Designing e-Government for the Poor - Tanzania Development ...

The Golden Projects are China’s telecommunication and information
infrastructure initiatives. These projects aim to expand the use of technology
and build networks in the following areas: fiscal, tariffs, tax, audit,
agriculture, social insurance, and employment services. Challenges towards
implementing e-government include geographical inequalities and resources.
For example, more than 20 per cent of cities in Western China do not have
a web site. In the future, the Government of China plans to bring into
operation a central government web site, reinforce IT training and education
for civil servants, and popularize the use of technology among students
and society.
D. India
Summary of Country Reports
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology which
was formed in 1999 is the nodal agency under which various related
organizations work towards development of initiatives for advancement of
IT in the country. The Information Technology Act 2000 of India, has
provided legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic
data interchange and other means of electronic communication,
commonly referred to as electronic commerce. The Government of India
has set up a Centre for e-Governance (CEG). The primary activities of the
Centre are to showcase the best practices in the area of e-governance,
conduct programmes for creating awareness among decision makers in the
central and state Governments, demonstrate the feasibility of concepts in egovernance
to the decision makers through workshops, help the central and
state Governments in defining and implementing policy changes, and to
enrich the repository of best practices through continuous interaction with
subject experts from India and abroad. India ranks at number 59 out of 71
countries on the E-governance Index (2004), and at number 50 on the
Network Readiness Index (2002). In 2005, the Government unveiled the
National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) with the following vision: “All Government
services accessible to the common man in his locality, throughout
his life through a one-stop-shop (integrated service delivery) ensuring
efficiency, transparency, and reliability at affordable costs to meet the basic
needs of the common man.” Some examples of e-government services
currently available in India are the following: land records are accessible at
the village level through web-enabled GIS based records; and application,
registration, tax returns, and payment of bills are conducted online. All
Government ministries and departments have web sites. A National
Informatics Centre has set up kiosks in remote parts of the country to
advance the goal of computer education and to increase awareness on ICT.
Research and development in e-governance has also been the focus of the
government.
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