There is a growing feeling in the minds of people that technology is going to present newer and wider possibilities before the society in the modern times. Electronic Governance is a concept that takes the man from the ‘known’ to the ‘unknown’. Electronic Governance is inclusive of Electronic Democracy, Electronic Government and Government Electronic Business. The commonwealth also evinced interest and committed to good governance through the declarations made by Heads of Governments and State at their meetings. No doubt, good governance provides a new paradigm in Public Administration in a global way.

An abridged definitive conceptual framework is presented for Electronic Governance (eGovernance). The framework relies on the time-proven principle of introducing a concept by progressing from the ‘known’ to the ‘unknown’. It takes note of the need to define Electronic Governance from the more well-known concept of Good Governance that predates it. The framework is informed by the author’s several years of experience in an advisory role in the concepts, planning and implementation of eGovernance in Commonwealth member countries. eGovernance is presented as a natural progression from Good Governance and as contextually inclusive of Electronic Democracy (eDemocracy), Electronic Government (eGovernment) and Government Electronic Business (eBusiness). Making the transition to eGovernance is presented in terms of a taxonomy of levels of evolution of eGovernance, with selected examples of distinct service delivery clusters. Trustworthy computing is introduced as the convergence between computing, the legal and the psycho-technical within the context of the processes and structures of the deployment of eGovernance systems and related technology systems. This gives provenance to the imperative for the need for a trusted business environment, a legal framework and valid laws of evidence, thus linking technology perspectives to building cyberlaw capacity for eGovernance.

Good Governance is a concept that has recently come into regular use in political science, public administration and development management. In the last decade, it has been closely associated with public sector reform. The Commonwealth has shown its commitment to Good Governance through declarations made by Heads of Governments and State at their biennial meetings. The Bretton Woods Systems and the Development Agencies have shown their commitment through redefining their roles and responsibilities in global governance.