Bye Bye Mysore

Our last day in Mysore! In the morning, we had a lecture on e-governance that was interesting. However, like many of the other lectures, I wish the talk had focused more on unique implementations of e-governance in India rather than the ongoing talk about what e-governance is, the key imperatives for e-governance implementation, etc. All that stuff could have been on a single slide. Then, it would have been great to talk of a couple of case studies on how information and communication technologies have been used particularly effective to improve relationships between the government and its far-flung rural citizens. The case study we saw briefly on the first day – on the kiosks farmers used to check fair prices – would have fit in well here. I think that would have made for a much more interesting session – a focus on unique applications in India that resolve some of the unique problems India faces in being a true representative democracy such as illiteracy and poverty.

In the evening, we had a farewell dinner at the beautiful Hotel Metropole another of the great old turn-of-the-century buildings built by the Maharajah. As usual, the SDM-IMD hosts were fantastic. They humbled us with some great gifts (including the SDM-IMD jackets that Al and I were lusting over earlier in our trip). It was a great ending to a great trip. Very nice food, excellent company, and beautiful surroundings.