Government/PSU

Smooth sailing with IT

Most of the government organisations and PSUs surveyed consider RFID, storage software and e-mail archiving as their top areas of investment. By Faiz Askari

India is an emerging economy and Information Technology has emerged as a massive enabler for the continuing growth of the country. The acceptance of IT is can be witnessed everywhere, be it PSUs, the corporate sector or the government.

In fact every stakeholder of the industry has understood that all such thrusts towards growth are only possible through IT, while considering IT as a key enabler. As per the survey, it has been found that the government and PSU segment is showing interest in technologies such as RFID, storage software and e-mail archiving.

Among the government organisations that participated in the survey, AIR (All India Radio) is one such institution that has implemented IT as a core enabler of their activity. Talking about the growth of IT acceptance Yogendra Pal, Director Engineering at AIR, says, “Information technology has proven its utility in today’s competitive world. It is also true that the industry is moving at a rapid pace and a lot of credit for this growth goes to rapid IT adoption.” While sharing the status of IT at AIR, Pal says, “IT is almost everywhere. At AIR, IT has penetrated almost every level of our operations. Some key areas where IT applications play a mission-critical role is in editing, production, recording and transmitting. Beyond this we also have IT as a backbone in our internal communication infrastructure and other important areas.”

Meanwhile the government sector has emerged as the top buyer of IT related products and solutions. With e-governance moving into second stage in India, it has started reaching out to citizens in the shape of services and applications. The list of e-governance services in India is also not so small. Take the case of the CSC project, land record project and IT in the Indian Railways. These are great examples of e-governance in India. However, most recently, taking a forward-looking stance, the Ministry of External Affairs of India has decided to introduce an e-passport, which will also be known as a biometric passport, in India.

In this e-passport project, initially the government will provide biometric cards for diplomats and officials as a pilot project by the end of 2007. The Government has constituted a technical committee to finalise the technical specifications of the e-passports. The National Institute of Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad has prepared a comprehensive study on the passport issuance system. The government is taking a number of steps to bring transparency to passport offices. These include the computerisation of all Passport Offices, introduction of on-line registration, tele-enquiry, passport adalats and strengthening of grievance redressal mechanisms.

While talking about changing dynamics of IT among PSUs, the role of an IT officer or a CIO has undergone a drastic change in the last few years. Likewise in many of the private enterprises and MNCs, the top management is looking for a strategic benefit for the business from any IT deployment than just an introduction of technology in that business environment. KK Jain, server in-charge at National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd, stated, “From the one just deciding on the IT deployment to the one shaping up a technology roadmap that aligns with a company’s business goals, the IT officer is evolving into an important entity.”

This change is evident in the government sector too, what with the current emphasis on e-governance. For e-governance initiatives not only dispense information to citizens but also bring about a sea-change in the way the administration functions.

Commenting on this emerging trend in the government segment, N S Kalsi, Director-cum-Secretary, IT, Government of Punjab adds, “We are witnessing some great examples of e-governance in India. But in government also, technology has to be defined as per the need and secondly, financial aspects of any IT project also have to be clearly understood.”

Although the responsibilities of an IT head or CIO are almost the same as their counterparts in the private sector, the IT manager in the government sector takes some extra efforts to carefully examine the functionalities and utilities of IT and communication solution that are been implemented.

Government’s Roadmap

The ultimate goal for any IT application for governance is to offer citizens better governance, thus as in the private sector too the IT manager needs to align the goals of the government to the IT initiatives being implemented. But the RoI factor also plays a vital role in deciding the future of any IT deployment. Apart from many observations and estimates, one thing that is unanimously accepted by almost every stakeholder of the industry, that one fact is the government organisations are India’s biggest buyers of IT.

However, IT vendors are keeping government organisations in their top priority list of customers. This statement can be authenticated by the fact that the National e-Governance Plan has identified 22 projects which are to be implemented over the next three to four years by line ministries at the central and state level. Though the minister concerned will be lauded for a particular e-Governance initiative, it is, in fact, the IT officer in-charge who will be responsible for its successful implementation.

The identified projects of NeGP are in a process to be implemented in phased manner over the next three to four years by line ministries at the central and state level. State-based WANs have been identified as part of the core infrastructure for supporting these e-governance initiatives, and the Department of IT (DIT) has earmarked Rs 3,334 crore for supporting this activity. The DIT will cover the entire cost of the establishment, operation and maintenance of state-based WANs for five years on a 100 percent grant basis.

Despite the fact that e-governance has acquired the status of a buzzword, IT managers in the administration do not necessarily have a smooth ride when it comes to implementation. Unlike their counterparts in the private sector which is driven by business imperatives and the desire to compete, a government initiative needs to be citizen-friendly with extra efforts required for integrating several departments of the administration before it goes on stream.

Dr T K Seshadri, Scientist G, MCIT, Government of India gave his views on the importance of knowledge sharing for the growth of e-governance, he says, “I always appreciate platforms in which stakeholders from the industry and decision makers from the government segment can interact to discuss e-Governance initiatives. Successful e-governance is possible only through knowledge-sharing.”

The PSU Way

The CIO’s role has certainly changed and that stands true for the public sector too. The top management expects a more professional approach from a CIO than what it was earlier. Understanding the technology is only one part of the job in today’s context, CIOs have to convince their management by conveying the strategic business benefits However, most problems are common to both the sectors including integration of the larger vision into the day-to-day activities of the organisation, need to work with various departments, overcoming petty issues, and maintaining the zeal and drive shown by an officer after he leaves a project.

At the level of PSU, any technology has to prove its utility and it is the job of the CIO to define the utility of any solution as per the needs of that respective work environment. Jain added, “In our organisation every department is getting connected enabling all the users to access relevant corporate data through a robust network. This always requires some reliable technology and a good team effort in customising that technology.”

As per the survey, high end applications such as smartphones and Web conferencing have also proved very successful in attracting the PSU segment. The survey data says that 80 percent of companies belonging to the PSU segment are planning to invest in smartphones and Web conferencing.

Giving an overview of how organised IT spending at the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India is, Jain says, “We have proper budgets for IT. We follow set budgets and in some cases we do not hesitate in expanding our budget.” In terms of existing IT infrastructure Jain adds, “It has penetrated deeply into our day to day operations. Our salaries, personal department, finance and accounts department and many other important departments are running IT platforms. We have a Web-based accounts and finance package. We have a leased line for our own network. Around 250 people are connected through this leased line.”

Apart from this, remote branches are also running the same solutions that are up and running at the corporate office.

On the other hand, Yogendra Pal of AIR says that his organisation considers IT as a key enabler for its growth. “As IT applications can play a key role in making any project successful so we have IT everywhere. Information Technology is considered as an integral part of our infrastructure.” Pal elaborates, “By taking an example of broadcasting, which is an extremely sensitive area of our business, IT is playing a crucial role in it.”

Acceptance of newer applications

As more technologies make their way to Indian shores, their adoption rate among enterprises and PSUs is also growing. Today, PSUs are not those places where a new technology has to wait a long time before gaining acceptance. These days, Indian PSUs have produced some examples where they have deployed some novel technological applications and they are running an advanced IT infrastructure.

Emphasising the importance of technology for any line of business, Pal of AIR says, “Everyone knows the importance of information. Once we know and understand a cutting edge technology, we are in a position to correlate it to our business.”

Pointing out the importance of awareness programs in showcasing a new technology, Jain adds, “It is vital for any CIO to know about innovative techniques. I give a lot of importance to platforms where I can get to know about any new technology. Events in which various vendors showcase their technologies give the CIO, CTO and IT manager community added value in terms of understanding technology.”

IVR application @ AIR

Agreeing to the fact that any new technology that comes to India has gained a good position in the PSU market, Pal adds that it is because of the growing understanding level of CIOs from the PSU segment. Taking the example of AIR, Pal says, “We are soon going to introduce an innovative service offering news over the phone. Consumers are very excited about this. It will be an IVR based solution in which a consumer who dials a given phone number will get updated information of the latest news in a prerecorded voice. This IVR message will be updated on a regular and frequent basis.”

Buying habits

IT managers are always considered as an integral part of the decision-making process as they are the ones who not only bring a new technology and make the entire system aware of it but also push projects towards success through these technologies. Kalsi of the Punjab state government says, “In the government sector, it is very important to understand the ground realities. Knowing the technology alone is not going to materialise efforts. Any IT manager also has to know the perceptions of the top brass. A CIO or a technology head of a government must understand negotiating skills as well in terms of buying processes.”

In addition to just a change in the mindset, developing skill sets and building trust and confidence among citizens and employees, the IT head of any government organisation is required to have these qualities. Dr K Subramanian, IT Advisor and Deputy Director General to CAG of India believes, “It is much needed as the role of the IT department has undergone a change. Earlier, the IT department was compartmentalised but now it has to work in tune with other departments. So synergy is all the more important now. A team work attitude is vital in such cases.”

The keenness to know about the technology and enthusiasm about having that technology are also crucial elements of any successful implementation. “The added thrust and enthusiasm seen during the pilot of a project is many a times missing during the actual deployment. The reasons for this could be many. However the main concern should remain on continuity of the project and then its successful implementation,” added Dr Subramanian.

In another important fact, the equation of IT in government is also changing as the CIOs or IT heads of government departments have changed. Now the CIOs of government have to deliver on professional goals. Adding to this, Zohra Chatterji, Principal Secretary, IT and Electronics, and CEO, Centre for e-Governance, UP informs, “The government mechanism has became more professional and there is enhanced competition. It is good in a way as it allows departments to come out with innovative application ideas that in the long run will be beneficial to citizens.”

The National e-Governance Plan

The potential of Indian e-governance has been recognised the world over. This could be the reason for the World Bank’s willingness to increase funding, if needed. This funding would be for a range of e-governance initiatives in India as part of the first phase of the country’s National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). This could, in principle, lead to a contemplated $500 million in financing over the next four years. The plan will cover 10 main areas—including land records, property registration, and transport and revenue collection—across 25 separate projects. Of these projects, 10 are state-focussed, eight are central government-focussed, and the rest are cross-tier government projects.

NeGP is an ambitious programme aimed at improving the quality, accessibility and effectiveness of government services to citizens and businesses with the help of information technology. It has enabled convenient and transparent access to the government and private services while providing equitable opportunities to all. It is also been used as an effective tool to drive administrative reforms within the government, and can change the perception of people about the government. In addition, it has created a national IT backbone for fast, reliable and efficient connectivity, data storage and access. There will also be integrated service centres for the delivery of citizen services.

R Chandrashekhar, Joint Secretary in the DIT, informs, “Service delivery has become a buzzword now. e-governance projects in India are rapidly advancing towards the same service driven model of projects. However, in addition to that, we need to strengthen our capacity-building aspect. To achieve this kind of aggressive goals, we need to successfully implement a strategic approach and it is also required to be in touch with what’s going on around the world in the field of e-governance.”

Among the significant IT projects being executed by the government is the ICT Kiosks projects. This project is at an advanced stage now. From the stage of conceptualisation to implementation, this project has been successful in its journey. “In this project, our goal is to establish 100,000 ICT kiosks across India, with rural areas given higher consideration. One out of every six villages will have an ICT kiosk,” comments Chandrashekhar.

Challenges ahead for CIOs

Highlighting some of the common challenges faced by CIOs of PSUs with the advent of enormous growth and complexity of IT environment, Jain says, “There is a huge growth of data, IT applications are getting more complex, all these factors leads to a difficult scenario of maintaining all this. But as of now, we have good experience in managing this.”

Adding more to this, Pal of AIR adds, “It is becoming very difficult to manage the growth of complexity of IT environments. Generally we believe in giving a maintenance contract to the vendors who deploy their technology at our infrastructure. This is a difficult task but as of now we have not faced any actual problem in achieving a tension free service from third parties.”

Apart from just managing growth, there is another important aspect that needs to be tackled carefully and that aspect is to understand the technology. However, things are moving rapidly in this direction and initiatives have already been taken up in this direction.