Evaluating the Developmental Impact of E‐governance Initiatives: An Exploratory Framework

Abstract

India is faced with a large number of challenges that are typical of developing countries. The Indian government has for the past 3 decades widely acknowledged that expanded use of ICT in the public sector can offer important benefits such as improved planning and monitoring mechanisms, cost savings through rationalisation, and more effective administration and delivery of certain public services. Today, wide ranges of e-governance projects are being implemented in different parts of the country including projects aimed at reaching areas and people that had traditionally not been connected to the outside world.This paper uses Sen's notion of capabilities as an evaluative space for e-governance assessment. Such an emphasis demands a change in the way e-governance is assessed. The capabilities framework allows us to focus on the developmental impact of such projects. We base our evaluation on the FRIENDS and AKSHAYA e-governance projects in the South Indian state of Kerala.

Information Systems in Developing Countries: A Critical Research Review

“…Many ISDC studies have been premised on the potential developmental role and effects of IS diffusion derived from theoretical perceptions of desirable world orders, such as Sen's theory of capabilities (Madon, 2004) or conceptual models of assumed transformations happening in the contemporary world that necessitate ICT infrastructures, such as Castells' ideas of society and economy as networks (Braa et al, 2004).…”

Understanding the Role of Rural Entrepreneurs in Telecentre Sustainability: A Comparative Study of the Akshaya and eSeva Projects in India

“…The basic idea behind constructivism is that reality does not exist objectively, rather it is constructed by human beings subjectively. According to Madon (2004), a constructivist approach is most common in interpretive case studies. The telecentres movement is seen as an innovation in rural areas and, according to Gaiani and colleagues (2009), important factors affecting the use of innovations can be identified using a constructivist approach whereby each person is seen as a unique individual with unique peculiarities and backgrounds.…”

Analysing ICT and Development from the Perspective of the Capabilities Approach: A Study in South Brazil

“…Madon (2004) provides a good example of the application of CA at ICT4D. The author adopts CA to go beyond the traditional criteria for evaluating e-governance initiatives in India.…”