E-Governance and Smart Communities: A Social Learning Challenge

Abstract

The new information and communications technologies (NICT) and globalization have brought forth a period of great change. Globalization has triggered more intense economic and political interdependencies and has challenged fundamental assumptions about sovereignty and the role of the nation-state. As networks increasingly take hold and reshape the way people live, communicate, and work, the question of what kind of governance people will need in the new millennium is raised. Some elements of answers have been put forward under the general rubric of e-governance. It suggests a more community-based model of governance with greater connectivity being facilitated by new technology. Application of NICT locally leads to economic, social, and political transformations encapsulated by the new smart community movement. This article provides some preliminary mapping of how the collective intelligence of the communities would operate and how the new governance structures would work.