This lecture, the first in the ‘MECIT Series of Lectures on Digital Society’, is organised by the Middle East College of Information Technology (MECIT) and was delivered by Prof. Matthias P. Finger, an internationally well-known scholar in the area of e-governance. Most countries are now trying to drastically reform the way their governments function. The first stage of reform began in the 80s and was largely in the context of transition to free market economies. The second phase of the reform process, which began in the 1990s, was triggered by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As of now, government reform has become a global phenomenon, mostly enabled by ICT and known under the buzzword e-governance.
The emergence of extra-governmental centres of power and private actors engaging in policy formulation, the increasing privatisation, and citizen-oriented government services, are all signs of this change. However, the terms ‘government’ and ‘governance’ are often used interchangeably, to the extent that many governments are merely engaged in digitisation or automation of their processes.
There was a need to bring about conceptual clarity with regard to the immense transformational potential of e-governance with a multi-pronged approach whereby anything from an overall societal preparedness to employing appropriate technology solutions are addressed holistically.
In the above background, the current lecture is intended as an eye-opener to the decision makers in governments regarding the ongoing global debate and consolidations on the emerging dimensions of the concept of e-governance as compared to a relatively static concept of e-government.
The objective of the lecture is to confront the audience with the overall concept of state transformation with a slight focus on the paradigm shift from government to governance by offering an understanding of the possibilities and limits of ICT in governance.
MECIT, which is organising the lectures, was set up in 2002 within Knowledge Oasis and has about 1,200 students pursuing various degree programmes in information technology. Recently, the college tied up with the Interactive University, which is the consortium of Scottish Universities and Scottish Enterprise to provide Scottish degree programme in the Sultanate.
MECIT tied up with Chair Management of Network Industries (Chair-MIR) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Susanne (known as EPFL), to conduct the lectures on various concepts of digital society.
Professor Mathias is the head of the Chair-MIR, which runs an international Masters Programme in e-governance and has many international publications to his credit. He was also a visiting professor in many global universities.
Quelle: Times of Oman, 19.04.2005
