Emerging role of systems thinking oriented e-governance for supporting MDGs: learning in Indian context

Discussions for MDGs beyond 2015 critically reveal under utilization of potential of ICT in general and e-governance in particular. ICT for development efforts also have supported ideas related to sustainability at local levels, bridging digital divides etc. Today various agencies are in the process of creating indices for monitoring country level performances including human development, poverty, corruption, digital opportunities, ICT, e-governance etc. that are in line with proposed MDGs beyond 2015. In this paper, it is posited that efforts to pursue agendas under MDGs beyond 2015 need to have implicit inclusion of e-governance strategies. It is also argued that e-governance needs to be more oriented towards systems thinking approaches for inclusive governance. Two cases from India are taken up to explain how systems thinking could contribute to realizing MDGs in a better manner.