China

Last week, there were many criticisms about Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and other technology companies’ submission to the Chinese government’s request to censor the information on the Internet. It has become a public concern that these companies are doing business there at the peril of human rights.

Electronic Governance, in simplest terms, it refers to those governance processes in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are playing an active role in delivering governance related products and services.

Digital Governance Initiative is a virtual network of over 2800 E-governance policymakers and practitioners from developing countries. The Initiative identifies and propagates innovative e-governance models which are suited for developing countries. The models are based on strategic application of knowledge and information technologies to create an e-governance system which is citizen specific and addressess a particular development concern, viz: lack of information, corruption, bureaucracy etc.

Talking about making a difference, one of the most creative social entrepreneurial projects I have ever seen is a grand musical show "Impression Liu Sanjie" directed by Zhang Yimong, in Guilin, the southern part of China.

My trips to China have always been a wild experience mixed with excitement and confusion. Even as a native Chinese who grew up and had most of my education there, China's dazzling speed of changes makes me feel that I am in a foreign country each time.