E-governance and smart communities - A social learning challenge

The new information and communications technologies (NICT) and globalizatio n have brought forth a period of great change. Globalization has triggered more intense economic and political interdependencies and has challenged fu ndamental assumptions about sovereignty and the role of the nation-state. A s networks increasingly take hold and reshape the way people live, communic ate, 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 forwar d under the general rubric of e-governance. It suggests a more community-ba sed model of governance with greater connectivity being facilitated by new technology. Application of NICT focally leads to economic, social, and poli tical transformations encapsulated by the new smart community movement. Thi s article provides some preliminary mapping of how the collective intellige nce of the communities would operate and how the new governance structures would work.