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DR RAVI GUPTA
Editor-in-Chief,
eGov magazine and
CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership influencing change in almost all spheres of life in India, there is a sense of excitement and curiosity to understand what is next in the offing.

As egov magazine has been documenting the journey of e-governance in the country since 2005, the overwhelming response to its 150th issue from all sectors has inspired us to bring out its Part II to accommodate and feature a few more prominent dimensions and distinguished personalities.

It maybe noted we had started off to document the e-governance initiatives by visiting various parts of the country. We also started inviting international e-government / e-governance experts to write on what journey of e-governance is expected to happen in India.

The aim was to start a dialogue between various key stakeholders of egov ecosystem — government, technology providers, civil society, academia and citizens on how IT can help transform citizen services in the country. We also intended to document best practices so that each government organisation does not have to reinvent the wheel.

We felt that there was a need of creating a face-to-face platform for the egov community and that’s how our eINDIA conference was born. The eINDIA conferences received tremendous response over the years and they became a key platform of the country for dialogue on e-governance between various State governments, Central government departments, private sector and other stakeholders.

As we launched the magazine, we realised we needed to be present online too to reach out the larger global audience. We started our egov website with just magazine’s content. Later, news items, exclusive stories, trends and policies on e-governance were getting updated, which results into more than 7 million hits on our website.

In this latest issue, our cover story “Lucknow – From An Art City to Smart City” talks about the Smart Cities projects converting Lucknow, the City of Nawabs, into a world-class Smart City by effective change from nearly all dimensions of life and administrative reforms.

Also, with Yogi Adityanath taking the reins in Uttar Pradesh following a resounding victory in polls, there has been a big curiosity to know how the new leadership is set to fair in bringing the muchneeded succor to the general public. Our special story “Governance in Uttar Pradesh Gaining a New Recognition” examines how under new ruling party an effective transformation is being ensured using ICT for good governance and fast justice.

The latest issue features interviews of key policymakers who are the real heroes behind the big transformation occurring under Yogi’s dynamic leadership. They include Pravir Kumar, Chairman, Board of Revenue, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Anil Garg, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow and Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited; and key policy makers.

Municipal Commissioners of Agra, Aligarh and Moradabad have also shared the vision of their cities in the Smart Cities Mission.

This Part II of 150th issue of e-gov is also featuring key decision makers like R Chandrashekhar, President of NASSCOM, sharing his views on Digital India, rise of Digital India post-demonetisation and country’s digital future. From the North-East India, Frederick Roy Kharkongor, Commissioner & Secretary, Urban Affairs Department, Government of Meghalaya; Dr C Vanlalramsanga, Secretary, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Department, Government of Mizoram, have shared the visionary IT policy of their States.

The issue carries special article written by Sarvesh Kaushal, Special Chief Secretary of Punjab and interview of Ravneet Cheema, Commissioner, Dehradun Municipal Corporation, and Dr Omkar Rai of Sofware Technology Parks of India. Also featured are industry leaders like Aseem Joshi of Honeywell Building Solutions, Anand Ramamoorthy of McAfee, and Rana Gupta of Gemalto. It is hoped readers will find this magazine insightful on e-governance initiatives being expedited in the country.

Also, continuing with our spirit of holding 100 Smart City summits, this 2nd Smart City Summit, Lucknow, being held on 17th August, is the 21st Smart City Summit organised by Elets Technomedia. Looking forward to our readers’ invaluable feedback.

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