities. The Electronic Transaction Act without a word on online payment is only half-done,” he opines.
He also emphasises on the need for government employees to change their mindset from “knowledge hiding” to “knowledge sharing”. Each component of e-governance, including “transparency”, has to be initiated as a mission and such initiations should be complemented by the appropriate legal infrastructure. Simply implementing software applications alone doesn’t bring a transparent system; it requires a whole lot of training and exercises for the government employees. On the other side of the coin, citizens should be aware enough to demand their ‘right to information’.
So what will be the suitable e-governance framework for our country?
Shakya answers, “We have to have a National Citizens database, in the real sense, which will be essential for all e-governance applications, vertical or horizontal. We should have acceptable standards for exchanging information securely with non-repudiation throughout the network, between citizens to government, and among government departments seamlessly. We have to establish data centres at the centre and regional centres to handle the administrative workflow automation, collaboration, interaction, authenticated exchange of information. We should have our administrative processes rightly empowered and reengineered, which can accelerate decision-making. Only then will the entire administrative agencies be able to contribute more for the national development, rather than being entangled in piles of files.”
Adds Dr Sigdel, “To make e-governance more comprehensive, it has to be developed into an institutional framework. Good governance, being an important goal of countries across the globe, has taken up initiatives for open and participatory governments. Freedom of information is being redefined and the Internet revolution has proved to be a powerful tool for good governance initiatives.”
“An important dimension of the Internet potential is the possibility of providing services anytime, anywhere. Along with this, there is a conscious effort to put the citizen as the centre of focus of the governance. Citizens are being perceived as customers and clients. E-governance has to be citizen friendly and based on the demand of citizens. Delivery of services to citizens is considered as a primary function of the government. Particularly in a country like Nepal, where the citizens are out of reach of government services because of diversity in many ways, e-governance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow of information in any type of political state setup,” says Shakya.

E-Governance for Good Governance in Nepal

English Weekly "Spotlight" published an article by me and my friend Dr. Shailendra Sigdel on April 13, 2997. Read the full story. To read the article published in the 'Spotlight" Click Here.


Rajesh Shakya (www.rajeshshakya.com)
Dr. Shailendra Sigdel

What is e-Government?

E-government is the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to transform the traditional government by making it accessible, transparent, effective and accountable. E-government does not mean putting more computers on the desks of government officials. And e-government is more than just a government website on the Internet. Political, social, economic and technological aspects determine e-governance. It establishes a relationship between government officials and citizens, providing greater access to government information and services by making the government accessible online; promoting citizen participation by enabling citizens to interact more conveniently with government officials, such as by requesting government service and filing required documents through website; increasing government accountability by making its operations more transparent, thereby reducing the opportunities for corruption; and supporting development goals by providing business, rural and traditionally underserved communities with information, opportunities and communications capabilities. E-government is not only used in developed countries. Some of the most innovative uses of the Internet in governance are being successfully used in the developing countries, as well.

E-government will not be successful just only buying more computers and putting up websites. It’s not sufficient to automate administrative practices from the paper system to digital system. Rather, e-government is a process of transforming government; it requires planning, political will and a sustained dedication of resources. Success of e-government will not be guaranteed with the mere purchase of advanced technology or the direct automation of complex procedures until it can increase the rate of citizen participation there by bringing about the greater effectiveness in government. Technology introduction can not change the mentality of bureaucrats who do not view the citizen as valued customer of government or an important participant in decision-making.

Why e-Governance?

We are in the process of building "New Nepal". "New Nepal " should not become only a popular slogan but really the "New Nepal" with all the positive values and aspirations of its citizens geared towards the peace and progress. There are many dimensions streamlined and drivers identified to make our "New Nepal" dreams come true. One of such dimensions is the reformation of the government. Governance and its service process should be well reengineered to fulfill the aspirations of its citizens. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its tools can help its effective and efficient transformation.

With the advent of the information age, the ways we work, study, and live have been experiencing dramatic changes. Due to the influence of economic and information globalization and the rise of the digital economy, governments are "reinventing" themselves to meet new expectations and the priorities of citizens and businesses. These dynamics are compelling many governments to create a new vision for its relationship with businesses and citizens and to create a new organizational structure to fulfill its mandate. E-Government can fulfill the mandate of government formulating a new vision of how government views its citizens, employees and businesses, and building a citizen-centered, service-oriented, public-participative government with efficient, accountable, transparent and performance government system. ICT based online service is the most democratic and unbiased service system. It offers equal opportunity to all races, genders, ethnic groups.

E-Government breaks the barrier of geographical diversity and makes the government services handy to all citizens at villages who are even not connected by roads and opens up many opportunities, provided Internet connectivity is available either through wireless communication, fiber optic cables, dial-ups, VSATs or whatever other medium.

Besides providing service to citizens, it’s important to empower and motivate government employees to expect better service from them. E-Governance should transform the government workers into empowered knowledge workers. Nepal should not miss the benefits of global economy and specially the benefits offered by Internet.

Strategic Objectives of e-Governance:

The strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all parties - government, citizens, businesses and its employees. The use of ICTs can connect all three parties and support processes and activities. There may be two major objectives of e-governance:

1. Service to the Public: This objective of e-government is to satisfactorily fulfill the public’s needs and expectations on the front-office side, by simplifying their interaction with various online services. The use of ICTs in government operations facilitates speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective interaction with the public, citizens, business and other agencies.

2. Efficient Government: In the back-office, the objective of e-government in government operations is to facilitate a speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective process for performing government administration activities. Significant cost savings (per transaction) in government operations can be the result.

For implementing these strategies into reality, government must be subjected to transformation.

The transformation process is not so easy and not so simple. It requires a coherent strategy and should begin with an examination of the nation’s regulatory environment and the ability of the population to make use of planned technologies. The primary driving factor for e-government reform should not be the potential it offers to save money and reformation does not mean cutting staff. The savings incurred from e-government initiatives most often benefit the businesses and citizens utilizing the improved system more so than the government agencies that invested in them to begin with. In order to realize the benefits of transformation themselves, governments must develop a citizen-centric model involving key stakeholders outside of government—community, businesses, professional associations, scientists, academics and NGOs. Without their input and demand, even e-government projects that focus on internal government processes may not prove successful because citizens are unlikely to use a system that does not respond to their needs.

Process reform, leadership, strategic investment, collaboration and citizen participation are essential elements in the transformation process. Once government makes strategies to transform the governance process, it must prepare to meet the significant challenges and opportunities that will arise during implementation. The implementation process should address the issues of infrastructure development, law and public policy, e-literacy, accessibility, privacy, security and workforce issues. Awareness, education and rollout programs are also needed. To make the e-governance initiative successful, a good marketing program is required through out the country to encourage citizens to make use of them.