A shift from E-government to E-governance

E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of Information Technologies that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of Government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. E-governance on the other hand, of fers vast opportunity for transforming governance in general and improving competitiveness of government in particular in terms of empowering citizens and providing services efficiently. It primarily involves the creation, storage, analysis, dissemination and use of information and communication. It can provide vital inputs to the government's policy-making process. It makes government processes accountable. An attempt is made in this paper to bring conceptual clarity about e~ government and e-governance, their scope, characteristics and stages and also examine thek application in Andhra Pradesh government.