For one thing, e-governance does not only apply to government, but also to any entity or institution, even a family. It is the ability and the responsibility of leaders to "govern" their institutions.
Key differences
The letter "e," as a prefix to it, just means that the manner in which an institution is governed has been ICT-enabled.
If a housewife uses a computer to manage her household and food expenses, then, by definition, she is practicing e-governance.
E-government, on the other hand, applies to how government agencies have effectively developed "computerized" systems.
For instance, it is much easier these days to renew a driver's license and get an NBI clearance.
This only means that both LTO and NBI have implemented e-government in their driver's license and clearance processes.
However, can they also claim that they have e-governance in place? Partially, maybe yes, but completely, perhaps not.
The process of issuing a driver's license is merely a piece of the process of allowing a citizen to operate a vehicle.
Governance means the agency also has the responsibility to make sure that the person is fit to drive.
There are other processes that ensure this: the driving test conducted for new applicants, a drug test, and a physical check-up.
How is this done now: the applicant carries a piece of paper from each of these offices and submits them to the appropriate window for license processing. But if the results of the persons' tests are recorded automatically into a database which is accessible to the person receiving the drivers license applications, then he or she can proceed with processing the license without the applicant submitting pieces of paper.
Customer focus
Only when this happens can we declare that we have elevated e-government to e-governance.
I have seen the two terms also differentiated as follows: "e-governance is about transforming the relationship between governments and their citizens through the use of information technologies, and that e-government is about delivering government services using information technologies."
Governance, as defined and used by the corporate world, talks about the responsibility and accountability of leadership to protect the interest of all its stakeholders. Many of them, in fact, are now focused on one stakeholder--their customers.
Corporate strategy has shifted to ensuring that the most important stakeholders of the business are satisfied: their customers. Most of them have used ICT to accomplish this. This is very apparent in the banking sector where most transactions, even payment of utility bills, can be done at home through the Internet.
But what about government service: who is the "customer" of government--obviously, all of us--as citizens. More than that, each of us is a stakeholder of government twice over. Not only are we customers, we are also owners since we provide the capital for government to exist through our taxes.
The question is: Is government, through its services, looking after our interest as stakeholders.
As in the banking sector, can I now transact my business with government at home in my computer rather than lining up in a government office to get my birth certificate, NBI clearance, driver's license, real property tax payments, passports, etc., etc., etc.
After all, the relationship of citizens with government starts at birth and ends with one's death, sometimes even beyond.
This is what e-governance is all about. Its more than just implementing computerized systems in government, it's about "transforming the relationship between governments and their citizens."
This transformation can only happen when, through the use of ICT, all government agencies will start treating all citizens dealing with them in the same manner that the corporate world treats its customers: where their convenience and satisfaction, become the overarching goal of the institution.
This transformation requires a complete paradigm shift.
When the DFA issues a passport to a citizen, it needs to understand that it bears the burden of proving identity through a birth certificate.
Government responsibility
E-governance makes this possible if the DFA database is connected to the NCSO and NBI databases. This relieves the citizen of the effort of having to go to these agencies to acquire information for DFA to use.
Government owes this to its most important stakeholder.
So, are e-government and e-governance interchangeable terms? Obviously not. Perhaps we can then say that e-government is the means to achieving e-governance.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Virgilio L. Pena
Quelle/Source: INQ7.net, 02.09.2007
