A Conceptual Framework for Measuring Benefits of E-Governance

Abstract

E-Governance is about reform in governance, facilitated by the creative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This leads to better access to information and quality services for citizens. Government invests large sums of money in implementing e-governance projects for benefiting the citizens. The main objective behind e-governance is to provide support and simplify governance for citizens. Therefore it is important to understand the types of benefits realized by citizens as a result of adopting e-governance services. The present paper discusses the benefits of e-governance by reviewing the previous studies done by various researchers. The researches on the benefits of e-governance in the contexts of various developing and developed countries are reviewed. Based on the review of prior research, a framework for categorizing the benefits of e-governance is proposed in the context of India, wherein four dimensions of benefits are identified i.e., Economic Benefits, Quality of Service (QoS) benefits, Quality of Governance (QoG) benefits and Personal Development. The scales for measuring these benefits are also proposed. The proposed framework can be used for empirically examining the extent of these benefits realized by the citizens and for studying the contribution of these benefits in the overall effectiveness of e-governance.

Keywords: E-governance, Information and Communication Technology, Economic Benefits, Quality of Service, Quality of Governance, India