In 100 words state if you agree/disagree with the statements made and why? E-gov
ID: 416789 • Letter: I
Question
In 100 words state if you agree/disagree with the statements made and why?
E-governance and the delivery of public services?
The underlying construct of e-governance is using technology to provide effective and efficient means to increase response time to citizen concerns and improve the dedicated delivery of service resources to the citizens.
E-governance is thought to build transparency, increase accountability of the government, and promote citizen involvement. However, there is still a presence of the digital divide, and in a way, e governance has desensitized citizen interaction and involvement with their local government services.
E-governance is great for doing more with less, more efficient, and effective….
Is too much e-governance a bad thing though? When do we reach oversaturation using e-governance? In what way is this more harmful to our governance that helpful?
Explanation / Answer
Electronic governance or e governance is the delivery of government services and information to the public using electronic means. Use of information technology in government facilities is an efficient speedy and transparent process for disseminating information to the public and for performing government administrative activities. E-governance is beyond the scope of e-government. While e-government is defined as a mere delivery of government services and information to the public using electronic means, e-governance allows direct participation of constituents in government activities. It can change how citizens relate to governments as much as it changes how people relate to each other. E-governance allows citizens to communicate with government, participate in the government’s policy-making and citizens to communicate each other.
Earlier, the traditional ways of working in government offices involved piles of papers for every operation. It required the involvement of heavy manpower that made the process complicated and costly. With the introduction of e governance paperwork has been replaced by electronic interface. It makes it possible to cut down the need of heavy employment and hence reducing the cost behind the operations. Moreover, electronic advances allow the process to be completed faster as compared to the traditional ways of working. Henceforth, it allows a great reduction between the huge time gaps for completing the task.
The other added asset of having e- government is the easy accessibility government products and services to all. We all are well equipped with the extensions of electronic media in our hands. Be it the mobile or the laptop, we are always at an easy reach of electronic media. This easy accessibility makes it comfortable for a common man to get in touch with e-governance.
On the other hand, If e-governance is not properly implemented the life of computer illiterate citizens can become more difficult, especially if the government has done away with previous ways of solving problems.
E-governance may lead to privacy issues. There is a risk of private data of citizens getting stolen. There is also a possibility of rogue government employees misusing private data. Encryption and security therefore become very important. Thus, there is added cost of training the government employees and/or hiring highly skilled professionals.
Digitization results in ease of access of data, which is a double-edged sword. The government sometimes can pass legislations undesirable to citizens without adequate information of the citizens, and then go on to use the easily-accessible data for its purpose.
E-governance also results in job losses, and many low-rung jobs getting replaced by a few high-rung jobs. This is disadvantageous for those who lose jobs.
Overall, though, e-governance is the way of the future, and future can't be prevented from happening. Thus, strictly speaking, the above are challenges, not disadvantages.