IIMB signs MoU with SAP on e-governance

Bangalore, Aug 3 (UNI) In an attempt to improve e-governance at the Government level and in PSUs, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and world's leading producer of business software, SAP, today signed an MoU to help incorporate latest IT practices.

Under the MoU, SAP would support IIMB's Centre for Enterprise Resource Planning (CERP) to share and disseminate knowledge on e-governance.

Speaking after signing the MoU, Professor and Dean of IIMB Shyamal Roy said SAP would supply study and teaching materials to CERP, which provided a stepping stone for e-decision and e-governance, which had become fashionable words but not well understood in the country.

IIMB was actively working towards creating a platform for cost effective implementation of e-governance, which could usher in competitiveness and good governance. E-governance had wide scope in streamlining the administration of the Governments, he said.

SAP CEO and Chairman of Executive Board, Henning Kagermann said the world IT business was estimated at 1,000 billion Dollars, of which the share of the Governments was 25 per cent but still remained largely untapped. The MoU was not a business proposition, but a tie-up to solve the constraints being faced by the Governments and PSUs which would lead to better service to citizens.

''We are happy to align with a highly reputed business school like IIMB. Our experience with Governments around the world has shown that education and knowledge are two key factors that determine the success of e-governance initiatives. IIMB being both a producer as well as a disseminator of knowledge, we feel our partnerhsip with them will offer real value to technocrats, managers and Governments in charting out India's e-governance future,'' he said.

President and CEO of SAP Indian Sub Continent, Alan Sedghi said the major focus of the tie-up was to create flexible platform to disseminate knowledge in education system. Many Governments in Asia, including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and some North Asian countries, had successfully adopted the SAP e-governance platforms. In India, it had extended its e-governance solutions to many Governmental agencies, including Bombay Municipal Corporation, Bangalore Development Authority, SIDCO and many PSUs, he added.

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