ASA UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH Assignment on the Situation of E-Governance in

Bangladesh, State Policy and Action Course Title: Governance and Planning

SOC 322

Submitted To

Rowshon Ara Romke Senior Lecturer

Department of Applied Sociology ASA University Bangladesh (ASAUB)

Submitted By Uday Kumar Shil 12-3-20-0025 6th batch Department of Applied Sociology ASA University Bangladesh (ASAUB)

Date of submission April 3, 2016

2015

2

Table of Contents

SL No Context Page No

01 Introduction 3-3

02 E-Government Definitions 4-5

03 Objectives of e-Governance 6-6

04 Challenges of e-Governance 7-7

05 Situation of e-Governance in Bangladesh 8-8

06 State Policy and Action 9-10

07 Advantages & Disadvantages of e-Governance 11-11

08 Types of e-governance 12-16

09 Recommendations for e-Governance 17-18

10 Conclusion 19-19

11 References 20-20

3

01. Introduction

With the onset of information revolution, many developing countries have looked at IT as a

possible new tool to solve age-old problems of poverty, bad governance, and sluggish

economic growth. While the developed countries have been able to benefit greatly from the

wide use of IT, many developing countries are still grasping to make sense of how IT fits into

their problems. The trend is true in the case of e-Governance also. In Bangladesh, e-

Governance has been talked about a lot, some government offices have even taken innovative

steps towards certain e-Government projects. Since this is a new concept for government

officials who are used to familiar methods of work, the growth of e-Governance is met with

resistance and fear, among other infrastructural problems. But the good news is that the

government is taking e-Governance very seriously. The national ICT Task Force headed by

the Honorable Prime Minister herself has put great emphasis on identifying challenges in the

implementation of nation-wide e-Governance and on initiating pilot projects in various

sectors of the government through a project called the Support to ICT Task Force (SICT). It

is being implemented under the Ministry of Planning. Also, the Government of Bangladesh is

also getting substantial foreign cooperation in terms of financial assistance and technical

collaboration for realization of e-Governance at a national scale.

4

02. E-Government Definitions

E-government is a generic term for web-based services from agencies of local, state

and federal governments. In e-government, the government uses information technology and

particularly the Internet to support government operations, engage citizens, and provide

government services. The interaction may be in the form of obtaining information, filings,

or making payments and a host of other activities via the World Wide Web (Sharma &

Gupta, 2003, Sharma, 2004, Sharma 2006). E-government is defined by other sources as

follows:

World Bank definition (AOEMA report): “E-Government refers to the use by

government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the

Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with

citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a

variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved

interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information,

or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption,

increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.”

United Nations definition (AOEMA report): “E-government is defined as utilizing the

Internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to

citizens.”

E-governance is defined as the, “application of electronic means in (1) the interaction

between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well as (2) in internal

government operations to simplify and improve democratic, government and business

aspects of Governance.” (Backus, 2001). According to Kettl (2002), "Governance" is a

way of describing the links between government and its broader environment -

political, social, and administrative." The application of electronic links means the

interaction between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well

as in internal government operations to simplify and improve democratic, government

and business aspects of Governance (Kettl, 2002).

Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce - GBDe definition (AOEMA report):

“Electronic government (hereafter e-Government) refers to a situation in which

administrative, legislative and judicial agencies (including both central and local

5

governments) digitize their internal and external operations and utilize networked systems

efficiently to realize better quality in the provision of public services.”

Gartner Group’s definition: “the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency

participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through

technology, the Internet and new media.”

Definition of the Working Group on E-government in the Developing World: E-

government is the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote

more efficient and effective government, facilitate more accessible government services,

allow greater public access to information, and make government more accountable to

citizens. E-government might involve delivering services via the Internet, telephone,

community centers (self-service or facilitated by others), wireless devices or other

communications systems.”

While definitions of e-government by various sources may vary widely, there is a

common theme. E-government involves using information technology, and especially the

Internet, to improve the delivery of government services to citizens, businesses, and other

government agencies. E-government enables citizens to interact and receive services from

the federal, state or local governments twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

E-government is in the early stages of development. Most governments have already taken

or are taking initiatives offering government services online. However, for the true

potential of e-government to be realized, government needs to restructure and transform its

long entrenched business processes. According to Gartner, e-government involves the use

of ICTs to support government operations and provide government services (Fraga,

2002). However, e-government goes even further and aims to fundamentally transform the

production processes in which public services are generated and delivered, thereby

transforming the entire range of relationships of public bodies with citizens,

businesses and other governments (Leitner, 2003).

In the last few years, there has been much talk of mobile government or m-government.

M-government refers to the use of wireless technologies like cellular/mobile phones, laptops

and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) for offering and delivering government services.

M-government is not a substitute for e-government, rather it complements it.

6

03. Objectives of E-Governance

The strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all parties

government, citizens and businesses. E-governance uses electronic means to support and

stimulate good governance. Therefore the objectives of e-governance are similar to the

objectives of good governance. Good governance can be seen as an exercise of economic,

political, and administrative authority to better manage affairs of a country at all levels,

national and local. Governance The use of ICTs can connect all three parties and support

processes and activities. It provides a common framework and direction in the

implementation of Government Policies for the following: Across the public sector

organizations and institutions (G2G) Between Government and the Business Community

(G2B) Between Government and Citizens (G2C)

7

04. Challenges of E-Governance

Limited time to plan

Lengthy process for Legal Framework to support

E-Governance Insufficient telecom infrastructure to support

E-Governance Unaffordable Internet services for private sector &

Citizens Limited ICT human capacity to support

Funding is a main challenge: E-Governance is very capital intensive and no donor or

consortium of donors can fully fund E-Governance Program Private sector is a major

beneficiary of E-Governance through increased access procurements and e-services. Can play

a major funding role to subsidize E-Governance products.

8

05. Situation of E-Governance in Bangladesh

E-Governance in Bangladesh Honorable Prime Minister herself has put great emphasis on

identifying challenges in the implementation of nation-wide E-Governance and on initiating

pilot projects in various sectors of the government through a project called the Support to ITC

Task Force (SICT). Ministry of Finance has customized software for budget planning,

sensitivity analysis, impact analysis, financial projections and various reports. E-Governance

in Bangladesh National Board of Revenue is computerizing the revenue budget procedure.

Both Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange are highly computerized and networked,

allowing citizens to trade with much more ease than before. Ministry of Science and ICT

creating web-sites containing information about various ministries. Ministry of

Communication provides online searchable database of contractor’s tenders and created a

Project Monitoring System for tracking progress of the projects.

9

06. State Policy and Action

E-Government at the Policy Level e-Government in Bangladesh has only begun to be

discussed at the policy level. The National ICT Policy of 2002 gives due importance to the

issue of e-Government, declaring that “the Government shall use ICT systems within the

public administration to improve efficiency, reduce Wastage of resources, enhance planning

and raise the quality of services.” The policy further provides that “the Government shall

implement ICT systems to provide nation-wide coverage and access by any citizen to the

government databases and administrative systems which can be used to extend public

services to the remotest corner.” To realize the goals set forth by the ICT Policy, an ICT Task

Force has been formed, with the Prime Minister as Chairperson and the Secretary of Ministry

of Planning as Member-Secretary. In 2003, the Ministry of Planning launched a “Support to

ICT Task Force (SICT)” program, with the mandate of providing administrative and

secretarial support to the ICT Task Force in realizing various ICT projects, particularly e-

Government. The primary objective of the SICT program is “to ensure access to information

by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhanced democratic values and

norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human resources

development, e-governance, public utility services and all sorts of on-line ICT enabled

services.”

The objectives of the SICT program include:

Video-conferencing: Establish an alternate communication network, which will provide

optimal reliability and security of communication and enhance the speed and efficiency of

decision-making and follow-up actions.

Police: Facilitate improved communication between citizens and police and empower police

departments to better monitor and supervise police functions.

Digital Divisional Town: Provide electronic delivery of major citizen services, empower

local officials, introduce electronic services, and build cyber-kiosks to enhance citizen access

to government services.

Web Portals: Help citizens to improve their employment and income-generating potential.

Access to information -- a fundamental right in the present-day world -- can be ensured for

10

each citizen. Lack of access to information creates digital gap among different social

segments. This breeds lack of equity and social injustice. A non-discriminatory access to

information can go a long way towards minimising class distance between different groups in

the society. Local information communication technology (ICT) companies do need to pay

attention to hold seminars, workshops etc., to popularise e-governance. More ministries

should adopt the system of e-Governance even for their internal use. Interactive websites can

disseminate information to public. The scope for people's active interest to interact will then

be widened. Such websites should also be updated regularly. Otherwise, the public will be

misled with backdated information. All government organisations should be interconnected

under e-governance network. Exchange of information between different departments

without any manual intervention will then become easier.

11

07. Advantages & Disadvantages of E-Governance

E-governance refers to the use of information and communication technologies on behalf of

the public sector to provide services to citizens, according to UNESCO. With the spread of

computers and the Internet, it is possible for governments to provide online information and

offer services, such as electronic tax returns and visa applications, through secure Web pages.

However, despite its immense potential, e-governance also faces serious challenges.

Convenience: It is more convenient to pay your bills or apply for disability benefits when

sitting in front of your computer instead of going to the closest relevant office and waiting

in line until someone can deal with your case. This is especially crucial for people living

in remote or densely populated areas.

Transparency and Less Bureaucracy: When official policies and legislation are

uploaded on the Internet, it is easier for analysts and the general public around the country

to evaluate and debate government decisions. This guarantees a level of transparency and

freedom of information, effectively preventing corruption. E-governance might also mean

less bureaucracy, as digital information may move instantly from one office to another,

without the need to wait for paper documents.

Cyber Crime: Despite the efforts of government agencies to ensure the safety of

citizens' personal data, e-governance websites are still liable to attack from hackers.

Personal data such as home addresses and bank account information can be vulnerable

without proper security measures.

Costly Infrastructure: An efficient e-governance system requires all citizens or at least

the vast majority to have access to the Internet. Internet-enabled devices, hardware such

as routers, and a connection infrastructure are essential to connect to government

websites. Public sector agencies need advanced servers and security systems to cope with

vast amounts of information and complex cyber threats. All these requirements constitute

a costly investment, far beyond the reach of less developed economies.

12

08. Types of e-governance

G2E

G2C

G2G

G2B

G2E (Government 2 employee): G2E is transaction between government and Employee. It

Includes, Online conference for employee. Online training. Employee information Example:

The example of Government to Employee is that Ex. e-Training for Employees

G2C (Government to Citizen): deals with interaction between individual citizens with the

government. Examples of G2C are payment of utility bills or applying for passports through

relevant website of the e-Governance system. Good governance always stresses on

participatory and democracy concepts. Citizen should not be isolated from the government.

Using appropriate website of the system citizen can also be interactive in different

development processes of the government.

G2B (Government-to-Business): involves interaction of the business establishments with

the government. These business establishments may be corporate, NGOs or other

professional bodies. The example of G2B is submission of tax assessment by any business

establishment to the department of Taxation of the government through the Internet.

G2G (Government-to-Government): involves interaction among government officials,

whether within a government office or within different organs of the government. The

example pf G2G may be a request of allocation of budget by any department of the

government

Ultimate objective of e-Governance is to establish a good governance. The attributes of the

good governance can be identified as follows: a. Honesty b. Efficiency and Effectiveness (in

terms of time space and money) c. Justice d. Reliability e. Participatory and Democracy f.

Accountability g. Accessibility and Transparency h. equity i. visionary in decision making.

All of these attributes can be achieved through proper implementation of e-governance using

the state of the art technologies.

It has been proved that the corruption levels in the public sector have dramatically fallen in

the countries where e-Governance has been initiated. A survey in India has revealed that the

13

states where e-governance has been established even partially, the corruption rate has

dramatically reduced. The survey has found that in Kolkata and Mumbai, due to

implementation of e-Governance in some public sectors, the corruption rates have declined to

19% and 18% compared to 51% and 38% respectively in 2000. Even in Bangladesh we may

observe that due to computerization of Railway Reservation System, the number of black-

marketers (middle men who used to involve in illegal ticket selling) has reduced significantly.

Elimination of the middle men in citizen-government interaction, in fact, is the major factor

that acts in eradicating corruption levels. Again in the government offices, if the people

interact with the government organs through web-page then colonial red tapes practices will

be totally removed. This in turn will reduce the pervasive bribery practices in government

offices.

The computerization of the system speeds up the performance in terms of time, reliability,

efficiency and effectiveness. For instance, had a proper e-Governance system implemented

then a person would have easily applied for a new passport using his digital signature and

citizenship identifier and got the passport ready within 24 hours without paying any

urgent/very urgent fee or taking any other hassle. It would be possible if we consider a

complete integrated e-Government system. Issuance of a new passport requires many

processes (e.g. police verification, validation of Birth certificate). In an e-Governance

environment, as all the departments of the government are virtually integrated, when the

person applies for a passport through Website of the passport and immigration department,

the specific data stated by the applicant will be sent to the relevant departments instantly for

cross checking and validation. As for example, for getting police clearance, data provided by

the applicant will be cross checked with police department’s data and a report (either positive

or negative) will be generated automatically and sent to the server of the Passport and

Immigration department office. Subsequently in the server of the Passport and Immigration

department receiving the person’s application and report as required from various

departments system will decide automatically whether the person is eligible to receive the

new passport or not. Even the printing process of the passport can be automated. So, because

of the minimum involvement of the middleman in this case, the corruption and hassles in

receiving passport will be approximately at zero level compared with the present scenario in

Bangladesh.

14

E-Governance confirms the active participation of the people in the process of establishing

democracy norms in the country. Unfortunate incidence that occurred in Phulbari, centering

the coal mine contract with the Asia Energy could be avoided if e-Governance environment

prevailed here. Prior to contract with Asia Energy, the government could take opinion from

the local people through Website on this issue. On the same issue a Website discussion group

could have been formed which would make the government transparent in decision making.

By the people’s active participation, some pro-people positive decision would come out

considering the country’s resource constraints, local environment, and other socio-political

issues.

E-Governance leads to e-Democracy too. For instance, in an e-Governance environment, any

political party can be able to select the possible candidate for the election democratically if it

has its own Website (this is also a component of e-Governance) by seeking opinion through

website. This selection will reflect the opinion of the common people and thus will reduce the

impact of black money in the selection of the candidature.

Right now we are observing enormous wastage of public money in preparing politically

biased error-prone voter list. However, in e-Governance environment, as the citizens’ basic

record database is one of the vital components, it is easily possible to generate a flawless

unbiased voter list with the latest status of the citizen (e.g. age, present address) in any time

without spending any additional money.

Accessibility to information for all is the prime concern of the e-governance. The citizen

must have access to e-Governance. In reality, availability and non-availability of information

creates the digital gap among different segments of the people in a society which is the one of

the major causes of non-equity and social injustice. If everybody gets the same extent of

accessibility to e-Governance then the class distance among the different groups in the

society will be minimized abruptly.

E-Governance reality in Bangladesh: As a nation we are like empty vessel—we talk too

much but do little in practice. When the buzz word e-Commerce started to get its popularity,

many of our ICT giant paid much attention to it by organizing seminars, workshops etc.

Accordingly, they persuaded the policy makers of the government and in 2001 they formed a

ICT Task force headed by the incumbent Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia for introducing

e-Governance in Bangladesh. Apparently, assessing their propaganda it was assumed that the

government would implement e-Governance overnight. However, over the five years,

15

insignificant progress has been marked so far. Other than Planning Commission and ministry

of finance, no other ministry could implement any significant software systems even for their

internal use. Some ministries (e.g. ministry of Science and Technology) have created some

static Websites with a view to disseminating information to public. As this Websites are not

interactive, there is no scope for active participation of the concerned people. Moreover, as

these Websites have not been updated regularly, they mislead public with backdated

information.

In e-Governance environment all governmental organizations should have networked and

interconnected. This connectivity facilitates to exchange information among different organs

of the government without any manual intervention. Ideally, for this, we need to build up IOS

(Inter Organizational Systems) or EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) software. Unfortunately,

till to date all software systems that developed in our governments’ various organizations are

discrete in nature and so they do not support inter-departmental or inter-organizational data

sharing technique.

Computerization and e-Governance are not synonymous. In fact, over the five years,

computerization processes in some ministries or government sectors have been initiated. But

truly speaking it is not e-Governance. We have to go a long way to implement e-Governance

in our country.

Road Map to e-Governance: This is true that available resources for e-Governance in

Bangladesh are inadequate. The low fixed telephone density is one of the major barriers to

digital communications (which paves way to Internet communication). However, rapid

growth of mobile telephonic network presumably overcomes this barrier. Besides, we can

also use the underused optic fiber network of the railway department for this purpose. For

global connectivity for e-Governance, submarine cable connection will play a significant role

if we use it appropriately.

VISION

STRATEGY STRATEGY

BLUEPRINT BLUEPRINT

eGov PROGRAM eGov PROGRAM

eGov ECOSYSTEM eGov ECOSYSTEM

December 2004

eGov Roadmap Components

By 2010, the State

will be . . .

eProcWorkflow

ü Leverage

PPP

Agr

i

Land

eChaupalPPP

GPR

LR

Training

Municip

aleproc

Police

eSevaPancha

yat

Land

DC,

WAN

Other Projects &Initiatives

Mission Projects &

Initiatives

Core Projects &

Initiatives

eGov Blueprint

Access to Legal Information

Land Information

System

NetworkData

Center

WorkflowCapacity

Building

eProc

eSevaePanchayat

GPR

HRMSFinancial

Information

System

Kiosks

VISION

STRATEGY

BLUEPRIENT

PROGRAM

ECOSYSTEM

16

For establishing e-Governance in Bangladesh, ICT infrastructure can be built step by step

even at village level, if we have a Road Map or master plan for e-Governance using our

limited resources.

Decentralization of distributed database is one of the essential features of the e-Governance.

Decentralized or localized database ensures autonomy as well as reduces traffic loads in

network communication. Keeping this in mind, we need to design e-Governance for

Bangladesh. Strategically, we have to prioritize the sectors of the government which is to be

addressed first. For any good governance Local government is the vital and crucial and in

Bangladesh this is our Upazilla administrative unit. So, e-Governance in Bangladesh should

be initiated at Upazilla level first. Perhaps, this bottom up approach (i.e. starting from

upazilla) strategy for e-governance is the most appropriate in country like ours, where the

majority of the population live in villages under upazilla administrations.

Financial constraints can be viewed as the major problem in this context. But if the

government is really sincere enough to use resources in economic way then the funding for e-

Governance will not be a big issue. For instance, we can reduce the software procurement

cost if we use open source software or free software for developing various modules for e-

Governance. Besides, funding can also be possible from World Bank, DFID, EU or other

sources for initiating such project. Even the government may approach to Microsoft in this

context. It may be noted that Bill Gate has already decided to dedicate his substantial amount

of his wealth to philanthropic works. He must be aware that ultimate e-Governance will bring

equity, social justice by reducing the digital gap among different segments of the society. If

the government can persuade Bill Gate for implementing e-Governance in Bangladesh,

presumably he will come forward to assist a technologically backward country like ours.

Finally, it can be stated that we have resources in terms of manpower. Among the new

generation, many are getting technologically solvent. We can use them in our e-Governance

project. But preconditions for initiating such a huge project, the government needs to be

honest, transparent, and stable with a clear vision for future.

17

09. Recommendations for e-Governance

Push for a comprehensive regulatory framework for e-Governance : There is an

urgent need fo r a comprehens ive regula to r y/ l egal f r amework fo r

rea l iza t ion o f e -Governance. Some of the issues to be included in the framework are IPR

laws to protect intellectual property, laws for acceptance of documents in electronic

format (such as downloaded documents), laws against cyber -terrorism to protect

against unauthorized h a c k i n g , l a w s t o e n a b l e e l e c t r o n i c

a u t h e n t i c a t i o n . A l s o n e e d e d i s a n E l e c t r o n i c Certification Authority

designated by the government which should have the authority to provide electronic

certification to organization and individuals.

Create and re ta in adequate IT human resource : T h e r e n e e d s t o b e a

w e l l - planned program to create a greater number of IT human resource in the

country. The number of seats in the computer science and engineering

departments of universities needs to be increased. Steps need to be taken to monitor the

quality of training institutes. G o v e r n m e n t c e r t i f i c a t i o n p r o g r a m s t o t e s t

i n d i v i d u a l s n e e d t o b e a r r a n g e d f o r maintaining quality of IT-related

diplomas. Efforts should also be taken to retain the massive number of IT-trained

personnel Bangladesh is losing each year.

Invest in public IT literacy: IT literacy programs should start early in

schools because it is at that tender age that students are most open to new ideas and

technologies. The government should also arrange, encourage and subsidize IT

vocational training to create an IT-literate society.

Encourage local software companies to prepare themselves: The local software

companies should take s teps to become more prepared for handl ing

government IT projects, especially in areas of project management. The software

companies may also need to cooperate among themselves to jointly handle large-scale e-

Government projects. Individual software companies in Bangladesh mostly do not

have the human resource capacity to handle government projects. The government should

take steps to give public projects to software companies so that they gain needed experience

for larger projects.

18

Invest in rel iable supply of electrici ty : S t e p s n e e d t o b e t a k e n t o

e x p l o r e al ternat ive sources of power or a l ternat ive means of power

generat ion . Di fferent developing countries are experimenting with solar power,

bicycle-generated power etc. Bangladesh should also take similar steps.

Deregulation of ISP and telephony service providers: The ISP and telephone

service provision must be deregulated to allow for greater competition and lower

price. Also, VoIP is a popular means of communicating with the outside world, but

it is still illegal under current regulations. VoIP should be made legal as soon as possible to

allow greater use of computers for everyday activities of people and generate people’s

interest in ICTs.

19

10. Conclusion

“It’s always easier to set up a vision than its completion”. The current government has

resurrected that vision and made it ready for the 21st

century highly globalize world

and names it Digital Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh has its own limitations in

resources, capacity and knowledge, the country’s potential in human resources can be tapped

through appropriate use of ICT tools. With lack of Power supply and Corruption in public

sector, in my study 63% of respondents are quite pessimistic about their digital Bangladesh

by 2021; but the taken projects say Government is committed towards reaching the goal

of a knowledge based and middle income country by 2021. With an actionable ICT

Policy 2009, Right to Information Act and ICT Act that provide the enabling environment for

citizens’ information access and e-commerce, a network of proactive and ready change

agents in the Ministries, districts and upazilas, a number of initiatives that

demonstrate the true concept and benefits of Digital Bangladesh, a technology-

savvy young workforce ready to be guided and led, the country is staring at a

tremendous opportunity to leapfrog. Guidance and assistance from development partners

can greatly accelerate this journey

20

11. References

i. www.unesco.org

ii. www.ehow.com

iii. www.slideshare.com

iv. www.publicadministrationbd.blogspot.com

v. www.gbde.org

vi. www.pacificcouncil.org

vii. www.unpan.org