eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

INDEX Sl # 1 2 3 4 Particulars Introduction Selection of the Alternative Model: Model Type Selected Design methodology in model Page 3 3 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

The underpinning benefit of the transaction based eGovernance model Weaknesses of the existent system in Gyandoot List of Issues that contributed to the failure of Gyandoot Proposed System Benefits Key Business Process and Data requirements Data requirement for the processes Sensitive, Privacy and Security of information Functional and Non-Functional requirements Lo-fidelity prototype Reference:

4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 16

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

Introduction: The main crux of eGovernance is captured as expressed by the former President of India Sri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, In a democratic nation of over one billion people like India, eGovernance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow of information across state and central government in the federal set up. No country has so far implemented an eGovernance system for one billion people; it is a big challenge for us. [1] The development of the information technology era and its positive impact on the governance is seen in the development of various models of eGovernance across the nations. Since the start of the 20th century various eGovernance models have been proposed by international organisations. a) Selection of the Alternative Model: Gyandoot was implemented in the year 2000 in the rural district of Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. The use of an interactive service model coupled with the available information technology bought about the implementation of Gyandoot. The basic requirements that was met by this eGovernance model was a set of 20 activities that included the issue of birth certificates, death certificates, land records copy, marriage certificates etc. However, the system failed to achieve the desired result of providing Information and Communication technology (ICT) based solution to the poor. After a detailed analysis of the model implemented for Gyandoot and going by the facts of the case, the suggestion for a newer model with more robust activities is proposed. The suggestion is as below:
1. Model Type Selected : The new eGovernance system should be based

on a Transactional model. In the words of Coursey, D, & Norris, D (2008) the eGovernance model proposed by Wescott (2001) which initially emPage 2

eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

ploys the web and email as an internal network in the first step, moves ahead to enable the access from public and other organisations in the second step. The model covers a two way communication following which there is an exchange of value leading to the evolution of digital democracy which is integrated across all state governments. The Transaction model typically draws all the steps that are proposed in the Wecotts (2001) model of eGovernance.

Fig 1: The Models Steps [2]

2. Design methodology in model : The Transactional model based on Wescotts (2001) model design has 5 steps as seen in the figure 1. The design of the model follows the 6 steps of 1. Step 1: Email and internal network: This step includes the communication between the internal government departments that are on the intranet where the eGovernance model is implemented.

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

2. Step 2: The model enables the access of data and other resources on the intranet to other governmental departments and the public. This is in the form of a website, where information is is imparted. 3. Step 3: Two- way communication: In this step there is a bridge that facilitates the interaction both ways by the public with the model and limited access to the database for queries. An example would the request for a birth certificate and the same being accepted and its subsequent issue. 4. Step 4: Exchange of value: This step in the transaction model is unique and not seen in the service oriented model. There is a monetary transaction across the requestor and the government via the system, thereby building a level of trust with the requestor. The trust so build creates value exchange. 5. Step 5: Digital Democracy: In the transactional model a reasonable independence is made available to the requestor thereby providing the requestor an opportunity to provide feedback about the service experience. This feedback system is associated with the democratic way of governance. 6. Step 6: Joined up Government: This is the final step where there is integration both horizontal and vertical across various governmental departments enabling access to centralised data across the government.

3. The underpinning benefit of the transaction based eGovernance model : The transaction based eGovernance model encapsulates all the features of the Service oriented model along with further benefits which increases the scalability of the eGovernance across the time to come. Below are a few salient reasons in selecting this model as an alternative to the Service oriented model of Gyandoot are is: Page 4

eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

1. Its a holistic approach which extends beyond just the service to the level

of building trust. It effectively realises the opportunity of synergy that is available in the eGovernance model [3].

2. The transactional model fully integrates the with the other government-

al sites by enabling institutional inter-linkages in its purview [3].

3. Enables transparency across the system as a whole. The model facilit-

ates for Government transparency by way of primary channels which being the active sharing of governmental information, the availability of governmental information on demand and by interacting with the public on an ongoing basis (Piotrowski, 2007) [4].

4. The robustness and flexibility offered by a transactional eGovernance

model offers a marginal benefit to the users and the government. The below picture shows the structural design of a transactional taxpaying system in an eGovernance environment [5]

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

Fig 2. System Architecture model [5]

b) Weaknesses of the existent system in Gyandoot: The prevalent Gyandoot system was based on the intranet access from PCs Kiosks that were located at various designated locations in the villages. The Kiosks were service points for 20 different services that were used often. The survey conducted by the CEG-IIMA survey revealed startling results indicating very low usage of the Gyandoot systems. The poor for whom the system was meant contributed to 31 percent of users while the rich people contributed to 77 percent of users. (Cecchini, S, & Raina, M (2004) At many instances, the prevailing prices in the grain market (mandi) was promptly and easily found out by calling the merchant in the city rather than obtaining a report from Gyandoot for Rs.10. There was no stipulated time or scheduled time of opening and closing of the kiosk that led to an erratic approach to the availability to the service. The survey also revealed a strong decline of users from 848 in 2001 to 77 in 2002 revealed the depleting confidence levels in the system. Apart from the above issues, listed below are other issues that contributed to the failure of the system [6]: List of Issues that contributed to the failure of Gyandoot [6] Sl # Weaknesses 1 A digital from end but a paper back end 2 Disadvantages The front end of Gyandoot was a digital one, however the interaction with the back end process was a non-digital paper office thereby erasing all the benefits of Gyandoot It bought about completion across each other, where in the private owners exploited the poor for reports The Gyandoot Samiti was able to harness the opportunities locally, but, due to the hierarchy, it did not have powers to resolve issues at the Page 6

Two model approach of Panchyat and Private

No administrative powers to the Samiti

eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

higher level and therefore they failed 4 Technological issues 5 Technical support issues The use of dial up networks which were very slow, the frequent power outages which would stretch up to 6 hours in a day The support for the WiLL by CorDECT was not efficient. During frequent breakdowns, technical support was not available for weeks together. The services provided by Gyandoot were not Very low usage by the villagers 7 publicised effectively across the village. The presence of such service was unknown to people who lived beyond 10 kms from Dhar. On a survey done by CEG-IIMA revealed that only 74% of the kiosks were operational and only 42% were open at the time of survey The rich in the village contributed to 77% of the usage of services and the poor contributed 31% of usage There was a gender bias with only 8% to 17% was the women representation during the survey. The cultural drawbacks of looking down upon women were pre-dominant in bringing this bias. Of the 13 blocks only 9 blocks had access to Gyandoot; the other 4 blocks did not have access to Gyandoot systems. Grievance redressed system was pathetic, with 70% of respondents being unhappy with the service provided. The issues remained unresolved.

Operational level of kiosk

Knowledge about the service to the poor

9 Gender Bias in the usage

10

Distance of travel to use the services

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The Grievance was a paid service and most of the time remained unresolved

Proposed System Benefits:

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

The proposed system would render the following benefits over the Gyandoot system and would appraise the trust and value in the system: 1. Transparency in the system and easy access : Creating effective transparency in the system by integrating the request with mobile message service to provide a real time update to the requestor. This would build in further trust and value in the system. The implantation of the obtaining the rural property records by village residents across India has been effective in reducing the bribes being accepted by the local officials which was very prevalent (Bhatnagar, 2003) [7]. 2. Revenue model being turned to a social support model. The revenue expectation for self sustenance of Gyandoot would dissolve the purpose of the eGovernance model. 3. Trust based service through accurate information coupled with speed Building a higher level of trust in the minds of the people by providing them instant and accurate information. In-depth research into the matter of trust have revealed that governments that intend to implement a eGovernance system should focus their strategies in the achieving a meaning proposition around the usefulness, acceptability and compatibility and trust in the eyes of the users. (Hung, S, Chang, C, & Yu, T 2006) [8]. c) Key Business Process and Data requirements: 1. Key business processes of new system: Based on the survey conducted by CEG-IIMA (2002) the usage statistics reveal that there are few key services that the villagers use by engaging with Gyandoot. Also based on the pro-poor service model the new system would be deployed to focus on the popular services that are widely requested across. The list of 5 key services are: Page 8

eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

a. Agricultural prices checking b. Advisory module c. Grievance redressal d. Caste certificate e. Driving licence

Source: Cecchini, S, & Raina, M 2004 [6] The process of capturing and processing the transaction is as shown in the fig 4. The process flow captures the general input through output processes of a transaction based eGovernance model.

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

Source : http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ar-procmod2/ Process- Oriented modelling for SOA 2. Data requirement for the processes: The key services by the new system would require the user to input vital data that pertains to the authentication of the user and to maintain security of the data. The use of location as a parameter to track the data would be beneficial to address frequent request of similar data. The list below specifies the kind of data that is required to ensure a successful transaction between Gyandoot and the user: 1. The details of the users and the document pertinent details. 2. The date criteria for the details requested 3. The location information 4. The payment method and the details to process the payment 5. Use of payment gateway and the internet PIN to process the payment 6. The contact details of the user This data would be stored in the repository to facilitate a chronological access record of the user and the request made. 3. Sensitive, Privacy and Security of information: The use of cloud computing which would enable faster processing is contemplated. Various cloud computing features would be employed to ensure sensitive data is secured (Zissis, D, & Lekkas, D 2011). The measures drawn for the safety of the user data are :
1. Software as a Service (SaaS) : Use of SaaS provides users to use and

access their data despite being mobile. The user can access the information through a client interface using a web browser.

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

2. Community cloud : The community cloud provides the flexibility of sever-

al government organisation to link up with the Gyandoot information and vice versa. This enables a smooth interaction with the other governmental data centres and timely updates. The advantage of community cloud is that is offers effective security to user data.

Fig 5: Showing the cloud architecture to be followed for Gyandoot system Source : http://www.infosys.com/infosys-labs/publications/Documents/egovernance/ict-e-governance.pdf d) Functional and Non-Functional requirements: The functional and non functional requirement are : Functional Requirements: Should provide data synchronization with the central database Support the various requirement of multilingual interface and language requirements Scalability of system should be available to the ensure that new processes can be appended to the existing list

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eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

Back up of Operational data should be planned in the requirement Voice and auditory options for input and output to be made available in multi-language option A help option to users must be provided to enable them to negotiate when they are caught with a question The colour, look and feel should be made in consideration to the physically challenged users Despite a slow internet connectivity, a basic version of application must perform to maintain continuity of access A list of FAQ to be maintained based on the most asked questions All input and output, website design should be in accordance to the guidelines provided by the NIC Non-Functional Requirements: The system to use the rule based authentication system (RBAC) and Role based authentication system (RBAC) (Zinkewicz, P 2004). The system would provide segregation of duties based on the user access rights The system would provide for audit checks and audit trails along with auto back up of data on a frequent basis The system would provide the user with error prompts when there are errors done. Meaning full description to the errors would be provided. The system would perform auto checks at the back end to ensure data and user profile security. It would auto detect fraudulent access attempts and lock the user.

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The system would have capabilities to provide reports and other database query based results to the user based on user rights.

Sl # Deployment in India The presence of a Soochak is imperative as the population of users is 1 mostly illiterate The use of kiosk is necessary as the village does not permit him/her to own 2 a computer or a mobile internet device The use of multi-lingual language support is imperative as the users of 3 Gyandoot vary in their language skills The power back up system must be robust and function 24 x 7 to ensure that the connectivity is available to the 4 5 user The political clearances at both central and state levels is a must The use of simple language is essential. The use of translators and 6

Deployment in UK The user in UK is mostly literate and majority are equipped with internet access The majority of users in UK have computers or by way of mobile connectivity The use of English is prevalent in UK and therefore with a minimum additional languages, the system can be deployed There is no such power back up issue. The central clearance is sufficient to deploy the system The use of translators and interpreters is not required to a

economic condition of the user from the access to internet through either

interpreters is required to a great extent great extent Data input in local language has to be converted into other languages so as to The input in English is sufficient make it user friendly for other for all departments in UK There is minimum need of publicity. However, advertisements in mobile phones and message alerts can convey the existence of such system Page 13

Governmental department There is a dire need to campaign about the new system using Radio, Television, road shows, visits by school children to ensure that there is

sufficient awareness of the new system

eGovernment A case study Gyandoot IIM Ahd

The bureaucratic interference should 9 be curtailed to ensure transparency There is an open system in UK. However, political interference should be kept away

Reference: [1] http://egov.eletsonline.com/2011/12/tryst-with-e-governance/ [2] Coursey, D, & Norris, D 2008, 'Models of E-Government: Are They Correct? An Empirical Assessment', Public Administration Review, 68, 3, pp. 523-536, Business Source Premier, [3] Preparations For UN E-Government Survey 2012' 2011, Journal Of EGovernance, 34, 3, pp. 130-131, Business Source Premier [4] Bertot, J, Jaeger, P, & Grimes, J 2010, 'Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies', Government Information Quarterly, 27, 3, pp. 264-271, Business Source Premier [5] Vassilakis, C., Laskaridis, G., Lepouras, G., Rouvas, S., & Georgiadis, P. (2003). A framework for managing the lifecycle of transactional e-government services. Telematics and Informatics, 20(4), 315-329 [6] Cecchini, S, & Raina, M 2004, 'Electronic Government and the Rural Poor: The Case of Gyandoot', Information Technologies & International Development, 2, 2, pp. 65-75, Business Source Premier [7] Bertot, J, Jaeger, P, & Grimes, J 2010, 'Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies', Government Information Quarterly, 27, 3, pp. 264-271, Business Source Premier,

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[8] Hung, S, Chang, C, & Yu, T 2006, 'Determinants of user acceptance of the eGovernment services: The case of online tax filing and payment system', Government Information Quarterly, 23, 1, pp. 97-122, Business Source Premier [9] http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ar-procmod2/ [10] Zissis, D, & Lekkas, D 2011, 'Securing e-Government and e-Voting with an open cloud computing architecture', Government Information Quarterly, 28, 2, pp. 239-251, Business Source Premier [11] Zinkewicz, P 2004, 'IT: SECURITY PRIORITIES . . . TOP LEVEL CONCERNS', Insurance Advocate, 115, 21, pp. 2-27, Business Source Premier

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