IT‐based government reform initiatives in the Indian state of Gujarat

Abstract

IT-based government reform projects form an integral part of policy-making. These projects include a variety of different types of applications, each of which has a different scope and rationality according to what type of governemt reform is intended. Looking back over a 17-year period, the author describes the evolution of IT-based government reform initiatives in the Indian state of Gujarat. The findings reveal the interrelatedness of back-end and front-end IT-based government reform initiatives and provide insights into the kinds of institutional support and activities required in order for these initiatives to lead to governance reform. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ICTs for the Broader Development of South Africa: An Analysis of the Literature

“…The growth that technology has created has allowed governments around the world to adopt systems which can increase their productivity and help in streamlining their work processes (Fleming, 2002). The case of India highlights just how much the use the advances in technology can aid in the development of administrative systems in order to ensure that government functions more effectively (Madon, 2006). Evidence to this was shown by Madon (2006) in a study of Gujarat, India where the implementation of the Computerised Rural Information Systems Project (CRISP) in nineteen District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) was analysed.…”

“…The case of India highlights just how much the use the advances in technology can aid in the development of administrative systems in order to ensure that government functions more effectively (Madon, 2006). Evidence to this was shown by Madon (2006) in a study of Gujarat, India where the implementation of the Computerised Rural Information Systems Project (CRISP) in nineteen District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) was analysed. CRISP was a system that was designed to support the reporting of statistics by DRDA (Madon, 2006).…”

Interacting with the State via Information and Communication Technologies

“…Unidirectional links and relationships are often presumed between the role of technology and good governance. A recent focus in this direction is the use of ICTs to improve the interface between government and citizens (Madon, 2006;Gil-Gracia & Martinez-Mayano, 2007;Gatty 2009). It is widely believed in policy circles that replacing human interactions with technological interfaces will automatically improve the ways in which the business of the state is conducted, specifically modes of interactions and relationships between government functionaries and citizens (Ahuja & Singh, 2005;Bhatnagar & Chawla, 2005;Singh & Gururaj, 2009).…”

Can Information Systems facilitate the integration of New Public Management and Public Governance? Evidence from an Italian public organization

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“…With IS, a wider range of information can be delivered in a more timely way in order to (a) increase the transparency of government and (b) empower closer monitoring of government performance on the part of the citizen. In order to make access to information easier, to improve the efficiency of service delivery and to increase communication, public organizations have started to electronically enable those services provided or commissioned by the public sector and to make use of the possibility of communicating with them [18,28]. The opportunity to gain access to the administration's services and to take part in the organizational process -anywhere, anytime -makes IS a positive channel for empowering both civil servants and citizens [16].…”