References: http://www.negst.com/targets.

htm
explains Dr G D Gautama, Secretary, IT, Government of West Bengal

APPLICATION AND SENSITIZATION OF E-GOVERNMENT IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

INTRODUCTION

Application of information & communication tools in government, world over, is currently changing
the way government business is implemented with emphasis on due diligence, transparency,
efficiency & delivery.This is to get Government to deliver more & better services to the governed.

WHAT IS E-G6VERNMENT?
e-Government is the use of information & communication technologies to improve the efficiency,
effectiveness, transparency & accountability of governance. Therefore the process of
egovernance is the deployment of ICT tools and processes for efficient administration &
enhanced revenue generation for better governance.

Deliverables:

• National Information & Communication Infrastructure

• Multi-stakeholders portals for access to government information
• IT Skill Acquisition for all
• Human Resources Administration
• Payroll & Pension Administration
• Electronic Tax Administration
• Treasury & Revenue Management
• Accounts Receivable/Payable
• Works & Contract Administration
• e-Procurement & Price Intelligence
• Health & Hospital Administration
• Online permits, renewals, e-filling etc.
• Education & Students Administration
• Agriculture & Natural Resources
• Housing & Urban Planning
• Judiciary, Laws & Regulation
• Police Command & Control System
• Legislature
• Project Management
• Transportation
• Investment Place Marketing
• e-Tourism, eKiosk
• e-Payment, eMarketplace

Why do we need E-government?

The President has declared,

“… it will no longer be business as usual”

and especially by taking major steps on privatization, monetisation, and deregulation, he signaled
no going back.
He capped this with: “… we have adopted a national policy for Information and Communications
Technologies … with emphasis on Public-Private-Partnership … to ensure that our country is part
of the evolving Information Society … ”

- President O. Obasanjo at UN-WSIS, Geneva, Dec 2003

eGovernment can transform citizen service, provide access to information to empower citizens,
enable their participation in government and enhance citizen economic and social opportunities,
so that they can make better lives, for themselves and for the next generation.

Governments are specialized institutions that contribute to governance. Representative

governments seek and receive citizen support, but they also need the active cooperation of their
public servants. Governance is the outcome of politics, policies, and programs.

"e-governance, however, is not really the use of IT in governance but as a tool to ensure good
governance. e-governance does not mean proliferation of computers and accessories; it is
basically a political decision which calls for discipline, attitudinal change in officers and
employees, and massive government process re-engineering,"Ravi Kant (Special Secretary, IT,
Govt. of West Bengal) explains.

All implementers and drivers of e-governance initiatives agree that the biggest challenge of
deploying e-governance is not technology but change management. Change management is
important not only in terms of cultural change but also in terms of changing operations and
processes workflow that the automated environment will introduce.
According to Guatama G.D., "It's important to educate people at all levels about the benefits of
technology. The various benefits and advantages of e-enabling the system should be
communicated clearly right at the beginning to ensure popular support which will lead to greater
chances of success,".

It is important to explain to people that the introduction of IT will not take away existing jobs but
will make them easier, and if less manpower is required for operations the staff can be re-
deployed elsewhere with no threat to their career growth path.

e-governement is not a panacea on itself, although it can facilitate change and create new, more
efficient administrative processes, e-government will not solve all problems of corruption and
inefficiency, nor will it overcome all barriers to civic engagement. Moreover, e-government does
not just happen becase a government buys more computers and puts up a website. While online
service delivery can be more efficient and less costly than other channels, cost savings and
service improvements are not automatic. E-government is a process that requires planning,
sustained dedication of resources and political will [World Bank InfoDev.]. Hence, the key
challenges with electronic governance are not technology or internet issues but organizational
issues like

• Redefining rules and procedures

• Information transparency
• Legal issues
• Infrastructure, Skill and awareness
• Access to right information
• Interdepartmental collaboration
• Tendency to resist the change in work culture

Other obstacles are geographical distances, lack of trained human resources, and lack of ICT
penetration in remote areas. For instance, a good e-governance application will not benefit
anybody in remote areas if there is no supporting infrastructure such as electricity, computers and
connectivity.
According to Ravi Kant, Many pilots have been successfully implemented in almost all areas of
e-governance, but, rather than having an obsession to undertake pilot projects, we should
capitalise on the existing successful examples in the country and customise them for our use.

The other set of challenges lie in extending the reach of e-Governance services to 70% of Indian
population that lives in villages. These include:

• Assessment of local needs and customizing e-Governance solutions to meet those needs
• Connectivity
• Content (local content based on local language)
• Building Human Capacities
• e-Commerce
• Sustainability

FOUNDATIONS OF E-GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA

• Nigerian Government has adopted a national policy on Information and Communication

Technologies and is prepared to integrate to Agriculture, Health, Education etc
• Government has also enacted a National Telecommunications Act and an independent
regulatory body
• The Federal Government launched data and research satellite in 2003 and approved
plans to launch communications satellite in 2006
• NITDA, in the last 2 years, has established the platform for ICT development, significant
G2G awareness and set up basis for eGovernment initiatives in Nigeria
• Nigerian Government has adopted Private-Public Partnership of a tripartite Joint Venture
registered as National eGovernment Strategies Limited, NeGSt comprising Government
(5%), Consortium of Banks (15%) and a Strategic Partner (80%).

Mandate of the Joint Venture

To create a practical strategy and a single architecture to guide the evolution of digital
government solutions with consistent standards, operating platforms and applications across
agencies and government systems.

Steps to eGovernment initiatives in Nigeria.

1. full commitment of Mr. President; Political will of government,

2. establish NeGST through public-private partnership,
 3. Raise N500 million through Public-Private partnership-PPP
4. Build eGovernment back-end and platform in Abuja for integration and interaction
5. obtain Buy-in of Pilot agencie.
6. proof of concept and phased roll-out

GoNigeria

GAINS

eREFORM
Improved
eGOVT Services
eCOMMERCE
CITIZEN
PROFIT
S
Private
Sector

The figure above illustrate the relationship between the private-public partnership.

How E-Government Interacts With Its Citizens

According to James X. Dempsey e-Government, in the first place targets;
• Presidency
• Federal Government Ministries, Parastatals & Agencies
• Armed Forces, the Nigerian Police, Paramilitary Establishment
• The Universities & Other Institutions
• The Judiciary
• The Legislature
• State Governments Ministries & Agencies
• Local Government Councils
• Multinationals
• Hospitals
• Hotels & Travel Agencies
• GSM & Other Wireless Operators
• Citizens and Community Members

From the ongoing, we see that e-Government is the use of information and communications
technology (ICT) to transform government by making it more accessible to citizens, more
effective, and more accountable. According to this definition e-government does not mean putting
more computers on the desks of government officials. Rather, it concerns the relationship
between government officials and citizens. This relationship between government officials and
citizens exist by;

• Providing greater access to government information by making laws, draft laws, regulations,
forms, and economic or scientific data collected by the government accessible online;

• Promoting civic engagement by enabling the public to interact more conveniently with
government officials, for instance, by obtaining permits or filing required documents electronically

• Increasing government accountability by making its operations more transparent, thereby

reducing opportunities for corruption

• Supporting development goals by lessening the time and expense small businesses expend in
their dealings with the government and by providing rural and traditionally underserved
communities with information and communications capabilities.

E-government is not a phenomenon limited to the richer countries. Indeed, some of the most
innovative uses of the Internet in governance are appearing in the developing world as ICT is
increasingly being used to streamline government and connect it more closely with the people it is
intended to serve.

Recently, the World Bank’s information Development (InfoDev) program supported the Center for
Democracy and Technology in compiling an e-government handbook. The goal of this
undertaking was to offer concrete guidance to government officials and others, presenting for the
first time a comprehensive index of e-government models and resources based on success
stories from transition and developing countries. The handbook presents a compilation of
roadmaps for policymakers considering e-government as a mechanism for reform.

http://www.cdt.org/egov/handbook/.

E-government does not materialize simply because a government buys more computers and puts
up a web site, nor is it sufficient merely to automate administrative practices from the paper world.
Rather, e-government is a process of transforming government. As such it requires planning,
political will, and sustained dedication of resources. Note that neither the purchase of more
advanced technology nor the automation of complex procedures can bring about greater
effectiveness in government or increased rates of civic participation. Technological innovations
will not change the mentality of bureaucrats who do not view the citizen as a customer of
government or a participant in decision making.

The Three Phases of E-Government

E-government is not simply a matter of giving government officials computers or automating old
practices. Neither the use of computers nor the automation of complex procedures can bring
about greater effectiveness in government or promote civic participation. Focusing solely on
technological solutions will not change the mentality of bureaucrats who view the citizen as
neither a customer of government nor a participant in decision-making. Understood correctly, e-
government utilizes technology to accomplish reform by fostering transparency, eliminating
distance and other divides, and empowering people to participate in the political processes that
affect their lives. Governments have different strategies to build e-government. Some have
created comprehensive long-term plans. Others have opted to identify just a few key areas as the
focus of early projects. In all cases, however, the countries identified as most successful have
begun with smaller projects in phases on which to build a structure. To assist policymakers in
devising their own plans and initiatives, this handbook divides the process of e-government
implementation into three phases. These phases are not dependent on each other, nor need one
phase be completed before another can begin, but conceptually they offer three ways to think
about the goals of e-government.

PHASE 1: PUBLISH – USING ICT TO EXPAND ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

Governments generate huge volumes of information, much of it potentially useful to individuals
and businesses. The Internet and other advanced communications technologies can bring this
information quickly and more directly to citizens. “Publish” implementations of e-government
diverge widely in their design and content, but developing nations generally can start the process
of e-government by publishing government information online, beginning with rules and
regulations, documents, and forms. Enabling citizens and businesses to readily access
government information without having to travel to government offices, stand in long lines or pay
bribes can be a revolutionary advance for nations wracked by inefficient bureaucracy and
corruption.
Publish sites seek to disseminate information about government and information compiled by
government to as wide an audience as possible. In doing so, publish sites serve as the leading
edge of e-government.
To be able to carry out this phase successfully, government has to do the following; Begin with a
strategy to get information online, with appropriate milestones.
There are pockets of eGovernment activity in Nigeria
– Most Government organisations are at the PUBLISH phase
_ With static websites, providing basic information
• Post information of value to people in their daily lives, and emphasize local language content.
• Consider a mandate that all agencies publish a specified range of information online.
• Seek attainable results using available resources.
• Design sites so they are easy to maintain, and sustain funding to ensure that information is
updated regularly.
• Focus on content that supports other goals, e.g. economic development, anti-corruption,
attracting foreign direct investment.
PHASE 2: INTERACT – BROADENING CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT
Publish sites, however rich in content, are just a first step. E-government has the potential to
involve citizens in the governance process by engaging them in interaction with policymakers
throughout the policy cycle and at all levels of government. Strengthening civic engagement
contributes to building public trust in government. Interactive e-government involves two-way
communications, starting with basic functions like email contact information for government
officials or feedback forms that allow users to submit comments on legislative or policy proposals.
This phase of e-government may also include the creation of citizen/government forums, such as
one set up by the Armenian government. Such forums constitute online communities where
people can exchange ideas, broaden public awareness of issues, and establish new opportunities
for activism not constrained by distance. In the Armenian case, citizens are encouraged to
communicate on issues ranging from political participation to environmental protection. The
government is far from the INTEGRATE phase
– There is no single point of interaction with the Government
– Most government organisations run separate un-integrated programmes
– Most government organisations do not have back office systems
– eProcurement is not yet in practice
– Ongoing attempts to establish back-office systems and integrate across selected
ministries (IFEMIS, HRMS etc.)

In this phase the government should;

• Show citizens that their engagement matters, by informing them of the outcomes of their online
comments.
• Break down complex policy issues into easy-to understand components.
• Be proactive about soliciting participation; use traditional media to publicize online consultations.
• Engage citizens collaboratively in the design phase.

PHASE 3 - TRANSACT: MAKING GOVERNMENT SERVICES AVAILABLE ONLINE

Governments can go further, by creating websites that allow users to conduct transactions online.
Just as the private sector in developing countries is beginning to make use of the Internet to offer
e-commerce services, governments will be expected to do the same with their services. Potential
cost savings, accountability through information logs and productivity improvements will be
important drivers.
A transact website offers a direct link to government services, available at any time. In the past,
government services such as land registration or the renewal of ID cards required long waits,
confrontation with stifling bureaucracy and the occasional
bribe. Innovations such as citizen service kiosks located in shopping centers in Brazil or portable
government computers that can be carried into rural pockets of India bring
e-government directly to the citizens of of developing nations. Perhaps the biggest incentive for
governments utilizing and providing ICT services is to streamline currently bureaucratic and labor-
intensive procedures, which can save money and increase productivity in the long-run.
Furthermore, by automating and revamping procedures and processes, especially in revenue-
generating areas such as tax and fine collection, governments hope to stem corruption and graft,
improving revenues while elevating trust in government at the same time.
A prime example of this effort is the highway toll collection system in Gujarat Province, India,
where toll booth operators were allowing dangerously overloaded trucks through for a bribe and
pocketing a share of the tolls collected. By investing in an automated and secure tracking system
that automatically calculates tolls and fines and then deducts them from the carrier’s account.
Delays and corruption were significantly minimized and revenues trebled, paying for the
technology in one year. Few Government organisations are at the TRANSACT phase
_ FIRS utilising the InterSwitch platform
_ CAC – Corporate Affairs Commission
_ JAMB/WAEC
– Most Government organisations by-pass the INTERACT phase
_ Little or no solicitation of feedback, no closure of the loop

In this phase the government should;

• Target audiences that will have immediate use for the online services.
• Enlist the support of those who will be using the site and address the concerns of government
workers whose role will change as a result of the innovation.
• Integrate e-government with process reform, streamlining and consolidating processes before
putting them online.
• Recognize that initial investments in transact systems can pay off over time in terms of cost
savings and increased revenue.
• Create a portal for transact services.

TRANSFORMING GOVERNMENT
E-government is about transforming the way government interacts
with the governed. The process is neither quick nor simple. It requires
a coherent strategy, beginning with an examination of the nation’s
political will, resources, regulatory environment, and ability of the
population to make use of planned technologies. The success of e-
government requires fundamentally changing how government works
and how people view the ways in which government helps them. There
is no “one size fits all” strategy in implementing e-government, but we
have identified five essential elements in the transformation process.
Some words of caution – the primary motivation for e-government
reforms should not be focused on saving money or cutting staff. While
those can often be valuable results, the
savings incurred from e-government initiatives most often benefit
businesses and citizens utilizing the improved system, and not
necessarily the government agencies that invested in ICT. In order to
realize efficiencies, moreover, governments must develop a citizen-
centric model that involves key stakeholders outside of government –
businesses, trade associations, scientists, academics, and NGOs.
Without their input, egovernment projects are unlikely to succeed,
because citizens will not use a system that does not respond to heir
needs.
Once a consensus has been reached, leaders must fully communicate
the vision to the public.

• PROCESS REFORM.

Critical to the success of e-government transformation is the understanding that e-

government is not just about the automation of existing process and inefficiencies.
Rather, it is about the creation of new processes and new relationships between governed
and governor.

The use of ICT is not merely a cost or labor saving tool, to be achieved
simply by giving government officials computers or automating manual
records. Rather, if conceived and designed correctly, e-government is
a solution that can genuinely revolutionize the process of government
itself. Therefore, government leaders planning e-government
projectsshould first examine the function or operation to which they
want to apply
ICT: For example, governments should use ICT to bring transparency to problems, where
the transparency represents a new way of addressing the problem. Or, to take another
example, if the subject of an e-government project is procurement, officials and
companies that do business with the government should first examine the entire process
by which the government publishes solicitations and qualifies bidders and the
requirements for filing bids.
• LEADERSHIP.

In order to achieve the e-government transformation, elected

officials and administrators are needed at all levels of
government who understand the technology and the policy
goals and who will push reform.
E-government requires strong political leadership in order to succeed.
Strong leadership can ensure the long-term commitment of resources
and expertise and the cooperation
of disparate factions. Leadership can also articulate a unifying theme
that can propel the e-government initiative through all the necessary
steps. For example, by declaring Internet access a “human right,” the
Estonian leadership created strong national support for the
implementation of the Tiger Leap Forward Initiative, a multi-sectoral
program that is aiming to create 300 Internet centers in Estonia by
2002 and whose eventual goal is to create a completely e-literate
society. While it is not essential that governments declare Internet
access a human right, leaders do need to understand that results will
be most likely if they elevate the public profile of their vision and press
for its successful implementation by tying it to broader human
development and democratization goals.
The e-procurement system in Chile illustrates another approach to the
leadership factor: One way for governments to spur development of e-
government is through the creation of a central government agency
that has not only expertise but also institutional
authority to implement change. In Chile, this was the Communications
and Information Technology Unit (UTIC), created in 1998 and given the
mandate of coordinating e- government efforts. In taking the lead role
in developing an eprocurement system, it garnered support at the
cabinet level, lobbied the political parties and labor unions, and lined
up private backing from a consortium of companies that included the
nation’s telecom companies, a well-known consulting firm, and the
leading Chilean Internetbased
applications company. In doing this, the government needs to
Create an office and designate a senior official as a focal point
for e-government innovation, planning and oversight.
• Signal Presidential/Prime Ministerial support for the initiative
to ensure that all
relevant departments and agencies support it.

• STRATEGIC INVESTMENT.

Governments will need to prioritize some programs over others

to maximize vailable funds in view of tightly limited resources.
This will necessitate clear objectives for programs and a clear
route to those objectives.
Developing nations must choose projects carefully in order to optimize
their investment of time and resources. Projects should have clear
value in terms of enhancing transparency, increasing citizen
participation in the governance process, cutting bureaucratic red tape,
or saving money. Standards and benchmarks must be established to
measure the relative success of these projects. For example, in
Gujarat, India, the automation of toll checkpoints resulted in a
significant increase in revenue normally lost to corrupt border agents,
so that the system paid for itself within a year.
• Define clear goals.
• • Catalogue available resources, ranging from funding to
personnel.
• Make short and long-terms plans, with expected
expenditures, income streams and deadlines.
• Designate an officer or organizing body that will oversee
planning and budgets.
• Consider multi-technology approaches. Some communities
may not be ready for the Internet, but other technologies like
radio may better serve their needs.
• Consultations with local communities will help ensure that they benefit from
technology.

• COLLABORATION.

Governments will have to explore new relationships among

government agencies as well as partnerships with the private
sector and NGOs to ensure quality and accessibility of e-
government. Agencies may have to overcome traditional
reluctance to work with each other to maximize benefits of
scale in e-government projects.
Collaboration among government entities, private enterprises and
NGOs can assist olicymakers in crafting meaningful reforms and can
expedite the implementation of e-government.
Private sector experts, who deeply understand topics such as e-commerce, information
technology, marketing, and management, can advise government policymakers. The
private sector may have considerable expertise that can help meet the challenges of
increasing efficiency, capacity, and “consumer” (that is, citizen) satisfaction.
In the planning phase, establish a consultative process that
includes opportunities to hear from and speak with business,
NGO’s and other government agencies. Explain the goals of the
e-government initiative and solicit suggestions.
• Take private sector advice and experience into account when
designing systems. Respond to identified needs.
• Create incentives for the private sector to become active
participants in reform.
• Encourage cooperation and integration between
departments/ministries of government.
• Local champions will help projects succeed. To decrease
skepticism in local communities, directly involve local leaders
by making them representatives,
and by teaching them IT skills they can pass on to their
communities.
• Create local ownership. In conjuction with the establishment
of a local management committee or body, handover of e-
government projects should occur as soon as possible.
• Federal agencies and state and municipal agencies and authorities need to partner to
ensure a smooth reform in services.

• CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.

The success of e-government initiatives depends on an

engaged citizenry and, to that end, efforts to foster civic
engagement are critical.
The concept of e-government revolves around the citizen. E-
government is not just a cost cutting or efficiency initiative, but rather
is directed at bettering the lives of ordinary eople. In order to develop
this citizenfocused vision, policymakers must keep the ordinary citizen
in mind when designing systems. If at all possible, policy makers and
designers should encourage stakeholders – both government and
nongovernment – to participate in defining what their shared vision of
e-government should accomplish. And
once that vision is clearly defined, leaders must communicate it across all sectors, not just
to those who will implement it.
Consult widely in designing systems.
• Design applications that are focused on the citizen.
• Combine e-government with legal reform efforts such as
requiring public notice and comment in legislative and
regulatory processes.
• Keep in mind differences in local culture when seeking to
engage citizens.
• Design engagement opportunities that build on successful models.

The author is deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based
NGO promoting democratic values and human rights in the field of digital communications
technologies. He is also policy director for the Global Internet Policy Initiative, a joint project of
the Center for Democracy and Technology and Internews active in developing and transition
nations. He can be reached at jdempsey@cdt.org.
THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF E-GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA:
Poor Infrastructure: increasing inefficiencies and the cost of doing business
– Power
– Telecoms & IT Security
– Postal services and logistics
_ Weak legislation and public policy: need to cater for the application of ICT to
government, causing legal or policy barriers
– Inadmissibility of digital signatures and digital documents
– Limitations of electronic documents and transactions
_ Low literacy and e-literacy rates: number of potentially eligible population is low
– Literacy rate of 68% including a larger pool of people who are not e-literate
_ Low internet penetration
– Low number of internet users across the country (about 2m distinct users which is less than 2%
penetration)
_ Lack of Trust: among agencies, between agencies, across governments, and with
businesses, NGOs and citizens
– Considerations of Privacy vs. Security
_ Lack of Transparency: of online rules, regulations and requirements for government
services (such as requirements for obtaining a license) to minimize subjective actions by officials
Lack of Interoperability: of systems and record formats that are integrated across
departments and government agencies
_ Poor Records Management: need to manage government information and
records in a cohesive manner
– Permanent Availability and Preservation of historical documentation
_ Lack of Education and Publicity: of the populace on the availability and benefits
of eGovernment services
_ No clear definition of Public/Private Co-opetition (Co-operation and
Competition): reducing the occurrence of public and private sector collaborative
efforts
_ Rigid labour market and shortage of Skilled labour
_ More Arts graduates than Sciences from the 76 Universities
_ Poor Science, Technology & ICT Education due to weak funding
_ Huge Cost Structures: without strategic investments in sustainable programs that
can produce tangible savings
_ Lack of Benchmarking/Qualitative Measurement: to regularly evaluate the
progress and effectiveness of all e-government investments
– To establish whether stated goals and objectives are being met

For
 PULIC SECTOR
OTHER PRODUCERS
ORGANISATION
OF DATA – CBN, SPECIAL PROJECTS
FCTNet NNPC, NDE,
SMEDAN, NAPEP, PRIVATE SECTOR
STATE, LGA, ETC
ETC. ORGANISATION
NBSNet
GeoSpatialNet RESEARCH INSTITUTES
BUREAU OF STATISTICS AND UNIVERSITIES
PSNet
INTERNATIONAL
TRADENet ORGANISATION
NITDA – NeGST CENTRE
CITIZENSNet

BACK-END ENGINE
IFEMISNet INTERNATIONAL DATABASES-
SPECIAL PROCESSOR,
SPECTRAL ANALYSIS, World Bank, IMF, UNDP, EU etc
CORRELATION AND REPORT
SYSTEM.

INTERNET
NOTE:
GEO-SPATIAL DATA
OTHER DATASETS
BoSNET y bureau of Statistics
CONTENT MANAGEMENT GeoSpatialNet by NGD/NARSDA
APPLICATION SERVER PSNet –Pulic Service Network by FGN
DATABASE SERVER TradeNet –Trade Network by NeGSt PPP
Citiens Net by NeGSt PPP
Information technology has ushered in possibilities that have made a fundamental impact on the
human society. There has not been any other technology in the history of mankind that has
touched so many in so short a period of time. The initial experimentation with the associated
business models and democratization of the technology during the dotcom era has provided a
rich knowledge base on how to leverage Internet for the greater good. What has followed is an
evolved vision enabling a moderated approach, tempered by ground realities. Most industries
have already significantly adopted Internet technology to not only enhance their productivity and
efficiency but also to develop innovative models for conducting business. It is but natural that the
biggest industry in the world, the business of Governance, begins to adopt this technology,
especially under pressures to perform in a democratic setup. This would imply looking into the
gamut of issues concerning people, processes and technology. It is envisioned that our
governments will transform to a government online. Government online connotes a single point of
access to all government information and greater citizen interaction with the governments through
Internet based online services in an organized and efficient manner. It also helps actualize the
potential to streamline relationships between government, business and citizens.

Since government departments currently operate as silos, hence as a first step towards a single
window to government, an architecture needs to be created to enable the departments to operate
in a coordinated fashion. From the discussions with various governments, it is evident that the
one single most important function that cuts across departments and that force departments to
collaborate is financial management. Right from budget preparation to budget execution to
tracking of funds at DDO (Drawing and Disbursement Officer) level, every department goes
through the same set of pains. Hence it is imperative that governments adopt and integrated
financial management solution. Such a solution should also enable governments to switch from
cash based accounting to accrual based accounting, thereby protecting the government's IT
investment in the system from future changes in the accounting basis of the government. The
solution preferably also adheres to the World Bank Treasury Reference Model, thereby ensuring
that the global best practices in managing government financial systems is also adopted.

The next set of important activities that all departments in any government needs to do are
interacting and collaborating with other departments and agencies, managing their employees
and payroll, managing the large government projects and providing effective service to the
citizens. Therefore a natural application architecture that evolves out of this requirement is shown
in figure 1.
From a technology perspective, government solutions are mission critical and it is unacceptable
that governments are prevented from functioning because of a system failure. Therefore, the
systems need to have high availability built-in. Commercial technologies like Real Application
Cluster of Oracle are appropriate for ensuring high availability.

The other pillar for technology is security. Imagine having systems that have the entire data of a
municipality including property tax information residing in them. Any security compromise on such
a system will completely undermine the faith in the government and may even lead to serious
financial losses for the government. One process of ensuring that the appropriate security is built
into the solutions is to adopt solutions having appropriate security certifications

The technology stack in total, includes technology pieces like packaged applications, database,
application servers, operating systems, Business Intelligence (Datawarehousing and
Datamining), support systems, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Open source software,
Document Management, Knowledge Management, Smart Cards, Biometrics, Telemedicines, and
Wireless. This list is obviously not exhaustive in nature. Keeping in view assortment of people
and their language preferences, any technology application for public services must take care of
the local language people use.

Once the government has its backend in place and has crystallized its application architecture
and IT architecture, it would be in a position to role out citizen-oriented services.

Many national, state and local governments in the developing countries have tried to e-enable
their service delivery mechanisms. But to date, most implementations have centered on
publishing of information with isolated instances of transactional service delivery through
government portals. One of the most successful attempts has been the eSeva implementation in
Andhra Pradesh that has become a success story because of deft handling of change
management issues. Moving out of the urban areas, the take up of these services have been low
primarily due to accessibility issue for the bulk of the population in these countries.

In fact, it is municipalities, also referred to as Urban Local Bodies (ULB's), which are aggressively
adopting e-governance. However, municipalities are facing problems in scaling up to this
demand. One of the primary issues holding them back is their financial management processes
and systems. In fact the most chronic and widespread of the problems that are being faced by
municipalities are pertaining to general administration and financial management.

It is believed that municipalities would benefit from a clearer division of functional responsibilities
and enhanced linkage among different levels of government that will ensure upward and
downward accountability. It will also help the State Finance Corporations in their constitutional
task of devolution of funds to municipalities.

Also, land development and infrastructure investment, which is critical for any urban body, needs
to be coordinated through integration of physical, financial and investment planning. There is a
need to link the spatial development plan with the resource mobilization plan.

Municipalities need to adopt an accrual based accounting system in order to have better control
over their financials. Municipalities would also want to follow commitment accounting in order to
ensure that they do not cross their budgets and thus reduce non-plan fiscal deficits. In order to
monitor funds utilization against grants, municipalities would need to have a grant management
solution to effectively report back on the utilization of the funds.

However, most Urban Local Bodies in India, with the exception of Tamil Nadu follow the
traditional governmental cash basis accounting system. Some forward-looking municipalities like
the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, has also adopted a modified accrual basis of accounting as an
intermediate basis of accounting. Others like New Delhi Municipal Corporation are in the process
of figuring out the process of migration to the double entry accrual based accounting system. In
the past, municipalities had to simply account for monies taken from the government for which the
cash-based system was adequate. But now, when the availability of information for day-to-day
management is the key issue in governance, the cash-based system is rendered totally irrelevant.

Municipalities normally maintain a register that tracks the bills received from contractors. But this
information normally does not appear in the accounts, as the receipt and payments account only
shows those payments that have already been made.

Hence, at any point in time, it is difficult to determine the financial health of the municipality.

In the accounts of the municipality, loan amounts appear on the receipt side and capital
expenditure incurred is treated like any other expense. Moreover, no capital work-in-progress is
reflected in any accounting statement per se. In case there are adjustments made by the State
government out of grants received, entries for various items of adjustment are not passed and
they are only made for the amount received.

One of the key problems arising out of the cash basis of accounting is that municipalities do not
prepare or publish balance sheets. Because of this practice, the overall financial position (assets,
liabilities, receivables or payables) of the municipality is not known at any point in time. Moreover,
the accrued income or expenditure is also not known. There are no journal vouchers or revenue
and expenditure accounts. Hence, the financial status of the municipality, for the period or year, is
not known.

Such a situation leads to difficulty in managing the financials of the municipality. It makes it
difficult for municipalities from going in for innovative financing of its projects by issuing bonds or
using other financial instruments. So it is obvious that implementing integrated financial
management systems for municipalities would benefit them tremendously.

In addition, municipalities like the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is using appropriate e-

governance solutions to increase revenue generation by a phenomenal 125%. The Kalyan
Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has used e-governance to create a highly successful
online citizen service with the objective of making each citizen's interaction with KDMC easy,
simple, and efficient, while ensuring accountability and transparency. The Coimbatore Municipal
Corporation (CMC) has used e-governance for a "Anytime, Anywhere" governance. This has
helped CMC in making their administrative processes transparent, efficient and productive. It also
helped in creating a simple, friendly and efficient interface for their citizens.

Another issue that has almost become synonymous with e-governance in India is the financing of
the e-governance projects, or more precisely the financing mechanism of Public Private
Partnership (PPP). It is an old mechanism of engaging with private partners, namely private
companies as well as Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) to bridge the gap in the quality,
speed and efficiency in the service delivery process in the public sector. In the e-governance, this
partnership has been cemented in public projects like creation of infrastructure and provisioning
of services in the entire gamut of activities relating to hardware, application software,
maintenance, finance and other activities. Governments have limited resources and therefore
cannot achieve everything by themselves. Already there is a financial crunch for investing in and
improving basic facilities like education, health care and infrastructure projects in roads, power
plants etc. Few governments have ready-cash for investing in IT-infrastructure projects. Therefore
governments are taking advantage of the complementary strengths of private players to achieve
the best results in the shortest possible time.

In fact e-Governance projects are infrastructure projects requiring large investments into an area
that is not the core competence of the Government. Moreover, there are multiple risks involved in
such projects. These risks are mainly technology risks, financial risks, operational risks and user
acceptability risks. Therefore the governments need to leverage its limited resources, which is
where private financing and operating skills come in handy.
Private players also bring in non-financial benefits like accountability, specialized skill sets,
enabling governments to sticking to their core competency of governance and administration,
providing ability to easily scaling up AND scaling down of operations, knowledge of specialist
organizations for e-government projects and project management skills. Private players have
done the same in the Golden Quadrilateral project and North-South, East-West Corridor that is,
as of now, the largest infrastructure project in the history of independent India.

Finally, comes the issue of change management. Although most governments who have
seriously started off on the path to e-governance are aware of the perils of ignoring change
management, still the basic tools of change management are being ignored in the rush to come
out with projects on the ground. Change management should start even before the project itself
has been identified. If the project affects the departments then one should have mechanisms to
involve the departments for conceptualizing the project and then keeping them informed about
the progress of the project as well as key decisions involving the project. A mechanism that has
been widely adopted is to have extended workshops to educate the departments on the
management issues of e-governance and the possibilities opened up by e-governance. Having
done that, the departments would be in a position to articulate their requirements, based on which
projects can be conceptualized. Such a process also helps in reducing the "re-inventing of the
wheel" by reducing re-development of common applications. It also helps in prioritizing the
applications to be developed by identifying the common applications that needs to be rolled out.
The workshop approach also helps in creating an appropriate technology architecture that can be
centralized as apriori the government can get a view of the total requirement of all the
departments. Finally, the workshop helps in getting the buy-in and ownership for the solutions so
that during the actual implementation of the solution, the departments extend their full support to
the project. This is absolutely critical as such large and complex projects are highly people
dependent.

India is being looked upon as the source of innovative low cost e-governance solutions that are
appropriate for countries besotted with poor physical infrastructure around the world. So not only
should we be developing and implementing the best-in-class solutions for e-governance for the
sake of a more efficient government and consequently a more efficient domestic economy but
also because it is our responsibility to be the thought leaders in e-governance in order to help out
countries facing similar socio-economic issues. And of course, no one is in doubt that the Indian
central, state and local governments will stand up to this challenge, but the issue is how efficiently
and how fast can they show the results.
eGovernance is gradually emerging as the the more efficient alternative to the way governments,
the world over, discharge their functions. Dr. Pradeep Sinha examines the merits of e-
Governance and C-DAC’s expertise in this relatively unexplored area.

The extensive use of Information Technology (IT) in every walk of life has redefined the
fundamental principles of delivery of services and operation of service sectors, resulting in faster
and easier delivery of much better services than before. Govern-ments around the world have
started realizing that the advancements in IT can as well be utilized to provide better services to
citizens and business. As a result, a wide range of IT applications are being developed in various
Government departments. Electronic Governance (popularly referred to as e-Governance) has
emerged as a keyword for all such IT applications, that take advantage of IT to reinvent the way
the Government works. Often e-Governance is used as a synonym to describe an IT driven
system of Governance that works better, costs less and is capable of servicing the needs of the
citizens and businesses as never before. Its goal is to create a more responsive, productive and
effective administration. e-Governance is also referred to as SMART Governance because it aims
at using IT to the processes of Government functioning to bring about Simple, Moral,
Accountable, Responsive and Transparent Governance.

The solutions for e Government Development include:

– Reforms
– Improved Technology
– Collaboration
– Strategic investments
– Enabling legislation
– Customer engagement

Improved Technology

_Take urgent steps to improve ICT skills and capacity

_ deliberate policy to encourage enrollment in Sciences & Technology Including

scholarship grants

_ Increased funding of Science, Technology & ICT Education including endowments by the
private sector
_ Universities to do more R&D and network with other leading global institutions to share best
practices
_ Increased linkage between the private sector and higher institutions of learning and research
_ Increase Internet and ICT penetration
_ Implement the IT Policy defined by NITDA
_ Computer For All Nigerians Initiative (CANI) and other schemes to encourage local PC
assembly, reduce cost and improved ownership of PCs
_ Increased Internet access and bandwidth by the GSM companies and PTOs
_ Ensure widespread adoption of security, authentication, certification and encryption
technologies
Reforms:
Over-haul of strategy, process, and technology
_ Process reforms requiring creation of new processes, streamlining and
consolidating offline processes before putting them online
_ Don’t automate inefficiencies, eliminate them
_ Strong Leadership displayed by elected officials and government
administrators at all levels of government
_ Dispel resistance of civil servants by training and incentives to support
reform
_ Ensure commitment of resources for the long-term

Collaoration:
Clearly define guidelines for Public/Private Co-opetition (Co-operation and
Competition
_ Establish a regular consultative process that includes opportunities to hear from and speak with
business, NGO’s and other government agencies
_ Take private sector advice and experience into account when designing systems
– Respond to identified needs
_ Create incentives for the private sector to become active participants in reform
_ Encourage cooperation and integration between departments/ministries of government
_ Appoint local champions in local communities, who will help projects succeed
– To decrease skepticism in local communities
– Directly involve local leaders by making them representatives, and by teaching them IT skills
they can pass on to their communities
_ Create local ownership, in conjunction with the establishment of a local management committee
or body,
– Handover of e-government projects should occur as soon as possible
_ Federal agencies and state and municipal agencies and authorities need to partner to ensure
smooth reform in services

Strategic Investments
_ Define clear goals
_ Catalogue available resources, ranging from funding to personnel
_ Make short and long-terms plans, with expected expenditures, income streams and deadlines
_ Designate an organizing body that will oversee planning and budgets
_ Consider multi-technology and infrastructure approaches
– Some communities may not be ready for the Internet, but other technologies like radio may
better serve their needs
_ Consultations with local communities will help ensure that they benefit from technology

Legislation and Regulation:

Establish tax incentives to promote eGovernment services patronage
_ Government must increase spending to facilitate and subsidize eGovernment development
_ Introduce regulations to increase business and consumer protections
_ Continue the fight against corruption (EFCC, ICPC), strengthen the rule of law and enforce all
legislations including admissibility of digital signatures/documents and electronic transactions
_ Regulations to promote increased private sector participation to improve infrastructure – Power,
Telecoms, Postal services and logistics
_ Conclude the ongoing reforms of the banking industry, tax system and the payment system to
improve the use of electronic payments
_ Real Time Gross Settlement Systems
_ eBanking Guidelines for deployment of ATMs, POS, Cards

Customer Engagement:
_ Establish incentives to promote adoption of eGovernment practices, especially by the over 65m
Nigerians between the ages of 15 – 45
_ The over 20million GSM lines now in Nigeria provides an opportunity to democratise access to
Internet technology and eGovernance initiatives
_ Within the mass consumer marketplace, more and more consumers are becoming Internet
enabled
– In the banking industry, customers are becoming more comfortable with faceless transactions.
– Over 100% growth in number of debit cards over the last 2 years (now 1.5m) and more cash
withdrawals now being done via ATMs
– 23 out of the 25 banks now issue local debit cards
– Internet shopping is gradually picking up, especially for airline reservation and ticketing (Virgin
Nigeria, Aero Contractor)
 REFERENCES

Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM
has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references.

Abernethy, R. J. et al. The Working Group on E-government in the Developing World. Roadmap
for E-government in the Developing World. Los Angeles: Pacific Council on International Policy.
www.pacficcmunul.org, April 2002

Agunloye, O. "Implementing the Nigeria eGovt Programme" Paper presented at Abuja:

UNeGov.net Workshop on e-Governance, July 2006.

Clift, S. E-Democracy, E-Governance and Public Net-Work. http//www.publicus.net/, 2003.

Ojo, A. and Estevez, E. Strategic Planning for Electronic Governance. United Nations University -
International Institute for Software Technology, 2006.

The eGovernment Handbook for Developing Countries. InfoDev and the Center for Democracy
and Technology, November 2002.

Yusuf, O. Solutions for e-Government Development in Nigeria. Accenture EIU Government

Research, 2006.

IMPLEMENTATION OF E-GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA

The implementation strategies involve all the players of the e-government initiative. The
stakeholders/ players, as already discussed are mentioned below and their role relationship is as
seen in the diagram below:

1. PPP for Private sector Drive, Funds, Management and Discipline

2. Agency in the Driver’s seat
3. NeGSt for facilitation, shared services and guidelines
4. Leveraging: current tendencies, technical partners, solution providers,
infrastructure owners

N
F I N
G T P Project Owners Project
D Collaborators More
N C
A Openings

Agency NAPCOF NITPA/NIDO

Core eGovt
Support

NeGSt
For standards, shared
services & integration eNigeria.com.ng
IFEMIS

PSNet DataCentre
eGovernment
NBSNet Platform
eSolutions

OtherNet
Capacity Building
Steps to eGovt Initiative in Nigeria:

1. full commitment of president; political will of government.

2. establish NeGSt through public and private partnership.
3. raise N500 million through private investors.
4. build e-government back-end platform in Abuja for integration and
interaction.
5. obtain buy-in of pilot agencies
6. proof of concept and phased roll-out.
 (According to Dr. Olu Agunloye, A presentation at
UNeGovt Workshop
on eGovernance
24 July 2006

• Infrastructure Development
• Law and Public Policy
• Digital Divide
· E-literacy
· Accessibility
• Trust
· Privacy
· Security
• Transparency
• Interoperability
• Records Management
• Permanent Availability and Preservation
• Education and Marketing
• Public/Private Competition/Collaboration
• Workforce Issues
• Cost Structures
• Benchmarking/Qualitative Methods