E-governance: The road less travelled
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Mark Twain famously said, “I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.” Unlike Twain, Prakash Rane, the chief promoter of ABM Knowledgeware, sniffed the opportunity that existed in the e-governance sector early on. At a time when the use of IT in governance was limited, Prakash ventured into the field of e-Governance.
The essence of good governance is based on the premise that the laws and procedures are transparent, clearly defined and understood by those governed, and the implementation of these laws and procedures is both quick and smooth. ABM was set up with a vision to present ways in which ICT can be leveraged to make governmental services easily accessible to citizens.
“When I started in 1998, e-governance was little known. The term, probably, shot into the limelight in 2000 when Bill Gates visited India. In 1998, I was supplying computer hardware to many departments in the government. Through my customer experiences, I realised that in the hardware business there was no customer lock-in as it was completely price driven. Also, because there were different entities involved in hardware, software and training, the customer was not getting the desired outcome. I saw the potential of this market. The gap that existed between what governments should achieve in computerising the processes and what they were actually achieving through the products they were buying was wide. They were mostly spending on hardware and services but the “desired outcome” was missing from those purchases.
I wanted to do something that was more knowledge-based than supplying computer hardware. ABM was therefore born with the vision to provide complete solutions focused on ‘Outcome’ ” says Prakash
Challenges –Real and Perceived
“While there are real challenges in rolling-out e-government projects, there are also misconceptions that exist about the way our government runs”, says Prakash when quizzed on the challenges. The sheer number of people whose mindset needs to be changed, extremely wide geographical coverage required to reach the masses, need to provide easy and inexpensive access to government services, security of government data and transactions, privacy of personal data and more are some real challenges that companies face. Then, this is also a sector mired with red tape.
On another note, people mistakenly believe that government officials are not IT savvy. “In my experience, I have seen that several of our senior officials are very clear about what they want to do to ensure good governance and the role that IT can play in attain their objectives. It is really about giving solutions that would cater to their needs. So our strategy has really been to address these needs through comprehensive understanding of the needs of good governance,” points out Prakash. And that is why, ABM spent the initial few years of its operations developing in-depth domain knowledge in chosen areas and building e-governance solutions with a track record and an ability to be replicated with ease. The knowledge built over the years has helped ABM in providing the necessary assistance in carrying out administrative reforms, a key success factor in government project.
Getting Better All the Time
Although still in its infancy stage, the future of e-governance looks bright. The Union Budget for the year 2008 had an increased allocation to the Department of Information Technology, amounting to INR 1,680 crore in 2008-09, up from INR 1,500 crore in 2007-08, providing the impetus for long-term growth of e-Governance within the country. On the changes he has seen in the market, Prakash says, “we definitely are seeing more companies foraying into this space. So there is a sense of competition. However, ‘quality’ solutions in this space do not exist. Success in this segment depends, to a large extent, on domain know-how and on how you institutionalise use of Information Technology after implementation of the project. This is an area that we have excelled in and we have yet to see competition. One encouraging change that we are witnessing is the improvements in the buying process – the budgets are more systematic and it is easier to overcome the normal inhibitors that plague the adoption of IT. The market is more mature than it was when we started.”
The Road Ahead for ABM
ABM has grown over 600 percent in terms of revenues and human assets in the last 5 years. It won the prestigious ‘Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2008′ and ‘Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2008′, ample testimony to the speed of growth as a technology company not only in India but also in Asia Pacific region.
Speaking about the areas in which he expects growth, Prakash said, “We are cautious about growth. Our current business focus is on niche domains such as providing e-Governance solutions to Municipal Bodies (G2B & G2C); CRM solution for Electricity Distribution Companies (G2C) and Automation of Billing, Accounting and Collection for Water Distribution Authorities (G2B,G2C). Our solutions are mostly in use in the Western states of India and now we are looking at scaling to other parts of India. We also plan to grow inorganically and looking at various options in the UK.”
Succeeding in the E-governance Space
One of the biggest challenges for IT companies that are looking to tap the opportunities is successful change management. It is not just the solution but also the institutionalization of these projects through training, workshops, and promotion and awareness campaigns that play a critical role in success and sustenance. As Prakash points out, “niche-oriented focus is the key since this is a segment where both, domain know- how and technological skills are needed. “Outcome” driven companies must be focused as the e-gov in India is still driven by personalities and not by systems. The unique challenges of operating in this segment can only be met through long-term focus and clear understanding. At the end of the day, we need to remember that e-Government is about citizens; citizens are about services, services are meaningful if time bound and time bound services are possible only by blending ICT and Government Process Reengineering. At ABM, we perceive e-governance as a ‘process’ and not as a ‘product’. It is a paradigm shift for all the stakeholders.”
Post Contributed by Sumedha Singh, Prayag Consulting for NASSCOM EMERGE Newsletter.
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