Here are some of the other points made by the panelists:
- The NeGP (National e-Governance Plan) is the cornerstone of the initiatives
- NeGP is complemented by SWAN (State Wide Area Network) which provides the backbone connectivity across a state
- The CSCs (Common Service Centres) are the service delivery points for e-Governance
- Three key challenges: Power, availability of Broadband at the village, and support for Local languages in the various applications
- BSNL needs to use the USOF (Universal Service Obligation Funds) to rapidly provide broadband to villages (June 2011 is the new target date)
- Availability of 3G and broadband wireless should help in improving the underlying connectivity that is needed for computing and applications
- Cloud computing is something that governments should look at for their applications
- Besides rural India, another segment of people whose needs that need to be addressed are those living in urban slums
- The DNA of transformation is Devices, Networks and Applications – and all are changing (evolving) simultaneously
- There is a need for Business Process Re-engineering more than just computerisation – the government needs to think what is the best way to deliver services and benefits of schemes to the ones who need them. For this, flattening government and changing the decision-making processes is critical.
Incidentally, Gujarat won the CSI-Nihilent award for the best e-governance across all States for 2009-10.
