A further possibility is being explored at the University of Fort Hare. Partial assistance is given to community members in that they can fetch all application forms before making the costly journey to Mthatha. They can also find out opening and closing times of offices they wish to visit, saving themselves a useless journey. Such software can be expanded upon as governments continue to espouse digital interfaces to their systems allowing third party software to access government information, as is happening around the world.

The Village Scribe Project will be in a position to explore what kinds of services can best aid the community. Together with the University of Fort Hare, ESTIMA (Reed House Systems) and eKhaya ICT, the village scribe will be able to cater to the community’s needs in a unique way. Grass roots requirements soliciting rarely happens as far as software is concerned, but the developers in this project are determined to turn the way of development around and to develop after the peoples’ needs and it is our hope that truly useful software will be the result. Such truly useful software will help empower communities and allow them to be active members of the society in ways that were not possible before.

The eGovernment Project addresses:

1. the social column of sustainability by networking the community with the rest of the nation and thereby enhancing the power of the inner-community network,
   

2. the economic column of sustainability by providing income generating services and
   

3. the leadership column of sustainability by creating the role of a Village Scribe who is able to proactively assist community members.
   

The eGovernment Project:                        Empowering the people

eGovernment is a service the government provides so that citizens can access traditional government services via the Internet. For this reason, we cannot offer true electronic access to government services until open interfaces to government services are offered. The current thinking in SA is still that one cannot charge money for providing a government service, over and above what the government charges. For example, if it costs R45 to get an ID Book, one cannot charge R45 + R20 for it, even though the community member would have to pay R45 + R140 travel fees + expenses to apply for and fetch the ID Book in Mthatha. In India the Drishtee Kiosks have worked out a solution to this problem, which is unique to the Indian situation, as in South Africa an applicant must generally submit certain documents personally to prevent fraud.

There are two possibilities for full eGovernment services:

1. 1. reach an agreement with the government whereby the village scribe becomes a government agent and is allowed to offer governmental services. This would be made possible through the inclusion of USAASA and Universities as partners, or,
   

2. 2. one has to wait: As eGovernment services progress in South Africa, and they are a government priority, this service will become a strong factor within the field. As early adopters with much experience in MRAs we will be in a good position to help the government reach all its constituents. We will be able to replicate this in other countries as well.
   

Project Description    eGovernment    eCommerce    Our Assignment