Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) G-Governance in India: Search for a Suitable Framework and Research Directions Pramod K. Singh Associate Professor Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) Anand - 388 001, India Email: pramod@irma.ac.in GSDI 11 World Conference, June 15-19, 2009, Rotterdam

Birds Eye View Key De-Enablers Strategies Technical Understanding Organisational Programme/Project management Institutional Understanding Governance & G-Governance Key Enablers G-Governance Framework Strategies (Strategic Management Model) Research Directions

What is Governance? The exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences (UNDP 1997) Governance is a process of multi-stakeholder involvement, of multiple interest resolution, of compromise rather than confrontation, . of negotiation rather than administrative fiat (Stewart 2003) Emphasis is on participation, decentralisation, accountability, responsiveness and concerns for equity, sustainability and social justice. Emphasis is also on exercise of legitimate authority. Envisages the roles of all the stakeholders: the state, private sector, civil society, and the citizens at large

Governance Framework Development Goals Infrastructure Strategies Implementation Challenges Legal and Policy Environment Macro Environment Development Goals Strategies Guiding Principles Stakeholders

What is G-Governance? G-governance involves the use of geo-information and communication technologies (geo-ICTs) in the process of governance

Legal and Policy Environment Macro Environment Right to Information Act National e-Governance Plan New Map Policy Remote Sensing Data Policy Regulatory Bodies Ministry of Science & Technology Ministry of Defence Department of Space Department of Information Technology Macro-Environmental context Socio-cultural Political Liberalization Privatization Globalization

Core Infrastructure: The Enabler NSDI- National Spatial Data Infrastructure National e-government intranet (NICNET and ERNET) State Wide Area Networks State Data Centers Common Service Centres Security Infrastructure Language Resource Centers Supporting factors –service delivery infrastructure at state, district, block and village levels including wireless infrastructure for the last mile connectivity

GIS Infrastructure Development Initiatives in Public Sector: The Enabler Natural Resource Data Base (NRDB) – at 1:50k– NRIS (25 layers for 17 states), Wastelands, Wetlands & many more by DOS Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) National GIS by NIC– dissemination by web Large Scale Mapping (LSM) project of NNRMS Space- enabled Village Resource Centre (VRC) National Urban Information System (NUIS) Many Sectoral databases by various Ministries/Departments

Programme Delivery Framework for G-Governance Spatial data Producer (National, State, and Local Agencies) Core Infrastructure Users Interfaces Government PCs Government Public Sector NSDI NICNET ERNET SWANs State Data Centres Common Service Centres Security Infrastructure Language Resource Centres Mobile phones Home PCs Citizens PRIs NGOs Collectives Service Providers Integrated Service Centres Value Adders Business Cyber Cafes Payment Gateway Kiosks

Stakeholders for G-Governance in India Policy Makers Secondary Stakeholders Producers Primary Stakeholders Key Stakeholders ISRO, NRSC, NIC, CoI, SRSAC, SOI, CGWB, IMD, FSI, GSI, MoUD, NBSSLUP, MoEF, NATMO, Geospatial Industries, Academia Politicians and Political Groups ISRO, NSDC, DST, MoD, SOI, MIT Industries, PC Government line departments, District Administration, Academia, R&D Institutions, NGOs Geospatial Industries (Not yet active) NGOs Citizens, CBOs, Media Value Added Resellers End Users

Implementation Challenges: Key De-enabler Technical challenges - system components, system design, standards and technical expertise Organizational challenges – how the organization adapts to new sources and types of information Institutional / Macro-environmental challenges - factors external to an organization that influence the organization's ability to adopt or use Geo-ICT Programme / Project management and process re- engineering related challenges Socio-cultural challenges Financial challenges

Technical Issues– The Meaning User friendliness– users’ centricity Database approach – design standards, quality standards (acurrency, currency etc.) Information systems approach – beyond hardware, software and dataware– emphasis on usage and socio-technical network Should facilitate users to work as per their usual work-flow Scope for innovations by users

Key Technical Priority Areas National policy on open standards for g-governance; Interoperability framework for data access, presentation including data preservation, publication, archival, etc. for both spatial and non-spatial data; Network and information security standards; Enterprise architecture framework for NeGP and g-governance; Indian languages related issues with respect to storage, browser, fonts, keyboard, data dictionary, etc.; Visualisation issues of spatial data; and Interoperability of spatial and non-spatial data.

Organizational Challenges Successful use of GIS infrastructure = f(ability, capacity and willingness of an organization) Bigger barriers than technical issues Resistance to change is an inevitable response to any major change Incentives & barriers to change – real and perceived costs & benefits, organizational communication, training etc

Framework for Change Management Fixing goal When, why and what measures to be taken Enterprise GIS Culture Training Inter-Departmental communication, involvement, facilitation and Feed back Planning for appropriate, achievable & measurable stages Effect Support from top management & building teams of motivated individuals Cause New change 15

Project Management What is Project? Existing Situation Desired Often difficult to visualize the two conditions

Project Management Project management should be: participatory goal-focused transparent accountable

What is Logical Framework Approach (LFA)? A methodology for developing programmes / projects Provides a set of tools for planning, design, implementation and evaluation of projects Has a strong participatory component

Steps of an LFA Specific to project under consideration Monitoring & Evaluation Steps of an LFA Risk Analysis Preparation of LFA Matrix Objective Analysis Problem Analysis Specific to project under consideration Identification of Stakeholders

Monitoring and Evaluation Regular monitoring ensures that the plan goes in the direction it has been envisaged Evaluation ensures that the plan delivers the desired results Monitoring – internal or own team Evaluation – external or by the top management

India’s National Map Policy: a Misnomer Institutional Issues India’s National Map Policy: a Misnomer Revolves around the survey maps of SOI Mentions mainly about SOI’s toposheets Puts SOI on the driver’s seat and role of other stakeholders are merely a value adder. What about the huge amount of spatial information developed over the years by various other government departments and private sector? NMP is nothing more than guidelines of dissemination for SOI’s topo maps. The name National Map Policy seems to be a misnomer

Institutional / Macro-environmental Issues India has a broad and powerful installed base for spatial data The institutional inertia has created lock-in effects

Proclamation of the Grand Visions Institutional Issues Proclamation of the Grand Visions Report of the task force on NSDI: “Spatial information is a national resource and citizens, society, private enterprises and government organizations have a right to access it appropriately” Objective of NMP: “to promote the use of geospatial knowledge and intelligence through partnerships and other mechanisms by all sections of the society”

The Reality: Missing Link Institutional Issues The Reality: Missing Link Both the policy and guidelines of NMP silent about partnership process with the major stakeholders Other spatial data creating organizations have to abide by the instructions of SOI NRSC is vested with the authority to acquire and disseminate all satellite remote sensing data in India – both from Indian and foreign satellites Both NMP and NSDI silent about collective action and cooperation

The Reality: Missing Link Institutional Issues The Reality: Missing Link Aspirations of many stakeholders does not seem to be fulfilling Spatial resources seems to be controlled by the government Provisions of the NMP and NSDI not in accordance with their objectives

Strategic Management Model Environmental Analysis Opportunities Threats Action Plans -Preparation of national GIS foundation dataset Low cost GIS software with vernacular interface G-literacy SWANs implementation at a faster pace and WiMAX for the last mile connectivity Power sources in remote areas Functional NSDI portal Announcement of integrated spatial information policy National e-cadastre Enterprise-wide GI systems Regulatory/enabling agency Strategic Plans SWOT matrix Strategic Direction Organizational Assessment Strengths Weakness Performance Evaluation Guiding Principles Transparency Accountability Efficiency Effectiveness Cost-effectiveness Equity Inclusiveness Responsiveness Fairness Note: The base model is adapted from Morrision and Wilson, 1996

SWOT Analysis: Strengths Broad and powerful installed base for spatial data in the country Availability of a large base of skilled manpower Several Indian enterprises have already proved their capabilities of IT adoption and process re-engineering Indian enterprises are developing innovative geospatial products and services by harnessing various

SWOT Analysis: Weaknesses Lack of market orientation for geo-ICT products and services Inefficient sectoral flow of spatial data Inadequate intra- and inter-organisational communication Lack of proper attitudinal orientation to data usage especially in public sector organisations

SWOT Analysis: Opportunities A range of policy initiatives by the government such ad NeGP, NMP, RSDP, etc Availability of base infrastructure such as 2-Mbps connectivity up to taluka level under SWANs Good cellular teledensity being developed in India NSDI is taking shape, which could provide scope for collaborative efforts in creation of geospatial products and services Convergence of technologies such as GIS, remote sensing, GPS, broadband internet, and satellite and mobile communication will help in diversifying the products and services

SWOT Analysis: Threats Institutional inertia and lack of culture of sharing has created lock-in effects for sharing of spatial information Geospatial programme in India is top-down, data centric and supply oriented, and adopts the ‘one size fits all’ kind of approach Both the policy and guidelines of NMP of India are silent about partnership process with major stakeholders contd...

SWOT Analysis: Threats Increasing pressure for change management at organisational level for adopting the fast changing geospatial technologies Copyright issues and pricing policy for spatial data products and services not yet clear Socio-cultural factors hinders use of spatial information High resolution data is populated by international players such as Google, Microsoft, and others

Strategic Direction Stakeholder’s involvement–participation Co-production Improving inter-organisational collaboration, cooperation and coordination Decentralization Pricing strategies Education & information dissemination User orientation

Strategic Plans: Strengths-Opportunities Strategies Improve inter- and intra-departmental communication, involvement, facilitation and feedback Operationalise data/ metadata servers Respond to niche markets Address interoperability issues Use reflexive standardisation process

Strategic Plans: Weaknesses -Opportunities Strategies Improve inter-organisational collaboration-cooperation-coordination Understand users workflow and provide quality data according to users’ need Develop enterprise-wide geo-ICT infrastructure Use multiple sources of energy to power geo-ICT installations in remote areas

Strategic Plans: Strengths-Threats Strategies Announce integrated spatial information policy covering all spatial data products and services Establish fully functional NSDI portal for all spatial products and services Adopt process-oriented management techniques Make foundation dataset available in the public domain free of cost Create innovative products and services by exploiting the convergence and fusion of various geo-ICT technologies

Strategic Plans: Weaknesses -Threats Strategies Aware with the users/ customers demand Understand users’ workflow and create spatial products according to their needs Be user and customer-centric Populate images, maps, models, and value added products through GeoPortal

Network Readiness Framework for G-Readiness Performance Evaluation Network Readiness Framework for G-Readiness G-Readiness e-Readiness GIS Infrastructure Spatial database GIS software and hardware Environment Market environment Political and regulatory environment Infrastructure Readiness Individual readiness Business Government Usage Individual usage Business usage usage Adopted from MIT–NCAER (2006)

G-Readiness

Action Plans Preparation of national GIS foundation dataset Low cost GIS software with vernacular interface G-literacy SWANs implementation at a faster pace and WiMAX for the last mile connectivity Power sources in remote areas Functional NSDI portal Announcement of integrated spatial information policy National e-cadastre Enterprise-wide GI systems Regulatory/enabling agency

G-Governance Framework Strategies Stakeholders Government Public Sector Private Institutions PRIs NGOs Collectives Citizens Infrastructure NSDI NICNET ERNET SWAN State data centres Common service centres Security infrastructure Language resource centres Guiding Principles Transparency Accountability Efficiency Cost-effectiveness Equity Inclusiveness Responsiveness Fairness Legal and Policy Environment Right to Information Act National e-Governance Plan National Map Policy Remote Sensing Data Policy Macro Environment Socio-cultural Political Liberalisation Privatisation Globalisation Development Goals Human Development Alleviation of poverty Food and livelihood security Equitable and inclusive growth Health for all Universal primary education Empowerment of marginalised Women’s empowerment Ecological security Implementation Challenges Technical Organisational Programme/ project management Institutional/ macro-environmental Financial

Future Research Directions Technical (knowledge base good) Architecture Standards Interoperability Integration strategies Spatial search engines Data Security Managerial (knowledge base poor) Project management- using LFA Change management Understanding users work flow GIS alignment with other process models (MIS, ERP, CRM, etc.) Assessment framework for G-readiness Geo-ICT adoption and socio-cultural issues Institutionalisation of Geo-ICT at grassroots level

Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) Prof. Pramod K. Singh Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) Anand - 388 001, India Email: pramod@irma.ac.in THANK YOU