Designing and Implementing E-Government Projects For Democracy and Social Change in India: Actors, Behaviours, Influences, and Fields of Play

Promoting Social Change
and Democracy through

Information Technology
Vikas Kumar
Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, India
Jakob Svensson
Uppsala University, Sweden
A volume in the Advances in Electronic

Government, Digital Divide, and Regional
Development (AEGDDRD) Book Series
Detailed Table of Contents
Preface..................................................................................................................................................xiii
Acknowledgment.................................................................................................................................. xx
Section 1
Theoretical Perspectives on ICTs and Social Change
Chapter 1
The Pamphlet Meets API An Overview of Social Movements in the Age of Digital Media.................. 1
Emily Stacey, Swansea University, Wales
This chapter explores traditional social movement theory and attempts to modernize and explain
contemporary movements with consideration of the digital tools being utilized by citizens on the ground.
The ability to transcend borders and traditional boundaries using digital media, to facilitate international
participation and develop communication, and the dissemination of information and coordination among
activist networks around the world is hugely important. This chapter asserts that modern contentious
collective actions and contemporary movements have received an infusion of autonomy and grassroots
energy fueled by the internet, digital technologies, and social networking platforms using Applied
Programming Interface (API). Arab Spring movements in Egypt and Tunisia illustrate the use of social
media within this emergent framework.
Chapter 2
Approaches to Development in M4D Studies: An Overview of Major Approaches............................. 26
Jakob Svensson, Uppsala University, Sweden
Caroline Wamala Larsson, Karlstad University, Sweden
There is no doubt that the proliferation of mobile phones in developing regions has opened up a range
of possibilities and new avenues for individuals, governments, development agencies and civil society
organisations. But we also know that development is a disputed concept and conveys a range of different
connotations. Therefore in this chapter we examine the areas, where mobile phones are discussed
as vehicles for development (i.e. M4D), and how mobile communication is related to the idea(s) of
development today. To examine this, we have reviewed M4D articles in three major conference series
and open source journals during 2008-2012. Three dominant areas of M4D emerge out of our sample:
livelihood, health and civic participation. We find that M4D is largely based on an economic understanding
of development and biased towards techno-determinism we conclude this chapter by suggesting a future
path for studying the impact of mobile communication in developing regions, something what we label
as a dialectical approach.
Chapter 3
Utopia, Labor, and Informational Capitalism: Lights and Shadows of Social Media........................... 48
Marco Briziarelli, University of New Mexico
Through the lens of a political economic approach, I consider the question whether or not social media
can promote social change. I claim that whereas media have consistently channeled technological utopia/
dystopia, thus be constantly linked to aspirations and fear of social change, the answer to that question does
not depend on their specific nature but on historically specific social relations in which media operate. In the
case here considered, it requires examining the social relations re-producing and produced by informational
capitalism. More specifically, I examine how the productive relations that support user generated content
practices of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing
social contexts. Drawing on Fuchs and Sevignanis (2013) distinction between work and labor I claim
that social media reflect the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which
exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.
Chapter 4
Video Surveillance: Privacy Issues and Legal Compliance................................................................... 68
Qasim Mahmood Rajpoot, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Christian Damsgaard Jensen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Pervasive usage of video surveillance is rapidly increasing in developed countries. Continuous security
threats to public safety demand use of such systems. Contemporary video surveillance systems offer
advanced functionalities which threaten the privacy of those recorded in the video. There is a need to
balance the usage of video surveillance against its negative impact on privacy. This chapter aims to
highlight the privacy issues in video surveillance and provides a model to help identify the privacy
requirements in a video surveillance system. The authors make a step in the direction of investigating the
existing legal infrastructure for ensuring privacy in video surveillance and suggest guidelines in order to
help those who want to deploy video surveillance while least compromising the privacy of people and
complying with legal infrastructure.
Section 2
Social Change and ICTs around the World
Chapter 5
ICT, Media, and the Egyptian Revolution: Building Networks of Democracy..................................... 93
Ahmed El Gody, rebro University, Sweden
The utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Egypt has irrevocably changed
the nature of the traditional Egyptian public sphere. The Egyptian online society can be viewed as a
multiplicity of networks. These networks have developed, transformed and expanded over time, operating
across all areas of life. Nonetheless, in essence they are socio-political and cultural in origin. Network
communication changed the way audiences consumed news, with traditional media especially independent
and opposition starting to utilize ICTs to access online information to develop their media content, in
order to escape government control. Several media organizations also started to expand their presence
online so that, as well as providing news content, they also provided readers with a space to interact
amongst themselves and with media organizations. Audiences started to provide detailed descriptions of
Egyptian street politics, posting multimedia material, generating public interest, and reinforcing citizen
power and, hence, democratic capacity.
Chapter 6
Internetworked Social Movements and the Promise of Politics: A Case Study of the 15M
Movement............................................................................................................................................ 115
Julen Figueras, Malm University, Sweden
This chapter analyses the Spanish social movement of the 15M, and the influence of Information and
Communication Technologies on it. Drawing a distinction between liberal and republican citizenship,
the first part of the chapter discusses the interactions between technology and social movements in terms
of political participation. This part compares and contrasts characteristics of online-based interactions
with offline mobilisations in Spain. The second part of the chapter compiles a set of features that can be
found in current Internetworked Social Movements, and its meaning from the perspective of political
engagement. The chapter concludes that ICTs contributed to the recuperation of republican politics
with current examples that suggest that forthcoming movements will promote this kind of participation.
Chapter 7
Microblogs, Jasmine Revolution, and Civil Unrests: Reassessing the Emergence of Public Sphere
and Civil Society in Peoples Republic of China................................................................................. 139
Kenneth C. C. Yang, The University of Texas at El Paso, USA
Yowei Kang, Kainan University, Taiwan
Weibo provides an alternative channel for many Chinese citizens to obtain non-censored news contents
and share their opinions on public affairs. In this book chapter, the authors employed Jrgen Habermass
concept of public sphere to examine how Chinese Weibo users (i.e., microbloggers) make the most use
of this social medium to form a public sphere to contest omnipresent state power. Habermass analytical
framework helps to better comprehend the role of social media and its interactions with other stakeholders
in Chinese politics. The role of social media in shaping this less controlled sphere of political deliberation
and participation was examined using a case study approach. The authors analyzed the Chinese Jasmine
Revolution to discuss the interrelations among social media, civil society, state power, economic
development, political process, and democratization in China. The case study identified Weibos essential
role as a device to bypass existing government censorship, to mobilize users, and to empower Chinese
Internet users to engage in political activities to foster its nascent civil society.
Chapter 8
Grassroots Political Campaign in Russia: Alexey Navalny and Transmedia Strategies for
Democratic Development.................................................................................................................... 165
Renira Rampazzo Gambarato, National Research University, Russia
Sergei Medvedev, National Research University, Russia
This chapter analyzes the transmedia strategies of opposition candidate Alexey Navalnys campaign during
the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. The goal is to highlight how the use of information and communication
technology contributed to the development of democratic practices in Russia. His westernized, grassroots
political campaign was a novelty in the country, involving online fundraising, door-to-door canvassing,
engagement of volunteers, digital projects, and meetings with voters, for instance. The argument is that,
although Navalny lost the election, his candidacy represented advancement in terms of both the use
of new media and the promotion of democratic development in the midst of autocratic Russia. If the
progress will be maintained, it remains to be seen. The theoretical framework includes the reality of the
Russian political scenario and the conceptualization of transmedia storytelling strategies in the context
of participatory politics. The methodological approach is based on the transmedia analytical model by
Gambarato (2013).
Chapter 9
Designing and Implementing e-Government Projects for Democracy and Social Change in India:
Actors, Behaviours, Influences, and Fields of Play............................................................................. 193
Shefali Virkar, University of Oxford
Attracted by the new Information and Communication Technologies, actors across the world have
adopted computer-based systems for use in government as a means of reforming inefficiencies in public
administration and public service provision. This book chapter, through the study of an electronic property
tax collection system in Bangalore, India, seeks to unravel the social dynamics shaping similar e-government
initiatives. The research upon which this chapter is based analyses prevailing actor behaviour, motivations,
and interactions; examining not only the interplay of local contingencies and external influences acting
upon the projects implementation and transformation, but also the disjunctions in these relationships
which inhibit the effective exploitation of ICTs in the given context.
Chapter 10
Developer Challenges as a Platform for Citizen Engagement with Open Government Data: The
Australian Case.................................................................................................................................... 225
Raul Alberto Caceres, ChildFund Australia, Australia
Kelly Royds, University of New South Wales, Australia
Every year, state and national governments churn out enormous quantities of data on public life. The
rapid growth of information and communication technologies presents new opportunities for everyday
citizens to manipulate, use and disseminate these data in innovative ways. Developer challenges harness
this potential by inviting citizens to experiment, play and develop data-based applications for the public
benefit. This chapter explores the evolution of government initiated developer challenges in Australia and
uses existing theoretical approaches to assess their impact, benefit and potential to generate value. The
authors find that while developer challenges can provide an effective platform for citizen engagement,
more attention must be paid to the quality of the data and to the activities carried out after the events
finish. Moreover, the authors propose that in order to generate value there needs to be a higher level of
involvement from the government with the applications developed during these challenges.
Chapter 11
The Infomediary Campaign in the Philippines as a Strategy to Alleviate Information Poverty.......... 250
Jaime A. Manalo IV, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Katherine P. Balmeo, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Jayson P. Berto, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Fredierick M. Saludez, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippines
This chapter is about the Infomediary Campaign in the Philippines, a strategy to mobilize young people
in agriculture and to alleviate information poverty in remote rice-farming communities. It reflects on
how information and communications technology (ICTs) and some offline means can converge to address
information poverty, and thereby contribute to positive social change. Social change in this chapter is
operationalized as moving from a period of information scarcity to one with additional communication
pathways to alleviate information poverty. Surveys, interviews, and content analyses were used in data
collection. This chapter combines Stakeholder Theory and the Livelihoods Approach to better unpack
the results of this research. Key ingredients for upscaling the Campaign are identified. The strengths and
weaknesses of using the combined approach are discussed.
About the Contributors..................................................................................................................... 280
280
About the Contributors
Vikas Kumar received M Sc. in Electronics from Kurukshetra University, Haryana, India. This
was followed by M Sc in Computer Science and further Ph. D. from the same university. Along with
the two books, He has more than 100 research papers to his credit in various national and international
conferences and journals. His areas of interest include Cloud Computing, ICT for Development and
Electronic Communication.
Jakob Svensson is holding a position of associate professor in Media and Communication Studies
at Uppsala University. Dr. Svensson directs the MA program in Digital Media and Society. His research
focuses on two main areas, political participation on digital media platforms and mobile communication
in developing regions.
***
Katherine P. Balmeo is an Information Technology Professional, and she handles the Pinoy Rice
Knowledge Bank and infomediary4d.com websites. The PRKB is a portal that contains most information
one has to know about rice farming in the Philippines. The www.infomediary4d.com is the website that
contains all activities of the Infomediary Campaign as well as some resources on infomediary-related
research studies.
Jayson P. Berto is a development communication practitioner and a team member of the Infomediary Campaign. His research interests are information and communications technology for development
and use of audiovisuals for development.
Marco Briziarelli studies critical approaches to media and communication theory, especially as
these fields intersect with broader issues in political and social theory, intellectual and cultural history.
Dr. Briziarelli is also interested in media and social movements and critical conceptualization of digital
labor. His work has appeared in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies; Critical Studies in Media
Communication; Triple C; Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies; Journalism; Handbook
on Global Media and Communication Policy. He is the author of the books The Red Brigades and the
Discourse of Violence: Revolution and Restoration, and the soon to be published Gramsci, Communication and Social Change.
Raul Alberto Caceres started his professional life as an Engineer. In 2006, after receiving the Online
Volunteer of the Year Award from the United Nations, Raul decided to change his career to work in
different parts of the world helping others use technology for social good. Using information and communication technologies, he has driven the development of multiple education and community-based
enterprises across Africa and the Asia Pacific region. Raul is also an active member of the open government data movement in Australia and has received numerous awards at various developer challenges.
Ahmed El Gody, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in the Media and Communication Department and
director of Journalism Connected Masters Program, at Orebro University Sweden. His recent research
foci are new media and democratic process in the Middle East and Africa, social media and civic movements, and the changing role of the journalism profession. His recent research is published in Journalism
Studies, Digital Journalism, and New Media and Society. His recent publications include Journalism in
a network: role of ICTs inside Egyptian newsrooms.
Julen Figueras, with a background in law and political sciences, received a MA in Human Rights
from Malm University (Sweden) in 2013. He currently lives in Spain, combining his studies in Communication for Development while working at a local NGO that deals with womens rights. His research
interests revolve around social movements, new political parties and how information and communication
technologies affect political participation, as he is currently interested in pursuing a doctorate in this field.
Christian Jensen holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Universit Joseph Fourier (Grenoble,
France), a M.Sc. in computer science from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and an M.A. (jure
officii) from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland). He is an associate professor at the Department of Applied
Mathematics & Computer Science at the Technical University of Denmark, where he teaches and conducts research in the area of security in open distributed systems. For the past 15 years, he has focused on
trust-based methods and technologies to secure collaboration among entities in open distributed system.
This work addresses all 3 As in AAA: Authentication, where he has pioneered work in virtual anonymity
and entity recognition; Access control policies and mechanisms that build on the human notion of trust;
and Accountability through reputation and recommendation systems.
Yowei Kang (Ph.D.) is Assistant Professor at Degree Program of Creative Industries and Digital Film,
Kainan University, Taiwan. His research interests focus on digital game research; technology and rhetoric;
composition pedagogy using digital game technology; and teaching English as a second language (ESL).
Caroline Wamala Larsson divides her time between three intermixed positions: - Director for the
HumanIT Research Center Karlstad University - Senior lecturer with the center for Gender Research
Karlstad University - Program Manager with the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions,
Spider (Stockholm University, DSV). Located in the Gender and Technology discipline, Carolines
research focuses on the use of Information Communication Technologies in development (ICT4D)
processes where she uses gender as a point of analysis. Specifically acknowledging the mutual construction of gender and technology, Carolines research contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural
embeddeness of ICT. Or put simply, ICTs (Technologies) are rarely neutral entities, they are themselves
cultural enterprises. Caroline is situated in both the practical and academic development of ICT4D, where
ICT4D is the focal point in the three positions she holds.
281
Jaime Albarillo Manalo IV holds a Master of Communication in the field of Communication for
Social Change degree from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has presented and written papers
for national and international conferences on information and communications technology for development. He has also written papers on the same area in refereed journals. He is leading a campaign on
mobilizing young individuals to become infomediaries for farmers. Youth and ICTs, youth engagement in
agriculture, and development informatics are his research interests. He maintains a blog on development
communication for young development communication practitioners http://devcomjourney.blogspot.com/.
Sergei Medvedev is currently a research assistant in transmedia storytelling at the National Research
University Higher School of Economics, Russia. He received his M.A. degree in creative industries from
the Higher School of Economics for his thesis on Transmediality of The Voice Russia. He also holds
a B.A. degree in journalism.
Qasim Rajpoot is a PhD candidate at the Technical University of Denmark. He received his Masters
degree in Computer Security from University of Birmingham, UK in 2007. He has been a visiting scholar
at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA and has worked as an intern at the Hewlett-Packard Labs,
Bristol, UK where he focused on securely managing cryptographic keys exploiting trusted computing.
He has also worked as a lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National
University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. His research interests include
privacy protection, information security and access control.
Renira Rampazzo Gambarato is currently Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Communications,
Media and Design at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, in Moscow, Russia.
Originally from Brazil, she has studied and worked also in Germany, Canada, Qatar and Estonia. Her Postdoctorate in Film Studies is from Concordia University, Canada and she holds a PhD in Communication
and Semiotics from Pontifical Catholic University of So Paulo, Brazil and Kassel University, Germany;
a MA in Communication and Semiotics also from Pontifical Catholic University of So Paulo and a BA
in Industrial Design from So Paulo State University, Brazil. Visit her Web page http://talkingobjects.org.
Kelly Royds is a PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her work and
research for the past eight years has focused on the use of participatory media for social justice and
development education. Her doctoral study explores the intersections of childhood, participatory media
and international development.
Fredierick M. Saludez is an agriculturist, text center agent, and rice specialist. He leads the technical component of the Infomediary campaign, particularly conducted of capacity building activities for
teachers of the campaigns participating schools.
Emily Stacey is a doctoral candidate at Swansea University (Wales) in Political and Cultural Studies.
Her research focuses on the use of digital technologies in contemporary protest movements and revolutions. Her studies have included the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program (2014) and the
Digital Methods Initiative Summer School (2013). Most recently, Emily has given presentations at the
Media and Arab Spring Conference in Ifrane, Morocco and Oklahoma Political Science Association
Annual Conference.
282
Shefali Virkar is a research student at the University of Oxford, UK, currently working for a D.Phil.
in Politics. Her doctoral research seeks to explore the growing use of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) to promote better governance in the developing world, with special focus on the
political and institutional impacts of ICTs on local public administration reform in India. Shefali holds
an M.A. in Globalisation, Governance and Development from the University of Warwick, UK. Her
Masters thesis analysed the concept of the Digital Divide in a globalising world, its impact developing countries and the ensuing policy implications. At Oxford, Shefali is a member of Keble College.
University Address: Miss Shefali Virkar Keble College Parks Road Oxford OX1 3PGHome Address:
Miss Shefali Virkar 27 Marlborough Hill London NW8 0NGEmail: shefali.virkar@politics.ox.ac.uk or
shefali.virkar@gmail.comTel: 07731 463955
Kenneth Yang is a Professor at the Department of Communication. As a native of Taiwan, Dr. Yangs
research focuses on consumer behavior in East Asia, new media and advertising, and impacts of new
media in Asian countries.
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Chapter 9
Designing and Implementing

e-Government Projects
for Democracy and Social
Change in India:
Actors, Behaviours, Influences,
and Fields of Play
Shefali Virkar
University of Oxford
ABSTRACT
Attracted by the new Information and Communication Technologies, actors across the world have adopted
computer-based systems for use in government as a means of reforming inefficiencies in public administration and public service provision. This book chapter, through the study of an electronic property tax
collection system in Bangalore, India, seeks to unravel the social dynamics shaping similar e-government
initiatives. The research upon which this chapter is based analyses prevailing actor behaviour, motivations, and interactions; examining not only the interplay of local contingencies and external influences
acting upon the projects implementation and transformation, but also the disjunctions in these relationships which inhibit the effective exploitation of ICTs in the given context.
INTRODUCTION
Over the course of the last two decades, globalisation and Information Technology have been rapidly
dismantling traditional barriers to trade, travel, and communication; fuelling great promise for progress towards greater global equity and prosperity. Attracted by the hype and hope of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs), developmental actors across the world have adopted complex
computer-based network systems and related ICTs for use in government as a means of reforming the
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8502-4.ch009
Copyright 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Designing and Implementing e-Government Projects for Democracy and Social Change in India
inefficiencies in public service provision (Ciborra, 2005). However, whilst a number of these electronic
governance or e-governance projects have achieved significant results, evidence from the field indicates
that despite the reported success stories, the rate of project failure remains particularly high (Dunleavy
et. al., 2006). Consequently, there has been an increased questioning of traditional democratic politics in
Western liberal democracies, largely due to a decline in and a lack of opportunity for public participation
in these processes (Virkar, 2014).
Concerns such as these are largely thought to be embodied in (amongst other phenomena) low voter
turnout during elections; a trend particularly noticeable amongst young people where only half of those
eligible to vote actually do so (The Electoral Commission Report, 2005). This is especially worrying
and problematic for governments, as it speaks of growing political apathy and a broader, more general
disillusionment with current political institutions, actors and practices. Whilst it is impossible to comprehensively untangle all the reasons for the decline in civic participation in these countries, there is
little doubt that many citizens feel distanced from any sense of political relevance or power, often under
the impression that not only will their votes and individual voices be drowned out in the clamour of the
crowd, but that the rules which govern their daily lives are drawn up by politicians and bureaucrats whom
they will never meet and who are usually extremely difficult to contact (Eggers, 2005).
Leading commentators have described the political processes and institutions integral to Western
democracies as undergoing what has been variously described as a crisis of legitimacy, a credibility
crisis or a crisis of democracy (cf. Habermas, 1985;Archibugi& Held, 1995), and are fast reaching
agreement that the fundamental flaw lies in traditional decision-making practices which are, in their
current form, often democratically inadequate as they fail to provide extensive and relatively equal opportunities for citizens, communities, and groups to contribute towards the shaping of decision-making
agendas (Sclove 1995). The focus of discourse and scholarly activity, both in academic and policy
circles, has thus gradually shifted away from a more centralised, top-down conception of government
those formal institutions and processes which operate at the level of the nation state to maintain public
order and facilitate collective action (Stoker, 1998) towards the notions of deliberative democracy
or governance, ideas which, whilst traditionally synonymous for government, have been captured in
recent theoretical work as signifying a change in the meaning of government referring to a new process
of governing; or a changed condition of ordered rule; or the new method by which society is governed
(Rhodes, 1996: 652).
Governance may hence be seen as ultimately being concerned with crafting the conditions for ordered
rule and collective action, or with the creation of a structure or an order which cannot be externally imposed, but which is the result of the interaction of a multiplicity of governing and each other influencing
actors (Kooiman & Van Vliet, 1993: 64). It is, in other words, a conceptual way of capturing shifts in the
character of political rule which has been stretched to encompass a range of different transformations;
including an emphasis on drawing citizens and communities into the process of collaborative participation in political processes and the creation of new forms of governable subjects (Newman, 2005).
DIS(CONNECTED) CITIZENSHIP? ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE

AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN A WEB 2.0 LANDSCAPE
The idea of governance, and by extension e-Governance, may be therefore said to comprise of two distinct
but complementary elements: that of e-Government which encompasses all the formal institutional
194

and legal structures of a country, and e-Democracy which can be said to refer to the participative and
deliberative processes which operate within those structures (Virkar, 2007). Broadly speaking, on the one
hand, e-Government itself may be further divided into two distinct areas: (1) e-Administration, which
refers to the improvement of government processes and to the streamlining of the internal workings of
the public sector often using ICT-based information systems, and (2) e-Services, which refers to the
improved delivery of public services to citizens through multiple electronic platforms (Virkar, 2011).
On the other hand, the concept of e-Democracy may be further subdivided into two distinct areas:
e-Engagement (or, rather more broadly,e-Participation), which emphasises opportunities for greater
consultation and dialogue between government and citizens, and e-Voting, the expression of fundamental
democratic rights and duties online (Virkar, 2007). e-Participation as a policy, if defined by an express
intent to increase the involvement of citizens in decision-making through the use of the new digital media,
would consequently encompass the institutionalised provision of resources to facilitate the responsible
and collaborative decision-making pivotal ultimately to institutional and social change (Dahlgren, 2009).
Whilst the earliest speculations about the Internet and Democracy emphasised the potential for direct, unmediated participation (Svensson, 2008) and the transformative nature of the process of public
engagement, this chapter follows the view of scholars such as Coleman and Gotze (2001) that whilst eDemocracy is incompatible with a political culture of litism, it is not about replacing what has evolved
so far but instead. Rather than seeking to radically transform governance along any particular ideological line, it aims to complement the institutions and processes of representative democracy. In this view,
facilitating the involvement of different sections of society in the process of government is now seen
as a democratic prerequisite in many advanced liberal democracies, with some commentators such as
Fishkin (1995) highlighting the need for mass deliberation, and emphasising the need for people and
their representatives to be brought together to collaborate on issues of mutual interest.
The recent exponential growth in access to new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs),
and the expansion of a newly-created digital environment wherein people shop, talk, and otherwise spend
large parts of their lives in online spaces, has opened up a plethora of new opportunities for interaction
between power elites and the various constituent elements of civil society. At the same time, their rapid
proliferation has raised important questions and triggered debates as to who is able to participate and
to what extent they may do so, as well as the types of participation such technologies make possible
at different levels of government and their impact on different government institutions and democratic
processes (Virkar, 2011).
The starting point of this book chapter is therefore the recognition of an apparently new way of conceiving contemporary society, and the acknowledgement of the pivotal roles that information, communication,
and technology play within it. Social scientists have long seen information as the defining feature of
the modern world, however, what makes todays age distinct from before is the growing convergence of
digital computing, telecommunications, and human infrastructure; reflected in the shift in terminology
from Information Technology or I.T. to Information and Communications Technology or I.C.T. (Virkar,
2014). Popular and academic literature tells us that we stand on the edge of the Information Age, where
both information and technology have become symbol(s) of political potency and economic prosperity (Martin, 1998). We live and work in weightless knowledge economies and will soon be part of a
global information society. These clichs are not used without reason (Webster, 2014).
The world is continuing to witness the burgeoning growth of new electronic Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and their associated platforms and applications: the Internet and the
World Wide Web have spawned multimedia and interactive technologies, video-conferencing, virtual
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realities, computer-aided design, the information superhighway, and technologies for consumer profiling
and surveillance; all of which enable the electronic production, transmission, processing, communication, and consumption of increasingly vast quantities of information and know-how. Like their predecessors the printing press, the telegraph, the radio, and black-and-white television advanced ICTs
have become an intrinsic part of our everyday social, political, and economic lives. They are embedded
in an array of networks and services across the spectrum of human activity: from education to politics,
from the arts to sport, from medicine to music, these technologies are set to transform the way in which
people work, think, act, and interact.
Through the use of a central, single case study, the chapter will seek to unravel the social dynamics
shaping e-government projects used to reform public sector institutions in India. In particular, the research
analyses actor behaviour, motivations, and interactions surrounding the conception and maintenance
of e-government software platforms facilitating societal and democratic transformations. The value of
such an approach is based on a review of existing ICT and development literature which tends to be
overly systems-rational in its approach; often neglecting the actual attitudes, choices, motivations, and
behaviour of the wide array of actors involved in the implementation and use of new technology in real
organisations and institutions. The tendency for scholars and practitioners to see e-government applications as isolated technical artefacts, analysed solely as collections of hardware and software, often fails,
as a consequence, to recognise the degree to which project failure, or the general inability of a project
design to meet stated goals and to resolve both predicted and emerging problems, is symptomatic of
a broader, much more complex set of interrelated inequalities, unresolved deficiencies, and lopsided
power-relationships; both within the adopting organisation and in the surrounding environmental context.
From this, the main goal of this chapter will be to examine from a multidisciplinary perspective the
issues thrown up by the organisational and institutional transformations that occur in public administration through the conception and application of ICT platforms therein. The case study from which this
chapter is drawn focuses on a project aimed at digitising property tax records and administrative processes
within the Revenue Department of the Greater Bangalore City Municipal Corporation (or BBMP). In
recognising the need to turn property tax into a viable revenue instrument that delivers high tax yields
without compromising on citizen acceptance, the Bangalore City Corporation sought to improve its
property tax administration system through the introduction of a computerised database and digital
mapping techniques used to track compliance and to check evasion.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The ultimate aim of this chapter is thus to contribute to the development of a conceptual framework that
is relevant to policy discussions of e-government software platform design and maintenance within not
only an Indian, but also a broader global context. In order to augment theoretical discussions of administrative reform in a digitised world, this chapter uses a case study to explore its central research issues,
within which a mixed-methods approach employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative data
was selected to inform and to strengthen the understanding of the relationships between the actors, inputs,
and project outputs. The aim of the study was, therefore, to evolve ideas that could be generalised across
similar situations and the research was consequently developed in the following steps:
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In-depth review of existing theoretical perspectives and literature surrounding corruption and tax
evasion, ICTs and public administration, and property tax reform.
Qualitative analysis of official documents;
Collection and analysis of quantitative data relevant to the case;
Developing case studies through in-depth personal interviews;
Data analysis and interpretation;
Preparation of conclusions and their validation;
Recommendations for the future.
The use of mixed-method case study research is becoming increasingly popular in the social sciences, and is fast being recognised as a successful approach for investigating contemporary phenomena
in a real-life context when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not evident and where
multiple sources of evidence present themselves (Yin, 2003). It was thus felt to be a particularly apt
way of studying the nature and impact of actor actions, motivations and behaviours on e-government
software platform conception and design, where the aim is not simply to judge whether the project at
hand represents a success or failure, but is to understand the qualities inherent in the architecture that
have made it so.
More precisely, case study research consists of a detailed investigation of phenomena within a given
context, often with data being collected over a period of time. The aim of this approach is thus to provide
the researcher with an all-round analysis of the surrounding environment and processes, in order that
they might throw light on the theoretical issues being investigated (Eisenhardt, 1989). The phenomenon
under examination is thus not isolated from its context, rather it is of interest precisely because the aim
is to observe and understand actor behaviour and/or organisational processes and their interplay with
the surrounding environment. The use of a case study itself is therefore not as much a method as it is a
research strategy, where the context is deliberately included as part of the overall design. Today, case
studies are widely used in organisational research across the social sciences, indicating growing confidence in the approach as a rigorous research strategy in its own right (Hartley, 2005).
As research conducted by adopting this strategy is typically done in the field, the presence of too many
observations and uncontrollable variables makes the application of standard experimental or survey
approaches infeasible. Further, information tends to be scattered and generally cannot be picked up using
one single method (Eisenhardt, 1989). Case studies thus typically combine a number of data collection
methods such as participant observation, direct observation, interviews, focus groups, ethnography,
document analysis, questionnaires etc., where evidence may be quantitative or qualitative depending
on the research issues at hand (Hartley, 2005). The approach is consequently flexible, allowing for new
methods to be incorporated as new sources of data and new actors present themselves. The case study
approach may thus be and has been used for various purposes to provide a descriptive narrative, to
generate new theory, or to test existing theory through the triangulation of data (Virkar, 2011).
The theoretical framework adopted by this research will emphasise three issues: first, the politics
involved in the conception, innovation, and governance of software platforms for public administration,
which is related to the set of institutions and rules that set the limits on, and the incentives that result
in, the constitution and working of interdependent networks of actors within the industry and within
government; second, the concept of electronic government itself as circumscribed by socio-political
and economic development; and finally, the relationship and interrelationships between technology,
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organisation, and institutional change. To do this, the chapter will ground its case study in three major
complementary strands of literature, first delineated in Virkar (2011):
1. A conceptual discussion of the role and interactions of a multiplicity of actors with diverse motivations and strategies conceptualized as an ecology of games, or an overarching sphere of symbiotic
action falling within the umbrella of New Institutionalism, and their role in shaping political organisations and institutions; with special reference to the success or failure of e-government projects.
2. The literature which deals with public administration reform and the role of Information and
Communication Technologies in improving the functioning of public administration and reducing
corruption in a developing country context.
3. A discussion of the importance of the ICT hardware and software industry, with special reference
to software platform design for e-government and politico-economic development in India.
Conclusions will be reached through the concurrent use of three dimensions theoretically on the
basis of existing literature, descriptively on the basis of a case study, and analytically using a unique
hybrid of the complementary conceptual frameworks of the Ecology of Games (Long, 1958) and the
Design-Actuality Gap model (Heeks, 2003).
For the larger study from which this chapter is drawn, 40 personal interviews were conducted over
a 24-month period. The interviewees can be roughly divided into four groups based on their relationship to the case: Senior Civil Servants involved with the planning and implementation of the project,
including current and former BBMP Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners for Revenue, and Revenue
Officers, Revenue and Tax Officials, primarily Assistant Revenue Officers (AROs) responsible for the
in-the-field collection and administration of property tax in the city, Software Developers involved in the
conception, design, and implementation of the project, and Miscellaneous Actors including journalists
and external consultants.
Twenty-seven subjects agreed to full-length interviews and to have their comments recorded. This
included all six members of the project planning committee, one senior official involved with the implementation of the GIS, and twenty senior revenue officers involved with the systems application in the
field. Additional informal interviews conducted face-to-face or over the email were also used to close
gaps in knowledge or to follow up new information and anchor the interpretation of events and motives
in the perceptions of participants. In addition to the recorded interviews, this chapter uses information
and quotes obtained informally from people related to the project who did not wish to be interviewed
formally or have their comments recorded. Out of the 13 people in this category, 10 were junior revenue
officials (Station Managers, Tax Inspectors and Accountants) working under the AROs interviewed, 2
were Revenue Officers supervising the overall administration of the Revenue Offices and one person
was a local correspondent from a leading national daily.
UNDERSTANDING ACTOR BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE

CONTEXT OF COMPLEX COMPUTER SYSTEMS
The design and implementation of complex computer systems, such as those that support e-government
platforms, requires a better understanding in practitioner circles of the users of such networks and the
settings in which they work. Part of the problem resides in the implicit treatment of ordinary people as
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unskilled, non-specialist users of technology and their networks comprising of elementary processes or
factors that can be studied in isolation in a field laboratory setting (Bannon, 1991). Another contributing aspect is the approach of computational sociologists and computer scientists to the mathematical
modelling of social processes as interactions amongst quantifiable variables, wherein the behaviour of
individual actors and other micro-factors that constitute aggregative sociological outcomes are ignored
at the cost of the initial macro-conditions that they otherwise circumscribe, constrain, and influence
(Macy &Willer, 2002).
Although psychology has a long tradition of contributing to computer systems design and implementation, it has been a neglected discipline in scholarly circles. Moreover, key issues such as those
related to the underlying values of the people involved in large-scale system design, and their motivational basisfor interaction in the work setting, have been missed out in recent computer science-based
scholarly analysis (Salvendy, 2012). Conceptualising and understanding people as actors in situations,
on the other hand, each with a set of skills and shared practices based on work experiences with others,
requires a reorientation of the way in which the relationship between key elements of computer system
design, namely people, technology, work requirements, and organisational constraints in work settings,
is negotiated (Kuutti, 1996).
The use of the terms human factors and human actors give us a clue as to how people in system
design clusters are approached (Virkar, 2011). More particularly, the terms highlight difference in how
people and their contributions are perceived, the former connoting a passive, fragmented, depersonalised,
somewhat automatic human contribution to the systems environment; the latter an active, controlling,
involved one (Carayon et. al, 2012). More precisely, within the human factor approach, the human element is more often than not reduced to being another system component with certain characteristics
that need to be factored into the design equation for the overall human-machine system (Czaja & Nair,
2012). In doing so, the approach de-emphasises certain important elements of work design: the goals,
values, and beliefs which technologists and system-users hold about life and work (Jacko et. al., 2012).
By using the term human actor, emphasis is placed on considering users and developers as autonomous
agents possessing the capacity to control, regulate, and coordinate their behaviour, rather than them being on par and analysed as mere information processing automatons (Proctor & Vu, 2012). The study
of actor interactions is key to e-government initiatives, as it is important to determine the impact that
actor motivations have on consultative and participatory processes, and subsequently on policy outcomes
(Salvendy, 2012).
One approach to understanding behaviour is to look at the composition of individual actors, rather
than the system as a whole. This is largely because political actors are driven by a combination of organisational and institutional roles and duties and calculated self-interest; with political interaction being
organised around the construction and interpretation of meaning as well as the making of choices (Virkar,
2013). The main actors in electronic consultation process may be placed into two groups:

Internal Actors: Comprise chiefly of those institutional actors responsible for the maintenance,
upkeep and running of a project, including (a) officers of the assembly who are responsible for the
operation of the system such as IT specialists and forum moderators, and (b) elected representatives (and their support staff) who respond to petitions individually and collectively.
External Actors: Comprise of two distinct categories including (a) participants (the person
or group) who initiates an online interaction after identifying an issue and follows its progress
through from submission to final feedback and outcome and (b) citizens: those individuals who
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may or may not be entitled to participate but who will invariably impact the outcome of a policy
process through their ability to shape public opinion.
The central issue that needs to be understood whilst studying the development of ICT platforms and
their implementation in public sector organisations through an analysis of actor interactions is thus: What
motivates people do what they do? One approach to understanding behaviour is to look at the rationality
of actors and actor-groups; rather than at individual human factors or at the computer system network
as a whole. This is largely because human actors are driven by a combination of organisational and institutional roles and duties and calculated self-interest; with political, social, and economic interactions
being organised around the construction and interpretation of meaning as well as the making of choices.
One approach to the study of political e-participation begins by defining and examining the motives
and goals that prompt actors to interact and participate in decision- and policy making processes online. All interactions in this vein are motivated in some way and individuals will engage in a particular
behaviour in order to achieve a desired end (Atkinson & Birch, 1970). Political actors, in particular,
have a complex set of goals including power, income, prestige, security, convenience, loyalty (to an
idea, an institution, or to the nation), pride in work well done, and a desire to serve the public interest
(as the individual actor conceives it). Added to this, individuals and private citizens tend to participate
in politics for altruistic or conformist reasons, to boost their self-esteem, to self-enhance, and to achieve
self-efficacy (Virkar, 2011). Actors range from being purely self-interested climbers or conservers
motivated entirely by goals which benefit themselves and their status quo rather than their organizations
or the society at large, to having mixed motives as zealots, advocates and statesmen motivated by
goals which combine self-interest and altruistic loyalty with larger values (Downs, 1964).
For citizens and users of the e-government application, the motivation to use the system may be either
intrinsic or extrinsic (Cruickshank et. al., 2010). Intrinsic motives include the desire to feel competent
and self-determining, to show altruism, or to seek to increase the welfare of others. On the other hand,
extrinsic motives are usually associated with some sort of external reward in the social, economic, or
political sphere. Both these manifest themselves in conditional co-operation, social pressure, thresholds
and the bandwagon effect (Margetts et. al., 2012). Different motives and goals may underlie the same
surface behaviour, with the social and psychological consequences of participation may be different for
different users (i.e. some participate to gain information or support, others to communicate), resulting
in a set of nested, interrelated interactions with the framework of a large meta-game or playing field
(Virkar, 2011). Consequently, the motivations and goals for using the online resources will determine
how they will they be used, by whom, and when. An in-depth analysis of the ICT for development literature by this researcher identified five actor groups involved in games and interactions relating to the
implementation of e-government projects:
1. Politicians: The first group identified comprises of elected representatives of various hues, guided
and influenced chiefly by electoral imperatives and a need to maintain their public image, and are
therefore concerned with directing both key economic policy issues as well as issues of public
service delivery.
2. Administrators/Civil Servants: This group of actors is guided by their perceptions of existing
institutional culture and practices and their positive (or negative) attitudes towards internal bureaucratic reforms such as concerns about the down-sizing of administrative services to promote
efficiency and a sense of being policed by elected government through the introduction of ICTs.
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3. Organisations Dealing with Technical Designing of IT and ICT Systems: The approach private
IT suppliers take to e-government might be considerably different to what the adopting government
agency actually needs or wants from a system.
4. Citizens: This is another particularly interesting group of actors as one is never quite sure what their
reaction to the implementation of e-government will be. Whilst in theory citizens should welcome
the introduction of a system that simplifies administrative processes, in practice it is equally possible that some citizens might not be very happy if a more efficient system was put into place.
5. International Donors: This final actor group controls the purse-strings and oftentimes comes to
the table with higher ideals coloured by ideas prevalent in international politics (such as the desire
to see a particular brand of good governance in the developing world).
ASSESSING PROJECT OUTCOME

In deciding to evaluate the outcome and impact of an e-government project, it falls to the researcher to
first choose between adopting quantitative or qualitative methods of analysis. According to Wolstenholme
(1999), no single method provides for a complete analysis of a situation, and there is a need always
for further speculation beyond the insights reached by their use. Thus, matching methods to identify
the underlying characteristics of a problem situation represents an issue that needs to be considered,
especially in complex situations such as during ICT adoption in government (Gupta & Jana, 2003). To
fill this lacuna, this chapter discusses Norton Longs (1958) Ecology of Games Metaphor and Richard
Heeks (2003) Design-Actuality Gap Model as analytical frameworks used to illustrate and analyse the
various influences that may have an impact on project outcome.
When used in combination, as will be made apparent in subsequent subsections, these two frameworks
allow the researcher to not only identify and analyse patterns of behaviour within a given case under study,
but also to link actor decisions and actions to specific project outcomes. On the one hand, the strength of
the Ecology of Games Metaphor lies in its ability to identify and analyse the interrelationships between
the different actors involved in the process of e-government system design and adoption. However, when
taken alone, it provides no insight into the consequences of this behaviour and its subsequent impact
on project outcome. Likewise, the Design-Actuality Gap Model is, on the other hand, able to analyse
structural weaknesses in a projects design but does not, on its own, provide an adequate explanation of
the decision-making processes that led to such structural deficiencies in the first place.
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
The Ecology of Games Metaphor
From the turn of the century to the present, there has been a progressive movement away from the view
that governance is the outcome of rational calculation to achieve specific goals by a unitary governmental
actor (Dutton, 1992), and in that context metaphors based on political games have been extremely useful in developing new ways to think about the policy process and to explain certain features of political
behaviour (Virkar, 2011). However, Game Theory and other similar metaphors have had, according
to scholars, one major limitation in clarifying policy processes: they focus squarely on a single arena
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or field of action; be it a school, a county, a legislature, etc. By their very nature, policy making and
implementation cut across these separate arenas, in both their development and impact (Firestone, 1989).
One of the few efforts to look at this interaction and interdependence in a more holistic fashion was
proposed by Norton Long (1958) in his seminal discussion of The Local Community as an Ecology of
Games. The Ecology of Games framework, as first laid out in the late 1950s, offers a New Institutionalist perspective on organisational and institutional analysis. The framework was developed as a way of
reconciling existing debates about who governed local communities, as Long believed they possessed
significant flaws (Long, 1958). As with most theories of New Institutionalism, it recognises that political
institutions are not simple echoes of social forces; that routines, rules, and forms within organisations
and institutions evolve through historically interdependent processes that do not reliably and quickly
reach equilibrium (March & Olsen, 1989).
Long contended that the structured group activities that coexist in a particular territorial system can be
looked at as games (Dutton, 1992). Games may be interrelated in several ways: actors (players) might
be simultaneously participating in different games, and some might transfer from one game to another
(Long, 1958). Plays (i.e., moves or actions) made in one game can affect the play of others. Also, the
outcome of one game might affect the rules or play of another (Crozier & Friedberg, 1980), and players
moves in one game might be constrained by moves within other games. Individuals may play a number of
games, or their major preoccupation for the most part may lie with one central interaction (Long, 1958).
A researcher might be able to anticipate a range of strategies open to individuals or organizations if
they know what role the actor or group played in the game(s) most central to them. Conversely, when the
actions of players appear irrational to an observer, it is likely that the observer does not know the games
or interactions in which the players under study are most centrally involved, and the players moves in
one game might be constrained by their moves within other under-examined or overlooked situations.
Within each game or interaction, the following elements help the researcher arrive at an in-depth analysis
of the impact that various behaviours have on the outcome of the project under study (Virkar, 2011b):
1. Key Actors: The individuals, groups, or other entities whose interactions shape the particular game
being considered;
2. Game Rules: The written or unwritten codes of conduct that shape actor moves and choices during
a game;
3. Actor Goals and Motivations: The aims that key actors seek to attain and maintain from interacting
with other players, both broader long-term achievements as well as more short- to medium-term
rewards;
4. Key Strategies: Tactics, ruses, and ploys adopted by key actors during the course of a game to
keep the balance of the engagement in their favour;
5. Key Moves: Decisions and other plays made by key actors to arrive at key goals, usually if not
always based on their strategy of choice.
The crucial insight in Longs theory however, was not the idea of games per se which, but his linking of that notion to the metaphor of an ecology (Firestone, 1989). Ecology as a concept relates to the
interrelationships of species in their environment, allowing for numerous relationships amongst entities,
and has been used to understand the relationships amongst individuals and more complex social systems
(Virkar, 2011).
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Most obviously, co-existence within a common space results in competition for resources and power
between different actors, and can result in unique modes of operation as means of achieving ones aims.
This in turn may lead to either mutual non-involvement in the same space, or to active co-operation
between different actors and the development of symbiotic relationships (Dutton, 1992).All this speaks
of a singular interdependence between different actors within a given territory. Although there may be
other relationships as well, what is significantly missing is a single, rational, coordinating presence.
An ecology of games is thus a larger system of action composed of two or more separate but interdependent games; underlining not only the degree to which not all players in any given territory are
involved in the same game, but also the fact that different players within that territory are likely to be
involved in a variety of interactions (Dutton & Guthrie, 1991). For Long (1958), territories (or fields
of play) were defined quite literally by being local communities. The notion of an ecology of games
underlines not only the degree to which not all players in any given territory are involved in the same
game, but also the fact that different players within that territory are likely to be involved in a variety of
games (Dutton & Guthrie, 1991).
Moved from the community context to the world of e-government platform design, adoption, and
implementation, territories may be diverse from the inner circle of the project design team, through
to the adopting organisation, the nation, and finally the international policy arena. The original idea,
however, of each stage being a political community or a collection of actors whose actions have political
implications remains the same and is still very much applicable. The Ecology of Games metaphor thus
provides us with a useful way to think about how the various players interact in making and carrying
out administration and in developing policy.
ANALYTICAL MODEL
The Design-Actuality Gap Framework
Like all political interactions, the behaviour of actors related to the design of e-government architecture
and to the uptake of public sector projects is circumscribed by the organisations and institutions within
which they are played out, and by the range of actors taken from the individuals and groups directly and
indirectly involved with the processes of decision-making and governance. The eventual outcome of an
e-government project in terms of both appearance and efficacy does not, therefore, depend on a single
project entity alone, and instead depends on the interaction between different actors in the process and
the nature of the relationships between them. Gaps in project design and implementation can in reality
be seen as expressions of differences arising from the interaction between different (often conflicting)
actor moves and strategies, determined to a large extent by actor perceptions, and played out within the
context of set circumstances.
Heeks (2003) concluded that the major factor determining project outcome was the degree of mismatch
between the current realities of a situation (the where are we now) and the models, conceptions, and
assumptions built into a projects design (the where the e-government project wants to get us). From
this perspective, e-government success and failure depends largely on the size of this design-actuality
gap: the larger gap, the greater the risk of e-government failure, the smaller the gap, the greater the
chance of project success. By examining numerous case studies related to ICTs and e-government failure
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in developing countries, Heeks (2002) identified three dominant categories of reported outcome: total
failure, partial failure, and success.

The first possible outcome is total failure, where a project is either never implemented or in which
a new system is implemented but is almost immediately abandoned.
A second possible outcome is the partial failure of an initiative, in which major goals are unattained or where there are significant undesirable outcomes. Cases range from straightforward
underachievement to more complex sustainability failures of an initiative.
Finally, one may see the success of an initiative, in which most actor groups attain their major
goals and do not experience significant undesirable outcomes.
Heeks (2003) also identified three so-called archetypes of failure, situations wherein a large
design-actuality gap, and consequently project failure, is likely to emerge: Hard-Soft Gaps (the difference between the actual, rational design of the technology and the actuality of the social context within
which it operates), Public-Private Gaps (the mismatch that results when technology meant for private
organisations is used in the public sector without being adequately adapted to the adopting organisation)
and Country Context Gaps (the gap that arises when a system designed for one country is transferred
unaltered into the reality of another).
Hard-Soft Gaps
Hard-soft gaps refer to the difference between the actual, rational design of the technology (hard) and the
actuality of the social context people, culture, politics, etc. within which the system operates (soft).
These sorts of gaps are commonly cited in accounts of e-government failure in developing countries,
where soft human issues that are not initially taken into account whilst designing a project result in
undesirable effects after implementation (Virkar, 2011). Hard-soft gaps thus may be seen as the outcome
of interactions played out primarily at the level of the project itself, between individuals and agencies
involved with the design and acceptance of the technology. Many scholars, such as Stanforth (2006), see
technology as just one of a number of heterogeneous socio-technical elements that must be considered
and managed during the design and implementation of a successful e-government project, whilst Madon
(2004) has discussed different sets of case studies which have revealed that numerous factors that have
allowed individuals in developing countries to access ICTs (and which depend on resources, skill-levels,
values, beliefs, and motivations, etc.) are often ignored. It may thus be inferred that a lack of training,
skills, and change management efforts would all affect rates of failure, as it is these factors that would
bridge the gap between the technology itself and the context within which it exits (Dada, 2006).
Private-Public Gaps
The next archetype put forward by Heeks (2003) is that of private-public gaps, which refers to the difference between organisations in the private and public sectors, and the mismatch that results when
technology meant for private organisations is used in the public sector without being adapted to suit
the role and aims of the adopting public organisation. A common problem is again the lack of highly
skilled professionals in the public sector, resulting primarily from uncompetitive rates of pay in that
sector as compared to the private sector (Ciborra& Navarra, 2005). The design of e-government projects
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is consequently outsourced to the private sector, resulting in a clash of values, objectives, culture, and
large design-actuality gaps. Public-private gaps are thus of particular relevance to the discussion which
follows in this chapter, as they generally arise out of games played at the level of the adopting government agency, between the agency and its private sector counterparts, although it is not uncommon to
find interactions between public and private individuals on project committees having an impact on the
outcome of a project as well.
Country Context Gaps

The final archetype of failure defined by Heeks (2003) is the country context gap, or the gap that arises
when a system designed for one country is transferred into the reality of another. This is particularly true
for systems transferred between developed and developing countries, where designs for one may clash
with the actualities within the other. Country context gaps are, according to Dada (2006) closely related
to hard-soft gaps as they arise from, amongst other things, differences in technological infrastructure,
skill sets, education levels, and working cultures.The increased popularity of the tenants of deliberative
democracy is thought to be one such manifestation of this form of design-actuality gap (Svensson, 2007;
Svensson, 2008). Country-context gaps emerge chiefly as a result of games played by national, provincial
and international actors operating across borders. For instance, decisions to adopt or promote a certain
management style or value system, buy or sell a particular technology from a particular organisation or
country, or collaborate with particular government agencies in different parts of the world all stem from
games of international trade, aid, and diplomacy.
Heeks model is particularly useful given the large investments made by developing country governments in e-government systems and the large opportunity costs associated with their implementation
(Heeks, 2003). More particularly, the model encourages project planners to take a focused, holistic view
of problem solving; making them consider concurrently the technology at hand, the current circumstances, the impact of actors motivations and actions, and possible vested interests. It may be used both
as a predictive tool anticipating potential failings and heading them off at the initial stages, as well as
being used to diagnose problems during the execution of the project. The framework is thus a means of
evaluating outcome and problem solving strategies at all stages during the development of a project, and
not just to examine what went wrong in hindsight. However, when taken alone, it is only able to analyse
structural weaknesses in a projects design but doesnt on its own provide an adequate explanation of
the decision-making processes that led to such structural deficiencies in the first place.
Similarly, the strength of the Ecology of Games lies in its ability to identify and analyse the interrelationships between the different actors involved in the process of e-government system design and
adoption. On its own, the framework provides no insight into the consequences of this behaviour and its
impact on project outcome When used in combination therefore, as in this chapter, these two frameworks
allow the researcher to not only identify and analyse patterns of behaviour within the case under study,
but also link decisions and actions to specific project outcomes.
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IDENTIFYING GAMES THAT IMPACT THE PLANNING AND UPTAKE OF

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN BUREAUCRACIES
From the games identified during the course of this authors research, a four-fold taxonomy has been
developed which classifies and analyses behaviour depending on the level of actor interactions along four
different axes: the field of play, the key actors involved, the main objective(s) of the game under study and
the nature and/or spirit in which the game has been played. The four categories are elaborated on below:
1. Arena or Field of Play: Actor interactions may be classified according to the arena within which
they are played out. In other words, this classification which has its roots in initial work done
by Vedel (1989) and Dutton (1992) focuses on the reach and influence of actors within a given
context, and the impact of their actions (both direct and indirect) on project outcomes.
a. Project-Specific Games: Are generally played by individuals and groups of actors directly
involved with the case under study. Such interactions usually occur during the planning and
execution of a project and impact.
b. Organisation-Specific Games: Are played out within the department or organisation within
which the case study is based, involving not only actors directly concerned with the case study
but also others within the institution whose moves come to bear influence on the project at
hand.
c. City or Regional Level Games: Include those interactions between actors whose power or
reach extends to the level of the city or region within which the project is based, and who are
playing power games for relatively high stakes. The goals, moves and strategies chosen by
actors at this level may or may not have a direct link to the case study, however they come to
bear either a direct or indirect influence on its eventual outcome.
d. National Level Games: Involve players who have their eye on attaining some sort of national
prestige or who are influenced by other actors or discourses operating at the national level.
Here again, actors may or may not be directly attached to the project or organisation under
study.
e. International Level Games: Are played chiefly by actors or groups of actors possessing
international clout and/or aspirations. Games played at this level usually do not have a direct
bearing on the project under study, however, actors might indirectly influence outcomes by
attempting to gain power/prestige through adhering to popular trends, binding project planners to third-party conditonalities or merely by subscribing to certain schools of thought.
2. Key Actors Involved: Games may also be classified according to the key actors involved in each
interaction studied. This axis thus aims to study interactions within the context of the key players
who they are and who they interact with.
a. Interactions Internal to the Project Planning/Core Group: Includes any games being
played exclusively between constituent elements of the project planning committee or the
core group responsible for the design and execution of the project under study.
b. Core Project Group vs. Other Members of Implementing Department: Cover games
played between members of the core project committee and other individuals and/or groups
within the implementing department who are otherwise not directly involved on the project
at hand.
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c. Games within the Implementing Organisation: Are played out between groups and individual actors who are members of the implementing organisation. Such interactions may or
may not be directly related to the ICT4D project, but their outcome would have an impact on
its eventual success or failure.
d. Department/Organisation vs. External Players: Cover interactions between the implementing
department/organisation acting in a unified, institutional capacity and other external players
such as the media, citizens and civil society organisations.
e. Games Played by External Actors: Which have little or no direct connection to the current
project, but which nonetheless have a significant impact on its eventual success or failure.
3. Actor Goals: A third way of classifying actor interactions is based on the goals that different actor
groups seek to attain by engaging with other players. Actors within each game are bound to have
multiple goals that motivate them to act in certain ways, and thus it is important when applying
this classification to identify the primary motivating factor behind each move.
a. Games of Power and Prestige: Involve moves to enable actors to gain or shore up their
individual power and prestige or those of their group.
b. Games to Maintain Status Quo: Are those interactions whereby players seek to maintain
the status quo. These games are generally played when actors perceive a threat to their current
position or status, and thus act to preserve their current standing in the hierarchy.
c. Games to Achieve Change: Are those interactions that attempt to change a current situation
or process within a department or organisation, primarily through the attainment of project
goals and objectives.
d. Games to Achieve Political and Policy Aims: Are those moves and strategies played by actors
to achieve certain political or policy aims which may or may not have a direct relationship or
bearing on the project under study.
e. Games to Further Ideology and/or Discourse: Comprise chiefly those games played by
actors who are generally driven by a particular ideology or discourse and wish to use their
political influence to impose their ideas on either the implementing organisation or on the
project planners themselves.
4. Nature of Game Play: The final axis against which games may be classified analyses the nature
of the political dynamic between the key actors within which the project was conceived and implemented. In other words, this axis differentiates between positive and negative actors and the impact
of their actions on their sphere of influence.
a. Constructive Game Play: Includes altruistic and other positive moves, where competition
is seen to be constructive and controlled/restrained rivalry brings about positive results. Such
games are therefore win-win situations, and include all those moves that have a positive impact
on the adoption of new technologies within a development context.
b. Destructive Game Play: Involves fierce rivalries and negative competition, resulting in zerosum games where actors act purposefully to win at the cost of their so-called opponents,
thereby creating a negative project environment and often resulting in a large wastage of time
and resources.
An examination of the interviews and other data collected during field research reveals that the eventual
outcome of the Bangalore City Municipal Corporations Revenue Department project can be interpreted
as the consequence of a number of players making moves within a number of separate but interrelated
207

games, each related to the projects design, implementation, and adoption. At least six kinds of games,
all delineated in the classification outlined above, appear to have influenced the impact the system has
had on tax administration in Bangalore city. These include expertise games, power and influence games,
policy games, turf struggles, games of persuasion, and business games. Within each game, the game
elements put forward in previous sections of this chapter may also be identified from the case at hand,
particularly to help the researcher arrive at an in-depth analysis of the impact that various interactions
have had on the outcome of the project under study.
PROPERTY TAX REVENUE COLLECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE DATA

Separate analysis was also conducted to compare the relative performance of different wards within the
city separately and with each other for the period from 1998/99 to 2007/08. Twelve wards from different parts of the city (Koramangala, Richmond Town, Gandhinagar, Aramenenagar, Moodalapalya,
Peenya Industrial Area, Marenahalli, Yeshwanthpur, Malleshwaram, Govindrajnagar, Rajajinagar, and
Amarjyothinagar) were selected based on interviews with BBMP officials, their common location in
the west of the city, and the availability of complete property data1. The wards were then classified into
two groups: Old-New (where old wards were defined as those wards which were under the jurisdiction
of the old Bangalore City Corporation (or BMP prior to 1995, and new wards which came under BMP
jurisdiction post-1995), and Rich-Poor (where rich wards were those having a population that belonged
to the upper middle class or upper class with an income of greater than Rs.200,000 (~$4,000) per annum,
and poor wards whose population belonged to the lower middle or poor class of society and earned less
than Rs.200,000 per year (NCAER, 2005). Property tax revenue data for each ward was obtained from
the respective ward officer, whilst demographic information given to this researcher from the BBMP
was based on data obtained in the most recent national census: that of 2001 (see Figure 1).
The performance of the revenue system was assessed against two axes: absolute revenue collected
and collection efficiency. The performance of the new system, framed in quantitative terms, was then
subsequently analysed together with the games and interactions identified by parallel qualitative research
(Virkar, 2011).
The first quantitative performance indicator put forward for discussion in this section is that of absolute revenue collected, which might be defined more exactly as the total absolute revenue per annum
collected by the Revenue Department over the ten-year period duration, based on figures given to this
researcher by the Greater Bangalore City Municipal Corporation (Virkar, 2011). Property tax revenue
targets were plotted for the city and for each ward, and compared to actual revenue collections over the
period under study. The figures for expected revenue were obtained by this researcher from the BBMP
Revenue Department, and were indicated to be internal targets set by individual field offices. Whilst no
satisfactory definition was forthcoming regarding the precise nature of the computation, it was presumably based on the current years expected revenue from existing properties corrected for depreciation,
plus projected revenue from new residential and commercial properties in the coming year.
The second performance indicator important to this study, and towards understanding the nature, scope,
and the direction of the games and interactions that shape it, is that ofcollection efficiency. Expressed
as a percentage, the collection efficiency figure is calculated using the difference between projected
and actual revenue figures, and indicates not only the percentage of projected revenue collected by the
tax levying authority but also the level of tax compliance in the ward for the tax year under study. Thus,
208

whilst absolute revenue figures would indicate whether taxes were increasing or not over a given period
of time, and whether or not new administrative measures such as the Self Assessment Scheme and the
introduction of computerised records had an impact on collections, collection efficiency would throw
light on how effective these new measures actually are in encouraging people to pay.
PROPERTY TAX REVENUE DATA DISCUSSED: BANGALORE CITY

The first set of graphs in this article seeks to analyse property tax revenues for Bangalore city as a whole.
As mentioned in the previous section, prior to delimitation in 2009, the BBMP administered 100 wards
(not including the outlying areas) which according to the 2001 census spanned an area of 211.71
square kilometres, with a population of 4,301,326 inhabitants (BBMP, 2009).
Figure 2 illustrates the total property tax revenue (expected and actual) collected for Bangalore City
from 1998 to 2008. It may be seen that while both expected and actual revenue figures are rising, there
is generally a shortfall between the amount of revenue expected by the tax authority and the amount
actually collected. Figure 3 shows the change in the number of properties brought under the tax net in
Bangalore city between 1998-99 and 2007-08. Overall, the number of properties assessed for tax in
Bangalore city rose from 380,956 in 1998/99 to 668,535 in 2007/08 (an increase of 75%).
Figure 4 shows the change in the number of properties assessed depending on the nature of their
use for the period 2001/02 to 2007/08. For the given period, it may be seen that overall there was an
increase in the total number of properties assessed for tax purposes from 405,864 properties in 2001/02
to 668,535 properties in 2007/08 an increase of 64.7%. A more detailed analysis reveals that the
number of residential properties rose from 155,930 properties in 2001/02 to 494,658 properties in
2007/08: an increase of 217.2%! At the same time, the number of properties used for non-residential
purposes also rose, from 31,268 properties in 2001/02 to 54,950 properties in 2007/08 (a more modest,
yet significant increase of 75.7%). The number of properties classed as mixed use properties (used for
both residential and non-residential purposes) increased by 41.3%; from 33,410 properties in 2001/02
to 47,233 properties in 2007/08. Simultaneous with these increases, the city saw a significant decrease
in the number of vacant lands assessed, with that number dropping from 185,256 in 2001/02 to 71,694
in 2007/08 a fall of 61.3%.
Figure 5 illustrates the change in average revenue per property accrued to the BBMP Revenue Department from the period 1998/99 to 2007/08. For the given period, average revenue per property increased
from Rs. 2,474.56 (~$50) in 1998/99 to Rs. 6,712.13 (~$135) in 2007/08; an increase of 171.24%. However, a closer look at the data reveals that there has not been a steady increase in average revenue per
property for the period under study. For instance during the period 2000/01 to 2007/08 average revenue
per property fluctuated, despite there being a steady rise in the number of properties assessed during
the same duration. Average revenue rose from Rs.3,893.69 (~$78) in 2000/01 to Rs. 4,326.19 (~$86) in
2002/03 before falling to Rs. 3,961.40 (~$79) the following year, after which it increased steadily from
2004/05 onward.
These findings may be further underlined by looking at tax compliance data for the city as indicated
in Figure 6. Thus for Bangalore city overall, the data shows that while the number of properties brought
under the tax net increased relatively steadily between 1998/99 and 2007/08, actual revenue collected
by the BBMP did not increase at the rate expected rising dramatically during the years following the
introduction of the Self Assessment Scheme, then gradually falling behind expected revenue.
209

Figure 1. Map of Bangalore City showing the select wards under study
(Source: Bruhat Bengaluru MahanagaraPalike, 2011)
One may conjecture, therefore, that the SAS allowed for the undervaluation of declared tax per property, possibly in collusion with tax assessors, and that such a fluctuation in revenue is indicative of poor
compliance as a steadily increasing number of properties brought under the tax net should otherwise
logically result in a steady increase in revenues for the government. The introduction of computers, done
between the years 2004 and 2005, does not seem to have made an impact in on BBMP revenue collections for the city as a whole. The increase in the number of properties may to a large extent, however,
be attributed to the improvements in recordkeeping and information management practices stemming
from the use of digital databases at the BBMP.
210

Figure 2. Property tax revenue for Bangalore City (1998/99 to 2007/08)

(Source: Author analysis, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, 2011)
Figure 3. Number of properties assessed in Bangalore City (1998/99 to 2007/08)

EXAMINING ACTOR ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS IN ICT

ADOPTION: THE CASE OF THE GREATER BANGALORE
CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (BBMP)
The State of Karnataka is particularly interesting when studying the various games and interactions related
to the use of Information Technology for public service reform within Indian government departments,
as on-going processes of change within different government agencies in the state have had the use of
211

Figure 4. Change in the Number of Properties Assessed (2001/02 to 2007/08)

ICTs deeply implicated in them, and many government and quasi-government bodies have entered into
partnerships with private and non-profit organisations (Virkar, 2011). In recent years, there has been
growing pressure placed by citizen groups, international agencies, and the local media on both city
corporations and the state government to rationalise existing revenue collection structures and improve
the collection of property tax in the field, both within cities and across the State at large.
In recognising the need to turn property tax in to a productive tax instrument, the Greater Bangalore
Municipal Corporation (BBMP) teamed up with a series of private and not-for-profit technology firms,
in partnerships aimed to improve property tax collections across Bangalore city through the development
and use of computerised revenue records and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based property
mapping. Against the background of technological innovation in the State, project planners decided to do
away with the manual, paper-based system of property tax administration, considering it to be increasingly archaic, opaque, and altogether inefficient. In particular, members of the core project group felt
that property tax collections under the manual system had over the years suffered consistently from poor
recordkeeping and bad information management practices, slow processing times, and overcomplicated
assessment and payment procedures. Concurrently planners were also spurred on by the need to enhance
their own power, authority, and reputations with their respective spheres of influence and beyond.
Interviews with key people involved with the design and implementation of the project, conducted
between 2005 and 2009, brought to light a number of games or interactions operating at different levels
or arenas, all of which had an impact direct or indirect on the effectiveness of the system and its
eventual performance. These are outlined in Tables 1 through 4.
212

Figure 5. Average revenue per property for Bangalore City (1998/99 to 2007/08)
WHATS IN A GAME? DISCUSSING E-GOVERNMENT SUCCESS AND FAILURE

This chapter sought to unravel the social dynamics shaping e-government projects in India used to reform
public sector institutions. In particular, the research sought to analyse actor behaviour, motivations, and
interactions surrounding the conception and maintenance of e-government software platforms facilitating
these transformations. The principal approach of this research to the issues thrown up by these crosssectoral interactions was the use of an empirical case study dealing with the design, implementation,
and subsequent use of an electronic property tax system based in the Revenue Department of the Greater
Bangalore Municipal Corporation (BBMP).
In recognising that design-actuality gaps open up and give way to unfavourable project outcomes
if designers and top managers assume that localised outcomes result only from direct local influences,
discounting the impact of other factors external to the project at hand, preliminary findings suggest that
the project may at the time of writing be classed as a partial failure under Heeks three-fold categorisation. However, as evidenced by the discussion, this so-called failure is neither a straightforward case of
the outright inability of project managers to achieve stated objectives nor is it a so-called sustainability
failure. Causes of failure to meet stated aims appear to be two-fold: manifested through Hard-Soft gaps,
stemming from competitive and divisive moves made by actors in key games relating to the systems
design and implementation that generated conflict and disharmony in later attempts by users to adopt
the system, and Private-Public gaps, rooted in fierce competition and oftentimes rivalry between key
executive members on both sides of the profit v. non-profit divide that stemmed from their differing
values, work cultures, and agendas.
The overarching aim of the computerised system was to improve tax revenues and tax compliance
through the streamlining of tax administration processes by increasing back-office efficiency, simplifying
213

Figure 6. Levels of tax compliance for Bangalore City between 1998 and 2008
methods of tax payment, reducing the amount of money lost through petty corruption, and improving
tax yields and citizen compliance through the speedy detection of tax evasion. Designers of the project
sought to use automation and digitisation to improve data management in the revenue offices, reduce
the use of discretion by government officials in revenue-related decisions, and make property tax collection processes more transparent. In particular, the system sought to increase revenues from property tax
through better quality data, quicker evaluations, greater computational accuracy, and positive psychological reinforcement; whilst at the same time reducing losses in revenue occurred as a result of back-office
inefficiencies and fraudulent practices through the use of digital databases and GIS maps. However, as
illustrated by the case study, the underlying motivations for the individual partners and actors within
each of the participating organisations turned out in some instances to be widely divergent, resulting in
several highly divisive and negative outcomes within the context of the project under study.
DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

As the analysis in previous sections has shown, certain key games with local impacts get played out in
different arenas between actors influenced by not only local but also national and international factors.
214

Table 1. Project planning committee games

Games
Key Players
Key Objectives
Nature of Moves
e-Government Movement
Various current senior BBMP

officials, software providers.
Encourage BBMP
departmental reform through
the use of technology.
Positive Game Play
System Conception and Design

Formation of the Core Project
Planning Group
Initial Design and Conception of the
System
Various current senior BBMP

officials, software providers.
BBMP officials on the
project planning committee,
eGovernments Foundation
representatives.
Take credit for the initial

design idea and design process.
Design and launch a successful
system.
Negative Game
Play
Altruistic Game
Play
Digital Democracy
Senior BBMP officials and

eGovernments Foundation
members.
Seek to influence the design

of the PTIS to support their
conception of democracy.
Negative Game
Play
(Source: Author Analysis, 2010)
An examination of interview data and other documents brought to light a number of games in different
arenas, each involving key actors related to the project, whose interplay had a bearing on the projects
eventual outcome. No single game can account for the ultimate outcome of the Revenue Department
project at the time of writing, and instead the impact that the system has had on property tax administration can be best understood as an interacting set or ecology of games as discussed in previous
sections. Games that shaped the development and adoption of the system appear to have be layered or
nested, with some contained within others.
Key games found to have significantly shaped the outcome of the system therefore appear to have
been played during the initial stages of the process, either during the time of its conception (in the form
of positive and negative interactions between members of the project planning committee) or at the stage
of internal implementation and adoption (in the form of friction between the core project team and the
Table 2. BBMP revenue department games

Games
Key Players
Key Objectives
Nature of Moves
System Acceptance Games
Project planning group (Senior

BBMP officials, software
providers, external consultants),
senior and junior revenue
officials.
Get officials on the ground to

accept and adopt the system.
Positive Game Play
Efficiency Games
Senior BBMP officials, Assistant

Revenue Officers, and junior
revenue staff.
Hold down costs and increase

tax revenues by improving
efficiency.
Positive Game Play
Management Control
Senior BBMP officials, Revenue

officials.
Expand power and decisional

control.
Negative Game Play
Game to Control Petty Corruption
Senior BBMP officials, Revenue

officials.
Reduce revenue losses from

petty corruption.
Negative Game Play
Revenue Office Politics
Revenue Officials, Assistant

Revenue Officers, Station
Managers, junior revenue staff.
Assert superior status, retain

power and authority within the
field office.
Negative Game Play
215

Table 3. Bangalore City games

Games
Key Players
Key Objectives
Nature of Moves
Image Building Game
BBMP officials, the media,

citizens.
Improve image of the BBMP

as an accountable, modern and
responsive government agency.
Positive Game Play
Tax Compliance Game

citizens.
Encourage citizens to pay taxes

through a mixture of carrot and
stick initiatives.
Largely Positive Game Play
intended end-users such as the field officers), corroborating the findings of the quantitative data analysis
set out in the previous section of this chapter. The only city-level game that had any significant impact
on the project appeared to be the Tax Compliance game, played between the BBMP and the taxpayers
of Bangalore. Other games at the city and national levels were primarily found to be ideological games
and games centred on the interplay of market forces, thus having little direct bearing on the tax administration system and its eventual fate.
Questions remain, however, as to whether conflicting motivations and interests could be aligned to
ensure win-win situations for all actors concerned and to promote the long-term sustainability of the
project at hand. The discussion of the case study in previous sections also reveals that at the heart of
each game lay a design-actuality gap, usually brought about from a power struggle stemming from a
deep-seated mistrust between different actor groups. In particular, the case study demonstrates that gaps
arise because those with the power and authority to take design or implementation decisions at different key stages of the process are usually unwilling to allow any initiative to go ahead that would give
the other actor group(s) in the game more autonomy over the system or more control over their actions.
Design-actuality gaps also arise when key actors refuse to acknowledge the impact that external, usually
tangential factors and circumstances have on the shaping of decisions and government policy.
CONCLUSION
Rapidly evolving economic and social contexts mean that political institutions and the people who constitute them cannot afford to get bogged down in traditional work practices or be impervious or resistant
to change themselves. Whilst this does not necessarily mean a wholesale rejection of what has gone
Table 4. National-level games

Games
Key Players
Key Objectives
Nature of Moves
Image Building Game

citizens.
Improve image of the BBMP

as an accountable, modern and
responsive government agency.
Positive Game Play
Tax Compliance Game

citizens.
Encourage citizens to pay taxes

through a mixture of carrot and
stick initiatives.
Largely Positive Game Play
216

before, it does mean that there needs to be a constant assessment and reassessment of workplace values
and current practices, eliminating those which result in behaviours that are detrimental to the functioning
of the organisation and encouraging those that promote positive interactions.
Organisations and institutions, particularly those that form the political core of a society, cannot afford
to appear backward and out-of-date, as the people within those institutions are generally looked up to
as political trendsetters and role models in addition to being responsible for societal welfare. Software
platform development for e-government thus needs to be able to respond to swiftly and appropriately
to these changes, and the growing demand for cost-effective high-quality programming has resulted in
several collaborative cross-sectoral partnerships between software developers and government organisations globally. However, as illustrated by the case study, the underlying motivations for the individual
partners and actors within these partnerships can be widely divergent, and may result in highly divisive
and negative outcomes.
The discussion put forward in this chapter reveals that at the heart of a political game usually lies a
power struggle, brought about through a deep-seated mistrust between different actor groups. This holds
particularly true for the process of software conception and design where, the case study put forward
demonstrates, gaps in quality and overall technical applicability arise because those with the power
and authority to take design or implementation decisions are usually unwilling to allow any initiative
to go ahead that would give the other actor group(s) in the game more autonomy over the process or
system. Further, certain key games with local impacts get played out in different arenas between actors
influenced by not only local but also national and international factors. Problems arise if designers and
top managers assume that localised outcomes result only from direct local influences, discounting the
impact of other factors external to the project at hand.
Added to this, there is a tendency for power lites to lose touch with ground realities when devising
projects for their organisations as well as for their citizens, especially when planners comprise the higher
echelons of government and operate within a top-down command-and-control system of management.
There is also a danger that high-level project planners will, in looking at macro-outcomes, ignore outliers
and how these may precipitate unexpected turns of events. This holds particularly true when existing
patterns of communication and information exchange fail to be flexible or unable to adapt to changing
situations.
In modern times, people and their governments have struggled to find easy, cheap, and effective ways
to run countries. ICT-based applications have the potential to revolutionise patterns of communication
between authority and citizenry, radically restructuring politics and governance at all levels by making
systems more integrated, transparent, and efficient. However critics of e-government, and more particularly of its introduction into developing country contexts, contend that administrative reform is not
an important enough issue to justify exposing cash-strapped governments to the risks and opportunity
costs associated with ICT projects.
Whilst it is widely recognised that ICTs are strategically important to a country, and the need for
investment in e-government is generally well-accepted, questions related to the balancing of investment in ICTs with the need to give priority to other basic infrastructural requirements still need to be
answered, and there is apprehension in some quarters that money used for e-government will absorb
scarce developmental resources whilst not delivering on potential benefits. Further, it is still unclear
whether administrative reforms stimulated by e-government will in the long run feed into a countrys
other economic, societal, and development goals, or simply divert resources away from areas where they
217

are needed into already cash-rich sectors and industries such as those related to software design and
development. Only time and further research will be able to tell.
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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Actor Goals and Motivations: The aims that key actors seek to attain and maintain from interacting with other players, encompassing both broader long-term achievements as well as more short- to
medium-term rewards.
Actor Perceptions: Include the preferences and opinions of key institutional players that help determine the disjoint between project design and current ground realities, together with the nature and
direction of organisational reform and institutional change.
Actor(s): The individuals, groups or other entities whose interactions shape the direction and nature
of a particular game being considered.
Country Context Gap: Refers to the gap that arises when a system designed in theory for one country
is transferred into the reality of another.
Design-Actuality Gap Model or Framework: Is a framework for project evaluation which contends
that the major factor determining project outcome is the degree of mismatch between the current ground
realities of a situation (where are we now), and the models, conceptions, and assumptions built into a
projects design (the where the project wants to get us).
e-Administration: Refers to the improvement of government processes and to the streamlining of
the internal workings of the public sector often using ICT-based information systems.
e-Consultation: Refers to the process whereby citizens are given the opportunity to provide feedback
to government online on matters of public importance and participate in the shaping of issues relevant
to them via the new digital media.
e-Democracy: May be defined by the express intent to increase the participation of citizens in
decision-making through the use of digital media and the application of Information and Communication Technologies to political processes. e-Democracy may be subdivided into e-Engagement (or
e-Participation), e-Voting, e-Consultation.
e-Engagement (or e-Participation): Refers to the overall enhancement of opportunities for greater
consultation and dialogue between government and its citizens through the encouragement of online
citizen action and citizen participation in political processes electronically.
e-Governance: Refers to the use of ICTs by government, civil society, and political institutions to
engage citizens in political processes and to the promote greater participation of citizens in the public
sphere.
e-Government: Refers to the use of Information and Communication Technologies by government
departments and agencies to improve internal functioning and public service provision. Broadly speaking, e-government may be divided into 2 distinct areas: e-Administration and e-Services.
e-Services: Refers to the improved delivery of public services to citizens through multiple electronic
platforms.
e-Voting: May be defined broadly as the expression and exercise of fundamental democratic rights
and duties online through specially developed digital platforms.
Game(s): Arena(s) of competition and cooperation structured by a set of rules and assumptions about
how to act in order for actors to achieve a particular set of objectives.
Hard-Soft Gap: Refers to the difference between the actual, rational design of a technology (hard)
adopted within a project and the actuality of the social context, namely people, culture, politics, etc.,
within which the system operates (soft).
223

Managerial Variables: Are those institutional variables relating to project management and other
soft variables of project design and implementation, which include the efficiency and effectiveness of a
supply chain, the characteristics of an agencys culture, and the capacity of an adopting agency to adapt
to and to manage change.
Moves: May be defined as actions, decisions and other plays made by key actors taken to arrive at
key goals, usually if not always based on their strategy of choice.
Partial Failure: Of an initiative is a situation in which major goals are unattained or where there are
significant undesirable outcomes.
Political Variables: Are those soft institutional variables relating to the perceptions and impressions
that public servants have regarding potential labour cuts, administrative turnover, and changes in executive direction generated by the development of e-government.
Private-Public Gap: Refers to the mismatch that results when technology meant for private organisations is used in the public sector without being adapted to suit the role and aims of the adopting public
organisation.
Project Outcome: Or the sum total of the interaction between organisational and institutional realities
and the project design carried out within the constraints of the current organisational and institutional
set-up.
Rules: The written or unwritten codes of conduct that shape actor moves and choices during a game.
Strategies: Include tactics, ruses, and ploys adopted by key actors during the course of a game to
keep the balance of the engagement in their favour.
Success: Of an initiative is a situation in which most actor groups attain their major goals and do not
experience significant undesirable outcomes.
Technological Variables: Are those institutional variables relating to technology and other hard
elements of project design and implementation, which include the ability of a user-population to access ICTs, the quality of the user populations Internet use, the availability of an internal technological
infrastructure, and the provision of technical skills to the government workforce.
Total Failure: Of an initiative is a situation where a project is either never implemented or in which
a new system is implemented but is almost immediately abandoned.
ENDNOTE

224
The ward numbers used in this article are thus old ward numbers used before the delimitation.

Designing and Implementing E-Government Projects For Democracy and Social Change in India: Actors, Behaviours, Influences, and Fields of Play

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Promoting Social Change

and Democracy through

A volume in the Advances in Electronic

Detailed Table of Contents

About the Contributors

About the Contributors

About the Contributors

About the Contributors

Designing and Implementing

DIS(CONNECTED) CITIZENSHIP? ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE

UNDERSTANDING ACTOR BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE

ASSESSING PROJECT OUTCOME

Country Context Gaps

IDENTIFYING GAMES THAT IMPACT THE PLANNING AND UPTAKE OF

PROPERTY TAX REVENUE COLLECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE DATA

PROPERTY TAX REVENUE DATA DISCUSSED: BANGALORE CITY

(Source: Bruhat Bengaluru MahanagaraPalike, 2011)

Figure 2. Property tax revenue for Bangalore City (1998/99 to 2007/08)

Figure 3. Number of properties assessed in Bangalore City (1998/99 to 2007/08)

EXAMINING ACTOR ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS IN ICT

Figure 4. Change in the Number of Properties Assessed (2001/02 to 2007/08)

WHATS IN A GAME? DISCUSSING E-GOVERNMENT SUCCESS AND FAILURE

DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Table 1. Project planning committee games

Various current senior BBMP

Positive Game Play

System Conception and Design

Various current senior BBMP

Take credit for the initial

Senior BBMP officials and

Seek to influence the design

(Source: Author Analysis, 2010)

Table 2. BBMP revenue department games

System Acceptance Games

Project planning group (Senior

Get officials on the ground to

Positive Game Play

Senior BBMP officials, Assistant

Hold down costs and increase

Positive Game Play

Senior BBMP officials, Revenue

Expand power and decisional

Negative Game Play

Game to Control Petty Corruption

Senior BBMP officials, Revenue

Reduce revenue losses from

Negative Game Play

Revenue Office Politics

Revenue Officials, Assistant

Assert superior status, retain

Negative Game Play

(Source: Author Analysis, 2010)

Table 3. Bangalore City games

Image Building Game

BBMP officials, the media,

Improve image of the BBMP

Positive Game Play

Tax Compliance Game

BBMP officials, the media,

Encourage citizens to pay taxes

Largely Positive Game Play

(Source: Author Analysis, 2010)

Table 4. National-level games