Concept of e-Governance

e-governance has gained more popularity in convoluted business world. Many management scholars have described the concept of e governance which is emerging as an important activity in the business field. It is established that E-governance is the application of information and communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational and transactional exchanges with in government, between government & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal and Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information (Mahapatra, 2006).

World Bank explained the E governance as the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and or cost reductions."

According to international organization, UNESCO, "Governance refers to the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country's affairs, including citizens' articulation of their interests and exercise of their legal rights and obligations. E-Governance may be understood as the performance of this governance via the electronic medium in order to facilitate an efficient, speedy and transparent process of disseminating information to the public, and other agencies, and for performing government administration activities". The Council of Europe elaborated e-Governance as "the use of electronic technologies in three areas of public action such as relations between the public authorities and civil society, functioning of the public authorities at all stages of the democratic process (electronic democracy) and the provision of public services (electronic public services).

Related Resources

1. IGNOU module on e-Governance
2. UNESCO - Defining e-Governance
3. Gender Responsive E-governance: Exploring the Transformative Potential - UNDP