What is e-governance? Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) contribute to the achievement of good governance goals? What are the implications for development? Why, when there is so much promise, do many e-governance initiatives go wrong? Can the gulf between the connected and the un-connected be bridged?

These issues are addressed in a paper from the University of Manchester’s Institute for Development Policy and Management which outlines the three main contributions of e-governance: improving government processes (e-administration); connecting citizens (e-citizens and e-services); and building external interactions (e-society).

Government costs a great deal, delivers too little, is unresponsive and often self-serving, argues the report. ICTs are cheaper and quicker than human-executed processes for storing, processing, outputting and transmitting information. The potential benefits of ICTs are enormous:

• They can lead to faster and more transparent decision making.
• Innovative e-government can demonstrate the benefits of ICTs to the wider population, catalyse the local IT industry and encourage foreign investment.
• Civil servants can be better motivated and the civil service can improve its public image through ICTs.
• When citizens are able to access information and understand the workings of government, the scope for bribery can be reduced.

Case studies are used to show that e-governance is a current, not just future, reality for developing countries. Digitisation of information channels is providing clearer direction for public sector and state processes. Decentralisation is being boosted by technology, creating new information flows to decision makers in new locations.

Among the (potentially replicable) success stories are:

• Egypt: a comprehensive national database has provided an accurate and cost-effective basis for issuing national ID cards.
• Tanzania: the cost of introducing a civil service payroll system was soon paid off as ‘ghost’ workers were identified and management control improved. Internet-enabled systems for civil service financial management are being rolled-out countrywide.
• South Africa: in Johannesburg the use of an intranet to move information has democratised an institution previously run by, and for, an Afrikaner minority.
• India: village entrepreneurs (with start up support from local government) run cyber kiosks. They go online on behalf of clients, help them talk to customers and officials, and bridge the gap between cyberspace and rural life.
• Uganda: ICT-enabled information flows to, from and within parliament have improved constituent representation and government-civil society communications.

The report urges policymakers to seize digital opportunities and address the ‘e-Governance Divide’ between industrialised and developing countries, and between elites and ordinary citizens. The paper outlines strategic approaches to build 'e-Readiness for e-Governance'. Other suggestions include:

• Overcoming the ‘two tribes’ mentality (IT people ignorant of governance issues and politicians ignorant of technology) by training managers who understand both perspectives.
• Avoiding off-the-shelf e-government packages. Government users must be involved in developing appropriately customised designs.
• Resisting donor-driven pressures for ambitiously large e-governance projects.

Source(s):
‘Understanding e-Governance for Development’, iGovernment Working Paper #11, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester by Richard Heeks 2001 Full document.

Funded by: Department for International Development, UK

id21 Research Highlight: 10 September 2001

Further Information:
Institute for Development Policy and Management
University of Manchester
Crawford House
Precinct Centre
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9GH
UK

Tel: +44 (0)161-275-2800
Fax: +44 (0)161-273-8829
Contact the contributor: richard.heeks@man.ac.uk

IDPM, University of Manchester, UK

Other related links:
'e-Governance: time to get practical?'

'Silicon idols: Problems of harnessing IT in government'

'ICT revolution: creating a southern info-underclass?'

'Are ICTs the road to riches for the poor?'

'Information Technology in South Africa' from the University of Cape Town

'Making New Technologies Work for Human Development' from UNDP

'ICTs - Making a useful Contribution to Development' from the Dutch Minitstry of Foreign Affairs