IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Continuing a Caribbean-wide push for more ICT integration, Grenada will set up several new technology-related projects going forward, including a revamp of the country’s Centre for Excellence and Innovation, E-taxation Services and the establishment of the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme.

A European Commission report on the results so far for i2010, the EU's digital-led strategy for growth and jobs, further showed that of this number, 80 percent have access to some form of broadband connection.

Public and private investment in information and communication technology (ICT) is bearing fruit, finds the Commission's annual progress report on i2010 -- the digitally led strategy for growth and jobs. Technology is fuelling innovation and productivity, and there are signs of fundamental change in markets and user behavior, as Europe moves toward a knowledge-based economy.

New statistics released by ITU show that information and communication technology (ICT) uptake continues to grow worldwide, spurred by a steady fall in the price of telephone and broadband internet services.

ITU’s ICT Development Index (IDI) ranks 155 countries according to their level of ICT access, use and skills, and compares 2010 and 2011 scores.

Realising the need for a change in ICT perspective, growth and jobs was chosen as central theme of the 2013 edition of Global Information Technology Report (GITR), which is the flagship ICT publication from World Economic Forum released in partnership with INSEAD. Since 2002, the GITR has been monitoring ICT advances worldwide, raising awareness for ICTs on competitiveness and societal well-being.

The Head of State introduced Estonia's e-governance opportunities, security and strengths to the participants of the conference, and noted that secure digital identity is the key issue for the development of well-working e-solutions. "We should strive to achieve a system of digital signatures that could be acceptable throughout the Nordic countries and Baltic states, as this would facilitate co-operation in the sphere of various e-services. Last year, Estonia and Finland entered into an agreement that will allow the citizens of both countries to enjoy similar digital services, among these the creation of a common e-prescription system," told President Ilves.

The Network Readiness Index (NRI) of the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009 - just published by the World Economic Forum and Insead - shows the UAE has spearheaded the region's strong performance with its ranking within the top three, from a list of 134 global economies, in the category "importance of ICT to government vision of the future."

Chhattisgarh has been awarded ‘Best e-Government State Award’ by Computer Society of India twice before. Chief minister Raman Singh said that Chhattisgarh is one of the leading states in the field of information technology, and extended heartiest congratulations and good wishes to officials and employees of CHIPS.

The Dataquest-CyberMedia Research e-Readiness Assessment of Indian States 2013 revealed that Delhi, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh had topped the rankings in the overall planning, implementation and outcomes generated from their IT policy initiatives, administrative reforms and roll-out of e-Governance programmes.

Key lessons

Ibrahim Ahmad, Group Editor, Dataquest, said: "Close to 66 percent of India's population is currently under the age of 35 years. This means that the aspirations and wants of the current generation of Indians are very different from those of their parents' or grand parents' generations. The advent and widespread adoption of Information Technology, particularly the Internet and mobile telephony have added a completely new dimension to the awareness and expectation levels of Indians from all walks of life."

Making the City Beautiful future-ready for its citizens, Chandigarh Administration is making proactive efforts to make more and more services available online. It is the result of the Administration’s concerted efforts to realise the goals underpinning Government of India’s ambitious Digital India initiative that today Chandigarh is lokked upon as one of the most e-ready cities of India. Besides the Union Territory, the neighbouring States of Punjab and Haryana too are inching closer towards the dream of making India a cashless economy, says Priya Yadav of Elets News Network (ENN).

India has fallen by five places in the UN e-government survey 2012 from 119 in 2010 to 124 in 2012. The survey which was released on March 6, 2012 places the Republic of Korea at the top position followed by the Netherlands.

United Kingdom (UK), Denmark and the United States of America (USA) follow in ranking in that order. USA has slipped by three positions and is placed at fifth position as compared to the second position two years ago.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said e-readiness is the measure of the quality of country's information community technology (ICT) infrastructure and ability of its consumers, businesses and Government to use ICT for their benefit.

According to the UN E-government Survey 2008, India has slipped 26 places in the last three years and been overtaken by countries like Maldives (ranked 95), Sri Lanka (101) and even Iran (108). However, they too, have themselves slipped from their 2005 rankings.

As the government is leaving no stone unturned to accomplish its ambitious e-governance program, Minister for Communications and IT Kapil Sibal said there is a need for state governments and other departments to coordinate with the Centre to facilitate social participation in e-governance initiative.

Speaking at an industry event in New Delhi today, Sibal said social inclusion is important. “Disempowerment needs to be addressed, which is in fact the main challenge,” he told the gathering. “There is a paradigm shift in communications technologies today and we are on the verge of creating a new world,” he stressed.

The next five positions were bagged by Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab.

The ranking puts paid to NDA’s India shining campaign since all through its rule, the country’s ranking has hovered around the same range. In 2001, it stood at 45th; in 2002, 43rd; in 2003, 46th; and now in 2004, 46th again

The event has been jointly hosted by the Chandigarh Administration along with the Government of Punjab and STPI in association with TiE and NASSCOM.

Talking on the occasion, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, Govt of Punjab, highlighted the recent developments in the state in the sphere of ICT. According to him, IT is the biggest and the fastest source of job creation. He also talked about various aspects of IT and governance reforms and said that by using IT as a tool, bureaucratic hassles can be easily done away with.

Therefore, it is not simply a matter of the number of computers, internet connections, telephones and mobiles, etc in the state but also the ability or readiness to use technology at the level of the individual, business and government. These are the findings of India’s latest “e-Readiness assessment report 2008 for states and union territories” prepared by the department of information technology, union ministry of communications and information technology. The report was released in January 2010. Sources in Goa’s IT department admitted Goa’s slow progress in IT but also pointed out the e-Readiness assessment report was for 2008.