'Govt needs to enhance internal efficiencies'

New Delhi, Nov 7: There is a need to enhance the internal efficiencies of the government process and systems through ICT-enabled government-to-government services, which has enormous potential to contribute significantly to the economic growth, according to Assocham.

In a representation submitted to IT Ministry, the chamber said replication of e-government has revealed that problems related to interoperability and government process re-engineering can block the efficiency and effectiveness of e-governance.

In particular, standards that support interoperability, security and privacy required for integration of databases, services and process re-engineering to optimise the envisaged benefits of e-governance to the citizens and the business community are required.

Assocham has also pointed out that it is very much essential to design an e-governance service model targeted at industry sector of high growth potential and strategic importance to nation.

Industry sectors such as telecom, civil aviation, retail, agriculture, infrastructure and healthcare should to be classified as sectors with high growth potential and the government should divide itself to these sectors to ease out procedural business interactions, it said.

In addition, the need for providing effective Government-to-Business (G2B) services that meet the requirements and challenges of the business community has been a critical component in developing a conducive business environment, the industry body said.

Appropriate information communication technology (ICT) intervention in providing G2B services would necessitate formulation of regulatory framework to ensure individual rights, provide legal recognition of electronic records, authenticate electronic signatures and transactions, protect confidential business data, protect privacy, faster settlement of disputes.

This, on the whole, would create an environment which would foster the growth of business through e-Governance, Assocham said.

Having a legal and regulatory framework in place would fulfill the needs and objectives of business community during their interaction with the government departments, it pointed out.

Implementation of legal framework would not only help in building trust and confidence among the business parties but also make mission critical information more reliable and secured.

UNI