Title: Women Forge Ahead in India: Internet and the Public Forum
Authors: Kavita Karan, Dr. Rohit Raj Mathur
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2010)
Date (published): 05/05/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Women must be included and empowered to compete in this internet-driven global economy. The economic stakes are too high to do otherwise. This study provides an understanding of the economic and social impact on women working in the government launched E-seva (electronic-service) project that provides integrated services through a single window system. The study through interviews and surveys provides an understanding of how Internet and new technologies are aiding in the transformation process in empowering the much deprived poor Indian women. Apart from increasing the access and use of ICTs, it is resulting in economic independence and improved social status.-which is the very basic need for women in India

Title: World e-Parliament Report 2010
Pages: 264 pp.
ISBN: 978-92-1-123187-8, 978-92-9142-448-1
Source: www.ictparliament.org
Publisher: United Nations,
Date (published): 10/06/2010
Date (accessed): 13/06/2010
Type of information: report
Language: English, French
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union just released the World e-Parliament Report 2010. The Report, prepared by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, intends to help legislatures to harness the potential benefits of ICT for their work and establish key goals and priorities for exploiting this valuable resource. While providing evidence of the complexities of e-parliament, the Report suggests ways to overcome some of the obstacles to the effective use of technology in parliamentary settings.

The findings presented in the World e-Parliament Report 2010 are based on the results of the Global Survey of ICT in Parliaments conducted by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament between July and November 2009, to which 134 parliamentary assemblies responded.
The rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) is changing not only the economic, social and political landscape around the world, but also the environment within which parliaments operate and it affects how they are perceived by the citizenry. In both developed and developing countries, parliaments are exploring ways to use technology to strengthen democracy and encourage political participation.
In 2008, the first edition of the World e-Parliament Report established a baseline of how parliaments were using ICT to help them fulfil their responsibilities and to connect to their constituencies. The World e-Parliament Report 2010 builds on that groundbreaking work and evaluates the progress accomplished by parliaments during the intervening two years in their efforts to use modern technologies to strengthen their institutional role. The 2010 Report further provides a methodology that can serve as a tool for parliaments to improve their performance in key areas of e-Parliament.

Foreword and Acknowledgments
Executive summary
Contents
Introduction (784 kb)
Chapter 1 - The Continuing Impact of ICT on the World of Parliaments
Chapter 2 - Communication between Parliaments and Citizens
Chapter 3 - Becoming an Open Parliament: Evolving Standards for Transparency and Accessibility
Chapter 4 - Envisioning, Planning, and Managing for e-Parliament
Chapter 5 - Systems and Standards for Parliamentary Documents
Chapter 6 - Library and Research Services
Chapter 7 - Responsive and Robust Technical Infrastructures
Chapter 8 - The State of e-Parliament in 2010
Chapter 9 - Cooperation and Collaboration
Chapter 10 - The e-Parliament Framework 2010 - 2020
Major Findings, Recommendations, and Conclusions
Bibliography
Boxes and figures
Annexes

Title: United Nations e-Government Survey 2010: Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis
Author Editor:
Pages: 140 pp.
ISBN: 978-92-1-123183-0
Publisher: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Date (published): 13/04/2010
Date (accessed): 06/05/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
The 2010 United Nations e-Government Survey: Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis was completed in December 2009 and launched in early 2010. The report presented various roles for e-government in addressing the ongoing world financial and economic crisis. The public trust that is gained through transparency can be further enhanced through the free sharing of government data based on open standards. The ability of e-government to handle speed and complexity can also underpin regulatory reform. While technology is no substitute for good policy, it may give citizens the power to question the actions of regulators and bring systemic issues to the fore. Similarly, e-government can add agility to public service delivery to help governments respond to an expanded set of demands even as revenues fall short. Since the last edition of the survey, in 2008, governments have made great strides in development of online services, especially in middle-income countries. The costs associated with telecommunication infrastructure and human capital continue to impede e-government development. However, effective strategies and legal frameworks can compensate significantly, even in least developed countries. Those who are able to harness the potential of expanded broadband access in developed regions and mobile cellular networks in developing countries to advance the UN development agenda have much to gain going forward.

Contents:
Foreword, acknowledgements and contents
Introduction
Part 1: Leveraging e-government at a time of financial and economic crisis
Chapter 1: Stimulus funds, transparency and public trust
Chapter 2: Roles for e-government in financial regulation and monitoring
Chapter 3: E-service delivery and the MDGs
Part 2: The state of e-government around the world
Chapter 4: World e-government rankings
Chapter 5: Citizen empowerment and inclusion
Chapter 6: Measuring e-government
Notes and references
Statistical annex

Title: Review of E-governance for Development: A Focus on Rural India, 2009, Palgrave Macmillan, London ISBN 978-0-230-20157-6
Author: Chris Westrup
Pages: 2 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, (2010) 40, BR1, 1-2
Publisher: www.ejisdc.org
Date (published): 08/01/2010
Date (accessed): 03/05/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Shirin Madon’s book is a welcome addition to a select corpus of monographs addressing issues in ICTs and development. It is fitting that Madon has written this book as it gives her space to articulate her position and findings on e-governance based on twenty years of fieldwork in India. This experience makes her well placed to address a key theme in the book understanding e-governance for development in relation to ‘historical processes of development and governance’ (p.166). The book sets out to question commonly understood assumptions about e-governance. First, that good governance is a key feature to achieve human development and second, that e-governance is supportive of good governance in a variety of ways including improving government’s efficiency and effectiveness; improving the relationships between government administration and citizens; improving transparency and accountability; and enabling access to information and participation in the processes of public policy. These are, as Madon notes, ambitious claims. Her approach is to critically review the relationship between governance and development which is then exemplified through description and analysis of three case studies of e-governance projects in the rural parts of the states of Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala in India.

Title: E-Readiness Assessment of Enugu State, Nigeria
Authors: C. Okoronkwo Matthew and N. Agu Monica
Pages: 10 pp.
ISSN: 1819-334x
Source: Asian Journal of Information Management, Volume 4(1), 2010
Publisher: Science Alert
Date (published): 17/03/2010
Date (accessed): 28/04/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
This study looks at the e-readiness of Enugu State (ES), Nigeria as the government is making efforts to digitalize government administration processes to provide the citizens access to governance information through the establishment of portal which test run was just completed. The study provides assessment guide; a mirror which governments, should use to determine the direction and milestones. It provides the e-readiness measuring instruments and showcases the outcome of application of the assessment methodology through a study carried out in the State. The main objective was to raise the awareness of stakeholders on the key issues in e-governance implementation to ensure rich content, sustainable service management and efficient use of ICT in support of current efforts in institutional, economic and administrative reform programmes.

Title: Brazil launches new version of their electronic government portal
Source: Free Software in Latin America
Date (published): 07/03/2010
Date (accessed): 08/03/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
The Brazilian federal government has launched a new version of their portal, offering more than 500 online services to Brazilian citizens, built entirely with free software...
Technology: The Brazil Portal is developed with Plone 3.1.7 and runs on Zope Application Server 2.10.6, programmed in Python 2.4.4. “The use of free platforms is the direction of the federal government. And the choice of the tools for the construction of the Portal would not be different. So, we chose Zope/Plone,”

via http://twitter.com/glynmoody

Title: E-Gov Versus Open Gov: The Evolution of E-Democracy
Author: Jenn Gustetic
Pages: 10 pp.
Publisher: Phase One Consulting Group
Date (published): 11/12/2009
Date (accessed): 12/12/2009
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
How is the Obama Administration’s Open Government (Open Gov) initiative different from the Bush Administration’s E-government (E-gov) initiative? There are many people who use the two terms interchangeably but this paper argues that although they are distinct initiatives in the United States, they are also part of the same E-democracy maturity continuum. Thus while they should not be handled totally separately, they should not be combined either. This paper provides a short history and terminology discussion and then compares and contrasts the two initiatives.

(via http://twitter.com/jspeigel1 )

Title: Global Dialogue on Exploring the Results of Governmental Open Source Software Policies: Brazil Experience
Publisher: The World Bank Group
Date (published): 17/12/2009
Date (accessed): 12/12/2009
Type of information: conference webcast
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and media files)
Abstract:
This learning and knowledge sharing event was organized by the Global Information and Communication Technologies Department (GICT) Department and the ECSPE e-Government Practice Group (e-Gov PG) of the World Bank, in collaboration with the e-Development Thematic Group (e-Dev TG), to explore the results of Open Source policy initiatives and identify lessons learned, and facilitate knowledge transfer among the interested countries and developers of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) solutions.

Currently, 40 client countries are implementing large-scale projects to support public financial management (PFM) reforms through a lengthy and costly process of modernizing existing infrastructure or developing new information system solutions as they seek to improve effectiveness of their PFM practices, reduce corruption, and ensure sustainability of information and communication technology solutions. Similarly, a large number of education, health and other sector projects with substantial ICT components are being implemented in all regions. These meetings are designed to promote knowledge and experience-sharing across member countries to better understand the challenges and opportunities in using FLOSS in public sector reform projects.

Title: Online Deliberation : Design, Research, and Practice
Editors: Todd Davies and Seeta Peña Gangadharan
Pages: 350 pp.
ISBN: 9781575865546
Source>: Center for the Study of Language and Information - Lecture Notes, Volume 182
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Date (published): 04/11/2009
Date (accessed): 09/12/2009
Type of information: book
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, Attention! 12,45 MB)
Abstract:
Can new technology enhance local, national, and global democracy? Online Deliberation is the first book that attempts to sample the full range of work on online deliberation, forging new connections between academic research, web designers, and practitioners.
Since the most exciting innovations in deliberation have occurred outside of traditional institutions, and those involved have often worked in relative isolation from each other, research conducted on this growing field has to this point neglected the full perspective of online participation. This volume, an essential read for those working at the crossroads of computer and social science, illuminates the collaborative world of deliberation by examining diverse clusters of Internet communities.

Title: Local Governments Offer Data to Software Tinkerers
Author Editor: Claire Cain Miller
Source: NYTimes.com
Publisher: The New York Times Company
Date (published): 06/12/2009 (07/12/2008 in the print edition)
Date (accessed): 09/12/2009
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Many local governments are figuring out how to use the Internet to make government data more accessible. The goal is to spawn useful Web sites and mobile applications — and perhaps even have people think differently about their city and its government.

“It will change the way citizens and government interact, but perhaps most important, it’s going to change the way elected officials and civil servants deliver programs, services and promises,” said Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, which is one of the cities leading the way in releasing government data to Web developers.

(via http://lirneasia.net/ )