Electronic Governance, e-governance in short, refers to the use of Information Technology (IT) and computers by government to provide services to general public and business entities. It also involves the use of IT within government organizations in day-to-day functions.
In the context of Nepal, there has been some progress in e-governance in recent times, but we are still far behind developed countries in this regard.
The Office of Company Registrar decided last month to receive requests for new company registrations through its website.
Similarly, the Department of Inland Revenue introduced various services for citizens and businesses to pay their taxes and perform other activities through its online platform. While these are definitely achievements, there is still work to be done both on legal and technical aspects to promote e-governance in Nepal.
Many people in Nepal have the wrong notion that e-governance is just the use of computers, emails and websites. While they are the basic building blocks of e-governance, it goes far beyond these basics.
It includes Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) to automate existing manual ways by using software such as Management Information System (MIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).
These software bring efficiency and transparency into the working procedures. Good e-governance also ensures all government bodies are integrated with each other and can share information and data.
overnment of Nepal (GoN) has already promulgated basic laws such as Electronic Transaction Act 2063, IT Policy 2067, Electronic Transaction Rules 2063, and Secure Password Practices 2067. These laws provide the legal framework for various Government-to-Citizens (G2C), Government-to-Business (G2B) and Government-to-Government (G2G) services.
They will also enable the government to digitize its processes and move to a paperless system. However, GoN is yet to formulate an act to authorize the use of Digital Certificates to legally bind a user or business. This work is currently being done under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment through its Office of Controller of Certification, and the law is expected to be promulgated in the next year.
On the technical side, the National Information Technology Centre (NITC) has published whitepapers, best practices and recommended guidelines in terms of security, interoperability, and data for any Information Systems supporting e-governance.
These guidelines include Nepal Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Security Architecture, Infrastructure Architecture, and Data Standard Catalogue. These guidelines are meant to ensure all Information Systems developed by government bodies are secure, uniform and can communicate with each other.
Along with a good legal and technical framework for building e-governance in Nepal, there is a need to educate people of its importance inside the government. Many government staffs fear that introducing computers and software in their office will take away their jobs. But that is not true; in fact it will enable them to do their tasks faster and increase productivity. With e-governance, they will be able to provide better services to the general public in a transparent manner. Adequate training is also required for those who will use the system.
Although NITC is officially a focal point for providing all government related e-services, there has been some criticism for duplication of work in various ministries, departments and government agencies.
Good coordination among all stakeholders is a must to ensure that all information and data are available to each other and their systems are interoperable.
Another important aspect of making e-governance successful is to ensure the general public is aware of different types of services available to them. They should be taught how to find and use such services.
Online systems need to be simple and intuitive, with support in native language and accessibility for physically challenged citizens. Support for mobile and tablet devices will also increase their usage.
E-governance is important to make government services more convenient, fast and effective. It brings more transparency and makes government bodies accountable. Some people claim that there is not enough electricity, internet connection and technical know-how in Nepal to use IT and computers in providing government services.
However, those at decision-making levels should ignore such naysayers, as it has already been proven in countries like Singapore, Korea and India that e-governance improves government services in every way.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Prabin Paudel
Quelle/Source: Republica, 08.01.2014
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
