Role of ICT Infrastructure in Public Service Delivery

Transcription

1 Role of ICT Infrastructure in Public Service Delivery by Y Pardhasaradhi, R K Bagga, K S Vijaya Sekhar in (ICT and Critical Infrastructure) : Report No: IIIT/TR/2013/-1 Centre for Others International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad , INDIA December 2013

2 Electronic Service Delivery: Role of ICT Infrastructure Y Pardhasaradhi 1 R K Bagga 2 and K S Vijaya Sekhar 3 Abstract Infrastructure is relevant to many sectors agriculture, health, education, transportation, energy and technology. The infrastructure that we are referring here is directly related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The government role is to serve citizen and govern smoothly and deliver public services efficiently. With two decades of ICT experience, Indian governments designing effective ways of communications to reach the masses. Nevertheless, Andhra Pradesh became most emerging state in egovernance implementation in very short period. There are still few obstacles to set up required ICT infrastructure for government to deliver public services via multiple channels. One way is providing online services using ICT and this study emphasizes ICT resources and infrastructure issues. The outcomes discuss citizen s perceptions and experiences while accessing online services. Keywords: ICT Infrastructure, Online services, electronic governance Introduction Any government website is face of a department functioning and provides information to citizens especially for single window shops. Akshaya in Kerala; BangaloreOne in Karnataka; and eseva in Andhra Pradesh are examples of such shops. The one-stop-shop concept started two decades back after introducing ICTs. The objectives of the shops are that a citizen must avoid visiting several government departments and save both his time and travel costs. Thus, they should visit one-stop-shops to avail all government services under one common roof where Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) is playing significant role. These shops are located mostly in cities and municipal towns and are been able to deliver somewhat Government-to-Citizen (G2C) services across the counters. Most of the services are payments of utility bills and limited G2C services. In 2006, National egovernance Plan (NeGP) under Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) approved setting up 1 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) to bridge the digital divide since then service delivery has taken maximum leap. CSC, a front-end shop that integrates several department services playing a vital role in reaching rural areas [1]. Thus, for reaching remote and rural areas, ICT infrastructure, network bandwidth came in to picture. Particularly, when government flagship programs and welfare schemes that are being planned to cover from these shops there is a dire need to focus on infrastructure areas. Hence, there is a need to focus on online citizen s experience and perception in urban and semi-urban towns, which helps setting up sufficient ICT infrastructure for rural service delivery for implementing successful egovernance initiatives via CSCs. 1 Department of Public Administration, Osmania University, Hyderabad 2 Past Chairman, CSI-SIGeGOV, Hyderabad 3 PhD Candidate, Dept of Public Administration, Dr BR Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad ksvsekhar@gmail.com

3 Purpose of Study Few goals of e-government are to enhance service delivery with possible options - empowering citizens to access government information and ability to participate, transparency and accountability and finally, transformation of inter-relationships among government departments and citizens [2]. With this view, governments are building several ways of service delivery options for citizens. In conventional system, a citizen had to visit several government departments for availing various services. This consumes time and travel costs heavily on the customer. However, with the help of ICTs, a person without visiting many offices is availing various services under one roof by visiting these shops. Another feature that avoids even visiting these shops is availing services using Online. Thus, the purpose of study is to find out online users perceptions when availing government services to know their feedback when using online services to discuss ICT infrastructure problems pertaining to online service delivery Review of Literature egovernment - The Science of the Possible by Shri J Satyanarayana, IAS Secretary, IT, DeitY, GoI conceptualized egovernance architecture in Andhra Pradesh [3]. The book exhibits theoretical aspects with help of diagrams, tables and figures. The book provides answers to basic questions relating to e-government like what is e-government? What is role of people, process, technology and resources? What are the partnership models available in e-government? And, how we manage e-government? The author answered each of the above questions in detail that are more useful for egovernance project implementers. The impact studies by Prof Y Pardhasarathy [4] with his team on eseva, Computer-Aided Administration of Revenue Department (CARD), Vijayawada Online Information Centre (VOICE) and Saukaryam in Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh are of immense help in understanding citizen s expectations at offline counters. This literature helped us to do a study on understanding online citizen s perceptions. Hence, esevaonline that has a decade of experience in delivering online services identified as focus of our study. ICT Infrastructure Issues and Challenges Availing government services caste & income certificates, adangal, pahani and making utility payments are easy nowadays as compared to earlier stages. Technology somewhat providing solutions to certain services that need multiple visits for example, driving license, passport, land registrations etc. The challenge is integration of such services in to one basket - whether a citizen able to avail these services anytime anywhere? The eseva offline kiosks work from 8AM to 8PM on week days and delivers both government and private services. The centres also work on holidays/sundays till noon hours but challenge is that a citizen from one district can not avail his services in another district. For example, a resident of X district can t make his utility payment in Y district. A person desirous of applying passport had to visit department by commuting from other districts. This shows multiple trips are still exists when eseva kiosks are functioning and clear that service integration is not up to the mark. In contrast, being the large exporter of IT

4 professionals Andhra Pradesh, is massively utilizing ICT advantages for rapid development to deliver transparent services to a common man in his locality [5]. Methodology The study is to find out whether eseva kiosks for the reason designed, are delivering the same today? A close-ended questionnaire was circulated to online users for collecting data that does not have the option of identification of a person to maintain unbiased ethics of the survey. The investigators have necessary permissions from respective government officials to conduct survey. The semi-structured interview questionnaire prepared based on Heek's seven dimension framework ITPOSMO [6]. The final results of the survey are (a) completed responses are 109 and (b) people who attempted complete survey is 263 in numbers. The study used Heeks (2002) design-reality gap framework as theoretical framework to compare e-government initiatives. In this paper, we are sharing the results pertaining to two dimensions, they are eseva Objectives and Values and Other Resources and Constraints in addition to few geographic results. The number of respondent s for both dimensions vary, because there was a choice of leaving survey at anytime. The collected data tabulated and come out with following results. Heeks ITPOSMO Design-Reality Gap Framework Dimension Details Information Availability of information within organization, relevant information to citizens, Information needs Technology Access to information and communication technology, compatibility with the systems, website maintenance, and technology support within government departments Processes Planning, processes for implementation, departmental procedures, guidelines and regulations Objectives/Values e-government implementation objectives, communication of the objectives, shared values among departments and stakeholders, consensus on issues Staff and Skills Staff skills in managing e-government implementation, availability of staff resources Management Formal management of projects, clarity of structures within organization Systems and Structure Other Resources and Cultural issues in implementation, budget constraints, adoption issues, Constraints access to funds, project management and contract issues Results Q 1. No of netizens using esevaonline services via Internet No of Responses (n=263) Yes 85% No 15% Total 100%

5 Though 85% of citizens accessing online services, 15% said No and shared their disbelief towards the shops that were discussed below. Q 2. No of times that they are using? No. of Responses (n=210) Once 5% 2-3 times 12% 4-5 times 5% More than 5 times 78% Total 100% The number of esevaonline services availed more than five times, users are 78%; 5% visited at least four or five times; 12% visited at least two or three times; 5% visited only once. Thus, citizens are accessing online services frequently hence there is need to build required ICT infrastructure. 3. How netizens avail other government services? No of Responses (n=210) Direct through esevaonline 87% Through an intermediary agent of 13% department Total 100% 87% said that they are accessing esevaonline website directly and 13% shared that they are approaching middle agencies for availing various services. 4. How often they access esevaonline? No of Responses (n=165) Every day 2% Once in a week 16% Once in a month 78% Once in 6 to 12 months 4% Total 100% 78% assured they avail services once in a month for definite, that indicates these are mostly for paying regulatory bills. 2% access website every day to avail information; 16% visit at least once in a week; and 4% accessing at least once in 6 to 12 months. Thus, there is tremendous traffic on department website regularly. 5. Reasons for not using online services? No of Responses (n=29) Not aware of services being offered through Internet or other electronic means 11

6 Not have much familiarity with using 2 computers Do not have access to Internet connection 2 It is tedious to access services through Internet or 7 other electronic means I prefer other modes of availing services like 7 visiting the office in person Total 29 There is another set of 29 citizens who do not use online website and reasons are: 11 persons said that they are not aware of services being offered through internet or other electronic means. Two persons shared that they do not have much familiarity using computers and two said they do not have internet access. Seven persons said it is tedious to access services through internet or other electronic means and remaining seven people said that they still prefer to visit respective government office. Data Analysis N=113 (Values in %) Website provides useful info Website saves time Website provides government contacts Makes services efficient for citizens 54 Provides significant value to citizens Makes interaction with other departments, easier Strong Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Fig 1. Citizen perceptions towards Value of Electronic Services at esevaonline website Discussion While availing online services one has to be careful as small typo error leads to rejection of application forms. In such case citizens have to revisit government office that causes further delay. It is seen from the above figures most of users are accessing online services thinking that saves their time and travel costs. But they opined malicious network that cause problems hence service providers need to ensure that it contribute significant value to citizens [8]. Integrating various department services not only make trust among people but also help in accessing updated information. From citizen perspective, they have to make sure that router attacks and cyber terrorism has to be tackled on rapid basis. In few countries, cyber terrorism has become cyber business hence there is craze for spam, phishing, morphing and online frauds [9].

7 N=109 (Values in %) Aware of resource constraints while offering EDS Can offer better EDS even with current resources Allocate more budget or staff to offer better EDS Should provide incentives to citizens to use EDS Not availing because of Internet problem Effectiveness of EDS will be affected by department s culture Strong Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Fig 2. Citizen experience towards Other Resources and Constraints at esevaonline Discussion Citizens well versed with current resources and limitations of infrastructure that a government department has. In the implementation process, if government feels that budget and staff are constraints for governments, then few important services can pose penalty for not delivering intime information or services. In governance projects, most of the times, champions or implementers of the project were on transferable basis hence they are forced to design and implement schemes in short notice. Thus, there is less time to rethink or revisiting existing models that affects business process reengineering. Most of the respondents expressed providing incentives to online users bring in more productivity comparing to offline users. One constraint to India is that it has structural problems when particularly talking on governance issues with a special reference to its infrastructure [9]. Internet bandwidth and power failures are other challenges to deal with. Majority respondents felt whatever the culture that is affecting offline shops will continue on online services if we not look in to these glitches. Conclusion Electricity is another challenge that we have to overcome in coming years. One reason is that it is treated as welfare service that has to be addressed. The actual stakeholders unable to avail services that needs immediate action because of server slow-down and power delays. Hence, purchasing energy has to be made mandatory for consumers like gas and petrol. Sometimes, service delivery demands citizen participation too; if participation takes shape, there is reach ability; if reach ability improves adequate infrastructure. Citizens are using egovernance applications but familiarity is big constraint hence the birth of CSCs will resolve these issues. Internet penetration is fast growing in developing countries as the e-commerce and net banking solutions are on fast pace. Regulatory payments and Rail reservation services are two best online examples to quote. People in India, are not technocrats our mindsets needs more time to switch-over on using emerging technologies. The resistance towards upgrading our own skills

8 is biggest problem for implementing e-governance in Indian environment. European and Western countries are forefront runners especially in setting up ICT infrastructure. There is an urgent need from governments to sanction budgets on providing sufficient ICT infrastructure before its becoming as critical infrastructure [10]. Thus, citizens are well aware of giving value to electronic deliverable services and giving importance to the resources that governments have. Recommendations The online users concerns are security threats and privacy information that provided on department website. Some users opined that department servers are down most of the time and poor in updating website information at regular intervals. Integrating rural and urban services at one-stop-shops, grievance handling, lack of proper staff skills and recruiting an exclusive technologist at web systems are key concerns. Some departments are not in favor of sharing their data that resulting in to complexity on integration. Single window services started with an aim of distributed computing for that connectivity and IT related infrastructure is important. Centralized concept was introduced to minimize technical staff workload that helps in further strengthening G2C and Business-to-Citizen (B2C) services. Districts database needs to be integrated with a backup server with an alternative option. The objective of single window system is to deliver better citizen services anytime, anywhere but the present system is not permitting because districts maintaining database on their own in esevaonline. Connectivity and handling online grievances are other areas that the governments make advancing solutions leading to a successful egovernance roadmap for developing countries [11]. With these results, the common perception is that Electronic Service Delivery has potential to meet current needs of citizens. But to meet the goals, sufficient infrastructure has to be built upon; this also leads to economic growth of country. When economic growth is taking steep rise, then there is development. When infrastructure exists, we can have good number of services in to the basket. To achieve this, sufficient funding has to be guaranteed while allocating budgets. Though, there are minimum guaranteed budgets for ICT implementation in respective states, the main areas to be focused on energy and internet bandwidth that are must for rural service delivery. To ensure, simple and fast service delivery, integration of other departmental services with suitable disaster management solutions will improve the system. Acknowledgements We thank Information Technology and Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh for sharing esevaonline user database for conducting this survey. We thank and all netizen s who spared their time in answering internet based survey. Our special thanks to Shri J Satyanarayana, IAS and other staff, computer operators at eseva centres for sharing their experiences. Special thanks are due to Prof C Venkataiah, Head of the Department, Department of Public Administration, Dr BR Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad and Shri K Yedukondalu, Dy Director, eseva (Urban).

9 References [1] Vineeta Dixit (GoI), presentation on Citizen Engagement Framework during 3 rd egovernance Knowledge Sharing Summit held on 18 Oct 2011 At NIRMA University. [2] A P J Abdul Kalam and Y S Rajan (1998). India 2020: A vision for the New Millennium. Viking by Penguin Books India P Ltd., New Delhi. [3] J Satyanarayana (2004). egovernment. The Science of the Possible. Published by Prentice- Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi. [4] Y Pardhasaradhi, Rakesh Chetal and Namita Gupta (2009). egovernance and Indian Society with Case Studies an impact study of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. [5] APJ Abdul Kalam. A Vision of Citizen-centric egovernance for India. In: (eds) R K Bagga, Kenneth Keniston and Rohit Raj Mathur. The State, IT and Development. Pp Published by SAGE (2005). [6] Richard Heeks (2006). Implementing and Managing egovernment An International Text. Vistaar Publications, New Delhi. [7] Nityesh Bhatt & Akshai Aggarwal (eds). Proceedings of 8 th International Conference on egovernance (ICEG) held on Oct 2011 at Ahmedabad. Excel India Publishers. [8] Threats on Internet Seminar Report by Forward Consortium, Oct [9] S P Singh (2006) A presentation. National egovernance Plan (NeGP) Framework in India. [10] Net! Works European Technology Platform. ICT National Critical Infrastructure. Prof. Panagiotis Demestichas et al, University of Piraeus Research Center. May [11] R Chandrasekhar (2007) A Report. Citizen Centric egovernance: Where we stand & Road ahead?