SETLabs Briefings

VOL 9 NO 2
2011

Role of ICT in e-Governance:

Impact of Cloud Computing in
Driving New Initiatives
By N Vijaykumar

Cloud computing is increasingly becoming a

viable platform to host e-Governance applications

-Governance aims at providing citizen

propelled e-governance further, making it more

centric services and ensuring increased

convenient for government bodies to e-enable

transparency in the service interactions with

their operations; and (b) development of skills

various government agencies. Governments

and knowledge of end users in computers and

world over are increasingly aiming to reduce

internet and increasing adoption of ICT in

manual touch points, provide more reliable,

their daily lives. These factors have fuelled the

efficient services and reduce cycle time.

usage of ICT in development of e-governance

e-Governance is all about doing business

solutions and platforms. Given this congenial

online and in a secure manner. Coverage,

environment toward fast growth with ICT, it is

usability and volumes are some of the key

time that the public sector takes full advantage

success factors for any e-governance initiative

of this massive growth to implement solutions

and agencies are increasingly leveraging the

for e-governance.

massive advancements in information and

A technology that has the potential

communication technology (ICT) to drive these

to offer solutions for e-governance is cloud

initiatives and reduce the digital divide.

computing. Cloud computing provides service-

According to OECD, the term

oriented access to users without compromising

e-government focuses on the use of new

on security. This makes cloud an excellent

ICTs by governments as applied to the full

platform to host e-governance services.

range of government functions [1]. Two major

Currently, there are very little e-governance

trends are considered as the key drivers

initiatives that have been hosted on a cloud

for ICT to propel e-governance projects: (a)

environment. Even in India, the government

massive developments in IT industry that has

is currently evaluating options of rolling out

43

e-governance services using cloud-based

internet. Cloud represents a drastic variation

technologies. Considering the vast amount of

from traditional infrastructure hosting that

business processes and services that exist in

is done in a datacenter within the customer

any governance model, cloud computing is

premises. Table 1 provides the key differences

one of the key technology vehicles that could

between traditional and cloud model from an

make e-governance projects a reality, take it to

ownership and service delivery perspective.

the masses and more importantly, sustain them

Cloud computing comes in various

over a period of time.

types. Public, private and hybrid clouds

define the manner and location in which the

WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?

IT infrastructure is being setup and the way

Cloud computing is a new business paradigm

resources are being accessed. Another variant

in a service oriented model, delivering business

of cloud computing service model is based

applications and other IT resources as services

on the services provided. Cloud provides

over the internet. It is a conglomeration

infrastructure as a service (Iaas), platform as a

of infrastructure (hardware devices) and

service (Paas) and software as a service (Saas). A

application software providing services to

suitable combinational model for e-governance

consumers on a pay-per-use basis. Cloud

can be chosen based on the actual requirements.

computing represents the next generation

infrastructure and application hosting service

TRENDS IN CLOUD COMPUTING AS A

and delivery model. A cloud typically has

PLATFORM FOR e-GOVERNANCE

three key differentiating characteristics: (a)

While traditional methods of rolling out

the usage of the resources is on demand and

e-governance projects is the order of the day,

billed at actual consumption, (b) is scalable

governments world over have started looking

and can support varying bursts of traffic, and

at cloud as an alternative platform for hosting

more importantly, (c) can be accessed over the

e-governance services. Even though there are

Traditional Hosting Model

Cloud Computing Model

End user (or the customer) purchases IT assets

(hardware, software, licenses, etc.) upfront and ownership
of IT assets is with customer

Service provider procures the IT infrastructure and the

ownership of the IT assets is with the cloud service
provider

IT infrastructure hosted in a datacenter within the

customer premises (or at times, co-hosted in a datacenter
service provider)

IT infrastructure hosted in the cloud datacenters in the

service provider premises

Whether used or not, compute resources available full

time to users

Compute resources available to users on demand and for

specific durations as well

No need to pay for the usage of the resources

Charged on per-usage basis

High initial investment and high on-going costs

No or very low initial investment. Reduced operating

expenditure

High overheads like vendor management, server

monitoring and management

Low overheads

Dedicated infrastructure

Shared infrastructure or multi-tenanted

Table 1: Differences between Traditional and Cloud

Hosting Model

Source: Infosys Research

44

not many cloud based e-governance initiatives,

On the other hand, technology service

there is an uptrend to use cloud to increase the

providers are competing to provide cost effective

coverage. With rapid developments around

and innovative solutions to host services on

new and innovative cloud offerings being

cloud. Many providers are partnering with

provided by technology providers, more and

governments to build and operate e-governance

more initiatives are being planned using cloud.

platforms on cloud. Vendors like Google,

In a document that outlines a Digital

Rackspace and Amazon in US and Europe are

Japan Creation Project, dubbed the ICT

providing readymade platforms for hosting

Hatoyama Plan, Japans Ministry of Internal

such initiatives. Similarly Microsoft, IBM and

Affairs and Communications revealed

HP are some key players engaged in developing

plans to build a massive cloud computing

SaaS-based applications for government

infrastructure to support the governments IT

initiatives.

systems. Government information systems

are using innovative technologies such as cloud

e-GOVERNANCE APPLICATION

computing to develop the Kasumigaseki Cloud,

ARCHITECTURE

in stages, by 2015. The Kasumigaseki Cloud

The typical application architecture includes

will enable various ministries to collaborate to

core business logic and business processes,

integrate and consolidate hardware and create

necessary workflows and various application

platforms for shared functions [2].

components. More importantly, integration

Similarly in India, there are major

with other sub-systems is a critical element in

initiatives that are being planned to tap the

the e-governance architecture. Figure 1 overleaf

potential of cloud. India might soon become

indicates a typical e-governance reference

the first country in the world to deliver

architecture.

e-governance services to citizens using cloud-

e-Governance architecture calls for

based IT services. The government is in a

scalability and interoperability given the

dialogue with the apex software industry body,

various interconnects that are deployed.

Nasscom, on how to roll out e-governance

Typically a cloud infrastructure is built with

services using this emerging technology [3].

virtualization as a key foundation component

One of the biggest e-governance

at all possible levels like server, storage,

initiatives in India, the Unique Identification

application, etc. This feature supports all

Authority of India (UIDAI) aims to provide

non-functional requirements of e-governance

unique biometric identity cards to the Indian

applications seamlessly.

citizens and this project will be one of the

first to use cloud computing as a platform.

CLOUD COMPUTING AND

According to UIDAI, the UID application

e-GOVERNANCE

will be architected for the cloud and will sit

Cloud computing is shared environment, multi-

on an e-governance cloud platform that will

tenanted and over-the-internet based service

be assembled using open architecture and

delivery model. Cloud provides an attractive

components. This might turn out to be one of

alternative to the common man as well as for

the biggest such implementations in the world,

organizations to transact and do business

considering the scale and reach.

online. There are some key characteristics

45

Citizens

Departments

Businesses

Kiosk

Home

Office

Mobile

Phone

Middleware

Middleware

Database

Database

Service
Integration

Validation systems

Portal

Other departments

Portal

Service gateways

Management

Authentication

Security controls

Internet

Hardware Layer

Figure 1: Key Elements of an e-Governance Architecture

Source: Infosys Research

of cloud that can help to host e-governance

Scalability: e-Governance is characterized by

applications over internet.

uncertainty in demand and load. There could

be a heavy spurt in demand during particular

Accessibility: The biggest advantage of a cloud

period(s) of the year and relatively stable and

environment is its accessibility of environment

lesser load during other periods. For instance,

by consumers. Since it is on the internet, it is

tax filing is at its peak during certain periods of

always accessible. One just needs a PC and

the year. The platform should support adding

internet connectivity to access the applications.

resources dynamically to meet this excess

With internet becoming a fast penetrating

demand. Cloud is built on the basic premise

commodity, a consumer is able access the

that it is elastic and dynamic. Technologies like

application anywhere, anytime.

virtualization, clustering, and load balancing

ensure scalability and high availability. Today,

High Availability: Since the applications are

technologies are available to add memory and

hosted on internet, they need to be made available

processor to the services on the fly without

24/7. Cloud is built on a sturdy infrastructure

having to bring down either the hardware or

platform that guarantees high availability of IT

application.

infrastructure. All key components and subsystems are clustered and single point of failures

Service Orientation: Cloud is built on the

eliminated. Clustering is implemented at almost

concept of service oriented architecture.

all levels of hardware and even at application and

This facilitates provisioning of compounded

middleware component levels.

or mashed up services spanning the entire

46

consumer process keeping the end consumer

CLOUD MODELS AND APPLICABILITY

in mind. At times, the model ensures ease of

TO e-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES

operation for a service receiving citizen and

As a service model, cloud offers various services

a service providing enterprise. This includes

from its stack. Based on the type of services

some of the value added services provided

it provides, cloud offers three layers. These

by external partners, on top of government

are three abstracted and virtualized layers

services. This promotes both customer centricity

and provide services independent of each

and also brings in value added services and

other. e-Governance projects can use any or a

service providers to further promote the growth

combination of these layers to provide services

of e-governance.

to consumers. Table 2 overleaf reflects the level

of abstractions and the applicability of each

Interoperability: e-Governance is all about

layer to various initiatives.

multiple agencies and departments providing

These are the service-oriented models

services to end users. With varying sets

that cloud computing has to offer. e-Governance

of independent applications in respective

projects can adopt either of these models for

departments e-governance should make these

implementation. However SaaS model will be

variations transparent to the consumer. This also

a better fit than others.

means that the IT infrastructure should support

multiple sets and versions of applications and

BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

technologies to bring in inclusivity. Cloud

Cloud offers a very attractive platform for

computing supports interoperability as it is

the governments to host and operate the

majorly based on virtualization and platform

e-governance applications. Key benefits are -

independent services.
Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Information Security: One of the key

Adoption of cloud reduces TCO in the long run.

requirements of an internet based application

Deploying applications on a cloud platform and

is security as the confidential details of

especially on a public cloud reduces capital

citizens, businesses, etc., are transacted on

outlays. Even if the government intends to setup

this platform. Though it is a multi-tenanted

a private cloud, there are new business models

model, cloud provides a tight security such that

like public private partnership (PPP) and build,

confidentiality, integrity and availability of the

operate and transfer(BOT) that ensure that

information is not compromised.

the outflow from the government exchequer

With such viable features, cloud

is minimal.

computing is highly relevant to host

e-governance applications as it guarantees

Minimizes Labor Cost As infrastructure is

reach, scalability and availability. For

hosted on cloud provider premises that will also

governments, it provides a centralized and

manage and maintain the platform, government

stable platform that can be shared, re-used

does not have to spend on management cost and

and can support multiple departments thereby

overheads. Certain reports indicate that the IT

cutting down on individual platforms and

operations cost can be cut by as much as 50%

solutions.

on cloud enabled e-governance applications [4].

47

(SaaS)

Services offered

Applicability to e-Governance

Software
application is
offered as a
service

e-Governance services
(G2B, G2C, G2G)

Actual G2X services as offered

to end customers, accessible
through internet

Pre-built
applications that
can be deployed
on demand

Provides required
platform to develop
and customize
applications
Exposes service
components &
APIs
Integration
platform

Value added services

Virtualized
environments and
hence are highly
scalable
High availability

Relevance

Easy to deploy and rollout

Gateway services
(e.g., payment
gateway)

Similar applications for different

departments can be provisioned
faster

HIGH

Reduces TCO as the application

is available off the shelf
Plain or pre-configured
application stack
Workflow and message
queue services
Application instances
(e.g., middleware
containers)
Application clustering

Pre-configured stack and

middleware elements available,
facilitating faster application
development and rollout
Consistency and repeatability
helps re-deploy multiple
instances quicker

LOW

End customer does not have to

buy the software licenses
Reduces maintenance and
management overheads

Choice of different
platforms
Provides hardware
infrastructure
(servers, OS,
storage, network)
on demand

(IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service

Characteristics

Service
virtualization

Platform as a Service
(PaaS)

Software as a Service

Model

Slices of hardware
(server, storage
instances)

Pre-configured hardware
instances that can be provisioned
faster

Data backup and

restore services

Resource augmentation easier

to support burst of demand

Clustering solutions

Uniformity of the environment

configuration thereby ensuring
consistency

Disaster recovery
Virtualized containers

Choice of different
platforms

MEDIUM

End customer does not have to

buy hardware and OS licenses
thereby reducing the TCO

Table 2: SaaS Model is a better Cloud Implementation for

e-Governance

Source: Infosys Research

Increases Go-to-Market Times and

High Availability Cloud guarantees uptimes

Speed to Launch Being hosted in an existing

in the range of 99%. Being available anywhere

platform that serves as the foundation,

and anytime is the unique selling proposition

rolling out various services is really easy.

(USP) of e-governance. Cloud infrastructures

As e-governance application architecture is

provide high availability as well as reachability.

modular and supports staggered delivery,

Of course, the underlying infrastructure has to

underlying infrastructure components that are

support these non-functional characteristics.

built on virtualization support such service

Apart from these, there are other features

rollouts. There is no need to buy hardware and

like metering, on-demand availability and better

software for each service. This helps reduce

disaster recovery abilities that add to the choice

cost and time.

of cloud as an e-governance delivery mechanism.

48

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE CLOUD?

control to government departments for hosting

Which one will be ideal for e-governance

their e-governance solutions. Some of the key

services? What are the criteria for choosing

benefits of private cloud for governments are -

the right model? These are some of the typical

questions that one confronts during a cloud

Security: Levels of security are ensured as cloud

implementation. While both variants of cloud

infrastructure is hosted within a government

will support hosting e-governance applications,

department and is behind the firewall.

a private cloud will be more suitable for a

government scenario. While public cloud

Shared Platform: Many government

is hosted on a third-party service provider

departments can share the platform for

premises, a private cloud setup exclusively for

hosting their applications. This is more so as

hosting e-governance application(s), will cater

most of the government agencies use similar

to a focused set of requirements and can be used

applications and a private cloud will provide

for multiple e-governance projects. Since most

a common platform to host such shared

government agencies will share a similar set of

applications. Moreover, cloud guarantees

applications, it is better to set up a private cloud

a uniform environment to host multiple

and allow extension of services across various

e-governance initiatives.

departments and agencies.

Such a private cloud could be set up on-

Reduces Overall Cost: Private cloud does not

premise or it could also be hosted in a third party

require individual infrastructure for every

provider space. In India, National Informatics

department or agency. This helps to save on

Center (a government owned service provider)

capital expenditure and reduces the overall

is the nodal agency to host websites, portals and

cost. Also, it reduces the software license cost

other infrastructure requirements of all state

for the departments as it is a shared platform.

and central government departments. Private

cloud allows more control of infrastructure and

C o m p l i a n c e w i t h S t a n d a r d s : Since the

application components to the departments

infrastructure is hosted in-house, the risk

and also defines its own strategic control and

associated with a third-party hosting like

security policies. Once the bare IT infrastructure

possible security and data theft issues are largely

is provisioned, additional services can be rolled

reduced. Moreover, such cloud can be built as

out at a differential cost and time. Moreover, with

per the standards laid out by the government.

advent of open source application components,

it is easier to customize the requirements. Public

SETTING UP THE CLOUD ENVIRONMENT

clouds are not non-starters but it happens to

Deploying a private cloud is a good starting

be so given the criticality of businesses and

point for the government departments to

sensitivity of data involved. Thus, private clouds

support e-governance initiatives. This has two

are preferred over public clouds.

distinct components -

Benefits of Private Cloud for

IT Infrastructure: Government departments

e-Governance

can consolidate all the IT hardware and create

Private clouds offer the required flexibility and

a virtualization wrapper on the infrastructure

49

that will act as a virtual private cloud. This

information pertaining to consumers, for e.g.,

will create the basic infrastructure platform

identification number, business details, etc.

on which the applications can be hosted. Also,

Also, information security is very critical as

such a pooling helps optimize infrastructure

there are interactions with external providers in

utilization. Technology providers like Microsoft

the form of payment gateways and value added

and VMware provide tools to build the

services. This becomes much more pronounced

infrastructure. Similarly, open source tools

and important considering the fact that cloud

like Eucalyptus, Enomaly, etc., help build the

is a multi-tenanted framework and multiple

underlying cloud infrastructure within the

applications and services are hosted on the same

department.

IT platform. Thus, it is highly essential that

cloud applications enforce maximum security

Applications: e-Governance initiatives are

at all levels. Moreover, every government has

usually green field as the application has to

its own legal and compliance standards to

be developed ground up. In such scenarios,

which any e-governance security or information

enabling the application for cloud or making

security process must comply with. This

it SaaS enabled is much easier than migrating

becomes more critical in a cloud environment.

existing applications. For such applications,

A variety of regulations pertaining

SOA enabling the architecture will provide the

to storage and use of information and data,

SaaS features. There are numerous technologies

including PCI-DSS, SOX, HIPAA and SAS 70

like Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine

are being enforced in cloud environment. These

that provide migration tools. There are also open

regulations require reporting and audit trails.

source tools that help migrate applications from

Cloud service providers should enable these

legacy platform to a cloud-enabled architecture.

controls on both infrastructure and e-governance

However, such tools place restriction on the

applications and must be able to prove the

technology that needs to be used on various

compliance on a periodic basis. It is for the service

application layers. Thus, such tools might be

provider to make available these controls for the

a good fit for green field applications. Existing

government to check and ensure data protection.

and running applications that need to be moved

One key challenge for cloud service

to an e-governance platform require undergoing

providers is the location of data storage. Many

substantial change to the technology stack. Also,

governmental regulations expect that sensitive

if the existing application is running a legacy

data should be stored within the countrys

stack, it is recommended to re-engineer the

geographical boundaries and should not be off

application. Migrating an existing application

shored. But given the basic cloud architecture

is more complicated and time consuming than

and distributed nature of infrastructure on

building a green field SaaS enabled application.

which cloud is based, it might be difficult

to retain the data storage within the same

COMPLIANCE STANDARDS IN CLOUD

country. Since public cloud providers span their

e-Governance is all about transacting on

infrastructure across countries and continents

government services involving confidential

for disaster recovery purposes, there is every

and sensitive data. The data can involve details

possibility that data could be replicated to a

about government departments as well as

storage device located in a different geography.

50

This is one of the key deterrents toward wide

performed at each step by relevant departments.

acceptance of cloud to host e-government

The entire application and the workflow have

services. There are various initiatives taken

to be service oriented to make services more

by the service providers to ensure data

modular. Service orientation entails covering

localization. According to a report published

the entire consumer process and enables

in 2008, Gartner reports data storage related

applications to be used in a more integrated

risks as one of the key security risks in a cloud

and compounded fashion. With more and more

environment [5].

compounded services being rolled out, it is

essential that the processing time is defined and

SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT OF

measured at each stage-gate. Since speed and

e-GOVERNANCE SERVICES

transparency are key objectives of e-governance,

Another performance metric that is key to the

they have to be monitored and measured. The

success of e-governance projects is service levels.

application has to be built to support such a

In a manual mode of government transaction,

service level definition.

service levels are not measured often and this

is more because a consumer can obtain status

Technology Perspective: The essence of

of the transactions across the counter. But in

rolling out e-governance services is to ensure

an electronic form, it is imperative that service

reach and high availability of the service and

levels are published upfront to help consumers

both these tenets have to be provided by the

track the transaction. An example can be a

technology platform. Surely, cloud computing

service catalog. But irrespective of the services

provides both. Reach is ensured as it is hosted

provided from a cloud or an on-premise

on internet. With the basic construct of the

environment, service management in an

infrastructure, availability of the platform is

electronic platform is essential for the success

ensured by virtualization technologies. With

of the initiative. It is more so as it is a common

these underlying technologies, the platform

expectation to have better service levels in an

provides an on-demand environment where

automated and computerized platform vis-

service levels are key characteristics. For

-vis the manual mode. There are two major

instance, the e-governance service uptime is

dimensions in service level management.

always expected to be greater than 99% and it

One is related to business services where each

can be achieved only if the underlying platforms

department commits to certain timelines and

support the same. Cloud service providers

service guarantees on the business process

guarantee attractive uptimes that will aid in

flow while the other is related to technology

hosting the services on cloud.

where the technology service provider commits

to certain service levels on the environment.

CONCLUSION

Both the perspectives are complementary to

e-Governance represents change and represents

each other.

a progressing economy. Integrating disparate

processes and providing a uniform set of services

Services Perspective: As the transaction moves

will form the crux of rolling out e-governance

from one stage to the other in an automated

initiatives. Apart from simplifying the process

workflow process, certain actions have to be

and changing the mindset of the people, it is the

51

technology that will support the success of such

glossary/detail.asp?ID=4752.

programs. Cloud computing is one such vehicle

2. MIC Announces the Outline of Digital

that will help the growth of e-governance and

Japan Creation Project (ICT Hatoyama

take such initiatives to every nook and corner

Plan) (2009), Communications News,

of the geography. Cloud computing provides

Vol 20, No 1. Available at http://www.

a firm base to provide e-services to various

soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/joho_tsusin/

stakeholders.

eng/Releases/NewsLetter/Vol20/

It is worth noting that deployment

Vol20_01/Vol20_01.html.

of e-government solutions in the form of

3. I n d i a t o G o t h e C l o u d W a y f o r

cloud computing enables benefit from

e-Governance (2010). Available at

economies of scale. Cloud computing also

http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.

bears a social impact. It enables advanced IT

in/blog/2010/02/india-to-go-the-

solutions to be rapidly available to all public

%E2%80%98cloud%E2%80%99-way-

offices, irrespective of locations or level of

for-e-governance/.

technical competencies. Cloud architectures

4. Cloud computing for e-Governance

when applied to developing e-governance

(2010), IIT Hyderabad. Available at

applications have the potential to transform a

http://search.iiit.ac.in/uploads/

nation into an information society.

CloudComputingForEGovernance.pdf
5. Heiser, J. and Nicolett, M. (2008), Seven
Cloud-Computing Security Risks, Gartner.

REFERENCES
1. E-government, Definition by OECD.

Available at http://www.gartner.com/

Available at http://stats.oecd.org/

DisplayDocument?id=685308.

52

Authors Profile
N VIJAYKUMAR
N Vijaykumar is a Principal Technology Architect with the Systems Integration unit in Infosys
Technologies. He has around 18 years of experience in the IT Infrastructure domain. He has vast
expertise in IT Strategy, IT Infrastructure Design, Technology Migration and Program Management.
He can be contacted at vijaykumar_n@infosys.com.

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please contact:
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Email: SetlabsBriefings@infosys.com
Infosys Technologies Limited, 2011
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