IT's all about impact

IT has become all pervasive and easy accessible to everyone. So it's not

important that you use IT today, but rather how you use it. So the 14 projects

that were selected as winners in this year's Best IT Implementation Awards have

used the same technology as any other project, but what's different is their

usage; because of which they have created quite an impact.

Let's start with the overall best project where Govt. of Chhatisgarh has

simply computerized its paddy procurement and distribution system. Its impact:

nearly 8 lakh farmers in the state now get on the spot payments for their

commodities directly from the govt, which brings them out of the vicious trap of

mandis. Plus, the system ensures this paddy is converted to rice and nearly 37

lakh BPL (below poverty line) families get their share from fair price shops

every month. The whole system of procurement and distribution is monitored from

the top level, thereby ensuring that the system actually works and complaints

also get redressed on time. The system has been so successful that many other

states are now trying to replicate the same model.

Anil Chopra, Editor anilc@cybermedia.co.in

Let's look at another project: Rajasthan Govt's eSanchar. It's simply

disseminating information via phone calls and SMS. But the difference is that it

calls about 4000+ pensioners, who're basically widows, handicapped, or old

people living in rural areas of Rajasthan. In the previous snail mail system,

they had a hard time finding out whether their pension had been dispatched, or

if it had been dispatched at all. This project won the award for the maximum

social impact.

It's not as if all innovation is happening in govt. departments. On the

business front, there's Mudra Comm's One View project. It simply gathers key

performance indicators from around 20 different applications and presents them

to different SBUs. End result: faster decision making because the required

information is available in a few clicks.

The power sector has become quite active, thanks to the entry of so many

private players. So this time, there are two winners from this sector: Reliance

Infrastructure and BSES. Both of them have setup extensive monitoring and

control systems, which help them manage their equipment, distribute power, or

address customer complaints. These are definitely something that the state owned

electricity boards could learn from.

Similarly, all the projects that have been awarded our Best IT Implementation

Award for 2009 this time have created a very visible impact. I hope you enjoy

reading about them as much as we enjoyed writing and learning from them.

One key learning I got from these projects as well as from my discussions

with many CIOs was that you must have a clear understanding of the requirement

before deploying any technology. Everything else will just follow, including the

impact.