E-READINESS QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NORTH ... - Kunnat.net

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Figure 1: The Big Picture of e-Governance
Source: National Institute for smart government, India.
People: As e-Government projects are rolled out across the country, people within and
outside the government play an increasingly important role in ensuring the success of
these projects. The scale of transformation is huge. Enormous resources not only in
terms of money but also the expertise, skills and commitment of the people will be
required. Hence, management of people is the biggest challenge to the success of the
e-Government Program 21 .
Process: E-Government is not just about the automation of manual records and
existing processes, with all their ineffi ciencies. Rather, it is about transforming government
processes and creating new relationships between the government and its citizens
and businesses. Hence, a fresh set of process parameters and related workfl ow should
be created, without creating unmanageable and chaotic changes, to maintain the consistency
and sustainability of the process 21 .
Technology: ICT is a key element of reform efforts that can help dramatically reshape
government to improve performance and reduce costs. This challenge in a sense
boils down to one of creating an IT Governance structure for the e-Governance sector
21 .
Resources: New technologies demand new types of implementation models.
Budget constraints within government, barriers to entry of private investment in e-
Government sector, lack of skills for program and project management, absence of
frameworks that enable designing e-Government projects on a self-fi nancing model are
among the important challenges in the resource area 21 .
In sum, there are a plethora of challenges to the successful implementation of
large e-Government programs 22 . In order for a country/government to excel at e-government,
policy makers will usually need to join forces with public administrators to
change mindsets and behaviours while offering civil servants the opportunity to acquire
the skills needed in the modern organization 22 . In addition, successful adoption
of e-Government in any country shall involve the active participation and contribution
of a number of key players and stakeholders in the entire process. Some of the im-
22 E-Government Survey 2010, UN, http://www.epractice.eu/fi les/UN%20E-Government%20Survey%202010%20-%20
Part%20I.pdf