Category – E-Governance
Sri Lanka GovSMS Portal
DESCRIPTION
Sri Lanka GovSMS Portal is a solution implemented by Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for the Government of Sri Lanka to deliver its citizen services via SMS. The project was started in July 2009 and completed its first phase in November 2009. Currently it offers three services from three different government organizations: railway time table and train delay information, crop prices in popular market places, and weather information. Plans are afoot to increase the number of services offered through this platform. Currently Central Bank of Sri Lanka has published draft guidelines for mobile payment implementation. Once this facility is enabled, this will become a very powerful channel in delivering government services. Since citizens don’t have to pay extra this becomes an attractive channel to obtain services. Moreover, it is clear that the overall strategy employed has benefits for all the stakeholders.
EVALUATION
On comparing the number of mobile users in Sri Lanka (65% and growing) to the number of internet users (about 10%) the effectiveness of this means to reach out to citizens in the country becomes clear.
As was shown by the Government Organization Visitors Survey of March 2008, on of the key issues citizens face in obtaining government services is access to information and service delivery points. Hence, through GovSMS, the government aims to reduce the average number of visits to a government office that a citizen has to make in order to receive a service (current average is 4), reduce the average waiting time for this service (current average is 6 hours), reduce the expenses outside of the service fee (travel, meals, loss of work-time, etc) and consequently increase the citizen satisfaction level of the government service (current average satisfaction is 40%).
ORIGINAL TITLE : SRI LANKA GOVSMS PORTAL
PRODUCER : ICT AGENCY OF SRI LANKA
LOCATION : COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
MEDIA FORMAT : MOBILE CONTENT
LANGUAGE : ENGLISH
WWW : WWW.ICTA.LK
Akshaya
DESCRIPTION
Akshaya, an ambitious project initiated by Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM), is aimed at bridging the digital divide, addressing the issues of ICT access, basic skill sets and availability of relevant content. Akshaya was started as an e-literacy project, in 2002, in the Malappuram district of Kerala and after a successful pilot was rolled out in the rest of the districts. It has helped towards bridging of the digital divide and bringing government services to the citizen’s door. Since its inception for e-literacy, the project has diversified and now the 2000 Akshaya centers provide a multitude of services. These include: e-Filing of tax returns for Commercial Taxes by traders, e-Payment of selected utility bills, online submission of application for ration card, e-Ticketing for railway, air travel, e-Content on education, career building, health, and law in Malayalam, e-Krishi platform for transactions between buyers and sellers, forum for public grievances redressal to District Collectors, key officials and Ministers, rural e-banking & financial services and micro insurance.
EVALUATION
Although the democratizing potential of the Internet cannot be doubted, yet it has been recognized that there is a very real danger that a new inequality will be created, that of the “information rich” and the “information poor.” However, e-governance has the potential of equalizing access to government and its services. The governments must ensure that those who are already educated or have Internet access are not the only ones who benefit from e-government. Such a disparity would only increase the problems of social and economic injustice, which e-government is meant to address. E-governance programs have to take special steps to include people who are not e-literate and the Akshaya project has done just that for the people of Kerala.
ORIGINAL TITLE :AKSHAYA
PRODUCER : KERALA STATE IT MISSION (KSITM)
LOCATION :THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA,INDIA
MEDIA FORMAT :BROADBAND/ONLINE
LANGUAGE : MALAYALAM
WWW : WWW.AKSHAYA.KERALA.GOV.IN
AutoDCR – Automatic Building Plan Scrutiny System
DESCRIPTION
AutoDCR is a software application that has the potential to revolutionize the way building plans are examined before being granted the building permission. It can help local governance bodies like Municipal Corporations and Municipalities in automating the cumbersome process of scrutinizing the building plans and ensuring that they abide by the development rules and building bylaws.
AutoDCR reads the building entities from drawings submitted by architects in soft copies, geometrically maps each and every entity and produces relevant reports embedded with drawings. Not only does this system reduce paper work and save valuable time and efforts but also helps in standardizing the building drawing plan process. It also makes the whole process objective and transparent replacing the existing manual system which is prone to intentional and unintentional
human errors.
EVALUATION
A building permit is required from the local municipal body before a new construction can be started to ensure that its plans are in compliance with national, regional, and local building codes. In India, getting a permit is an exceedingly difficult and long-drawn task and the process is fraught with delays, rejections and so on. Corrupt practices further add to the woes of the citizen.
However, if innovations like AutoCDR are adopted by local bodies, this process is bound to become much easier and faster. AutoCDR brings speed and accountability in the building plan approval process. It can offer direct access to the citizens about the status of their applications without any official interference. Approval procedure can be reduced to a uniform and easily-understandable process wherein all officials and stakeholders follow same process. Everyone follows a preset of rules and regulations as levied by the authority, thereby bringing in the standardization.
ORIGINAL TITLE :
AUTODCR – AUTOMATIC BUILDING PLAN SCRUTINY SYSTEM
PRODUCER : SOFTTECH ENGINEERS PVT. LTD.
LOCATION :PUNE, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
MEDIA FORMAT :WEB/INTERNET
LANGUAGE :PRODUCT IS DEVELOPED USING C++ AND .NET
WWW : WWW.AUTODCR.COM
SPECIAL MENTION
Fishnet ReAL Craft
DESCRIPTION
Fishnet – Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft (ReAL Craft), an e-governance initiative, is a portal cum webbased work flow application developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC), Kerala for the Department of Fisheries. The project components include knowledge-based portal with online site administration facility, application system for registration and licensing of fishing vessels. The objectives of the project are to foster efficient monitoring and control by the department, provide user-friendly interface for the approval of applications at various level (fisheries station, district, zonal), improve services and enable effective policy making.
Some of the services on offer are: registration and licensing activities, renewal of licenses, issuing of duplicate Registration Certificate, change of ownership, impounding of fishing vessels, issue of permit to other state vessels for fishing in Kerala waters, flash news about the impounding of vessels and other important events, SMS service to public and marine enforcement.
EVALUATION
The 590 kilometre long extensive coastline of Kerala is responsible for the annual yield of about 6 lakh tonnes of marine fish production in the state. With lakhs of fisherman and women and thousands of fishing vessels, there was a crucial need to create a database for these vessels as coastal security has now become an important issue.
Besides the obvious benefits to the citizen in terms of easier delivery of services, a major advantage of the system is its role in ensuring coastal security. The application helps to check and track suspicious vessels in Indian waters, by providing instant information of a specified vessel. It prevents illegal, unregistered and unreported vessels in the territorial waters, strengthens security of the coasts as well as the security of Indian fishermen at sea.
Original Title :Fishnet- REALCRAFT
Producer : National Informatics Centre, Kerala State Centre
Location :Trivandrum, Kerala, INDIA
Media Format :Web/Internet
Language :English
www :fishnetkerala.gov.in