Decrypting e-governance: Narratives, power play and participation in the Gyandoot Intranet
2007, T T Sreekumar, The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries - Vol. 32
This study takes a critical look at the view that e-governance is an administrative innovation facilitated by the application of ICTs. It argues instead that e-governance should be conceived as a complex social process involving attitudinal change as well as a transformation of the traditional forms of governmentality. The empirical part of the study comes from field research conducted in Madhya Pradesh, India on Gyandoot, an intranet based government to citizen (G2C) service delivery portal. Five case studies and several anecdotes are used to illustrate the contention that local social dynamics plays a key role in the success of e-governance projects. The study questions the assumption of neutrality of technology inherent in e-governance and highlights the role of social power equations.