Good governance is one of the key requirements of development. In India, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the catalyzer to deliver good governance by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of government stake holders. In the recent years, the emerging technologies have helped the Government institutions to think out of the box in delivering the critical public services; improving transparency and accountability; fostering citizen's access to public and official information; enhancing citizens' participation in the public policy process; and improving inclusion and participation of all stakeholders in governance.
It's time to reward these out of the box thinkers. The Web Ratana Awards, under the ambit of National Portal of India, have been institutionalized to acknowledge exemplary initiatives/practices of various Ministries/States/UTs in the realm of e-governance.
The Government of India has been bracing for innovation and transformation in delivery of information/services with adoption of best ICT practices. Almost every Government department is trying to make services accessible and integrated to citizens.
Promotion of innovative e-governance initiatives is one of the core objectives of the Government. In order to promote more innovative e-governance initiatives using the medium of Web, the Web Ratna Awards have been instituted by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Today, citizens can explore diverse services with a few clicks of a mouse. A number of e-Governance initiatives have been undertaken by the State Governments and Central Ministries on a continuous basis to improve the delivery and accessibility of public services.
The National Portal of India provides an ideal front-end for these initiatives as it is a single window to access information and services being provided by the various Indian Government entities.
In order to promote more innovative e-governance initiatives, the Web Ratna Awards have been instituted under the ambit of the National Portal of India.
The Ceremony
The second season of the Web Ratna Awards was held on 10th December, 2012 at Dr. D.S Kothari Auditorium, DRDO Bhawan, Dalhousie Road, New Delhi.
Hon'ble Minister of Communications and Information Technology Shri Kapil Sibal felicitated the winners. Hon’ble Ministers of State for Communications and Information Technology Shri Milind Deora and Dr. (Smt) Kruparani Killi were the guests of honour in the event.
Shri J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) and Dr. Y. K. Sharma, Director General, NIC also graced the event.
The Web Ratna Secretariat got an excellent response to the call for nominations for six categories of Awards. All the nominations were evaluated based on scientifically formulated criterion. Specific evaluation criterions were devised for specific category by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Outcome of evaluation was then submitted to the Screening Committee.
Nominations, shortlisted by screening committee were finally presented to the esteemed Jury comprising of senior members from the Government, Academia, Institutes and Organizations. The Jury finally selected the Platinum, Gold and Silver icons for each category.
Award Categories And Winners
- Citizen Centric
Service - Public Participation
Initiative - Outstanding
Content - Innovative Use of
Technology - Comprehensive Web
Presence - Comprehensive Web
Presence-State
Citizen Centric Service
In this category, the awards acknowledge those ICT-based services by a Government Department (Central/State) which has displayed exemplary citizen focus, reach, scope and innovation in approach. These services have effectively contributed to enhance efficiency, productivity, transparency and accountability in the governance by using the web as a primary mode of delivery in addition to other conventional/ nonconventional modes.
Winners:Public Participation Initiative
The awards, in this category, honour those initiatives which have leveraged upon the use of ICT to solicit active participation of the citizens in governance. The winning entries display relevance of context, mode of participation, involvement of stakeholders and an innovative use of ICT, both for response acquisition as well as for analysis of inputs received. The impact of the initiative (qualitative as well as quantitative) serves as a significant criterion for judging this award.
Winners:Outstanding Content
The awards in this category felicitate outstanding content published on the web by a Government entity. Content packaged from the perspective of the citizens is considered under this category. Also, adherence to the basic standards of usability such as ease of navigation, design, accessibility, visual appeal, clarity (textual and design), load time and the overall quality of creative expression is taken into consideration.
Winners:- Platinum Icon: National Institute of Open Schooling - External website that opens in a new window
- Gold Icon: AIR Portal for News Dissemination - External website that opens in a new window
- Silver Icon: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - External website that opens in a new window
Innovative Use of Technology
The awards in this category acknowledge ICT Applications which display innovative use of technology in the functioning of Government and services provided to the citizens. The acceptance and maturity level of implementation, scalability, sustainability and the impact of the use of technology define excellence under this category.
Winners:Comprehensive Web Presence - Ministry/Department
The awards in this category felicitate a Ministry of the Government of India which has a comprehensive web presence in terms of quantity, quality, spectrum of coverage, innovation, citizen centricity and responsiveness in their web-based information & service delivery initiatives. Aspects of usability & accessibility are also taken into consideration.
Winners:Comprehensive Web Presence - State
The awards in this category acknowledge the State/UT of India which has displayed exemplary initiative in establishing comprehensive web presence. The selection criteria include the overall quality and quantity of web-based initiatives, the spectrum of sectors/departments having a good web presence and the level of responsiveness towards web-based queries by citizens. Aspects of usability & accessibility also served as major decisive elements.
Winners:Dignitaries on Web Ratna Awards 2012
Web Ratna Awards by the National Informatics Centre, Department of Electronics & Information Technology would indeed go a long way to promote e-Governance initiatives and to harness the medium of World Wide Web (WWW) for delivery of Government Information and Services.
Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology
These Awards are being conferred in different categories which touch upon different aspect of e-Governance right from the web presence to delivery of citizen services to public participation and innovation in use of technology.
Shri Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology
I am happy to learn that the Web Ratna Awards acknowledge e-Governance initiatives across the country using the medium of web. I congratulate the Web Ratna 2012 Awardees for their exemplary initiatives.
Dr. (Smt.) Killi Kruparani, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology
I complement NIC for the initiating Web Ratna Awards and organizing the Award ceremony. I congratulate all the winners of the Web Ratna Awards and wish them success.
Shri J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY)
I take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners of Web Ratna Awards 2012 for their innovative initiatives and wish them success in their future endeavours.
Dr. Y. K. Sharma, Director General, National Informatics Centre
Launch of National Portal Of India
The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Shri Kapil Sibal also launched the revamped version of the National Portal of India during the Web Ratna Awards function. The revamped site has features like: new information architecture, look & feel and improved discoverability of information and services.
