State governments in India are exploring m-Governance options for providing critical (and often tedious to retrieve) information to citizens: the state of Kerala recently awarded an M-Governance contract to VAS company MobMe Wireless. This particular m-Governance project covers 21 pilot projects over 8 months across state government departments using a single number, 537252 (i.e.: KERALA on non-qwerty keypads). There will be a single platform at the back-end which will support customized solutions on USSD, SMS, Voice for multiple departments. Starting mid-December, a pilot project is expected to be launched every week for around 4 months. Sony Joy, co-founder and COO at MobMe Wireless, told MediaNama that the company will be expected to submit a detailed project report to the Kerala Government at the end of the pilot, which will form the basis for a four year plan, involving over 100 departments of the government. The tender bid was at Rs. 97 lakhs, but there will be offshoots for each of the projects that are done. Joy said that it is important to ensure that the service is either profit making or at least covers the cost for the government: it will be a combination of free, paid and premium services. "Consumers wouldn't mind paying Rs. 5 extra to check the status of the passport copy, to avoid going down to the Passport office, for example. Some projects will have alternate revenue models like advertising." The pilot project will involve services like: -- University exam results and related information -- Vehicle details over…
