E-readiness Is the degree to which a society is prepared to participate in the digital economy with the underlying concept that

the digital economy can help to build a better society. Regardless of a countrys level of development, readiness is assessed by determining the relative standing of its society and its economy in the areas that are most critical for its participation to the networked world. Phase I is the assessment, it takes 4 months Phase II is the development of a strategy and the preparation of an action plan, it takes 6 to 8 months and Phase III is the implementation of the action plan, it takes 3 to 5 years

Use Of E-Readiness Assessments: content and measurements: Although GeoSINC International established a Facilitation Centre and produced documents to guide the grantees in their e-readiness assessments, grantees were given complete discretion in choosing and using assessment methodologies, and presenting the results. Each report was presented in a unique way. Reports generally described what ICT is available -- sometimes within a limited context, such as e-commerce -but they generally failed to illustrate the extent to which ICT is not available in local settings. No assessments measured the impact (or gauge the potential impact) of ICT. Some reports were more critical than others of the government's role in fostering (or hindering) the use of technology and development of ICT infrastructure The following opportunities for improving content and measurements in e-readiness assessments were identified: Provide more information on assessment tools and how to use them comprehensively within the local context. Focus on ICT as a development tool. Measure ICT use and impact. Treat economic and social goals as interdependent.

 Use standard measurements and ICT indicators to make comparison possible. Refine and standardize data collection processes for benchmarking. Leave benchmarking to the bench markers and focus on deeper analysis. Create national clearinghouse databases of all available data. Usefulness of e-readiness assessments: outputs and benefits The following opportunities for improving outputs and benefits from e-readiness assessments were identified: Provide guidance on how to influence change. Treat the assessment and action plans as a starting point. Do not proceed without government involvement and commitment. Ensure ownership of the process by key decision-makers and champions. Focus action plans on a particular sector. Set out action plans with specific tasks and timeframes.

E governmentt readiness

About The E-Government Readiness Index (EGDI) is a composite measure of the capacity and willingness of countries to use e-government for ICT-led development. The EGDI has been updated annually by the United Nations Public Administration Programme (UNPAP) since its creation in 2003. It covers all Member states of the UN. The EGDI looks at the most important dimensions of e-government: (i)scope and quality of online services, (ii) telecommunication connectivity, and (iii) human capacity. Governments efforts are ranked but countries size, infrastructure availability and ICT penetration, and the level of education and skill development are taken into account. Closely connected to the survey, the UNPAP also produces an E-Participation Index. Methodology The index rates the performance of national governments relative to one another by averaging three other indices: the Online Service Index, the Telecommunication Index and the Human Capital Index. The maximum possible value is one and the minimum is zero. Though the basic model has remained constant,the precise meaning of these values varies from one survey to the next as understanding of the potential of e-government changes and the underlying technology evolves. [1]

Mathematically, the EDGI is a weighted average of three normalized scores on the most important dimensions of e-government, namely: scope and quality of online services, telecommunication connectivity, and human capacity. Each of these sets of indexes is itself a composite measure that can be extracted and analysed independently: EGDI = (0.34 online service index) + (0.33 telecommunication index) + (0.33 human capital index) Online Service Index Each countrys national website and the websites of the ministries of education, labour, social services, health and finance were visited to assign values to survey responses. Among other things, the national sites were tested for a minimal level of Web content accessibility as described in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium. Telecommunication Index

The telecommunication infrastructure index is a composite of the following five indicators:

number of personal computers per 100 persons number of Internet users per 100 persons number of telephone lines per 100 persons number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 persons number of fixed broadband subscribers per 100 persons.

Human Capital Index

The human capital index is a composite of two indicators:

adult literacy rate the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio.

The indicators are aggregated in a complex manner so that relative comparisons of least performers matter. Results The 2010 edition of the e-Government Development Index ranked the Republic of Korea first, followed by the United States and Canada. On the e-Participation Index, the Republic of Korea ranks first, followed by Australia and Spain.[2]

Applications of data warehousing and data mining in e government

Data mining is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analysing and providing access to data to help the decision makers in making decisions. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the recent years has presented an opportunity for the central and state governments to change the way organisations leverage and value their information assets. e-Governance is a new way to govern processes in which ICT can play an active and significant role. By deploying the latest ICTs, the government departments can not only maximise access to information at the lowest level but also bid farewell to the massive paper trail, often associated with various government agencies. Rather than providing non-detailed information to uninterested constituents, the departments can now direct the right information to the right people at the right time with the use of data warehousing and mining applications. Further, the enterprise-wide information can be an asset to the government as well as to the entire population. This article will help the policy makers in central or state governments to think about the use of data warehouse, using data from e-Governance databases and further how to take decisions (as detailed micro level analysis and decision-making) using a different mining approach. e-Governance Data Warehouse Data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, time-variant, nonvolatile collection of data, cutting across the enterprise. Until there is a repository of accurate data across the enterprise value chain, application of mining tools to analyse and aid in strategic government decisions is impossible. Currently, in most enterprises, the most difficult and resource consuming stage of development and deployment is data warehouse and mining application development. At times, government departments might come across shortages of resources in one department and excess of resources in the other. This could be due to non-availability of proper data and facilities to disseminate information. Even if government departments are computerised and networked more for the purpose of Internet usage and mail transfer, the information available in one department, which possess the data might not be utilised by other departments. This is because the information is stored in different formats, in different platforms and in heterogeneous data base systems. A look at the information requirements at each level and the information flow across levels shows a pattern. While information that flows from top (fund sanction, allocation and disbursement details) is split up to generate information for lower levels, information that flows from grass root level (such as expenditure details, benefits details, beneficiary details etc.) is consolidated to generate information for higher levels. This pattern makes the entire vertical domain of e-Governance framework, an ideal domain for development of data warehousing and use of data mining applications. Data Mining on e-Governance Data Warehouse Data mining is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analysing and providing access to data to help the decision makers in making decisions. Typically, any Data Warehouse and Mining (DWM) application includes large data warehouse, decision support systems, query and reporting, On Line Analytical Process (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting and mining (a technology to extract unknown and hidden patterns and knowledge from within the data). DWM, therefore is well suited for e-Governance applications in the G2G (Government to Government) and G2C (Government to Citizen) environment. For effective implementation of a DWM solution, the de facto condition is a solid and reliable data warehouse on available e-Governance data from different sources.

DWM and e-Governance: the Need

How to better understand our citizen's needs How to gain more operational effectiveness How to provide better, faster access to critical data about service status while increasing the value of information for those who make decisions on different levels of the government Develop project implementation plans on state and national level Propose extensive and effective databases for the e-Society Provide extensive data for support of e-Government Create effective data and system architectures for more goal oriented solutions to transitional problems

Going by the e-Governance definition, with the use of DWM technologies, policy makers can get key conclusions from large amount of data that can be a critical component of any e-Governance initiative. Different Data Mining Approach Use of Historic Data: The availability of the basic data, right from the point of generation to meet the information needs at all level for all the time is still a problem in most of the government departments. As current e-Governance framework is based on the use of computer technologies like Internet and Intranet that has further enhanced the utility of these databases as the main supportive system for planning and decision-making. There is still a vacuum in the analysis based decision systems. The growth of information technology and its adaptation over the years has been exponential, while at the same time the cost of both hardware and software are decreasing tremendously. New applications in all areas of planning and strategic operation are being developed and used at all levels. Generally on a day-to-day basis, a large volume of data is generated in order to fulfill various needs of the government. This data is generally associated with human resources, projects, plans, decisions, reports etc. As a matter of fact officials use to maintain at the most, one year data or up to five years data in the system. As it occupies a lot of space and also tends to take lot of time for retrieval, with the kind of technology used at different levels, it was simply not possible to keep the historic data in the computer. But the historic data, which the officials could not use for various reasons, can play an important role for planning and analysis purpose and can lead to an important decision and/or can lead to lot of savings. Knowledge Discovery Management Knowledge Discovery Management (KDM) is the management of information, skill, experience, innovation, and discovering hidden aspects using machine intelligence. Gartner defines KDM as, "the creation, capture, organisation, access and use of knowledge". It uses many technology categories, almost none of which are exclusive to KDM. KDM is a top down effort (practice) to try to understand and manage knowledge. KDM may use specific practices such as mining, collaboration, content management, e-mail, video conferencing, work place tools, portals and

business applications. Knowledge management is the one, which ultimately is to be used for planning and implementation of various government schemes and projects. Managing knowledge involves managing domains of knowledge that are valued for achieving strategic objectives. The very nature of knowledge is that it changes fast and renders information obsolete at a rapid pace. Building knowledge management requires identifying and storing the collected information in an enterprise knowledge repository known as a data warehouse. Benefits of Data Warehouse and Mining for Better e-Governance

Do not have to deal with heterogeneous and silo systems Dependence on IT staff minimised Can obtain easily decipherable and comprehensive information without the need to use sophisticated tools. Can perform extensive analysis of stored data to provide answers to exhaustive queries. Helps in formulating more effective strategies and policies for citizen facilitation

Beneficiaries of the System From a layman's angle, the DWM technologies are more towards G2G than other forms. All the government plans and decisions can be arrived at, with the help of detailed multi-dimensional analyses of all the relevant data. In fact, it helps the citizens more than the government. The citizens can have a compact and compiled profile from the government as a web based report and the same can be used wherever the citizen wants. Conclusion A framework for 'Data Warehousing and Mining' in e-Governance is presented in the article. A large number of e-Governance applications are already in operation in most of the states and at the centre. The necessary DWM infrastructure has been created at the head-quarter and sufficient number of officials have been trained on DWM. This is the right time for introducing DWM in the e-Governance arena and to further strengthen the e-Governance system. In order to incorporate the DWM system and implement it, initially one or two sectors may be identified and the DWM system built over it as a proof of concept. Once the desired results are achieved, the same can be replicated in other sectors of the government. Once the complete system is in place at the national level for use, a knowledge bank can be created for the entire e-Governance environment.