Mobile Governance in Indian Urban Local Bodies: An Exploratory Study

This paper attempts to collate and derive insights from various initiatives on mobile governance by Urban and local bodies in India. The first generation e-governance initiatives by urban local bodies resulted in computerization of the legacy systems/practices in government with limited ability to internalize the advances in information and communication technologies (ICT). The paradigm shift from e-governance tom-governance results in radical differences in the key processes of creating, maintenance and usage of knowledge, creation of secure mobile transaction and delivery system, establishment of the appropriate infrastructural support for multi-mode direct citizen interface and delivery mechanisms. The paper identifies the various mobile app use case scenarios for residents, urban local body managers, system integrators, telcos, data services provider, and other stakeholders. Based on these mobile apps, it is attempted to classify the cities in various categories.