BACKGROUND-E GOVERNANCE

E-governance is more than just a government website on the Internet. But what is it exactly? What are the benefits of e-governance? What can governments do to make it work? Solutions to development issues often require changes to government processes, e.g. by decentralisation. Objectives are generally to improve efficiency and effectiveness and to save costs. The driving force can also be public demand for online services and information that increase democratic participation, accountability, transparency, and the quality and speed of services. The implementation and use of ICT solutions can support governance reforms. E-governance will become more and more present around the world in the next few years. Internationally most countries are in the early stages of e-governance. A good start has been made in Europe, USA and in other Westernised countries such as Australia and Singapore. Over the coming years also developing countries and their citizens can also benefit from e-governance. This report explains what is meant by e-governance. It starts with a definition of e-governance, then presents a general e-governance model and several case studies and examples. Technology aspects are discussed, followed by a SWOT analysis on e-governance in developing countries. Finally, a description is given of what steps have to be taken to set up a policy on e-governance and how implementation projects can be selected.

Introduction: Differentiating the two Concepts e-Government and e-governance can be defined as two very distinct terms. e-Governance is a broader topic that deals with the whole spectrum of the relationship and networks within government regarding the usage and application of ICTs. e-Government is actually a narrower discipline dealing with the development of online services to the citizen, more the e on any particular government service - such as e-tax, e-transportation or e-health. e-Governance is a wider concept that defines and assesses the impacts technologies are having on the practice and administration of governments and the relationships between public servants and the wider society, such as dealings with the elected bodies or outside groups such as not for profits organizations, ngos or private sector corporate entities. E-Governance encompasses a series of necessary steps for government agencies to develop and administer to ensure successful implementation of e-government services to the public at large. The differences between these two important constructs are explored further in this essay. The Basis of the Service E-Government is an institutional approach to jurisdictional political operations. E-Governance is a procedural approach to co-operative administrative relations, i.e. the encompassing of basic and standard procedures within the confines of public administration. It is the latter that acts as the lynchpin that will ensure success of the delivery of e-services. The E part of both e-government and e-governance stands for the electronic platform or infrastructure that enables and supports the networking of public policy development and

deployment. It is by now widely acknowledged that the original impetus for acquiring and using electronic apparatus in government and governance arose from the earlier successes with the same kind of strategy in commerce. E-Commerce had previously rested on credit and debit card processing for purchases, and on faxing of bulk orders and subsequent invoices in business-tobusiness transactions. In Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, for example, the emergence of e-commerce by the private sector helped to stimulate and drive the evolution of egovernment within departments and agencies. At the political leadership level it was clear that ecommerce was reflecting the enormous changes taking place in the economies of countries in the developed world. The evolution and growing importance of e-Commerce in the economies of nations stimulated the need for government to move to the Internet to deliver e-government programs and services at every level of society. This has been an evolution over the past ten years with most developed countries now having extensive e-government programs and significant website presences now being used by hundreds of millions of citizens world wide. For example, in Canada the latest statistics indicate that 75.6% of citizens have access to the Internet and the worldwide web either at home or from an outside source such as the work place or an educational institution. In Canada, 52% of Canadians online go to government web sites at either the national, provincial or local governments. Access figures are similar in most developed countries. The transformation of the Internet from an academic research network to a publicly accessible information utility prompted increasing numbers of businesses to create a web presence. The initial postings were mostly electronic advertising brochures and product catalogues, with invitations to order by phone. As e-commerce came to the fore it became apparent to governments that customer expectations were moving in the direction of greater speed and convenience for transactions; so direct ordering through the Internet was developed and launched. The only issue, which still inhibits the public from taking full advantage of ecommerce, is the concern with security of information and funds, a challenge which is also reflected in e-government and e-governance. As noted, the success of e-commerce drove governments to realize that citizens, now able to undertake transactions online, capable of using email as an important communications tool that sped up and changed the way we communicated with each other. The evolution of the worldwide web in the early 1990s created expectations that if businesses and the population at large could engage in online commerce and share knowledge and information in ways never before conceived, then it was incumbent on governments to provide online services. This phenomenon was a case of governments having to respond to a cultural change in the way people dealt with each other and with groups in society on an international basis. The high expectations of change resulted, by the mid-1990s in rapid development of e-government services. In essence, because the public liked e-commerce when it worked properly, they began to want their governments to perform in the same way. In terms of services provided, e-government and e-governance developed along the same trajectory as had e-commerce previously. The internal operational aspects of e-commerce included rationalizing supply chains and business rules. This aspect was referred to as back office requirements in government, and it focused around rationalized workflow and information sharing.

The external offerings of e-government and e-governance started with making policy documents available electronically. Both stand-along studies and on-going series (newsletters, press releases, etc.) were posted and could be printed out as hard copies or stored electronically by whoever in the public was accessing them. The second phase of electronic products and services consisted of on-line electronic forms, either to exchange information (census forms, etc.) or to conduct transactions (purchase documents, pay user fees, submit tax returns, etc.). The third phase, now just emerging, involves consultation on issues of concern, and participation in policy making and regulatory administration. The point of the above mini-history is to demonstrate that, in terms of the electronic platform and its operations, there are parallels between electronics for governing and e-commerce, and between e-government and e-governance. The computers, cables, software languages, and communications protocols, are standardized products for any kind of electronic networking, regardless of its information content or organizational context. What differentiates e-commerce from electronic governing, and e-government from e-governance is the purpose and functions that such networking supports. E-commerce is premised on profitable transactions, whereas egovernment provides public services, and e-governance facilitates appropriate behavior. So, in each case, the motivation and the mandate will be distinct. E-Government as Better Public Service The observation has become widespread amongst government analysts that the public expects more and more in terms of service coverage and customization, while at the same time expecting to pay less and less for such services in terms of unit costs (and the aggregate tax bill). This consideration is behind the decision to put an increasing proportion of government documents on-line electronic distribution places the cost of paper and printing on the consumer rather than the supplier, and in the case of government documents this accounts for the biggest share of the price of making these documents available. It takes far less time and person-hours to design and post an electronic document than to print and mail out the same information. Electronic forms are also premised on lower costs and more convenience. Many jurisdictions enable drivers licenses to be applied for, or renewed on-line. Use of such things as publicly provided recreational facilities can also be booked (reservations) and paid for (user fees) via government Internet websites. Even when some kinds of special reports are made available online, access to them may still be by subscription or single payment. Background budgetary documents, expert studies, or reports from commissions of enquiry may all have charges attached to them, depending on the governments dissemination policy and the costs of preparing the documents. When there is a price attached, governments have set up e-commerce arrangements for credit card payments similar to what prevails in the marketplace. The exchange of information between governments and various segments of the public similarly occurs increasingly by way of electronic forms. Businesses report many of their financial and functional operations to their governments via the Internet, as part of their regulatory requirements. Data on the kinds, volumes, and revenues of transactions go to the governments statistical repositories, to the finance departments for taxation purposes, and to the particular departments that oversee the kind of business being conducted (automobile production figures go

to the department of transport, etc.). Those of the citizenry who are recipients of welfare and social assistance services (whether they be individuals or organizations) frequently use government websites and e-mail to exchange information and file claims. By these means, governments check on eligibility, inform claimants of the terms and conditions of support arrangements, and provide training or instructions on such matters and job searches and income management. The final frontier of e-government is the attempt at extending e-democracy. Voting has been conducted on-line, and will likely be extended once the design of the user-interface has been rendered more user-friendly and the security of the information has achieved more credibility. Consultation on issues of concern has been widely practiced, but with mixed results. The difficulty in this case is with clarifying the terms of engagement. There are three alternate formats available: (1) Tell us what you think/feel merely asks for public input without any promise of either reporting what was presented, or using the substance of the suggestions; (2) Share your views carries the promise to at least report back to the public the transcript of what was provided as advice, with or without comments as specified in advance; (3) Lets cooperate involves the specific commitment to not only report back, but to actually use what was presented or explain in convincing terms why it was not used. More e-government is still to come. The driving forces behind all of these developments will continue, as will the digitizing of governments. E-Governance as Coordinated Propriety The very concept of e-governance faces a dilemma: on the one hand, infractions of both legal requirements and good standards of behavior have prompted many to ask for greater scrutiny and more stringent enforcement; on the other hand, over-controlling through draconian statutes or proliferating regulations, has a chilling effect on management decision-making and organizational innovation. Good governance in general, and e-governance in and between large institutions and governments, is seen as a way to avoid the aforementioned shortcomings and still produce better outcomes. Even the technical platform for some of this coordination has proven to be problematic. Information sharing, knowledge sharing, and jurisdictional cooperation (horizontality), are the means to achieve e-governance. The previous arrangement of jurisdictional stovepipes was (and is) the problem, but overcoming this problem has not proven easy. Once information, knowledge, and jurisdiction are shared, the old notion of bureaucratic control and accountability is jeopardized. The only effective response to this challenge (if the cooperation is to succeed) is to re-conceptualize the situation as multiple contributions to common processes and solutions. Within governments, this e-governance will take such forms as these: shared databases of constituent particulars will assure consistent profiles to be built and used so that services can be customized and repetitive data requests kept to a minimum (constituents usually hate being asked for the same data by each department or branch). Where programs or policies involve inputs from a variety of departments or branches, a single point of entry (one-stop-shopping) can be arranged by creating a joint website that blends all of the requirements from the multiple sources, and presents it to the public as a unified program or policy. In most cases, the users do not care

where the inputs come from or what jurisdictional coordination was involved in producing the services they just want the results to be convenient, high quality, and low-cost. Between levels of government (national, provincial, municipal, etc.) the mechanics of cooperation and coordination are even more challenging. From the public perception, a problem or issue as they see it may involve policy responsibilities and fiscal implications from two or more jurisdictions. The planning, financing, and maintenance or roads, the provision of health or education services, the regulation of land, water, and air use, are all shared jurisdictions but the public wants workable answers rather than excuses for persisting problems. However, this desire by the public for efficacious solutions does not alter the fact that cooperative arrangements have to be carefully thought out and diplomatically negotiated. The machinery of government does have hidden, long-term implications that may come back to haunt those who act too precipitously under the threat of public displeasure. The e-governance solution to the handling of these diverging expectations is, ironically, both the most effective and the most disquieting to many public officials. Transparency is the one policy that expanding government networks can easily support. It can also shift the locus of contention away from public officials and onto disputing social factions. If consultation and participation are made transparent, the diverging values that cause policy conflicts can be revealed as in the public domain rather than in machinery of government. But what this clearly leads to is the sharing of power with the public and other jurisdictions, to reflect growing interdependence. As the scale, scope, and complexity of situations and circumstances increases, this trend in egovernance will intensify.

WHAT IS E-GOVERNANCE?
Imagine a situation in which all interaction with the government can be done through one counter 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without waiting in lines at government offices. In the near future this is possible if governments are willing to decentralise responsibilities and processes and they start to use electronic means such as the Internet. Each citizen can then make contact with the government through a website where all forms, legislation, news and other information will be available 24/7. Of course, at first the front office will retain several communication channels, such as physical counters, telephone, (e-)mail and Internet to serve everyone properly, but this will change dramatically in the next few years. In Europe and the USA, commercial banks already work according to this concept. Only in a few very special situations one has to go to a physical counter. Most transactions can be done at either an ATM, by mail or by the Internet, which has saved banks an enormous amount of costs. In other words, they do more work, with less people, in less time and with less and smaller offices: They use the Internet. Government, as a collector and source of information, may also follow this trend, in order to serve its customers (citizens, businesses, and other interest groups) better and to save costs by making internal operations more efficient.

Defining E-governance
Many definitions exist for e-governance. Before presenting an overall definition of e-governance, the relation between governance, e-democracy and e-government is explained. E-democracy refers to the processes and structures that encompass all forms of electronic interaction between the Government (elected) and the citizen (electorate). E-government is a form of e-business in governance and refers to the processes and structures needed to deliver electronic services to the public (citizens and businesses), collaborate with business partners and to conduct electronic transactions within an organisational entity.

E-Governance: In this report e-governance is defined as the application of electronic means in (1) the interaction between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well as (2) in internal government operations to simplify and improve democratic, government and business aspects of Governance.

The term interaction stands for the delivery of government products and services, exchange of information, communication, transactions and system integration. Government consists of levels and branches. Government levels include central, national, regional, provincial, departmental and local government institutions. Examples of government branches are Administration, Civil Service, Parliament and Judiciary functions. Government operations are all back-office processes and inter-governmental interactions within the total government body. Examples of electronic means are Internet and other ICT applications.

Objectives
The strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all parties - government, citizens and businesses. The use of ICTs can connect all three parties and support processes and activities. In other words, in e-governance uses electronic means to support and stimulate good governance. Therefore the objectives of e-governance are similar to the objectives of good governance. Good governance can be seen as an exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to better manage affairs of a country at all levels, national and local. It is useful here to present objectives for e-democracy and e-government. The two main objectives of edemocracy are To provide citizens access to information and knowledge about the political process, about services and about choices available To make possible the transition from passive information access to active citizen participation by: Informing the citizen Representing the citizen Encouraging the citizen to vote Consulting the citizen Involving the citizen Regarding e-government, the distinction is made between the objectives for internally focused processes (operations) and objectives for externally focused services. External strategic objectives. The external objective of e-government is to satisfactorily fulfil the publics 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. Internal strategic objectives. 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. It can be concluded that e-governance is more than just a Government website on the Internet. Political, social, economic and technological aspects determine e-governance.

E-GOVERNANCE MODEL
The three main target groups that can be distinguished in e-governance concepts are government, citizens and businesses/interest groups. The external strategic objectives focus on citizens and businesses and interest groups, the internal objectives focus on government itself. Abbreviations such as B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) are used, like in ecommerce, to shortly describe which of the main groups are interacting. The most common group interactions in e-governance are presented schematically in Figure 3. The three abbreviations in the figure, G2C, G2B and G2G are explained in Figure 2. e-democracy External X G2C: Government to Citizen G2B: Government to Business Internal G2G: Government to Government Figure 2: Main group interactions in e-governance e-government
X X X

G2G Central Government Citizen G2C G2G Local Government G2G G2B Business NGOs Civil Society

Figure 3: Interactions between main groups in e-governance As mentioned before, e-governance is more than a government website on the Internet. What are the opportunities and possibilities of e-governance in the future, and what services are delivered at this moment? Gartner, an international e-business research consultancy firm, has formulated a four-phase egovernance model. This e-governance model can serve as a reference for governments to position where a project fits in the overall evolution of an e-governance strategy. In most cases, governments start with the delivery of online information, but soon public demand and internal efficiency ask for more complex services. Of course this change will take effect gradually, some services will be online earlier than other services. In some cases the public demand is the driving force, in other cases cost saving aspects for the government are leading. According to Gartner, e-governance will mature according the four-phase e-governance maturity model. These phases have been defined based on experiences with e-commerce and e-governance in Europe and other Western regions.

E-Governance Maturity Model (Gartner) Early 90s Information Presence Mid 90s Interaction Intake process Present Transaction Complete transaction Future Transformation Integration and organisational changes In each of the four phases, the delivery of online services and use of ICTs in government operations serve one or more of the aspects of e-governance: democracy, government, business. Figure 4: E-Governance Maturity Model (Gartner, 2000)
Increasing value to Citizen / Business Phase Transformation

Phase Transaction Phase Interaction Increasing complexity

Phase Information

The model does not mean that all institutions have to go through all phases and all at the same time. On the contrary, in the Western world government institutions are in phase 1, 2 or 3. The differences can be huge: the tax department can be in phase 3, while the department of public works is just in an early stage of phase one. It all depends on where the advantages are highest. Another remark must be made. This model shows four phases for different e-governance (e-democracy and e-government) solutions. The assumption is made that the government has already defined an overall vision and e-policy. In the chapter Implementation of e-governance, this remark will be further explained.

Phase : Information
In the first phase e-governance means being present on the web, providing the external public (G2C and G2B) with relevant information. The format of the first government websites is similar to that of a brochure or leaflet. The value to the public is that government information is publicly accessible; processes are described and thus become more transparent, which improves democracy and service. Internally (G2G) the government can also disseminate information with static electronic means, such as the Internet. This phase it is all about information. From a 1-page presence website to a site with all relevant government information available to the public, in order to improve transparency in democracy.

Examples of information that Government wishes to disseminate may make available

press notices consultation papers policies white papers news health and safety advice benefits and entitlements applicable regulations geographical data demographic data economic data information collected information generated routinely value added services business yellow pages

is required to supply
performance indicators environmental indicators audited accounts personal data internal policy documents correspondence management reports

Figure 5: Examples of government information

Phase : Interaction
In the second phase the interaction between government and the public (G2C and G2B) is stimulated with various applications. People can ask questions via e-mail, use search engines for information and are able to download all sorts of forms and documents. These functionalities save time. In fact the complete intake of (simple) applications can be done online 24/7. Normally this would have only been possible at a counter during opening hours. Internally (G2G) government organisations use Local Area Networks (LAN), intranets and e-mail to communicate and exchange data. The bottom line is that more efficiency and effectiveness is achieved because a large part of the intake process is done online. However, you still have to go to the office to finalise the transaction, by paying a fee, handing over evidence or signing papers. The use of electronic communications tools speed up the internal government processes.

Phase : Transaction
With phase three the complexity of the technology is increasing, but customer (G2C and G2B) value will also be higher. Complete transactions can be done without going to an office. Examples of online services are filing income tax, filing property tax, extending/renewal of licenses, visa and passports and online voting. Phase three is mainly complex because of security and personalization issues e.g., digital (electronic) signatures are necessary to enable legal transfer of services. On the business side the government is starting with e-procurement applications. In this phase, internal (G2G) processes have to be redesigned to provide good service. Government needs to create new laws and legislation that will enable paperless transactions with legal certification. The bottom line is that now the complete process is online, including payments, digital signatures etc. This saves time, paper and money.

Phase : Transformation
The fourth phase is the transformation phase in which all information systems are integrated and the public can get G2C and G2B services at one (virtual) counter. One single point of contact for all services is the ultimate goal.

The complex aspect in reaching this goal is mainly on the internal side, e.g. the necessity to drastically change culture, processes and responsibilities within the government institution (G2G). Government employees in different departments have to work together in a smooth and seamless way. In this phase cost savings, efficiency and customer satisfaction are reaching highest possible levels. Overview e-governance solutions External: G2C Phase Information
: Local / Departmental / National information (mission statements and organisational structure Addresses, opening hours, employees, telephone numbers Laws, rules and regulations Petitions Government glossary News Downloading forms on websites Submitting forms Online help with filling in forms (permits, birth / death certificates) Intake processes for permits etc. E-mail Newsletters Discussion groups (edemocracy) Polls and questionnaires Personalised web pages Notification License applications / renewals Renewing car tags, vehicle registration Personal accounts (mytax, myfines, mylicenses etc.) Payment of (property) taxes Payment of tickets and fines Paying utility bills Registering and voting online Personalised website with integrated personal account for all services

External: G2B
Business information Addresses, opening hours, employees, telephone numbers Laws, rules and regulations

Internal: G2G
Knowledge base (static intranet) Knowledge management (LAN)

Phase Interaction

Downloading forms on websites Submitting forms Online help with filling in forms (permits) Intake processes for permits etc. E-mail Notification

E-mail Interactive knowledge databases Complaint handling tools

Phase Transaction

License applications and renewals via website Payment of taxes Procurement

Inter-governmental transactions

Phase : Transformation

Personalised website with integrated business account for all services

Database integration

Figure 6: Overview e-governance solutions for each phase

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY
The use of ICT means in Governance has impact on the following aspects:

24/7 Service Model

Systems and processes have to be adapted to a completely new service model. Intake processes are made self-service and even in the middle of the night a citizen should get an immediate (automated) response about the status of the application. Citizens expectations towards governments response times will change because of the new communication medium. E-mail should be seen a new but serious channel besides the traditional channels such as telephone, physical counter, post and fax.

Need for Content

Websites consist of content (information). Governments will have to collect (buy), produce and update content daily. In phase 1 content will be static, but in phase 2 content will be changing every day. Content managers in each (large) department are responsible for the information on the website.

Human Resources
Effective use of ICTs in an organisation requires training of people. People should feel comfortable with the tools they can use otherwise they will return to their old working patterns and habits. Maintaining technological infrastructure requires IT skilled resources. Governments will have to compete with the private (commercial) sector to recruit the necessary IT skilled people.

Security
Just about any computer system is vulnerable to external attacks. As the government moves its core processes (information, communication and transactions) to the Internet it is becoming far more vulnerable. Internet increases the number of entry points exponentially. Protection is possible with antivirus software, firewall at gateways, encryption technology, and authentic identification tools.

Privacy
In phases 3 and 4 governments possess detailed information about citizens and businesses, which is often held in multiple offices on many different computer systems (or still in paper files). The integration of data can result in situations where the privacy of individual citizens is in danger. It is the responsibility of the government to restrict the utilisation of private information, and secure such information from access by unintended parties. Due to public concern regarding privacy several countries have already passed data protection laws.

IT Department
With the implementation of e-governance IT is becoming more and more important in government operations. The need for a professional IT department will inevitable increase, not only during implementation, but also for maintenance of software, hardware and infrastructure.

APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN INSURANCE SECTOR

There is a evolutionary change in the technology that has revolutionized the entire insurance sector. Insurance industry is a data-rich industry, and thus, there is a need to use the data for trend analysis and personalization. With increased competition among insurers, service has become a key issue. Moreover, customers are getting increasingly sophisticated and tech-savvy. People today dont want to accept the current value propositions, they want personalized interactions and they look for more and more features and add ones and better service The insurance companies today must meet the need of the hour for more and more personalized approach for handling the customer. Today managing the customer intelligently is very critical for the insurer especially in the very competitive environment. Companies need to apply different set of rules and treatment strategies to different customer segments. However, to personalize interactions, insurers are required to capture customer information in an integrated system. With the explosion of Website and greater access to direct product or policy information, there is a need to developing better techniques to give customers a truly personalized experience. Personalization helps organizations to reach their customers with more impact and to generate new revenue through cross selling and up selling activities. To ensure that the customers are receiving personalized information, many organizations are incorporating knowledge database-repositories of content that typically include a search engine and lets the customers locate the all document and information related to their queries of request for services. Customers can hereby use the knowledge database to mange their products or the company information and invoices, claim records, and histories of the service inquiry. These products also may be able to learn from the customers previous knowledge database and to use their information when determining the relevance to the customers search request.

CONCLUSION
There is a probability of a spurt in employment opportunities. A number of web-sites are coming up on insurance, a few financial magazines exclusively devoted to insurance and also a few training institutes being set up hurriedly. Many of the universities and management institutes have already started or are contemplating new courses in insurance. Life insurance has today become a mainstay of any market economy since it offers plenty of scope for garnering large sums of money for long periods of time. A wellregulated life insurance industry which moves with the times by offering its customers tailor-made products to satisfy their financial needs is, therefore, essential if we desire to progress towards a worryfree future.