icegov2012 proceedings

Digitisation of Electoral Rolls: Analysis of a Multi-Agency
E-Government Project in Pakistan
Hasnain Bokhari
Faculty of Humanities
University of Erfurt
Postfach 90 02 21. D-99105 Erfurt
+491632359046
hasnain.bokhari@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Mobile governments are seen as an ancillary extension of egovernment
practices. The low cost of mobile equipment, its
mobility factor and a personalised device may however, herald
them as the predominant means of e-government in developing
countries. Inclusive participation to mobilise and engage the
poorer, excluded and lesser-informed citizens has been the bane of
e-government yet, but it may change by including m-government
as an emphasis factor in the national e-government plans. This
paper considers the case study of the Election Commission of
Pakistan, which initiated a SMS-based voter verification system
with the central database authority in order to inform over 85
million voters of their electoral registration in March 2012. This
unique service is among the first public mobile based initiatives in
Pakistan which builds upon an inter-agency collaboration drawing
on the success of a digitized and central database.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
K.6.1 [Management of Computing and Information Systems]:
Project and People Management - Strategic information systems
planning; J.1 [Computer Applications]: Administrative Data
Processing – Government; H.1.2 [Information Systems]:
User/Machine Systems - Human information processing
General Terms
Management, Documentation, Human Factors, Verification.
Keywords
E-government, Developing Countries, Interagency collaboration,
M-government, Alternative public service delivery
1. INTRODUCTION
Rapidly declining costs of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) and mobile phone equipment are paving new
ways for a digitally connected society through a variety of
communications spectra. e-government initiatives are now taking
a crucial turn in the domain of public service delivery. A number
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ICEGOV '12, October 22 - 25 2012, Albany, NY, USA
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158
Mustafa Khan
Willy Brandt School of Public Policy
University of Erfurt
Postfach 90 02 21. D-99105 Erfurt
+4917671704089
mmmkhan@gmail.com
of countries are emphasizing horizontal and vertical integration of
governmental agencies to ensure the one-stop-shop promise of egovernment.
Thus, multiple governmental agencies cooperate
with one another and more importantly with private partners in
order to develop innovative eServices. Similarly, countries
especially in the developing world are increasingly moving
towards the concept of electronic public service delivery over
multiple channels digital communication other than the internet.
To connect with and inform citizens, governments around the
world are now considering mobile phones as an alternative service
delivery channel for government data. In the context of
developing countries, mobile phones offer a feasible opportunity
for governments to expand their digital focus to the disconnected
areas. The entire ‘e’ lexicon of e-government is now focusing
towards ‘m’ making a plausible case for m-government. Mgovernment,
in a nutshell is not hugely different from its
predecessor. Rather it offers a strategy for providing information
and services through mobile or wireless technology [21]. As the
definition relies on e-government practices, the basic theory and
implications of m-government are going to work as
complementary to e-government.
What sets m-government apart and makes it a new focus area are
its strengths of “mobility” and being “wireless” [33]. Freeing the
user from desktop-bound and wired internet access, it allows
information access on the move, increased functionality, low
opportunity cost for access and more pervasive reach into
‘unwired’ or physically unsupported areas. This latter property
makes it the ideal infrastructure choice in developing or underdeveloped
countries, where internet access is expensive or not
available and requires more technical literacy. It must, however,
be noted that m-government does not need to eliminate the online
and offline modalities of service-delivery but it aims at harnessing
the powerful and transformational capacity of the mobile platform
to enhance public service [16].
Since the beginning of new millennium, there has been a
phenomenal growth in mobile subscription around the world. In
2011, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated
5.9 billion mobile subscriptions, with a global penetration rate at
an astounding 87%-79% in developing countries against a global
internet penetration rate of 35% [17]. What matters here the most
is the social construction of mobile technology, which qualifies
the mobile platform as a preferred means of communication due
to the oral communication culture it espouses. Given its spatial
mobility and flexibility to manage contextual mobility with an