DACNET-An E-Governance Infrastructure For The Globalization Of Indian Agriculture

Microsoft Windows Server System Customer Solution Case Study

DACNET - an E-Governance Infrastructure for the Globalization of Indian Agriculture

Attains Customer Satisfaction Index of 91.5 percent

Overview “Due to DACNET software, the processing time for an Country or Region: India applicant has been reduced from more than one year Industry: Government to less than three months. We are extremely pleased Customer Profile that the DACNET team has made this possible.” India's Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), sponsored project Secretary, Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIBRC), Directorate of called DACNET to usher in information Plant Protection, Quarantine, and Storage technology to its directorates and their field units located throughout the country. In a move to take advantage of information technology in

Situation delivering its services, India's Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) Ministry of Agriculture authorized a project

Solution called DACNET to be implemented by the National Informatics National Informatics Centre, the Centre—the technology division of the Indian government. technology division of the Indian government, built multiple solutions using Microsoft® Windows® Server System and DACNET facilitates Indian ‘agriculture online.’ DACNET's key Microsoft® Office SharePoint Portal Server for projects covering 52 criteria included ease-of-use, speed of information delivery, low directorates, regional directorates, and incidence of errors, reduction in corruption, and affordable 120 field units. services. The service level agreements guaranteed a high-level Benefits of support or system maintenance. Approved September 2001,  Paperless office  Increased employee efficiency the project aims to dramatically strengthen the information  Citizen empowerment technology infrastructure in all Department of Agriculture and Cooperation directorates, regional directorates, and its field units.

The DACNET project has reduced time taken to deliver services while making information available to its citizens over the

According to Dr. Mrs. C. T. Mishra, Situation based on integrated information about Additional Secretary, Department of The country of India has an agriculture- soil, water, weather, fertilizer, and pest Agriculture and Cooperation, the based economy. Agriculture provides management models. DACNET project is an exemplary livelihood to 70 percent of the population Real-time information on good-quality implementation of information and sustains economic and industrial seeds or nursery plants. technology tools in the directorates development. To continue in this role, Prevailing prices of farm equipment, and field offices. The project is a agriculture in India requires a productivity agricultural produce, and products, which state-of-the art-implementation of: and quality revolution. The Indian can lead to high productivity and reduced  Internet and intranet solutions to government believes this can be brought cost benefits. support the dissemination of about through much-needed reforms information, effective including land reforms, rural infrastructure, To achieve a ‘knowledge society’ in the information exchange, and information access, extension services, agricultural sector, the Indian state knowledge sharing among credit marketing, and pricing. governments must provide: governmental offices. An agriculture information centre in each E-governance model Information technology and e-governance village.  Development of various specific has become a vital tool for sustainable Interactive exchange for farmers with application software for better expansion and globalization of Indian information for planning day-to-day decision support at the economy. operations. directorates Extension and advisory services  Systematic approach to educate Information technology accelerates available on demand the country's government globalization and provides critical access to officials through information information for the Indian people. India's Department of Agriculture envisions technology. By 2008, a farmer in any remote village can that information technology will provide a access information on: network for the agriculture sector not only Land use planning for crop strategy within the country, but also globally. The department also facilitates the exchange of ideas and information among the farmers, researchers, scientists, and administrators pathogens to minimize environmental Objectives of DACNET through its knowledge portal pollution that can be caused by pesticides. The goal is to help farmers maintain the  Faster and reliable information Business Situation ecological balance of natural fauna through dissemination and exchange across In the overall strategy of ushering in an e- the safe use of pesticides. The centres also the department and its directorates governance, the Department of Agriculture act as ‘model centers’ and ‘active catalysts’ and field units. and Cooperation (DAC) has initiated the in promoting technology. It also coordinates

 Better communication internally to the project, DACNET. with the state agriculture departments. organization using e-mail and instant messaging for enhanced coordination, DAC has sanctioned the DACNET project The DACNET project team has knowledge sharing, and research. to National Informatics Centre (NIC). NIC implemented an application at 26 plant has successfully evolved its systems quarantine stations to facilitate registration  Quantitative enhancements in the development strategy using evolutionary of plant importers' applications. The government's work culture. prototyping and iterative development that application helps in effective regulation of

 Telecommuting features that will results in a formal system. imports and exports of agricultural provide for geography-independent commodities and plants to avoid importing work. This project facilitates information to parasites and plant diseases along with the multiple stakeholders about how agriculture plants and seeds.  Streamlining existing methods and can be developed in India. practices, both administrative and Locust Warning & Control technical. DACNET has four major components: Locust Warning Organizations Circles have Network together directorates, regional  Easy access to the publishable been established in five locations with information with minimal directorates, and field units for Internet headquarters at Jodhpur. Locust Warning administrative intervention, with proper and intranet access with the central Organizations Circles has 23 outposts and search features. DACNET resources. a field investigation station at Bikaner. Establish a local-area network These circles monitor locusts and take  Greater integration and use of the throughout Department of Agriculture control measures in the secluded desert data from a variety of data sources. field locations. areas. They also maintain close liaison with Empower employees through specialized  Optimal utilization of available budget the Indian government's Food and and staffing resources, simultaneously system training programs. Agriculture Organisation and with locust moving towards the goal of the paper- Web-based applications at the prone countries, like Pakistan, Iran, and less office. directorate, regional directorate, and field Iraq. units. Based on the survey of field offices, the Some of the projects under DACNET are data on density of locust population and as follows: situations for alarm are monitored on a weekly or monthly basis. Updates are sent Integrated Pest Management to the Department of Agriculture field Staff members at 26 Central Integrated offices to take protective measures. Data Pest Management Centres monitor and on migration of locusts is collected in a pre- provide information about pest and disease designed format and distributed every two build-up on crops. The centres promote weeks. biological control insect pests and weeds, by parasites, natural predators, and Under the DACNET project, an application A knowledge portal has been implemented has been undertaken in collaboration with to provide information on oil seeds, that the Locust Warning Organization, to produce oils used in food preparation. The facilitate processing of pesticides sample highlights of the Web portal include: “Thetest .Net results Platform for better planning has and  Farmer’s warning issued from time to Applications under DACNET providedmanagement us with of resources. the highest time  Plant Quarantine Information  Geographical information of oil seed System levelsPesticides of reliability, Quality scalability Control crop Testing of pesticides is essential to  Economic importance  Crop Weather Watch andrecommend functionality.” suitable composition for the  Varieties  Market Prices Analysis registration of pesticides, as well as to  Distribution Mr. M.enforce Moni, Deputy quality Director standards General, on NIC the, available  Climate and soil  Bio-fertilizers Informatics Online pesticides for crop protection.  Season  Integrated Pest Management  Pest and diseases Information System As part of DACNET, an application has  Crop rotation been developed for pesticide testing, in  Measures for high yield  Computerized Registration of consultation with the department's  Prices of agricultural commodities Pesticides scientists.  Minimum support price − Knowledge Management System –  Kissan (Farmer) Helpline ‘e-Granthalaya’ Pesticides Registration The DACNET project team has already There have also been numerous DACNET  Farm Machinery Informatics Online developed a workflow application for initiatives under e-governance applications processing applications for Department of in the areas for the successful production Agriculture approval that are submitted by of wheat, barley, sugar cane, rice, cotton, the pesticide manufacturing companies. jute, pulses, and tobacco crops.

It is now possible to obtain immediate Central AGMARKNET Laboratory online access to application status. A Central Sector Scheme of Directorate of Marketing and Inspection portal will Name, Secretary, Central Insecticides eventually serve as a one-stop service to Board & Registration Committee, advises, facilitate market led extension for the “Earlier, the applicants who are located all benefit of the farming community. This over India had to visit our headquarters in portal venture benefits the farming Faridabad or make enquiries over the communities with access to global market telephone. Due to this pesticide application information and strengthens the internal management software, the processing time agricultural marketing system in India. for a certification has been reduced from more than one year to less than three DACNET enables periodic downloading of months. We are extremely pleased that the data from the portal's central database. It DACNET team has made this possible.” enables the preparation of state-wide trend analysis and monthly bulletins by various Directorate of Oil Seeds Department of Agriculture marketing and Development inspection offices across the country. Weather Watch Monitoring System Solution This system builds up a reliable information The DACNET project team chose Microsoft base for crop review, with respect to wheat .NET connection software that facilitates and barley production in India. This the adoption of XML (Extensible Markup application facilitates: Language), SOAP, UDDI (Universal  Speedy collection of reliable Discovery, Description, and Integration), information. and Web services among the software  Easy access to information. architect and developer communities.  Easy generation of usable reports with the newly gathered data. The goal of the National Informatics Centre was to deliver coherent and integrated Other Initiatives solutions that offered farming best The DACNET project team has been practices, shared experiences, and global interacting with the directorates and has solutions to India's farmers. NIC also been able to implement various e- enables the Department of Agriculture to governance applications for personnel provide agricultural information to farmers management, inventory management, file over the Internet, making it widely available monitoring, payroll, and library on a cost-effective basis. management.

E-mail Database

Public Portals Intranet Portal NIC Data Center

NICNET Network Support

Field Offices

Dial-Up Connection Database Firewall Directorates The DACNET intranet solution is based on The project has helped facilitate decision Microsoft SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 making which in turn will help build capacity for document management. The system in crop production and food supply in the integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server country. 2000 messaging and collaboration server for messaging and work-flow applications. Paper-Less Office It uses SQL Server 2000 for database The National Informatics Centre sought to management and decision support. create an electronic, paper-less office environment to aid employees in delivering Each directorate is equipped with SQL more services, while requiring fewer Server 2000 and Microsoft Internet Security resources. Accelerator 2000, running on the Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server operating system. The electronic office ('e-office) includes The desktops offer Microsoft Office Visio® a) Directorate Portal Services for 2000 drawing and diagramming software providing the general public with policy and Microsoft Office XP. and guidelines information on each directorate The field units are equipped with the latest b) Development of e-governance Microsoft Windows XP operating system applications that automates the and Office XP with local language support. business process of each directorate in the areas of government functions, The Web-based application for DACNET interaction of government and includes remote e-mail access and work- business enterprises, and government flow applications, portal services, and and citizens, and the like. Feedback decision support systems. from the current systems will influence future business process re- Benefits engineering projects. Mr. Moni says, “These systems, their c) Development of an intranet for secure networking, and readily accessible employees that provides them with information reinforce our commitment to self-help human resources and productivity. There exists a complementary budgeting applications. relationship between sustainable development and productivity.” Increased Employee Efficiency through IT Empowerment DACNET project has facilitated creation of “We have been able to empower an e-governance framework that empowers employees with information technology, directorates’ and field office employees in through specialized training programmes delivery of services. This has been with help from Microsoft,” says Mrs. Alka achieved by providing solutions for Mishra, Technical Director, DACNET. dissemination of information, and creating applications that automate key functions. To empower employees, a comprehensive training program was developed and implemented for 4,000 employees across various directorates and field units. The For More Information employees previously had little or no prior Awards and Recognition knowledge of personal computers (PCs) The Department of Administrative Reforms For more information about Microsoft products and information technology. The program and Public Grievances, Government of and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information therefore had topics that covered basics of India has recognized the DACNET project Center at 1600 111100. To access information PCs, such as interacting with Microsoft with a Bronze Icon award in the using the World Wide Web, go to: Windows XP, Office productivity tools, and “Innovative Operations and Best www.microsoft.com/india database design and analysis, decision Practices–New Entrants,” for support systems, and geographic exemplary implementation of e-governance For more information about DACNET project visit information systems. initiatives in the eighth (Indian) National E- the website at: Governance Conference held at www.dacnet.nic.in Bhubaneswar.

For more information about National Informatics Microsoft Windows Server Centre products and services, please visit: System www.nic.in Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server infrastructure software is designed to support end-to-end solutions built on the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system. It creates an Empowerment of Citizens infrastructure based on integrated The DACNET project has enabled a better innovation, Microsoft’s holistic approach to delivery of government services to the building products and solutions that are citizens of India. India has empowered its intrinsically designed to work together and people with easy access to information. interact seamlessly with other data and This digital development in rural areas applications across your IT environment. facilitates rural prosperity and the ability for This allows you to reduce the costs of rural people to help themselves, thanks to ongoing operations; deliver a more secure the availability of useful information. This is and reliable IT infrastructure; and drive a positive step towards digital inclusion to valuable new capabilities for the future foster rural enterprise. growth of your business.

For more information about Windows Server System, go to: www.microsoft.com/ windowsserversyste m

Software and Services  Microsoft Windows 2000 Server  Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server  Microsoft Visio 2000 2003  Microsoft Internet Security and © 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.  Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 Acceleration Server 2002 This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT  Microsoft SQL Server 2000  Microsoft Office Enterprise Edition 2003 MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.  Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft, SharePoint, Visio, Windows, Windows Server, and Partner Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or National Informatics Centre other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Document published September 2005