Change and technology are both ubiquitous in today’s world. In a growing city like Delhi, it is obvious that the vista of the Government also needs to grow. In order to meet the rising expectations of residents, technology investment by the Government would be completely justified. Success of e-commerce within the private sector has influenced various stakeholders including Government to link the public sector with the Internet revolution.
To support the fast paced mobile lifestyle of its residents, the Government is planning to take the technological initiative of implementing the DEG portal. Until today, interaction between residents and the Government has been through traditional channels that involve a lot of document compilation, long queue hours at counters, and a high level of bureaucracy as several departments need to be visited for the conclusion of a single transaction.
The portal would be the re-invention of informative, interactive and transactional services in the way work is conducted with the Government. DEG’s mission would be to become a fast and easy medium that provides services through new and innovative channels like the web, mobile and phone.
The portal would focus on business process simplification, proactive marketing and integration so as to bring in more transparency by providing high quality services which should take the minimum number of days to complete and would not engage any physical involvement. Moreover, this service would be available 24 hours and 7 days a week.
To conclude, the DEG would re-invent the Delhi Government in order to achieve efficient and effective, customer-focused services that could be conveniently accessed over innovative channels. The focus would be on addressing customer needs and not technical trends.
The Delhi Government would like to give better service at the least cost possible to make a better place to live and do business. The e-business framework for the eGovernment would be able to overcome most criticism faced by the Government of Delhi. The advantages would be:
To Citizens:
More Convenience: Most citizens feel it is very time consuming and tedious to wait in long queues at public service offices as the response times are very slow and, for some, travel distances are huge. With the help of eGovernment, one can communicate and do business anytime and anywhere. Moreover, the service is available 24 hours and 7 days a week. Information gathering is made easier with the help of the Internet, as one would easily find specific types of information. Also the search function would be able to find answers to questions without having going through hundreds of pages that have no relevance.
Better customer service: Some citizens feel the Government is very bureaucratic and there are too many rules and formalities to get work done. Thus, the eGovernment would be able to explain complex policies more clearly and also cut them down. Some also feel the staff is rude, impolite, and impatient with no motivation at all. They are not well informed or organized and everyone has a different story. Lastly, some feel there is a small degree of racism that exists to those from a particular region. An eGovernment portal would help in integration of information and removing all other interaction problems.
To Business:
Lower Costs: eGovernment would save productive time for businesses by cutting employee waiting hours and traveling time to a government office. Conducting transactions through the Internet with a few mouse clicks would save on a lot of time and, as it is rightly said, time is money.
More Information: The DEG would be collecting a lot of economic, demographic and other trend information which would be helpful for businesses to make more informed and better decisions.
To the Government
Increased Efficiency: Online transactions are quicker and more reliable than face-to-face transactions as automation reduces processing time and risk of clerical errors. This allows Government to focus on providing efficient services for the customer. Also departments would be integrated and information held by them would be more reliable.
Increased Esteem: An eGovernment portal makes the Government more responsive to everyone’s needs. This will help citizens see the government as a positive force in their lives.
A combined SWOT and PEST analysis has been carried out to better evaluate the impact of each possible strategic opportunity or threat that the eGovernment project could face. (Click image for a larger view.)
Continue on to the next page where we discuss website design needs for the eGovernment portal.