About Us Digital Governance Initiative: egovernance / electronic governance in developing countries

Public services, such as primary education, primary health care and immunization, information on agriculture, animal husbandry, weather data and pest control, information on credit availability for enterprise creation, information about government schemes, departments and subsidies can enhance the welfare of the poor and marginalized communities. And yet, large sections of the society, and definitely the poor and marginalized communities, are not ble to get any external support to improve their lives, when they are deprived of benefits of good govenance. Governance services simply do not reach these people, and when they do, these services become so corrupted, inefficient and disorganized that they fail to make the intended impact.

Good governance is the most important service that a government can provide to its citizens. There is no substitute for good governance, and it constitutes an essential resource (the foundation for economic development) of people in developing countries who are trapped in poverty and, are deprived of education, health, employment and other benefits that can vastly improve their living standards.

Against this backdrop and belief, the DigitalGovernance.org Initiative was founded in September 2000 to understand how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can make a difference in lives of people living in developing countries. It is a non-funded initiative, which aims to inspire policymakers, technocrats, researchers, NGOs and UN and other development agencies worldwide. It was officially launched and presented at the Second Global Development Network Meeting of the World Bank in Japan 2000.

The focus of the DigitalGovernance.org Initiative continues to be on developing countries where ICT can play a significant role in building accountable and democratic governance institutions. What is required is strategic application of knowledge and innovative use of available technology to provide governance services to all sections of the society. And this will require- visionary leadership and concerted efforts by national governments and the civil society. And the focus of electronic governance has to be on those who have been mostly marginalized of benefits of good governance.

It is believed that voluntary efforts, intellectual contributions and involvement of each one of us will further the vision and reach of this Initiative to catalyse Digital Governance / electronic governance in developing countries. Click on Network to find how you can participate in, and contribute to the DigitalGovernance.org Initiative.

At the moment over 3500 people are a part of the DigitalGovernance.org Network and have been sharing their learnings, experiences and other resources with this project.

Happy Learning and Stay Inspired!

comments and feedback: vikas.nath@gmail.com or v.nath-alumni@lse.ac.uk

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