Designing and Implementing E-Government Projects for Democracy and Social Change in India

Abstract

Attracted by the new Information and Communication Technologies, actors across the world have adopted computer-based systems for use in government as a means of reforming inefficiencies in public administration and public service provision. This book chapter, through the study of an electronic property tax collection system in Bangalore, India, seeks to unravel the social dynamics shaping similar e-government initiatives. The research upon which this chapter is based analyses prevailing actor behaviour, motivations, and interactions; examining not only the interplay of local contingencies and external influences acting upon the project's implementation and transformation, but also the disjunctions in these relationships which inhibit the effective exploitation of ICTs in the given context.