12 CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
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12
CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
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2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 EVOLUTION OF KM & E-GOVERNANCE
According to Peter. F. Drucker “Knowledge is information that changes something or
somebody either by becoming grounds of actions or by making an individual (or an
institution) capable of different or effective action”. What implication does this have for
today’s knowledge workers?
Land had been the value in agriculture era, whereas in industrial era factories created
value along with the utilization of resources like labour and capital but today the scenario
has completely changed and the value can only be driven through knowledge.
Knowledge economy is the buzz word today and all the companies are concentrating on
it. The knowledge economy has had an impact on the way companies do their business.
The knowledge power of products and services and the fast-paced change in global
competition, companies have had its centre of attention on their intangible assets to drive
improved economic returns and competitive advantage as rightly said by Grange, (2006).
For survival of companies in this globalized era managing knowledge properly is one of
the vital ingredients.
The buzz word today is big data which leads to information and simultaneously towards
knowledge and to get right knowledge at right time and right place is the challenge for
companies to survive in this era. The organizations need to manage their knowledge
properly and efficiently. The leading companies in the world of business today have
knowledge management practices entrenched in their day to day activities. The
importance of KM has also been understood by the public services worldwide as it too
faces competition in several areas. It also has demands from consumers as they claim
high prominence services and products, as some private sector provide the same facility
as government. Since the world is facing financial crisis, there is a dire need to share the
knowledge as well as information among the departments so as to reduce replication of
work thereby saving time, finance and energy.
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The loss of institutional memory due to staff turnover also leads the public sector to
embrace KM practices. Since time immemorial management of knowledge has been a
practice which is the result as we know our culture well and follow our rituals and know
about our Upanishads, or holy books. This passes on from generation to generation in
written form or through the written knowledge in form of books etc. The two types of
knowledge above said are tacit and explicit knowledge. Knowledge incorporates ideas,
know-how, instinct, expertise, and lessons learned that has the prospective to build value
for an organization, its employees, its products and services, its customers and ultimately
its shareholders by informing decisions and improving actions.
Tacit Knowledge: The knowledge that people hold in their heads. It is much less
tangible than explicit knowledge. It is more of an “unspoken understanding” about
something, knowledge that is more difficult to write down in a document or a
database. An example might be, knowing how to ride a bicycle – you know how to
do it, you can do it again and again, but could you write down instructions for
someone to learn to ride a bicycle? Tacit knowledge can be difficult to access, as it is
often not known to others. In fact, most people are not aware of the knowledge they
themselves possess or of its value to others. Tacit knowledge is considered more
valuable because it provides context for people, places, ideas and experiences. It
generally requires extensive personal contact and trust to share effectively.
Explicit knowledge: The captured knowledge which is thereby put up in print
media in form of documents or databases. Examples of explicit knowledge comprise
instruction manuals, written procedures, best practices, lessons learned and research
findings. Explicit knowledge can be further fragmented into structured or
unstructured documents. Documents, databases, and spreadsheets are examples of
structured knowledge, because the data or information in them is organised in a
particular way for future retrieval. In contrast, e-mails, images, training courses, and
audio and video selections are examples of unstructured knowledge because the
information they enclose is not referenced for recovery.
A debate on knowledge and information has always taken priority which has
incurred losses to many firms spending millions on information technology ventures
that have yielded marginal results as stated by Mc Campbell et al., 1999, p.
172. Snowden (1999) states that it is unessential to define knowledge, but stresses
out to differentiate it from information. Many researchers have tried to find out the
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basic variables of KM and also to have a complete understanding of it. Davenport, De
Long, and Beers (1999) state that knowledge “is information combined with
experience, context, interpretation, and reflection” (p. 89). Prusak (1999) illustrates
knowledge as a human trait or attribute (p. 4), distinctive from information where
only a human can attain knowledge. For example, a bookshelf can contain many
volumes of books on a particular subject. It can be said that the bookshelf contains a
lot of information, but one cannot claim that the bookshelf is knowledgeable. Sveiby
(1999) defines KM as an activity and a “process of knowing” (p. 20). The term
activity brings up the notion of action, which Nurmi (1999) points out in his
definition of knowledge: Knowledge is something that is acted upon, that has an
effect on the way things are. We are not interested in information that lies passive
on shelves, in files, or in archives. A knowledge business is created when the know-
how inside the firm and the needs of customers outside the firm meet (p.
168).Information is a “flow of messages, while knowledge is created and organized
by the very flow of information, anchored on the commitment and beliefs of its
holder” as rightly stated by Nonaka (1994) (p. 15). Nonaka and Konno (1999)
classified knowledge as either explicit or tacit. Explicit knowledge can be be
expressed in terms of words and numbers and shared in the shape of data. Tacit
knowledge is extremely personal, tough to formalize, and hard to communicate (p.
39).
2.1.1 INDIAN ETHOS IN MANAGEMENT LEADING TO KM
Knowledge has been the vital element since the Vedic times. The literature of
Vedic not only includes psychology and physics but also medicine and arts.
These knowledge has been transferred through “Gurukul system” by the usage of
word of mouth. They followed knowledge transfer system from guru to sishya (
students) where students stayed in proximity to their teachers so as to achieve
knowledge. “Upanishad” is the word which combines three words: upa, ni, and sad.
Upa is near; ni depicts below and determination, and sad is to sit down. The
implication of Upanishad is "near below sitting". In earlier days students for
attaining knowledge used to sit near the gurus after achieving sacred heart and mind
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and with quench for thirst of knowledge and tries his best to absorb and practice the
teachings. The Upanishad also describes the basics for a student, the qualities
necessary and the state of mind towards acquisition of knowledge. In earlier days
too the knowledge was not just handed over to the students but he needs to develop
a mind and mediate for attaing the knowledge. The Guru guides him in the
procedure of acquiring knowledge. An vital facet is sharing of knowledge.
“Svadhyayapravachanabhyam na pramaditavyam” The acquisition of knowledge
and sharing the knowledge acquired with others is the most excellent form of
severity that one can practice in this world. This knowledge had been passing by
from one generation to the other. The key ingredients for an organization to grow
and also for the entire nation to grow lies on the value of knowledge enhancement.
Vedas has described knowledge as wealth; knowledge has always remained and in
future will remain the single essential factor contributing towards all types of
development in the human society as it is this assets which enables man to use every
other type of capital and resources for his benefit. “The raft of knowledge ferries the
worst sinners to safety”, says Lord Krishna in the Bhagavat Gita to highlight the
value of knowledge in human life. The proverb can be used in the economic sphere
with equal relevance and with a minor alteration we can say that the raft of
knowledge can ferry even the poorest to prosperity. The quench of knowledge drove
Gautam Buddha, the promoter of Buddhism to leave all material comforts. The first
Sikh Guru Guru Nanak addressed that knowledge is the only means, which can
take us from darkness to light. Peter F. Drucker says that human knowledge is the
source of all wealth. Knowledge which is useful to everyday jobs that we know how
to do is called productivity and applied to tasks that are new and different, it is
called innovation. Thus, the focus on knowledge capital and its productivity is of
perfectly understandable and of vital importance in the emerging knowledge-
intensive economy of India. Knowledge has always been abstract in defining
through ancient times. Though we are focusing on big data, information explosion
there are very few researchers who can give an insight on what knowledge really is?
Diedrich & Targama, 2000 states that generally accepted knowledge is still not
found, though many researchers have pinpointed what knowledge is and how the
classification of different kinds of knowledge can be done.
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2.1.2 DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY VARIOUS AUTHORS
Table: 2.1-Definition of Knowledge given by various authors
Oxford Dictionary
definition on knowledge
a person’s range of information and information
as “something told; knowledge items of
knowledge”
Webster’s dictionary
definition on knowledge
the fact or condition of knowing known by a
person or a group of people. The knowledge is
also defined as “the ideas or understandings
which an entity possesses that are used to take
effective action to achieve the entity's goal(s)
Nonaka and Takeuchi
(1994)
Justified true belief
Wiig (1994) Truths and beliefs, perspectives and concepts,
judgments and expectations, methodologies, and
know-how
Liebeskind (1996) Information of which validity has been
established through tests of proof
Ruggle (1996) A fluid mix of framed experience, value,
contextual information, and expert insight
Allee (1997) Experience or information that can be
communicated or shared
Sveiby (1997) The capacity for effective action
Davenport and Prusak
(1998)
Framed experiences, values, expert insights, and
contextual information
Fahey and Prusak (1998) Imbuing data and information with decision- and
action-relevant meaning
Leonardo and Sensiper
(1998)
Relevant, actionable information based at least
partially on experience
Wijnhoven (1998) Collection of concrete experiences or a set of
abstract conceptualizations
Den and Huizenga A collection of rules and information to fulfill a
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(2000) specific function
Acharya (2001) Human interaction with reality.
Raisinghani (2000) Formatted information.
Al-hawari (2004) An object that can be codified, distributed,
understood, and applied in order to achieve a set
of goals.
Prior to the coining of the word “Knowledge” the progression of path from data to
knowledge has been followed, this ultimately results in wisdom. Data is represented as
raw fact which simultaneously when compiled together forms information thereby
collating the information into knowledge and this knowledge finally converts into
wisdom. For example each student of the class can be depicted as raw facts which when
compiled together forms an information about each students attendance percentage in a
class finally if we want to get a knowledge about how many students should not be
allowed to sit for the exams can be calculated using various analytical tools,
commonsense, experience and training of some important skills.
After the understanding of the continuum about the data towards KM its imperative to
know about the definition of KM given by diverse authors all around the world.
2.1.3 KM IN PERSPECTIVE FROM DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES AND
GROUPS
Table: 2.2- KM in Perspectives from Different personalities and group
Pears (1972)
Knowledge of facts, knowledge of facts acquaintance, and
knowledge of how to do things.
Machlup (1962) Practical knowledge, Intellectual knowledge, Small-talk and
pastime knowledge, Spiritual knowledge, unwanted knowledge
Blackler (1995) Embodied, Embedded, Embrained, Encoded
Polanyi (1967),
Nonaka ( 1994):
Tacit, Explicit
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Awad & Ghaziri
(2003)
Shallow & Deep Knowledge Procedural Knowledge,
Declarative Knowledge, Semantic Knowledge, Episodic
Knowledge
Khandelwal &
Gottschalk (2003)
Core knowledge ,Advanced Knowledge & Innovative
Knowledge
Holsapple and
Whinston(1988) ,
Holsapple(1995)
Descriptive , Procedural , and Reasoning knowledge.
Boisot (1995) Proprietary, Public, Personal, Commonsense
Choo (1998) Tacit, Explicit, Cultural
Conklin (1996): Explicit, Implicit, Individual, Collective
Riitta Suurla
“KM can be defined as a process where knowledge, skills,
expertise, communication and collaboration are cared for,
administered and steered with skills and wisdom in a goal
oriented fashion by using different techniques and
technologies.”
Michael Fontaine,
Eric Lesser
Knowledge Management can be defined as the ability of an
organization to create, share and use the collective knowledge
of its products, processes and people to increase workplace
productivity and reduce activities that “reinvent the wheel”
Gartner Group’s KM is an integral approach to identifying, capturing, retrieving,
and sharing and evaluating an enterprise's information assets;
both formalized in databases and informal tacit expertise.
Burns (Creative
Networks)
KM is "web thinking", that is lateral thinking emphasizing a
network of relationships between pieces of information and
between information and people, compared with traditional
thinking that is ...linear and sequential.
The various definition and classification given by various authors depict that KM is a
recursive cycle which goes on continuously and the following diagram shows the flow of
KM’s recursive process which includes assessment of knowledge, contextualization of
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knowledge and updating knowledge. Each of the above given steps includes few
processes which are mandatory to be followed for completing each step. Knowledge
Capture and/ or Creation, Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination, Knowledge
Acquisition and Application are the important milestones which have to be practised as a
process in an organization for proper KM to be in place. Given diagram explains the
same.
Figure: 2.1: The KM Process Continuum
Asses
Contextualize
KM cycle
Update
2.1.4 EVOLUTION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
There were veteran KM theorists who have contributed towards the evolution of KM,
among these include Peter Drucker, Peter Senge, Paul Strassmann, Karl. M. Wiig and
many more. The evolution began with:
Drucker and Strassmann stressing over the growing value of information and
explicit knowledge as organizational resources.
Senge stated that learning organization is a cultural dimension of managing
knowledge.
Knowledge
Sharing and
Dissemination
Knowledge
Capture and/ or
Creation
Knowledge Acquisition and
Application
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Chris Argyris, Christoper Bartlett, and Dorothy Leonard-Barton of Harvard
Business School studied diverse facets of KM. The case study of Chaparral Steel,
a company which has had an effective knowledge management strategy in place
since the mid-1970s, inspired the research documented by Leonard-Barton’s
well-known case study
The understanding of how knowledge is produced, used and disseminated within
organizations was the outcome of Allen’s research at MIT which dated back in
1970’s.
The importance of knowledge as a competitive asset was well realized by mid of
1980’s though the old economic theories ignore knowledge as an asset and still
organizations lack strategies for KM in their organizations.
Doug Engelbart’s adds to the KM evolution by introducing hypertext/groupware
application capable of interfacing with other applications and systems.
Rob Acksyn’s and Don McCracken’s Knowledge Management System (KMS),
an open distributed hypermedia tool, is another notable example and one that
predates the World Wide Web by a decade.
In 1980’s there evolved the concepts like "knowledge acquisition," "knowledge
engineering," "knowledge-base systems, and computer-based ontologies which
has contributed tremendous for managing knowledge and these systems worked
on artificial intelligence and expert system.
The phrase "knowledge management" was coined at lexicon. A group of US
companies started managing knowledge assets by the end of the decade of
1980’s. In this decade itself articles on KM started appearing in journals of MIT
Sloan, Harvard Business School etc as well as books on KM started getting
published which included Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline and Sakaiya’s The
Knowledge Value Revolution”.
In 1990’s decade in house and focused KM programs had been started practising
by many well known U.S, Japanese and European industries. In 1991 KM was
introduced in popular press by the publication of Tom Stewart’s “Brainpower” in
Fortune magazine. In 1995, “The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese
Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation” by Ikujiro Nonaka’s and
Hirotaka Takeuchi’s which showcased the best KM practice and was most widely
read by the people. This decade welcomed the internet which highly facilitated
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the KM initiatives to flourish worldwide. The International Knowledge
Management Network (IKMN) which began in Europe in 1989, went online in
1994 and was shortly joined by the U.S.-based Knowledge Management Forum
and other KM-related groups and publications. This decade also evidenced KM
conferences and seminars since the world had become flat and for sustain
competitive advantage most of well known organizations started focusing on
managing and leveraging implicit and explicit knowledge. By 1994, KM surveys
were practiced in European Community and funding was also provided for the
KM related projects.
KM was highly desirable alternative for failed TQM and business process re-
engineering which was big business for the international consulting firms like
Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen, and Booz-Allen & Hamilton. APQC
[American Productivity and Quality Council] and ASIS [American Society for
Information Science]) were also the buzzword for KM and it still remains the
same.
2.1.5 GENERATIONS OF KM
The scope and perspective of KM constantly jumped to broader circles of
engagement which is fragmented in different generations.
First Generation KM: This was also known as document based KM which
included these vital steps:
Aggregated, organized and analyzed information and data.
Information stored in documents and finally in data warehouses.
Extract, capture, store and disseminate information.
Information available through search and retrieval.
Human beings reluctant to share knowledge.
Produce and provide knowledge for rational decision making and
management.
Second Generation KM: This generation was coined as People based KM which
included the following factors:
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Skill of using knowledge to create unique work.
Knowledge stored in human brains.
Knowledge could be interacted, shared and exchanged.
Human beings are eager to showcase their expertise and knowledge.
Sharing and learning for improvement and effectiveness.
Third Generation KM: This generation was related as system based KM which
included the following factors:
Complex phenomenon emerging from social system (this generation was
beyond the aggregate of individuals).
Stored in systematic interaction and relations.
Co-create, discover and transform sense and meaning.
Knowledge made available by understanding the whole through
conversation and adapting various brainstorming techniques.
Today people depend on interaction to be knowledgeable.
Understand and innovate for sense making and creating an impact.
2.1.6 SIGNIFICANCE AND CONCERNS IN KM
KM Theory and factors : As stated by Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, 1995,
and Panit, 2005 KM theory and factors consists of some most significant
activities for managing KM in organizations which includes:
o Creating the vision on learning or knowledge
o Creating a team for KM.
o Creating the atmosphere intensely for exchange the leanings among the
lower level employees.
o Managing new methods for work formats.
o Emphasis on middle-up-down management in an organization
o Creation of knowledge network with outside world
o Changing the organization to hypertext
o Start from existing intelligence or that can be found from the outside
easily,
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o Creating horizontal culture and independent communication in every
direction,
o Creating a culture of recording and evaluating the KM result.
Nour-Mohammad Yaghoubi, 2011 stated that measuring or auditing knowledge
was not so easy due to which organizations need to manage knowledge efficiently
in order to utilize the competency skills as well as through experience, present in
the employees of the organizations.
Concluding for data , information , knowledge and thereby KM which depicts KM is a
process that helps organizations identify, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer
important information and expertise that are part of the organization’s memory and that
typically reside within the organization in an unstructured manner. This structuring of
knowledge enables effective and efficient problem solving, dynamic learning, strategic
planning, and decision making. Knowledge management initiatives focus on identifying
knowledge, explicating it in such a way that it can be shared in a formal manner, and
leveraging its value through reuse.
2.2 OVERVIEW OF E - GOVERNANCE
E-Governance as defined by UNESCO (www.unesco.org) states that the core function
and the goal of e- governance is to enhance good governance which is thereby evidenced
through participation, transparency and accountability of services and healthy
relationship towards the citizen of the country and the government, which is facilitated
by the recent advancement in communication technologies and the internet.
The increase in involvement of a common citizen in governance activities at any level
stating from national to the root level say panchayats is only possible due to the
advancement of information technology which has resulted in on-line discussion groups
and by enhancing the fast development and effectiveness of pressure groups. The
government is also benefitting by providing better services in lesser span of time and
providing effective and efficient services to the citizen whereas the government is
benefitting by reduced transaction cost and services becoming more and easily
accessible. Governance refers to the application of varied political, economic and
administrative powers in the administration of nation, where citizen can express their
interests and exercise their legal rights and obligations without any hindrance.
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2.2.1 DEFINITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF E-GOVERNMENT
Table 2.3: Definition and implementation of e- government.
World Bank
www.worldbank.org
E-Government implies usage of IT infrastructure and
technologies by the government agencies which is evident to
change the relationship among citizens, businesses, and other
arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety
of services which includes better service delivery to the
citizens, enhanced interactions with business and industry,
citizen empowerment through access to information, or more
efficient government management. The subsequent benefits
can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater
convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.
European Union,
2004
Defines e Government as the usage of ICT in public
administration along with organizational change and imbibing
new skills to improve the services to public as well as to
improve democratic processes.
OECD, 2003 E-Government is “the use of ICTs, and particularly the
Internet, as a tool to achieve better government”
The fields of implementation of e-governance are:
E-administration which refers to improving of government processes and of the
internal workings of the public sector with new ICT-executed information
processes.
E-services which implies improved delivery of public services to citizens. Some
examples of interactive services are: requests for public documents, requests for
legal documents and certificates, issuing permits and licenses.
E-democracy- implies greater and more active citizen participation and
involvement enabled by ICTs in the decision-making process, budget analysis etc.
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2.2.2 THE ORIGIN OF E-GOVERNMENT IN INDIA
The traces of the origination of e- Governance in India can be seen in 1970 when the
Govt of India had initiated the computerization, although at that time the focus was
primarily on automating and interconnecting some important different government
offices and functions. This was the pre internet era and main focus was to enable
connectivity and information sharing among government departments. In 1977 setting up
of National Informatics Centre was the next step to move towards the e- governance era
where information systems started getting managed by Government of India. It was the
telecom and IT revolution in 1990, which impelled Government of India to explore
avenues for the delivery of citizen services through IT solutions. This decade witnessed
numerous e- governance initiatives at national, state, district as well as at block level.
The National e- Governance Plan ( NeGP) was launched on 18th
May 2006 and aims at
improving delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses with the vision to
make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through
common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such
services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man.
NeGP targets various areas including the following:
Political ownership and national vision
Program/Project Management
Public- Private Partnership
Architecture & Standards
Core & Support ICT infrastructure
Reengineering
Change Management
Mission Mode Projects:
At the core of NeGP are a series of Mission Mode Projects to create citizen centric and
business centric environment. MMP’s broadly come under three categories:
Central MMP which are aligned within national ministry or agency.
State MMP’s which are program to be implemented at state level.
Integrated MMP’s which are to create a common infrastructure for e- governance
at all levels of the government.
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Table 2.4: Integrated MMP’s which are to create a common infrastructure for e-
governance at all levels of the government
Central MMP State MMP Integrated MMP
Banking
Central Excise &
Customs
E- Office
Income tax(IT)
Insurance
MCA21
National Citizen
Database (
NCD/MNIC/UID)
Passport, Immigration
and Visa
Pension
Agriculture
Commercial Taxes
E- District
Employment Exchange
Land Records
Municipalities
Panchayats
Police
Property Registration
Road Transport
Treasuries
Citizen centric
Centres
E- Biz
E- Courts
E- Procurements
Electronic Data
Interchange for e-
Trades
National e-
Governance service
delivery gateway
India Portal
Source: e- Governance 2020 FICCI & Ernst & Young Report
These Mission Mode Projects are supported by three core infrastructure initiatives of
NeGP commonly referred as three pillar model which are:
Connectivity: State Wide Area Networks
Data Centres: National Data Banks, State Data centre.
Common Service Centres
India has been spending significantly on e- Governance initiatives. The total cost
incurred through NeGP for e- Governance by 2011 is INR 230 billion. India looks to
sustainable development by including all, in addition to the national portal; the
Government has also developed an India Development Gateway. This is “the National
portal of India developed as a single-window access to information and services, with the
specific objective of reaching the ‘un-reached’ rural communities of India, especially
women and the poor. It catalyzes the use of ICT tools for knowledge sharing, leading to
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development.” A variant of the National Portal, but targeted towards a specific group of
people, this site contains specific topics aimed at the rural poor: agriculture, rural energy,
etc., and features forum discussions and an “ask an expert” section. Making it available
in English and in eight local dialects, the government’s main objective is to stimulate
women, the poor, and people in the remote rural areas to use technology to their own
advantage as per the UN survey report. This shows that the government is trying its level
best of implementing KM at national level but it is evident that until and unless we
practise at the ground level like municipalities, that is one of the sect of bottom of the
pyramid it’s hard to achieve the goal. More than 80 percent of the world population lives
in developing countries, where socio-economic progress is slow. India is a developing
country with a population of 1.2 billion spread over 28 geographically uneven states. In
most of the states in the Indian federation, people speak different languages and dialects;
have different literacy levels and distinct socio-cultural attitudes that have affected not
only economic progress but also legislature. However, over and above, these fragmented
population, there is an overlying layer of information technology professionals or
‘knowledge workers’, who seem to have indirectly pioneered e-Governance initiatives.
The Central and State administrations, customs, ports, the public tax system and
education system were the pioneers in e-Governance India. A number of state
governments implemented e-Governance initiatives aimed at cost effectively taking
various facilities to citizens. Innovations in the area of land records, taxation,
procurement etc were witnessed in the sector with the internet pervading significant
government transactions. Government of India issued guidelines that 2-3% of every
ministry or department plan budget was to be utilized in achieving e-Governance using
IT (Raje, 1999). Mrs Raje stated that many state governments have taken initiatives to
provide ‘one-stop shops’ to deliver a host of services to citizens such as domicile
certificates, driving licenses, property tax payments, electricity and water bills, etc. In
parallel, to achieve mass customization, Government of India decided to set up a
National Institute of Smart Government as a tripartite venture between government,
business and community (Raje, 1999).NISG is a not-for-profit company setup in a
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in 2002 under the recommendations of The National
Taskforce on Information Technology & Software Development, with 51% equity
contributed by the private sector & 49% by the public sector. NASSCOM, Government
of India & Government of Andhra Pradesh are the main promoters with ILFS,
Government of Chhattisgarh, Government of Meghalaya & Vizag Municipal Corporation
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being the other stakeholders. NISG has its origins in the recommendations of the
National Task Force on IT & Software Development. Forged as a public-private
partnership, NISG offers the orientation & efficiency of the private sector combined with
the accountability of the public sector. NISG is helping the Government of India & State
Governments realize the national e-governance vision. NISG has worked on multiple
projects with various ministries under nomination thus keeping the sanctity of Not for
Profit organization.
In 2001 era The United Nations and American Society for Public Administration
(UNASPA, 2001) suggested an e-government model which included:
o Enhanced presence: Government web sites provide dynamic, specialized and
regularly updated information.
o Interactive presence: Government web sites act as a portal to connect users
and service providers and the interaction takes place at a more sophisticated
level.
o Transactional presence: Users have the capability to conduct complete and
secure transactions, such as renewing visas, obtaining passports and updating
birth and death records through a single government web site.
o Seamless or fully integrated presence: Governments utilize a single and
universal web site to provide a one-stop portal in which users can
immediately and conveniently access all kinds of available services.
2.2.3 SIGNIFICANCE AND BENEFIT OF EXISTENCE OF E-GOVERNANCE
The benefits of e- governance as stated by Ndou (2004) are:
o Reduction in cost and efficiency gains (Tapscott, 1996; Amit and Zott, 2001;
Malhotra, 2001)
o Improved and faster service delivery with improved quality for businesses and
citizen.
o Transparency, anticorruption, accountability.
o Increase in the competency of government.
o Creation of network and community.
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o Better and faster decision making quality.
o Usage of ICT is promoted in varied sectors of the society.
Kumar et al. 2007 conveys that e- Gov output is huge cost savings to governments and
citizens together, increase in transparency and reduce corrupt activities in public service
delivery.
Crede and Mansell, 1998 states e- gov can transform old challenges and create
extraordinary potential for sustainable economic development, just as it has done for
businesses in the industrial world. ICTs offer the potential not just to collect, store,
process and diffuse enormous quantities of information at minimal cost, but also to
network, interact and communicate across the world.
This concludes that the basic usage of such e-government systems results in :
Simplifying delivery of services to citizens.
Eliminating layers of government management.
Making it possible for citizens, businesses, other levels of government and
government employees to easily find information and get service from the
government.
Simplifying government agencies' business processes and reducing costs through
integrating and eliminating redundant systems.
Enabling achievement of the other elements of the Government’s Management
Agenda and Streamlining government operations to guarantee rapid response to
citizen needs.
One key ingredient for the success of these requirements is the continuous availability,
accessibility, and application of appropriate governmental organization knowledge
within e-government systems. This includes different types of knowledge such as
governmental business processes, government laws/regulations, citizen profiles, service
information, problem solving expertise, and expert insight, etc. Executives in leading
government organizations increasingly recognize that in order to maintain or gain
government competitive advantage, governmental knowledge needs to be managed and
integrated into their e-government systems. Knowledge management basing on the e-
government has the potential to improve the electronic provision of services.
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2.2.4 PHASES OF E-GOVERNANCE
Gartner’s research report (2000), an international consultancy firm states and formulated
four-phase e-governance model to have a check for smooth functioning of e- governance.
These phases include:
o Presence: This phase includes building the intentions and objectives of the
government known. It also includes development of comprehensive
government website or a network of integrated different levels of government
sites which sets the stage for further advancement. These sites convey the
government’s initiatives, providing information such as official addresses,
working hours, as well as forms and applications to the public, economic
reviews, corporate regulations for business and budgetary allocations and
spending as a reference for government agencies. Here building infrastructure
to facilitate the above given tasks is critically important and would be
undertaken in this phase.
o Interaction: This phase involves basic interaction between the government
and the citizen. Hosting search engines on the sites for easy navigation,
information detailing social records and job application forms for the public,
permit and license documentation for businesses and census details,
submission of requests and approvals to the centre by local government
officers would have to be provided.
o Transaction: This phase indicates direct interface of the government and
relevant recipient for e governance services. After the complete infrastructure
and connectivity complete online services can be put forth in this phase
resulting in services of online including payment of bill and fine payments,
license renewal, aggregating opinion etc online procurement tax returns etc
for businesses, cooperative budget preparation, tax records, etc for
governmental agencies.
o Transformation: This phase is the vital phase and the last phase of proper e-
governance implementation and achieves the true vision of e- governance. A
single point of contact to citizen as well as related entities , would provide an
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integrated platform for government services and organization totally
transparent to citizens and businesses. Intranets, linking all the government
employees of different departments and extranets allowing seamless flow of
information thereby facilitating better and timely decision making among all
the government agencies, NGO’s and citizen.
Similarly there were different organizations and authors who gave the phases of e-
governance as per their thought process which includes UN / ASPA study of five stages
of e- government development includes emerging, enhanced, interactive and
transactional. World Bank study depicts 3 phases of e-Government including publish to
disseminate information about government and information compiled by government to
wide range of citizen, Interact which means two-way communications, starting with
basic functions like email contact information for government officials or feedback forms
that allow users to submit comments on legislative or policy proposals and transact
which depicts allowing public to obtain government services or transact business with
the government online. There were further different organizations and authors who gave
their own phases for e- government but the crux of the matter is that e- governance is not
a one step process and it is sure to include different phases and these phases are
independent from one another but basically four phases which are mandatory are access,
interaction, transaction and integration. Effectiveness in e- governance services cannot
be achieved by buying more computers or setting up website online transaction and the
presence and practise of KM can make it more effective resulting in more efficient and
less costly services to be provided to the citizen.
2.2.5 RISK INVOLVED IN E-GOVERNANCE
The following factors have to be taken into account when examining the risk of
implementing e-governance.
Political stability: Democracy or dictatorial regime
Level of trust in government: perception of service levels
The importance of government identity: fragmentation or integration
Economic structure: education, agriculture, industry or service
Government structure: centralized or decentralized
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Different levels of maturity: weakest part of the chain determines speed
Constituent demand: push or pull
2.2.6 CHALLENGES OF E-GOVERNANCE WORLD-WIDE
Alshehri and Drew, 2010 suggested the challenges which include:
Weakness in IT Infrastructure.
Awareness among citizen about the e- governance programs are not
conveyed properly.
Issues of privacy and security of information.
Lack of qualified personnel and lesser training courses.
Difference in culture and language barrier for countries where diverse
culture and linguistics exists.
Lack of leadership and support from management.
Lack in regulation and of policy for e-usage.
Lack of partnership and collaboration.
Lack of strategic plans
Resistance to change to e-systems
Shortage of financial resources
2.2.7 MAJOR ISSUES FOR KM AND E-GOVERNANCE
E- Governance and KM combined has major issues of concern which are as follows:
The content of e- Governance is disorganized, many a times contents are
meaningless which hinders for accessing information.
Updating of information is not a regular practise which results in taking
right decision at the right time in all sectors of government & non
government.
Incomplete e- portals
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Many e- government sites do not allow interaction between citizen and
government which simultaneously hampers transparency in government
services and citizen empowerment thereby losing trust amongst the
citizen.
Usage of outdated technologies which enable them to keep pace with the
global environment.
The portals of government are often designed by non professionals who
are not trained in knowledge application tools and techniques which
thereby results in inadequate creation, capturing, storing, sharing and
updating the site information.
Misra, 2008 states that a standard format is used to present knowledge
which may not be effectively utilized by all citizen and stakeholders. An
answer to this is multichannel delivery of services offline and online.
Association between KM and data mining: Since data mining is also a tool
to retrieve information and helps in decision making, these two tools
should be jointly used to retrieve the appropriate information so as to take
the right decision in right time at right place.
Misra, 2007 states that the e- governance should not be project specific
where people work on it as project and checks the success and failure of
the project, which thereby prevent the e- governance activities. Since the
e- governance aims for improve government services to the citizen it
should be a continuous process where knowledge needs to be reviewed
and updated to avail the most recent information by the citizen and
various stakeholders.
A strong leadership is needed so as to understand, motivate, involve,
influence and support e-government initiatives.
Constraints in budget also obstruct the affordability of basic infrastructure
for e-government.
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2.2.8 IMPORTANT TOOLS OF KM FOR E-GOVERNANCE
Most of the mentioned e-government issues are revolving against content management;
knowledge management can offer a number of applications and techniques to e-
government, to name a few are developing.
Community of Practice (Cop) : (Jashapara, 2004:203) states COP is used to
capture and share knowledge where a group of people sharing a concern, some
problems, passionate about the topic and who attains expertise in a special field
through interacting which is a continuous process. COP’s can be face to face,
online or digital, can by formal or informal, within the government and outside
the government with citizen, rural people, private sector. CoPs have proved the
most powerful tools for learning and sharing knowledge for intellectual
interaction and experience. They can be used to capture retired and older
government employees’ knowledge; connect silos in various public sector
divisions and to market government’s new initiatives.
Knowledge Organization Tools: There are many knowledge organization tools
borrowed from library and information science such as thesauri, classification
schemes, subject heading schemes, taxonomies and ontologies, knowledge maps,
intranet, discussion list archives, e-mail archives, websites. All these knowledge
organization tools can be very useful for e-government content organization. For
example, the Chinese government has adapted ontology-related technology to the
knowledge management problem of e-government digital archives (Jiang &
Dong, 2008).
Knowledge Maintenance Tools: KM is meaningful only when accurate,
relevant, necessary and up-to-date information is available to the right people at
the right time and in the right format in a cost effective way. To achieve this, KM
emphasizes the importance of knowledge maintenance. Here we have to look at
both knowledge quality and quantity. Maintenance of knowledge involves
reviewing, refining, preserving and updating both implicit and explicit
knowledge. Various knowledge maintenance systems are available to assist the
process of knowledge maintenance.
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Social Network Analysis (SNA): Similar to knowledge mapping SNA is a tool
to analyze how nodes and users are interlinked. It maps and measures the
relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers, and
websites or other information and knowledge processing entities and presents a
visual and mathematical analysis. SNA identifies knowledge brokers and
connectivity gaps. This is an essential activity for KM in e-government, to
measure and ensure the smooth flow of knowledge.
Knowledge Harvesting: Knowledge harvesting is a new dimension in the
established field of KM system that is used to elicit a contributor’s tacit
knowledge. It can be a very useful technique in capturing government employees’
tacit knowledge and making it accessible to others. Information technology has
provided numerous systems for knowledge harvesting, such as, Electronic
Document and Records Management (EDRM) and enterprise content
management are being used in many e-government e-portals.
Knowledge Management Portals: KM portals are another KM tools “to extract
analyze and categorize both structured and unstructured information, and reveals
the relationship between content, people, topics and user activities in the
organization. They can provide users with many interactive facilities such as e-
mail, chat rooms, personalized news, search engines, RSS feedbacks, and external
links.
2.2.9 CHALLENGES OF E-GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
Sharma (2002) pinpoints that governance in India has been dominated by three
vital aspects including secrecy, seniority and corruption. These are the evident
challenges which is inhibiting the vision of e- governance across India and needs
to be looked upon if at all nation wants to service its citizen effectively and
efficiently. The National Task Force has also made several recommendations and
has been checking for e- readiness which the fundamental strategic challenge in
India. For e- readiness a check for readiness in terms of data system
infrastructure, legal infrastructure, Institutional infrastructure and technological
infrastructure are evident.
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2.3 OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATION (PSO)
As defined by Harvard School of Public Health “Public Service Organization” can
be any of the following:
A Federal, State, local, or Tribal government organization, agency, or entity
A job in government excludes time served as a member of the United States
Congress
A public child or family service agency
A non-profit organization of the Internal Revenue Code that is exempt from
taxation of the Internal Revenue Code
A Tribal college or university
Public service organization can also be a private organization that provides public
services:
Emergency management
Military service
Public safety
Law enforcement
Public interest law services (legal advocacy may be provided “on
behalf of” low-income communities at a nonprofits organization rather
than strictly “in” low-income communities at a non-profit organization
Early childhood education (including licensed or regulated health care,
Head Start, and state-funded pre-kindergarten
Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly
Public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical
setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner
and health care support occupations)
Public Education
Public Library Services
School Library and other school-based services
A “Public Service Organization” is not
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A for-profit business
A labour union
A partisan political organization or
An organization engaged in religious activities unless activities are unrelated
to religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing.
2.3.1 NATURE OF PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA
The Indian state comprises 35 provinces, more than 550 districts, 6000 blocks, and
around 6 million villages. To manage all this, there is a federal government at the center,
35 provincial governments to govern each of the provinces, and local self-governments at
the district, block, and village levels. The federal government at the Centre comprises
ministries, which are logical groupings of departments with similar or related business
mandates. The departments can be termed the strategic business units (SBUs) of the
ministries as they are self-sufficient units with a defined business mandate of their own.
Each department of the federal government has a corresponding department or
directorate in the provincial government, provided of course that the business mandate is
within the purview of the provincial government. While the departments at the Centre
address the issues at a macro level, the parallel departments in the provinces address the
issues at a micro level, and other lower formations of government at a micro level,
keeping in mind the unique requirements of their governance unit. Thus, all the
departments across the provinces that have the same business mandate face similar
challenges while implementing policies and programs. In such a situation, knowledge
sharing across provinces becomes a necessity. However, as of today, sharing among
departments with similar business mandates is restricted to meetings, seminars, and
workshops where people may get a chance to interact with their counterparts from other
provinces and share their success stories and common problems. Communities, both
urban and rural, require public utilities such as water supply, electricity, roads,
educational institutions and health care facilities. These are also called civic amenities.
The responsibility of managing and controlling civic amenities lies with the government.
The people of every village, town, and city elect representatives which refer as local self
government. In India, the local self- government body for a rural area is called
panchayat, and the local self government body for an urban area is called the
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municipality. Local people and their representatives are in best position to understand the
problems of any village or town. So the problems are not neglected, and people help to
solve them quickly as it is for their own good. Local self government reduces the work of
the central and state governments by taking care of civic amenities at local level.
2.3.2 OVERVIEW ON MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS IN INDIA
Urban local self government bodies are called municipalities. In India there are three
main types of municipalities. Semi urban areas that are areas are gradually changing from
rural to urban have Nagar Panchayat. Cities with population less than 10 lakhs have
Municipal Councils. And cities with larger population have Municipal Corporations. The
Municipal Corporation consists of members elected by the registered voters of the city.
Those who are of 21 years of age or above may stand for elections; the city is divided
into small areas called wards. Each ward elects one representative. Some seats are
reserved for the schedule caste, schedule tribes, other backward classes & women. Apart
from this the MP’s and MLA’s from the city become members. Some distinguished
residence of the city is appointed as member. They are called aldermen. The member of
the corporation elects a presiding officer called the mayor. Municipal Corporation is
formed for a term of five years. The functions of the municipal corporation are carried
out through various committees which look after different areas like health, education,
water supply, etc. The state government appoints an officer called the municipal
commissioner to look after the functioning of the corporation. The officers in charge of
various departments like education, health, engineering, etc assist him.
Functions of Municipal Corporation: The functions of municipal corporations in
India are as follows:
1. The municipal corporation arranges for the clearing away of garbage and
maintenance of the drainage system.
2. It looks after public health by running dispensaries & hospitals. It also checks
adulteration of food.
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3. It arranges for the drinking water supplies and street lighting. It may also make
arrangements for fire fighting.
4. The municipal corporation records births and deaths, issues birth and death
certificates. It maintains graveyards, cremation ground and electric crematoriums.
5. The municipal corporation may also run its own schools and help maintain public
libraries, museum, parks and zoos.
6. The Municipal Corporation provides and maintains public utilities such as markets,
roads, bridges, and public toilets.
Sources of Income of Municipal Corporation: The municipal corporation gets
money from taxes, fees and government grants. It collects property tax from house
owners, municipal tax from business establishment like shops and markets and water
tax from users of municipal water supply. It also collects taxes on non motorized
vehicles like cycles and rickshaws. In some cities it collects toll on certain roads and
bridges, and a tax called octoroi on goods entering the city. Apart from these it
charges fees for issuing birth and death certificates.
2.3.3 HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS FROM
BRITISH ERA
The first municipal system created during British rule was the Municipal Corporation
introduced in Madras in 1688, which was followed by municipal corporations in Bombay
(Mumbai today) and Calcutta (Kolkata today) by 1762. The current form and structure of
municipal bodies is based on Lord Ripon's Resolution on local self-government adopted
in 1882. Since then the structure of municipal bodies has essentially remained the same.
Statutory provision for creating a municipal unit is available in two forms. First, by
statute that provides for the establishment of a municipal authority and the other route is
through statutory provision empowering State Government creation. Generally, these
statutes confer significant control and supervisory powers on the state government.
Municipal election provisions in different states are not uniform. In some, arrangements
for election are made by the state government; while in others Municipal Commissioners
(executive officers) make the arrangements. Prior to the passage of the 1992 Act, urban
local government was defined generally by the Municipal Corporations, Municipal
Councils, Town Area Committees and Notified Area Committees. In this context, the
structure and composition of municipalities varied considerably, with wide differences in
definition and structure between states. Hence, the 1992 Act attempted to instill some
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uniformity in the constitution of the municipal bodies by classifying them as Municipal
Corporations for large urban areas, Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas and what
are termed at Nagar Panchayats, suburban government bodies. The 1992 Act provided
for the Twelfth Schedule which listed the functions of urban local units, along with their
planning, regulation and development powers. It made provision for ward committees in
areas exceeding 300,000 and the specification of the powers and responsibilities of
municipal units and the ward committees. There is a requirement made therein for the
holding of timely periodical elections and for the reconstitution of a municipal
government within six months, should it be dissolved for any reason. Unlike rural bodies,
urban government was not provided with a federated systemic framework but they do
have direct access to state governments, something that is not open to rural governments
which have indirect access through their relevant state bureaucratic representative - the
District Collector and divisional commissioner. The 1992 Act provides for elected and
nominated councilors. According to the size of the population of a particular unit, the
number of elected councilors varies. Nominated councilors are to be chosen by the
elected councilors for their special knowledge or experience in municipal administration.
The city administrator is generally a state-appointed officer. In such a system the Mayor
in the Municipal Corporation is usually chosen through indirect election by the
councilors from among themselves for a term of one year which is renewable. Mayor
generally lacks executive authority. Councilors act by committee, the most powerful
being the Standing Committee with its role of the steering committee exercising
executive, supervisory, financial and personnel powers. It is composed of elected
members varying in number between seven and sixteen through a system of proportional
representation of councilors. Municipal Commissioner is the chief Executive Officer and
head of the executive arm of the Municipal Corporation. All executive powers are vested
in the Municipal Commissioner. Although the Municipal Corporation is the legislative
body that lays down policies for the governance of the city, it is the Commissioner who
is responsible for the execution of the policies. The Commissioner is appointed for a
fixed term as defined by state statute. The powers of the Commissioner are those
provided by statute and those delegated by the Corporation or the Standing Committee.
Municipal Councils are units designated for smaller areas than the Municipal
Corporations. State statutes govern Municipal Councils.
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2.3.4 NATURE OF GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
All municipal acts in India provide for functions, powers and responsibilities to be
carried out by the municipal government. These are divided into two categories,
obligatory or discretionary. Obligatory functions include: supply of pure and wholesome
water; construction and maintenance of public streets; lighting and watering of public
streets; cleaning of public streets, places and sewers; regulation of offensive, dangerous
or obnoxious trades and callings or practices; maintenance or support of public hospitals;
establishment and maintenance of primary schools; registration of births and deaths;
removing obstructions and projections in public streets, bridges and other places; and
naming streets and numbering houses. Discretionary functions include: laying out of
areas; securing or removal of dangerous buildings or places; construction and
maintenance of public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, rest houses, leper homes,
orphanages and rescue homes for women; and public buildings; planting and
maintenance of roadside and other trees; housing for low income groups; conducting
surveys; organising public receptions, public exhibitions, public entertainment; provision
of transport facilities with the municipality; promotion of welfare of municipal
employees.
The National Urban Renewal Mission for Infrastructure development in India
The NURM was formulated in December 2005, to create the arrangements for efficient
service delivery to the citizen. The objective of NURM, which has been centrally
designed, is to reform and upgrade the urban infrastructure of India. The NURM has
identified sixty Indian cities under its program of development. The funding for this
activity for mega cities or those with huge population of more than a million plus, is
accrued by 35 percent from national government, 50 percent from the financial
institutions and 15 percent from the state. For the other cities it is 80:10:10. The
infrastructure upgrade plans have been confronted currently by the current credit crunch
limitations. There is also the requirement for the states to transfer, over a period of five
years, all special agencies that deliver civic services in urban areas and the creation of an
accountability framework for all urban civic service providers during the transitional
period. Other core reforms include introduction of e-governance for property tax
collections, with the goal of at least 85 per cent collection efficiency within five years
and the introduction of similar practices in the case of financial accounting systems, work
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management, water tax billing and collection systems, the trade licensing system and the
approval of building plans. Compulsory reforms to be undertaken by the states include
repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, reforms to the rent control law to
stimulate private investment, reduction of stamp duty to bring it down to no more than
five per cent within the next five years and the introduction of independent regulators for
urban services.
2.4 THE NEED OF KM FOR E-GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
Governments across the globe are the biggest source of information and knowledge by
virtue of their size and complexity of processes. Inadequate or no knowledge
management practices within the government generally lead to loss of opportunity as a
result of lost institutional memory, knowledge gaps and non-availability of appropriate
inputs for decision making. Although, Indian Government has lagged behind a bit in
realizing the importance of knowledge management, but with the tremendous investment
in KM in the private sector leading to substantial benefits, Indian governments too have
started to appreciate the benefits of KM. The need for the Government to adopt KM
practices are factors like existence of a vast knowledge pool, shrinking Government
budgets and the need to promote knowledge sharing within and across government
organizations leading to achievement of better governance.
Thus the theoretical background ends here with the wholesome knowledge about
Knowledge Management, e- Governance, municipal Corporations and the various
attributes of Knowledge Management in e- Governance in Public Service organization
with respect to Municipal Corporation.
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