NISG is shaped as an institution of excellence in e-governance to assist governments in ushering in smart governance, process reforms and digitalization. NISG has been at the forefront of e-governance initiatives in India and contributed towards improvement in government processes and establishment of service delivery systems resulting in faster and simpler service delivery to end-users including citizens and businesses.
Over the past 18 years of its existence, NISG has built key expertise in the conceptualization of information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, process reengineering and improvement through automation, formulating solution specifications, program implementation strategy, preparation of RFPs, bid process management and post-implementation support through program management and quality assurance.
NISG has played a key role in the design and implementation of several mission mode projects (MMP) in India including MCA-21, Passport Seva Project, UID (Aadhaar), commercial taxes, immigration, health, and agriculture to name a few. There are several other government departments and agencies, both at the centre and in states, where NISG has been assisting in the successful implementation of their e-governance and ICT programs.
The main idea behind setting up NISG was the revolution in information and communication technologies (ICT) which necessitates the government to keep up with the changing environment and revolutionized the way the government interacts with citizens and business entities. In order to transform government departments and agencies from a department-centric mode of working to a citizen-centric way, the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP) was conceived with the vision of "Making all government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency, and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man".
Therefore, NISG was envisaged as an advisory and consulting body that offers the orientation and efficiency of the private sector combined with the accountability of the public sector which would aid and guide the public sector in planning and implementing e-solutions to improve service delivery mechanisms and efficiency of the public departments.
The Department of Information Technology (DIT) and the Department of Administrative Reforms (DAR&PG), Government of India jointly pursued the setting up of the NISG in line with recommendation #97 of the National Taskforce on Information Technology and Software Development.
In line with that decision, NISG was registered under the Company Act as a Section 25 not-for-profit company in May 2002 with its headquarters at Hyderabad by a High-Powered Committee (HPC), headed by the Cabinet Secretary and attended by several eminent members such as Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Director (PMO), the Additional Secretary of DAR&PG.
Structured on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, 49% of NISG’s equity is held by the central government and various state governments, and 51% is held by institutional investors. This structure has been intended to foster the efficiency and flexibility of the private sector combined with the accountability of the public sector.