Information Technology (IT) plays an increasingly significant role in our daily
lives. It has been transforming the technological, economic, political as well as
social landscapes. Business houses have embraced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver their products and/or services in a timely and cost-effective manner. Their business processes have been increasingly transformed from manual to automated ones. As a result, they gain competitive advantage, ensure customer satisfaction and manage customer attrition. During the last decade, the governments have also recognized the potential of IT to improve governance, facilitate citizen-to-government interactions and serve citizens better. Consequently, e-governance initiatives have been increased manifold in recent years. e-Governance has evolved from one-way posted contact and program/policy information dissemination to citizens interacting and transacting with government. e-Governance claims increased transparency and efficiency in government policies, programs and service delivery. It also enhances citizens’ participation and trust in democracy. However, implementation of e-governance initiatives is a major challenge particularly in a country like India, where two-thirds of the population lives in villages that inherently inflicts several hurdles such as digital divide and technical illiteracy among others. The paper, “A Conceptual Framework for Improving the Efficacy of e-Governance in Rural Areas: An Indian Perspective”, by Puneet Kumar, Dharminder Kumar and A K Sharma, proposes a framework that harnesses cloud computing and mobile technology to deliver cost-effective but improved services to citizens. The authors, based on various case studies, claim that the proposed framework can cope with the challenges in rural areas while delivering e-services effectively.

The paper, “The Challenges Posed by Information Technology to Secretaries: A Study with Reference to Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, Nigeria”, by Johnson Adegbenga Ajiboye, Mary Adebola Ajiboye and Juliet Omozokpia, seeks to find out the impact of ICT on secretarial profession. The study finds that use of computers has enhanced secretarial efficiency and made the job pleasurable and attractive. It has increased the productivity of a secretary as well as the speed and accuracy of her work. Technology has broadened the scope of a secretarial job from the derogatory appendage status to an independent member of the organization, information officer, manager and a custodian of organizational information reservoir. The study also reveals that most of the secretaries lack the required skills of ICT to cope with the modern automated office. Thus, the study recommends revision of the curriculum of secretarial studies to accommodate ICT which enriches secretarial profession and provides additional career opportunities for secretaries.
Over the years, organizations have religiously relied on the traditional enterprise data stored in relational databases to mine business intelligence. Recently, the nontraditional, less-structured data from sources such as weblogs, e-mails, social media and sensors has drawn ample attention and is considered as a potential treasure trove for business intelligence analysis. The paper, “Big Data Analytics: Applications and Benefits”, by K V N Rajesh, provides an overview of this useful data and its applications.

Phishing is an identity theft to steal sensitive information on the Internet with malicious intention. The menace of phishing is growing, although several measures have been suggested to combat it. The paper, “Seclayer: A Plugin to Prevent Phishing Attacks”, by Ayush Ghosh, describes an anti-phishing plugin that detects malicious websites with more accuracy.

-- A C Ojha
Consulting Editor