Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Because it has implemented e-government so well, Singapore has been the focus
of significant attention (Chan and Pan
2008
; Baum et al.
2008
). Singapore's
e-government initiatives began as early as 1980, with the launch of the Civil Service
Computerisation Programme. It has, for example, a state-of-art digital tax filing
system (Tan et al.
2005
), an e-citizen center (
http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg
), and most
government services can be delivered on-line (Ke and Wei
2004
). The active par-
ticipation of the island's business community, which anticipated its benefits, was
central to the success of these initiatives (Tung and Rieck
2005
). Because multiple
stakeholders were included in the design and implementation of e-government
initiatives, they enjoy widespread trust among different segments of the population:
as with e-commerce, trust is central to the effective adoption of e-government, and
trust, like all social constructions, varies greatly over time and space.
Similarly, e-government has enjoyed modest success in Malaysia, in part because
its residents trust the state to implement it (Lean et al.
2009
). E-procurement of
government contracts, for example, has steadily become the norm. Like Singapore,
Malaysia's cultural diversity was important, as e-government is intertwined with the
culture's emphasis on egalitarianism, fatalism, and individualism (Seng et al.
2010
).
In Thailand, the eGovernment Interoperability Framework has guided the slow
initiation of digital communications among different government agencies
(Kawtrakul et al.
2011
; Funilkul et al.
2011
). However, star programs such as
Smart ID cards (which contained the owner's demographic and economic data)
failed there, largely due to its haphazard and unsystematic program of imple-
mentation. Elsewhere, such as Vietnam, where its vaulted Project 112 collapsed in
failure, e-government is confined to a few websites, although even Cambodia is
getting into the act (Sang et al.
2009
).
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's behemoth, has had limited success with e-gov-
ernment, in part due to endemic corruption, lack of political will, and shortages of
qualified personnel. Its efforts have rarely moved beyond simple web pages,
although Surabaya, the second largest city, has initiated an e-procurement system.
5.3.5 South Asia
South Asia's e-government efforts pale in comparison with those found in East Asia,
and more closely approximate the rankings of sub-Saharan Africa (Fig.
5.1
). In
India, e-government is having widespread effects (Haque
2002
). Although the
national government has been generally positive in this respect, most initiatives arise
from Indian states (Monga
2008
). In Tamil Nadu, for example, the Sustainable
Access for Rural India project, which sponsored a series of internet kiosks, improved
villagers' access to government services, including telehealth, and reduced cor-
ruption (Kumar and Best
2006
). Similarly, the Gyandoot project, which began in
2000, established kiosks in rural Madhya Pradesh, helping farmers learn about prices
and using Geographical Information Systems to map soil types and ground water.
The Akashganga project helped 50,000 dairy farmers in rural Gujarat. Project
