Digital – Governance
E-Readiness
Aarti Rani
School of Computer Applications
Babu Banarsi Das University
Lucknow -UP
Topics Covered
E-Readiness
Case Study
Readiness meaning
The state of being fully prepared for something.
E-Readiness
⚫ A country’s capacity and ability to provide services
through the Internet.
⚫ Degree of preparedness of a country for implementing
e-governance.
Definition of E-readiness
The level of knowledge or ability needed to understand
and implement digital technology or information.
⚫ The Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group
defines a country as e-ready that is 'ready' for e-commerce,
has free trade, industry self-regulation, ease of exports, and
compliance with international standards and trade
agreements.
⚫ McConnell International defines e-Readiness as the
capacity of nations to participate in the digital economy.
⚫ World Economic Forum Consultation Report on
E-Readiness defines E-Readiness as the ability of the ICT
networks to effectively adapt to the social and economic
advancement.
⚫ Kable and Government Computing Report on Europe’s
Readiness for E-Government says that Government
becomes e-government or E-Ready when the public
sector digitizes its processes and interactions, whether
internal or external with business or with the public.
A society’s electronic preparedness can be seen as the
degree to which the society can participate in the
advantages and opportunities of a knowledge-based
society, and accept the challenges that such
environments pose. We can formally define e-readiness
as:
“the degree in which a community is qualified to
participate in the Networked World. It is measured by
judging the relative advance of the most important
areas for the adoption of the ICTs and their most
important applications”
⚫ The readiness of a country, region or entity (e.g.
corporation) to utilize information and communication
technologies for sustaining welfare and growth or the
e-readiness of a country refers to the ability of a state
to utilize information and communication technology
(ICT) for sustainable welfare and development. It is
measured by the extent and quality of ICT
infrastructure, e-skills, and relevant regulations.
Importance of E-Readiness
E-readiness is one of the signs of development in a
country. It creates a platform for the dissemination of
information from the traditional methods to the new
improved channels.
The drivers of these transformations employ scientific
methods of thinking and analyzing choices for better
decision-making. In the developing world, ICT is
concerned with the creation of economies that sustain a
high level of employment, human capital, and better
governance for the general wellbeing of society.
⚫ The adoption of ICT in the business environment is
also a source of competitive advantage by organizing
the way businesses and organizations interact with
stakeholders including suppliers, employees, investors,
and customers.
⚫ From the political and social perspective, e-readiness
allow citizens to share personal experiences with the
world as well as empower them to participate in
policy-making. It gives voices to those that have been
excluded from society.
Why E-Readiness?
There are many of factors that promote the countries to
be e-ready;
❑ The enormous advantages that ICT will bring along by.
It will not only lead to a Simple, Moral, Accountable,
Responsive and Transparent (SMART) Government, it
will also lead to making the citizens life easy. ICT
promises various social and economical benefits as
well.
❑ Secondly, the countries are facing a threat of being left
behind.
❑ Third, international leaders, foreign donors, and
lending agencies are integrating ICT into development
and aid programs.
❑ Again ICT is a key weapon in the war against world
poverty. When used properly, it offers a tremendous
potential to empower people in developing countries to
overcome development obstacles; to address the most
important social problems they face; and to strengthen
communities, democratic institutions, a free press, and
local economies.
⚫ E-READINESS OBJECTIVE
⚫ E-Infrastructure: If the objective is on
E-Infrastructure then the focus should be
on institutions, hardware and software
Here e-readiness equals computers and
access – computer hardware and network
access are required to be e-ready and
bridge the digital divide, and government
and private initiatives should supply them
⚫ E-Economy: If the objective is on
e-commerce then the focus should be on
ICT Business. Here e-readiness equals
computers, access, and economy –
computer hardware and network access are
required for e-readiness, but the market
⚫ E-Society: If the objective is on the society then the focus
should be complete population. Here e-readiness requires
basic literacy, poverty, health and other social issues to be
addressed first – computers are useful, but nothing will
make a society e-ready and bridge the digital divide until
basic literacy, poverty, and healthcare issues are addressed.
⚫ E-Governance: If the objective is E-Governance then the
focus should be on Government Process Reengineering and
faster and transparent means of delivering government
services to the citizens. Here e-readiness equals computers,
access, and effective usage of computers – hardware and
access are not enough for real e-readiness, there must be
extensive training programs, locally relevant content, and a
local ICT sector; and a Business Process Reengineering
alongwith.
⚫ The E-readiness Assessment Framework
should essentially cover the following aspects:
1. Political and Regulatory Environment:
⚫ Commitment of the top leadership
⚫ ICT Policy
⚫ Communication Policy/ISP Policy/Broadband
Policy
⚫ E-Gov Policy/Action Plan
⚫ IT Act
⚫ Legal recognition of Digital Signatures
⚫ Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection
⚫ Security Standards
⚫ Privacy Policy
2. Infrastructure:
⚫ Hardware
⚫ Availability of High End Computing
Infrastructure
⚫ National and State Level Data Centres
⚫ Community Information/Internet Access
Centres
⚫ Networking
⚫ Fibre Optic/Satellite/Wireless/Wired Networks
⚫ National/State level Network Backbones
⚫ Network Operation Centres
⚫ Internet Gateway
⚫ Security Infrastructure
⚫ Service Gateways/Payment Gateways etc
⚫ Last Mile/Rural Area Connectivity
3. Application And Services:
⚫ Websites/Portals
⚫ Back-end Automation
⚫ Application Software
⚫ Electronic Delivery of Services
⚫ Localization of Standard Commercial
⚫ Technology Standards
⚫ Data/Metadata Standards
⚫ Interoperability Framework
4. Human Resources:
⚫ ICT Skilled Manpower in
Government/Industry
⚫ ICT Literacy in Government
⚫ E-Literate Citizens
⚫ ICT Training Facilities (Basic & Professional)
⚫ ICT Education in Schools and Colleges
5. Financial
⚫ Financial Institutions
⚫ Financial Resources
⚫ Budgetary Allocation
⚫ Through Partnerships
⚫ Foreign Investment
6. ICT Usage Scenario/Environment:
⚫ ICT Usage by Citizens
⚫ ICT Application in Government
⚫ ICT Application in Business
⚫ PC Penetration
⚫ Internet Reach
Case Study
⚫ E-Readiness : a stat of preparedness to
participate in the digital economy
