Building and Sustaining Democratic and Accountable Governance Institutions using ICT
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News Clippings
News clippings on application of ICT in Governance. Suggest possible additions by writing at knownet@knownetweaver.org
Also see general news clipping on ICT and Knowledge Networking at http://www.cddc.vt.edu/knownet/internetinfo-news.html
The National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), utilizing its own resources, is providing a platform for e-government and technological advancement to the public and private sector. NADRA's new online identity verification service, called VERISYS, would help the financial institutions positively establish their customers' identities through a dial- up connection or virtual private network.
Online Websites Promote Transparent Local Government in Colombia APC member in Colombia, Colnodo and Transparencia por Colombia (Transparency for Colombia) are working with the Mayorâs Offices in four cities to produce online websites that will help fight corruption and increase the publicâs access to government information. The websites and tools created by Colnodo are used to monitor and verify public spending and to publish the information in a user-friendly format for concerned citizens to consult.
India's Move To E-Governance Exposes Ancient System Flaws (July 22, 2003) Keya Acharya The task is huge: less than 1% of the mammoth administration in India is computerised, and most has been done in a piecemeal fashion. The results are mixed.
India: Govt to start Rs 20,000 cr e-governance plan (February 12, 2003) The Indian government is debating on plans to start a massive e-governance program that envisages a public-private partnership at a total cost of Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) over the next five years.Termed the National e-Governance initiative, the program aims to bring in efficiency, transparency, cost effectiveness, simplicity into the government's operations while improving citizens' interface with the government.
Rebels in Ivory Coast set up website (October 33, 2002) Rebels in Ivory Coast have set up a website and have begun broadcasting their own television programs from their central stronghold of Bouake. Since Monday evening, rebels have been broadcasting on the same channel as the Ivorian national network, RTI, which has hardly interrupted its transmissions since the uprising began on September 19.
Internet News Boost to Malaysian Political Reforms (August 1, 2002) When Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dramatically announced his resignation on 22 June, only to retract it an hour later, many sceptical Malaysians turned to the Internet to try to make sense of the stunning news. And in the hours leading up to the 25 June official announcement about the future of Mahathir, excitement reached fever pitch. Tens of thousands visited their favourite websites for the latest news. So heavy was the traffic that Malaysiakini.com (Malaysia Now) sank under the weight, and many users were unable to access the site. ăOur site couldnât handle the traffic ö the server couldnât handle it,ä marvels Steven Gan, editor of Malaysiakini which hosts an average 100,000 visitors a day. ăWe ourselves couldnât get into our website.ä
India: India's e-village tackles corruption (June 14, 2002) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2045485.stm Bellandur's e-governance project started with a single computer that was installed in the village in 1998 to replace the old typewriter. The village office now has three computers, funded by donations from wealthier farmers as well as companies that operate in the area.
Mauritius: A Cyber-Island in the Making (April 1, 2002) Nasseem Ackbarally In all cases Mauritius is making the most of its status as a regional ö even global ö bridge, its dual Anglo-French heritage and its strategic location between Africa and South Asia in the Indian Ocean. These links are not just virtual. In 2000 Mauritius was connected to the South Africa Far East (SAFE) Submarine Fibre-optic Cable Project which is to link the island to Malaysia, South Africa, and then onwards to West Africa and Europe and bring high-speed connectivity.
China orders Net providers to screen e-mail (January 20, 2002) BEIJING, China (AP) -- China has issued its most intrusive Internet controls to date, ordering service providers to screen private e-mail for political content and holding them responsible for subversive postings on their Web sites. The new rules, posted earlier this week on the Web site of the Ministry of Information Industry, represent Beijing's latest efforts to tighten its grip on the only major medium in China not already under state control.
India
To Recognize Digital Signatures From March (January 9, 2002) According to K.N. Gupta, controller of Certifying Authorities (CAs), the introduction of digital signatures would give a boost to online transactions; they would be the key to overcoming e-security problems.
India To Give Serious Look At e-Governance (December 31, 2001) The Planning Commission of India has said that if the whole country is to benefit with a reasonably uniform pace of growth, and to establish a Government-to-citizen interface, a more detailed look has to be given to the whole concept of e-governance. The working group on convergence and e-governance of the Planning Commission has also recommended that the Indian Government earmark US$587 million in addition to the 3 percent plan outlay of each ministry for e-governance and convergence projects during the 10th Five Year Plan (2002-2007).
Malaysia Lags Behind In E-Government Usage Only 11 percent of Malaysians have used the Net to access government data, provide information to government agencies, or to transact with government services online, according to the study by market researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres. Norway had the highest level of e-government usage at 53 percent, followed by Denmark, Canada, Finland, the U.S., Hong Kong and Australia.
Brazil to open post office Internet booths (November 6, 2001) SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil is pledging to install Internet booths in 4,000 post offices next year, giving free Web access to some 150 million people in a massive effort to bridge the country's gaping digital divide, President Fernando Henrique Carodoso announced. In his regular weekly radio address to the nation Tuesday, Cardoso promised to ``guarantee one of the great conquests of the modern world'' to the nation's residents. The kiosks will be placed in cities with 10,000 residents or more, and then put in areas with smaller populations. The first phase is expected to be done by the first quarter of 2002.
Hyderabad to use computers to bypass bureaucracy (August 27, 2001) Accomplishing even the simplest of tasks in India can often involve days or even months of bureaucratic wrangling. But for the citizens of Hyderabad - the capital of Andhra Pradesh, one of India's largest states - the dreaded office babu or bureaucrat could soon be shoved aside by computers. The city, home to a large proportion of India's thriving software companies, is planning to open a network of computerised one-stop shops that will enable "customers" to clear 18 separate bureaucratic hurdles in one visit.
Indian
help sought for global 'e-parliament' (August, 2001)
Brazil:
Casting a Wider Net in Brazil (July 30, 2001)
Mobile Phone Use Has Improved Public Discourse (July 2, 2001) The growing number of mobile phones is transforming the Ugandan society. While there is evidently increased excitement about the emergent technology, the ease and convenience of communicating has improved public discourse and given impetus to development initiatives. Now villagers can even fire questions at the Ugandan president, both parties, of course, living worlds apart.
Local
and provincial governments always claim to be closer to their citizens,
in more than just a geographical sense, than their counterparts in national
government can ever be. Around the world, e-government initiatives are
being implemented, which may not only streamline administration, but also
reinvigorate the democratic process.
While
e-government really refers to electronic transactions, not just to online
services, it is the internet's open standards that are driving the public
sector towards the sort of transformation experienced by the private sector
over the past ten years. But what is becoming clear is that the process
of putting public services online is about much more than IT. It demands
fundamental changes in the public sector's traditional structures and practices
and in the relationship between the state and its citizens.
The
southern state of Karnataka, which is championing the process to rebut
criticism that its software boom is only for the rich, now plans to guide
the rest of India in a plan which is aimed at fighting corruption and boosting
transparency. "It is all low-cost," says Rajeev Chawla, a senior state
revenue department official who is spearheading the e-governance initiative.
Amid the mango and coconut groves of Ramanagaram, farmers walk into a state-run
"Bhoo Dhakilegala Malige", or land-record shop, and buy certified printouts
of land records which help them verify or prove land ownership or tenancy.
Indeed, stories such as "Communism Compared to HIV" are more rant than unbiased news. But academics such as Green say the reporters don't have a good model to build on -- the only journalism they know is the government press, which has its own slant. "A
lot of them have never worked for the free press before. They don't understand
how a free press really works and don't understand the idea of balance."
Your Lawyer, a new CD-ROM, is making Viet Nam's laws and information on citizens' rights readily accessible, spelling out in simple language how to start a business, protect land rights and get a divorce. As a first step, the Office of the National Assembly (ONA) is distributing copies of the CD-ROM to offices of delegates to the National Assembly in all 61 provinces, offices of provincial People's Councils, and media organizations.
Britain Sponsors Computer Training for Women MPs (May 16, 2001) The
cross-party group of Tanzanian women Parliamentarians will soon be computer
literacy following the decision by the Britain to sponsor computer training,
a program that aim to empower them socially and politically. They
say that the skills obtained from the training would help the Women Parliamentarians
to run other income generating activities outside the National Assembly.
The program, the statement says, would enable financial position of women
parliamentarians and empower them in both political and democratization
process.
Police
in Tehran have shut down several hundred internet cafes over the past week
in a crackdown believed to be driven by concerns of the state telecommunications
monopoly that it is losing business to the newly emerging private sector.
Hambastegi, a pro-reform newspaper, reported on Sunday that the police
Department to Supervise Public Places had closed over 400 internet cafés
on the grounds that they had no permits, although no such permits yet exist.
Advocacy group defends more John Does (May 7, 2001) Following
a victory in a similar case in Washington state, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation has signed onto another John Doe lawsuit in an attempt to protect
online anonymity. The EFF said it filed a motion in Federal District Court
in the Northern District of California to prevent the disclosure of the
identities of 14 people who criticized online health care-equipment store
Medinex Systems in a Yahoo message board. The company has sued anonymous
posters who've adopted names including "zippershut" and "dotcommie2000,"
claiming their critical comments amounted to defamation and interference
with its business.
Saudi Arabia says it will ban 200,000 Internet sites (May 7, 2001) Saudi Arabia will use new, advanced equipment to block access to 200,000 Internet sites it considers offensive, doubling the number of sites already restricted, a Saudi official said Sunday. "We are blocking sites on a daily basis and the new campaign will begin soon," said Ebrahim al-Fareeh, Internet supervisor at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, which filters all Internet traffic to the kingdom.
Public pressure keeps Opengov open (May 2, 2001) The UK's first official government
website has won a last-minute reprieve after plans to close it provoked
a huge outcry from both the press and public. Open.gov.uk, which was launched
by the then-prime minister John Major in 1994, was due to close at the
end of next month, to be replaced by the multi-million pound UKonline site.
The
information revolution has come to Africa, and last December it had a direct
impact on bringing about the first-ever peaceful transition from one elected
civilian government to another in Ghana. This was a hugely important political
event for West Africa, but it got lost in America's post- election ruckus.
Ghana's turnabout would not have happened, though, without the information
revolution here. Thank the Lord for the information revolution. You gotta
love technology. Oh, I'm not talking about the Internet. I'm talking about
FM radio.
Freedom House finds that press freedom registered overall gains throughout the world in 2000. However, despite the positive trends reflected in the latest annual Survey of Press Freedom, freedom of expression was dealt a severe blow in a number of large and geopolitically important countries. The Survey also finds that Internet freedom exceeds levels of press freedom in most countries, including some closed societies governed by censorious regimes.
Survey draws e-gov opinions (April 30, 2001) Iowa is asking its citizens to brainstorm ways of improving the state‰s e-government services. Through a Web-based survey, Iowans can submit ideas on how to improve current digital services and programs or suggest new ones. The survey asks people to describe their idea and how it would work; suggest a working title for the project; define whom it would benefit; and identify the county in which they live.
E-mail 'could win' key seats (April 26, 2001) E-mail could play a key role in deciding
the winner of key marginal seats in the forthcoming general election, according
to experts.Many MPs will be defending slender majorities when the country
goes to the polls, widely expected in June. And analysts believe that some
sitting MPs and many candidates would be well advised to use technology
to help them into the House of Commons.
Australian State Unveils Online Legal System (April 25, 2001) An
online court system has been launched in the Australian state of New South
Wales that allows lawyers to register hearing dates and other matters on
the Net, and gives the public Internet access to court transcripts. The
New South Wales Government's first online court system is attached to the
Land and Environment Court in Sydney.
The
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday will launch a new Web site aimed
at resolving international e-commerce disputes by allowing Internet users
from around the world to file complaints at one location. The new site
- Econsumer.gov - will serve as an international extension of the FTC's
popular "Consumer Sentinel" database, which collects consumer fraud complaints
and disseminates them to law enforcers.
Despite
numerous "judgments" against owners of protest sites, it seems that the
little man is unswayed and the Internet remains a perfect medium for making
grumblings heard. Here are three recent examples. One has been squashed,
another has the legal letter and another has just gone up. Oh, and a bonus
fourth, which is a protest site of a protest site.
More
than 60 federal government Web sites use permanent "cookies," or tiny text
files that track visitors' movements online, in clear violation of federal
law, according to a preliminary report released today.
The
United States ranks third in the world in overall progress in implementing
electronig government efforts, according to a new study. The United States
dropped from last year‰s first-place ranking and is now behind second-place
Singapore and the new first-place leader, Canada.
India: Link up rural India (April 4, 2001) Currently, more than half of India‰s villages lack telephone connectivity let alone internet access; the arrival of the information revolution to India is in doubt. The
26 million phone lines (mostly business-owned) and 2 million internet subscribers
that do exist nationwide are highly concentrated in urban areas, leaving
rural areas out of the loop and harming the interests of both groups.
Report: Worldwide E-Government Still Overcoming Hurdles (April 4, 2001) Although
many government bodies are taking steps to implement online services, a
report released Tuesday by consulting firm Accenture
concludes they still have "a long way to go." The study, "Rhetoric vs.
Reality - Closing the Gap," found that only in rare cases can businesses
conduct transactions with government entities via the Internet.
Free Internet access to Orissa High Court records (April 1, 2001) Litigants
fighting cases in the Orissa High Court will now have free Internet access
to case records following the inauguration of two Web sites by state Chief
Justice N.Y. Hanumanthappa. A litigant can easily find out in which court
his case is appearing and its listing. Besides, the search engines of the
Web site will help a litigant or the general public to find details related
to a particular case.
The
Internet is Africa's political corrupticians' nightmare. In other words,
news- media- information censorship by political dictators is curtailed
at the door of the Internet. Ask Yugoslav's Slobodan Milosovic whose regime
was toppled by the technology of the Internet and satellite comunications.
The irony is that the "unimportant" people that the media target in under-developed
and developing countries like Sierra Leone for instance, are hardly in
a position to access the Internet.
A
bill that would legalize cyber-elections in France has been proposed by
a deputy in the National Assembly. Alain Ferry, a deputy from the Bas-Rhin
region, has filed a proposition for a law with the National Assembly that
would authorize Internet-based voting from home, said a spokeswoman for
the deputy.
The
Haryana unit of National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a package
of five softwares to "improve efficiency of various departments of the
state government". These five softwares are payroll system, personnel information
system, court cases monitoring system, diary or despatch (DAK) monitoring
meetings information monitoring systems, state informatics officer, G Bansal,
said here on Tuesday.
By
any quantitative measure, Thailand's New Economy has collapsed. Hundreds
of dotcoms have self-destructed without viable business models; eyeing
that failure, most traditional Thai bricks-and-mortar firms have eschewed
the electric plunge.
Trials
should proceed in which Internet terminals are used at traditional polling
places, but remote voting from home or the workplace is not viable in the
near future. So says a new report, commissioned by the National Science
Foundation (NSF), in which a committee of experts calls for further research
into complex security and reliability obstacles that for now impede the
Internet's use in public elections.
Australia : New Digital Copyright Act Triggers E-Mail Alarm (March 5, 2001) A
new set of copyright laws recently passed in Australia have drummed up
concern that Internet users could be prosecuted for forwarding e-mail,
although the attorney general has been quick to state that sharing e-mail
is not banned by law.
Cuba: Officials deny blocking Internet access to ordinary citizens (March 3, 2001) Pakistan
: Introduction of e-district soon (March 3, 2001)
ISLAMABAD,
March 3: The National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) on Friday announced the
introduction of e-district in the country claiming that all basic and even
minute data of each and every district of Pakistan would be available on
computer till August, 2001. Under what is named as National Reconstruction
Management System (NRMS) computerised information about district officials,
their strength and career; school, hospital, dispensaries etc and their
staff; roads, buildings and departments; development projects and schemes
etc. will be available.
Wired
Future for Courtrooms (March 1, 2001)
In
a not-too-distant future, courtrooms could exist only in cyberspace, with
crime scenes re-created as holograms and trial participants seeing each
other only through virtual reality glasses. That's the kind of magic ``Courtroom
21'' at the College of William and Mary has a taste of. In a recent demonstration,
a judge presided from his home court in Portland, Ore., and a witness testified
from Orlando, Fla. On the bench and in the witness box were huge televisions,
where they could talk via Internet videoconferencing.
Rights:
45 Countries Suppress Internet Access for Citizens (February 28, 2001)
Governments
in 45 countries across the developing world are being taken to task for
placing restrictions on their citizens' ability to access information on
the internet. In most cases, government control has been achieved by compelling
citizens to subscribe to a state-run Internet Service Provider (ISP), charges
Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF, for Reporters
Sans Frontiers).
Sweden
: Companies can file their tax returns online (February 28, 2001)
Swedish
companies can from now on file their tax forms online. The trial period
has just begun, and the Riksskatteverket, the Swedish tax department, expects
12,000 - 15,000 companies to be using this web service within 6 months.
The process is not very complicated and the signing of the forms can be
done through digital signatures. The new service is expected to bring significant
savings in both time and money for both the companies and the Riksskatteverket.
E-Government
Challenged By Differing Encryption Standards (February 27, 2001)
The
drive to create a truly successful "e-government," where citizens can access
all federal government resources online, is being slowed by the difficulty
in meshing incompatible encryption technologies across government agencies,
according to a report issued Tuesday by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Uganda
: Government selects VIISAGE for new electoral system (February 27,
2001) Viisage Technology,
Inc. (NASDAQ: VISG), the leader in face-recognition biometric technology
and in providing digital identification systems and solutions, announced
today that it has been awarded a contract by the Electoral Commission of
Uganda to implement and maintain a turnkey face recognition system in support
of Uganda's national elections. The system will support a database containing
a minimum of ten million images. The project requires that a digital image
be acquired for every registered voter and validated for the purpose of
eliminating duplicate registrations within the ten million voter registration
database.
Vietnam
: Internet Under New Management (February 25, 2001)
Responsibility
for the regulation and development of the Internet in Vietnam passed from
the science ministry to a telecommunications department last week. Vietnam's
prime minister has ordered the Department General of Posts and Telecommunications
(DGPT) to take over management functions from the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Environment.
Cuba
: Not so libre with the Net (February 23, 2001)
Internet
and e-mail access in Cuba is as jealously guarded as Fidel Castro's chokehold
on power. But that hasn't stopped enterprising Cubans from finding ways
to flout government restrictions. The Cuban government controls the country's
only Internet gateway and four national ISPs. Out of 11 million Cubans,
only about 40,000 academics and government workers are permitted to have
Internet and e-mail accounts, according to government spokesman Luis Fernandez.
PRAGUE
"Leave the Internet alone" (February 22, 2001)
Internet
should remain a secure and accessible tool for social justice, says Prague
meeting of communication activists. PRAGUE "Leave the Internet alone" This
was the core message addressed to governments and big business by a group
of lawyers, computer programmers, academics, and communications activists
from East and West Europe who gathered here from February 18 to 22 to plan
a defense of the Internet for social justice work. The conference was organized
by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), an international
association of not-for-profit organizations which promote an Internet for
social justice and development.
Singapore
: counts on the net (February 22, 2001)
Census
analysts in Singapore say the country's 2000 census, the first to use online
methods, was a success. Singapore, long acknowledged as an
e-government world leader, has successfully completed its first online
census. In a speech marking the end of work on the 2000 census, George
Yeo, the country's Minister for Trade and Industry, explained that the
Internet, along with a new census methodology, had enabled the Singapore
government to obtain better results.
Harried
women go online (February 21, 2001)
Israeli
candidates swap sharpest barbs on Net (January 23, 2001)
JERUSALEM
(AP) -- A cartoon tank, driven by a caricature of hard-line candidate Ariel
Sharon, rumbles across the computer screen and tramples the word "peace"
in the slogan, "Only Sharon will bring peace." It's one of the less-than-subtle
messages being distributed to true believers by Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
Internet campaign team as Israel's February 6 election approaches.
Filipinos
rally to oust the president (January 20, 2001)
C
U @ the revolution: text messages summon millions on to streets of Manila,
forcing government's collapse. Thousands of protesters marched to the presidential
palace in Manila in the early hours of this morning after the collapse
of the government of President Joseph Estrada in the Philippines.
Fighting
Corruption Online (October 30, 2000) The
Internet has been used to sell, promote and advocate. So, why not advocate
fighting corruption online at a time when the highest official in the land
is under fire for various allegations of graft and corruption? The Transparent
Accountable Governance project (at http://www.tag.org.ph)
is an attempt to summarize how, why and to what degree corruption exists
in Philippine society," explains the Web site.
DigitalGovernance.org
Initiative is conceived and managed by:
www.vikasnath.org
Inlaks Fellow (2000-1),
London School of Economics, UK
Founder,
KnowNet.org Initiative
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