Modernizing Bangladesh public administration through e-governance: Benefits and challenges

Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Government Information Quarterly

j ourna l homepage: www.e lsev ie r.com/ locate /gov inf

Modernizing Bangladesh public administration through e-governance: Benefitsand challenges

Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan ⁎Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan

⁎ Fax: +7 727 2704344.E-mail address: [email protected].

1 According to the American Society for Public Adminiis defined as: “the pragmatic use of the most innovatication technologies, like the internet, to deliver efficieinformation and knowledge. It is an unequivocal commstrengthening the partnership between the private c(Wong & Welch, 2004, p. 292). In this article, ‘e-Govdespite their subtle conceptual differences, are intercha

0740-624X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. Aldoi:10.1016/j.giq.2010.04.006

a b s t r a c t

Available online 4 November 2010

Keywords:BangladeshCorruptione-governancePoverty reductionPublic administration

More andmore public administration emphasizes how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) canbe used to support transformational change in governmental functions globally to achieve efficiency and cost-effective service delivery to citizens. Bangladesh public administration employs energies to achieve this goal.Experience in some developing countries has shown that e-governance can improve transparencywhich leads to, among other things, corruption control and poverty reduction. This article examines therole that e-governance can play in the modernization of public administration for efficient and effectiveservice delivery to the citizens of Bangladesh, as well as its potential to control corruption and reduce poverty.Based on the lessons learned from successful practices in developing countries and literature review, itsuggests that e-governance can play a significant role for corruption control and poverty reduction, and thusoffers opportunities to cost-effective service delivery to the citizens in Bangladesh.

stration (ASPA), e-Governmentve information and communi-nt and cost-effective services,itment by decision-makers toitizen and the public sector”ernment’ and ‘e-governance’,ngeably used.

l rights reserved.

© 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

There is a growing consensus among governments across the worldof the need to revitalize public administration to facilitate customer-centered, cost-efficient, and user-friendly delivery of services to citizensand businesses, thereby improving the quality of governmentalfunctions. Technology has strengthened reforms in many areas ande-Government1 is widely recognized as fundamental to the reform, andas a modernization and improvement of government (Foley & Alfonso,2009; PIU, 2000). As a result, governments are introducing innovations intheir organizational structure, practices, and capacities, as well as in theway theymobilize, deploy andutilize thehumancapital and information,technological, andfinancial resources for service delivery to citizens (UN,2008, p. xii). The introduction of e-Government is justified if it enhancesthe capacity of public administration to increase the supply of muchneededpublic value (World Public Sector Report, 2003). For instance, theuse of electronic service delivery frees citizens to engage with publicservices at their own convenience, not just when government offices areopen. The interactive aspects of e-Government allow both citizens andbureaucrats to send and receive information (West, 2004), a majortransformational shift in public policy, processes and functions.

The potential of e-Government to improve transparency and controlcorruption in public administration has received overwhelmingattention from practitioners and researchers in this field (for example,Cho & Choi, 2005; Khan, 2009; Kim, Kim, & Lee, 2009; Lenk, 2006;Pathak, Singh, Belwal, Naz, & Smith, 2008; Pathak, Naz, Rahman, Smith,& Agarwal, 2009). Admittedly, transparency can be attained byproviding citizens with more and direct access to governmentalinformation, as increased transparency leads to decreased corruption(Kim et al., 2009). It has been argued that in this context, e-Governmentreflects a “new face of government,” one that is transforminggovernment-citizens interactions at all levels of government, andwithin and between governments around the globe (Morgeson &Mithas, 2009). An efficient and effective public administration is anessential precondition for economic and social development (Schuppan,2009). However, it is recognized that many regimes in developingcountries are only partly open to public scrutiny and influence. Becausee-governance can promote openness in the flow of ideas andinformation, its introduction may be resisted where the power ofgovernors is exercised undemocratically or corruptly (Rose, 2005, p. 1).

The role of ICT in achieving efficiency, effectiveness, or supportingtransformational change in state functions will bring no substantiveresults in the context of the developingworld, thereby keepingmillionsin a state of poverty. TheWorld Bank (1990) identified poverty as, “themost pressing issue facing the development community: how to reducepoverty.” Poverty reduction, therefore, remains a key policy goal forgovernments in many developing countries. Academics and develop-ment agencies equate poverty with being “information poor” (Ashraf,Hanisch, & Swatman, 2009). Jaggi (2003) observes that “a moreinformed citizenry is in a better position to exercise its right, and betterable to carry out its responsibilities and increase their income level

Box 1Bangladesh: some selected information.Sources: BBS (2009); ITU (2009); Transparency International (2008);UNDP (2009); World Bank (2008). Notes: The CPI is interpreted as aranking of countries with scores ranging from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10(highly clean). The Failed States Index Scores for 2009 are from theFund for Peace website www.fundforpeace.org. A higher scoredenotes a more viable state. The Press Freedom Scores for 2009 arefrom Freedom House website (www.freedomhouse.org). A lowerscore on the press freedom rankings indicates greater media freedom.

National legislature: Unicameral: Jatiya Sangsad (300 elected

members and 45 additional seats reserved for women).

Language: Bangla (Bengali) is the official language. English is

also widely spoken in urban centres.

Currency: Taka (1 USD≈Taka 70)

Geographical territory: 1,47,570 km2, population density: 1063

per km2

GDP: 67.7 billion USD (2007)

Corruption Perception Index (CPI): 2.1 (2008)

Rank of the failed states: 19 (2009)

Press Freedom Score: 68 (2008)

Adult literacy rate (% of ages 15+): 53.68 (2006)

Internet users (per 100 people): 0.35 (2008)

Human Development Index (HDI): 146 (2009)

55S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

within the community and region.” The revolution of ICT has beenchanging human behavior, the management of corporations, andgovernance of states. The central and local governments haveincreasingly utilized the electronic communications as a means of theprovision and delivery of public goods and services (Kim, 2007). Theusage of ICT broadens the operational scope of modern publicadministration and the reliability of its actions as foundations toachieving progress, development, and good governance.

The new democratically-elected Bangladesh government, installedin January 2009, has expressed its firm commitment to transform the“contextless” nature of public administration (see Haque, 1996) to acitizen-friendly, accountable, and transparent government by imple-menting the key election pledge articulated, “Vision 2021.” Theobjective of this paper is to critically examine the role that e-governancecan play in the modernization of public administration for efficient andeffective service delivery to the citizens of Bangladesh, as well as itspotential to control corruption and reducepoverty. This article proceedsfirst by describing the context in which public administrationmodernization efforts have been considered. Next, it will provide abrief review of the literature on e-governance and its role in corruptioncontrol and poverty reduction. In the following three sections, themethodology of the study will be presented, the e-Governmentinitiatives in Bangladesh will be introduced, and its impact on curbingcorruption and poverty reduction will be assessed. In the latter twosections, the key problems and challenges for the implementation ofe-governance will be addressed, and a description of future directionin order to address issues such as poverty, corruption, infrastructuraldevelopment will be made. The final section succinctly concludes thepaper.

2. Setting the context

Bangladesh (see Box 1) is a South Asian country that became anindependent state in 1971 after a bloody liberationwarwith Pakistan. Itis a densely populated country with some 145 million people whointermittently experience natural disasters in the form of floods,cyclones, and other cataclysmic events. Poverty iswidespread, althoughthe number of people living below 1USDper daywas reduced from 59%of the population in 1990 to about 50% in 2000 and further declined to38% in 2007 (Jacobs, 2009); this change was propelled by reasonableeconomic growth and relatively stable income inequality (World Bank,2008). Bangladesh introduced internet technology only recently byusing UUCP (Unix-to-Unix copy) e-mail connectivity in 1993 andinternet protocol (IP) in 1996. Internet service began in June1996,whenVery Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) was legalized to operate as anInternet Service Provider (ISP) in the country's private sector (Roknuz-zaman, 2006). Since then, internet use has continued to improve thehuman condition in Bangladesh.

But the internet penetration rate in Bangladesh is as low as 0.35%,which is at the bottom compared to other South Asian Association forRegional Cooperation (SAARC)member states: Bhutan (5.8%),Maldives(18.1%), India (7.0%), Sri Lanka (5.4%), and Pakistan (10.6%) (ITU, 2009).

Since its independence, Bangladesh has experienced a bumpypolitical ride; it has spent 15 years under military and quasi-militaryrule until democracy was restored through a free and fair election in1991, under the supervision of a caretaker government.2 Continuingpolitical turbulence, set alongside the gradual rise of Islamic

2 The 13th Amendment to the Bangladesh Constitution provides that the incumbentgovernment will hand over power to a non-partisan caretaker government headed bythe immediately retired Chief Justice of Bangladesh Supreme Court 3 months beforeany parliamentary election is due. A council of advisers comprising eminentpersonalities chosen on the basis of political consensus assists the head of thecaretaker government. Its main task is to conduct the national parliamentary electionand hand over power to the newly elected government. The parliamentary elections of1991, 1996, 2001, and 2008 were conducted under the supervision of suchgovernment (Ahmed, 2004; Bhuiyan, 2003; Momen, 2009).

fundamentalism (Knox, 2009), has been a major impediment toeconomic growth. Politics have been fragmented and polarizedwithinthe domain of two major political parties, the Awami League (AL) andthe Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), long-standing rivals, whoperiodically altered state power. An imperative of the party-system inBangladesh is its culture of violence. It has become a regularphenomenon for political parties to engage in street vandalism.Apart from this, in reality, patrimonial politics, personalized partysystems, patron-client relationships, and the lack of trust andconsensus have been key attributes of Bangladesh's governance andthe political system (Zafarullah & Rahman, 2008).

The capacity of a governance system to act and the integrity of itsactions are increasingly recognized as foundations to any society'sadvancement and development (Jreisat, 2004). It is corroborated thatpoor governance contributes to conditions of poverty, economicstagnation, increases corruption, lack of political stability, confusedpriorities, chaos, and violations of human rights of citizens andnoncitizens (Jreisat, 2004). In Bangladesh, governance has consis-tently been a central concern for government, civil society, and thedonor communities (Al-Samarrai, 2009). A local think tank, the Centrefor Governance Studies (2006, p. 6), concisely summarizes widelyheld views regarding the quality of governance:

Political turmoil and violence, the politicization of public admin-istration and concerns that corruption obstructs private sectorinvestment and public service delivery are key elements of whatis widely deemed “crisis of governance.”

The situation in Bangladesh represents a distinct case wherecorruption has found a remarkably safe space in which to proliferate,despite the vigilance of control mechanisms. Corruption is sopervasive that it has evoked widespread condemnation, both insideand outside the country (Zafarullah & Siddique, 2001). Consequently,Bangladesh has been consistently ranked by Transparency Interna-tional as one of the most venal among the researched countries.

56 S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

The newly installed AL-led Bangladesh government, in line withtheir election manifestos, has introduced a charter for change, a long-term development strategy, called “Vision 2021.” This envisions a“Digital Bangladesh.” It identified five priority issues for the country'sdevelopment: (i) effective action against corruption, (ii) adoption of acomprehensive long term policy on electricity and energy, (iii) phasedelimination of poverty and inequality, (iv) assurance of goodgovernance, and (v) in the face of the onslaught global financialcrisis, maintenance of economic stability and control over price hike ofessentials. Since January 2009, all public policies and programs arebeing developed in accordance with the framework of the develop-ment strategy, articulated in “Vision 2021,”which aimed at improvingthe quality of life of the people of Bangladesh.

Modernizing Bangladesh public administration through e-gover-nance could improve the current situation in much of the country byimproving the quality of public services delivery, curbing corruption,and reducing poverty. The published scholarship on the moderniza-tion of public administration through e-governance in the context ofBangladesh is far from adequate. This study is intended to fill anexisting research gap in this critical issue that is of both local andglobal importance.

3. Literature review

Various studies have examined the role of e-governance incorruption control and poverty reduction in a number of countries.Pathak, Singh, Belwal, and Smith (2007) reported the results of a surveyin Ethiopia about factors that cause corruption and the potential ofe-Government to mitigate corruption. The results of the researchsuggested that e-governance can help not only in weeding outcorruption but also in establishing of more trusting government-citizen relationship. In a similar but comparative study regarding Fijiand Ethiopia, Pathak et al. (2008) found that e-governance is positivelyrelated to an improved government-citizen relationship and the reduc-tion of corruption. This study also suggests that while e-governanceinitiatives can make important contributions to improving publicservices, they can best do so by improving the overall relationshipbetween governments and its citizens. In another study, Pathak et al.(2009) examined perceptions of public service delivery in Fiji so as toexplore the potential of e-governance to cut corruption and improvedgovernance. The results of the study show that service delivery-orientedinformation technology can contribute to an effective, multi-prongedstrategy to cut corruption in the Fiji public sector.

Kim et al. (2009) document and evaluate the development ofOnline Procedures Enhancement for Civil Application (OPEN), an anti-corruption system in the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Incorpo-rating three distinctive but interrelated dimensions of institutional-ization (regulatory/coercive, cognitive/mimetic, and normative) andfour anti-corruption strategies (access to information and empower-ment, prevention, enforcement, and capacity building), embedded inthe system, this research investigates how an e-Government systemfor anti-corruption in a local government has evolved and become aprototype of a national system to be used for the same purpose. Thefindings show that in implementing OPEN, the regulatory dimensionwas most effective, and strong leadership was crucial to its success.

Monga (2008) illustrates that e-governance, which is a paradigmshift over the traditional approaches in public administration, isdefined as the rendering of government services and information tothe public using electronic means. By analyzing experiences at thelocal, state, and federal levels of government in India, Monga's studyfound that this new paradigm has brought about a revolution in thequality of service delivery to the citizens by improving transparencyin the administrative process, saving time due to single windowservice provisions, simplifying procedures, reducing corruption,improving office and record management, and improving attitudeand behavior of civil servants. In contrast, Haque's study (2002) on

India documents that, beyond the issue of public access andparticipation, e-governance has not shown any promising resultseven in terms of service delivery. He notes that the critics identified anumber of e-governance failures in India these include the creation ofdistrict-level information centers by the National Informatics Centre;the computerization of the Income Tax Department's tax system; theadoption of a computerized decision support system in the NarmadaIrrigation Project Authority; and the implementation of the RuralInformation Systems Project (Haque, 2002, p. 244). These under-mined any credible benefit of the implementation of e-governance inIndia.

Hamner and Al-Qahtani's study (2009) focuses on the acceptabilityof e-Government by individuals. They argue that it is a people-centricapproach that determines the overall acceptability of e-Government topeople in Saudi Arabia. This study sheds light on how to approach andmanage the implementation projects in developing countries. Simi-larly, in the African context, Schuppan (2009) found that differentinstitutional and cultural dimensions must be considered whenimplementing e-Government in sub-Saharan Africa. This study alsorecognized that, especially for African countries, a context-orientedapproach seems to be a more promising route to the successfulimplementation of e-Government. A recent study (Shalini, 2009) onMauritius assesses whether the high e-readiness index (Mauritiusranks the best among the East African countries) gives a true indicationof the citizens' e-readiness and explores the factors facilitating andinhibiting the e-readiness. The key findings reveal that the barriersinhibiting the citizens' e-readiness are resistance to change, absenceof opportunities for e-participation and e-consultation, and lack ofawareness.

Holliday (2002) evaluated the major ICT policy initiatives adoptedby the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partnerstates. The main finding is that e-governance activity in East andSoutheast Asia is highly diverse, reflecting national strengthens andweaknesses rather than regional capacity for policy change. Thisarticle argues that ASEAN must pay renewed attention to strategy tobuild e-Government through ICT progress, and thereby achieve theperceived regional development.

Siddiquee andMohamed (2007) investigated the impact of servicedelivery innovations and reforms on governance in Malaysia's publicsector and found that some of the successes include collaborationbetween the public and private sectors; streamlining work proce-dures andmethods with an emphasis on service quality and customersatisfaction; client focus and accountability; and the use of ICT toimprove quality of governance. However, major areas that needimprovement include high incidence of corruption, bureaucraticinefficiency, the lack of competence and professionalism amongpublic officials, and the lack of competitiveness.

Duncombe (2006) contributes to theorizing about ICT and itsrelationship to development by applying a “livelihood approach” as aframework of analysis. It takes rural micro-enterprise as an importantpotential area of ICT application in the context of Botswana. Ruralmicro-enterprise has been chosen as a topic for analysis because itrepresents a viable route out of poverty by providing increased andmore diversified income streams for poor households. An importantconclusion of the study is that it provides some indication that newdigital ICTs are playing a significant role in the lives of the rural poor.There is, however, evidence that as the poor become less poor, theextent of distancing from poverty is reduced proportionately to theirability to access and use ICTs.

In their research on Jordan, Nagi and Hamdan (2009) found that, incompliance with the Royal vision, several plans and initiatives havebeen developed to establish Jordan as a regional leader in the areas ofinformation and economic development in the region. One of theseinitiatives is the implementation of e-Government, which offersseveral benefits: creating new jobs in public and private sectors,reducing illiteracy, improving transparency of government, effecting

57S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

the growth of knowledge-based economy, and improving the deliveryof services to both citizens and businesses for both government andsociety.

Heeks (2001) found that the use of ICT can make a significantcontribution to the achievement of good governance. e-Governancecan make governance more effective and efficient, and bring benefitsto developing countries. Analyzing case studies from countries such asthe Philippines, Honduras, Chile, and South Korea, Heeks' (2001) studyoutlines three key contributions of e-governance: improving govern-ment process (e-administration), connecting citizens (e-citizens ande-services), and building external interactions (e-society). Heeks alsoidentifies twomajor challenges that developing countries facewhen itcomes to the successful implementation of e-Government: (i) thestrategic challenge of e-readiness and (ii) the tactical challenge ofclosing design—reality gap, adopting best practice in e-governanceprojects in order to avoid failure and to achieve success. In sum, thereviewed literature portray considerable successes of e-governance indeveloping countries, such as quality delivery of public services,increasing transparency in governmental functions, improving civilservants behavior and attitude, reducing corruption, income genera-tion, eradicating poverty, and gradual development of government-citizen relationship.

Table 1e-Government readiness for Southern Asia.Source: UN (2008, p. 33).

Country 2008 Index 2005 Index 2008 Ranking 2005 Ranking

Maldives 0.4491 0.4321 95 77Sri Lanka 0.4244 0.3950 101 94Iran 0.4067 0.3813 108 98India 0.3814 0.4001 113 87Pakistan 0.3160 0.2836 131 136Bhutan 0.3074 0.2941 134 130Bangladesh 0.2936 0.1762 142 162Nepal 0.2725 0.3021 150 126Afghanistan 0.2048 0.1490 167 168Region 0.3395 0.3126World 0.4514 0.4267

4. Methodology

This paper primarily provides an analysis of secondary sources.Webster and Watson (2002) document that literature reviews area significant part of the development of a field. They offer theopportunity to synthesize and reflect on previous research, and thusproviding secure grounding for the advancement of knowledge (Sæbø,Rose, & Flak, 2008). As a result, this paper emphasizes a review of theliterature. Four sources in particular have been researched andanalyzed. First, this paper analyzes published research in the formsof academic journals, books, and newspaper articles on e-Government.Second, this paper analyzes e-Government-related reports and policydocuments published by the international organizations andBangladesh government. Third, three surveys are collated andreviewed: (i) the Global e-Government Readiness Report 2005:From e-Government to e-inclusion; (ii) the UN e-Government Survey2008: From e-Government to Connected Governance; (iii) the ITU(International Telecommunication Union) ICT Development Index2009. Fourth, review of both public and private agencies' websites inBangladesh and elsewhere to understand the contents and quality ofservices they deliver to citizens.

The paper adopts the researchmethodology articulated by Smelser(1973, 1976) called systematic comparative illustration, whichprovides opportunities to gain detailed understanding of, and insightsinto behavior, attitudes and experiences across countries. Accordingto Smelser (1976), this methodology is most appropriate when thenumber of relevant cases is small and when the possibility ofestablishing systematic control over the sources of variation in socialphenomena is limited. Consequently, this study explores two casestudies namely the OPEN of Seoul Metropolitan Government in SouthKorea and the Gyandoot (purveyor of knowledge) CommunityNetwork in Madhya Pradesh in India, so as to identify any relevantlessons that could be learned from them in the context of Bangladesh.This case-oriented methodology involves an analysis of primary andsecondary data derived from the literature and policy review thatforms the core of this paper.

Moreover, this paper attempts to answer to the following researchquestions:

(i) What is the current state of e-governance in Bangladesh?(ii) Does e-governance facilitate corruption control?(iii) What is the role of e-governance for poverty reduction?

(iv) What are the problems and challenges for the implementationof e-governance?

5. The state of e-governance in Bangladesh

The 2003 World Public Sector Report notes that ICT allows agovernment's internal and external communication to gain speed,precision, simplicity, outreach, and networking capacity. This can beconverted into cost reductions and increased effectiveness—twodesired features of all government operations, but especially of publicservices. It can also be converted into 24/7 usefulness, transparencyand accountability, networked structures of public administration,information management, and knowledge creation in public admin-istration (World Public Sector Reform, 2003, p. 7).

Bangladesh attempts to accrue the benefits of ICT use to transformtraditional public administration landscape to a modern, transparent,and citizen-centered public administration to ensure cost-effectiveand cost-efficient delivery of public services. A political agenda of theGovernment of Bangladesh (GoB) is to digitize the country toaccelerate “Digital Bangladesh” movement so as to achieve “Vision2021.” A complex set of issues are involved for the successfulrealization of this Vision, and some of them are briefly discussedhere to understand the overall situation.

5.1. e-Government readiness

Recently, Bangladesh has made considerable progress in intro-ducing ICT in the public sector, although, in terms of e-readiness, thelatest UN E-Government Readiness Survey 2008 identifiedBangladesh as one of the poor performers in the Southern Asianregion (see Table 1). This global survey report has ranked Bangladesh142 among 189 countries with an index value of 0.2936, which, whileperhaps low in comparison with some of the other countries studied,is nonetheless a clear improvement from its position in the 2005survey (UN, 2008).

The ITU has developed the ITU ICT Development Index (IDI) tomeasure the level of advancement of ICT in more than 150 countriesglobally and to compare progress made between 2002 and 2007 (ITU,2009, p. iii). By employing this new benchmark tool, ITU ranksBangladesh 138 in their 2007 survey with an IDI value 1.26 (ITU,2009), one of the lowest of all the Southern Asian countries (seeTable 2).

Despite the fact that Bangladesh has been positioned at the bottomof the rankings by both the e-Government Readiness Survey and theITU ICT Development Index, the number of subscribers for both land(fixed line) and mobile phones has recently substantially increased.For example, in July 2009, the total number of mobile phonesubscribers has reached 47.97 million, about 32% of total population,which is a 31% growth than previous year (July 2008), while in thesame period the number of fixed phone users rose more than1.46 million (BTRC website: www.btrc.gov.bd,).

Table 2ITU ICT development index for Southern Asia.Source: ITU (2009, p. 22).

Country Rank 2007 IDI 2007 Rank 2002 IDI 2002

Maldives 71 3.16 88 1.96Iran 78 2.94 92 1.93Sri Lanka 100 2.38 97 1.75Bhutan 115 1.63 118 1.17India 118 1.59 117 1.19Pakistan 127 1.46 146 0.89Bangladesh 138 1.26 132 1.02Nepal 139 1.23 133 1.01

3 Take is the name of Bangladesh currency. 1 USD=Taka 69.30 as of September 24,2010.

58 S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

5.2. e-Government policies

In recent years, Bangladesh has been struggling to implemente-Government to improve its age-old administrative practices and toestablish a transparent relationship between the government and itsstakeholders. In order to achieve this objective, the governmentpromulgated its first ICT policy in 2002 aimed at “building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the year 2006”(As-Saber, Srivastava, & Hossain, 2006). Following the failure to achieveits policy target, the GoB has adopted its National ICT Policy 2009. Thevision of this new policy is to expand and diversify the use of ICTs; toestablish a transparent, responsive, and accountable government; todevelop skilled human resources; to enhance social equity; to ensurecost-effective delivery of citizens services through public-privatepartnerships; and to support the national goal of becoming a middle-income country in 10 years and so join the ranks of the developedcountries within 30 years (MOSICT, 2009).

The policy can be broken down from a singular national vision ofenhancing social equity through ICT use into 10 specific keyobjectives: (i) promoting social equity, (ii) enhancing productivity,(iii) improving integrity, (iv) stimulating higher education andresearch, (v) generating employment, (vi) strengthening exports,(vii) improving quality health care, (viii) improving universal accessto primary education, (ix) managing environment, climate anddisasters, and (x) supporting ICTs, and 56 strategic themes alongwith 306 action plans for a comprehensive sweep of all key aspects ofnational life (Karim, 2009).

A responsive and transparent public administration cannot beachieved without guaranteeing citizens the right to access informa-tion; such access is a pre-condition to establishing e-Government indeveloping countries. As a result, in July 2009, the GoB enacted theRight to Information (RTI) Act 2009, ensuring the free flow ofinformation and the people's right to information. The freedom ofthought, conscience, and speech is recognized in the Constitution ofBangladesh (Article 39) as a fundamental right and the right toinformation is an inalienable part of it. The RTI Act ensures thattransparency and accountability in public or private organizationsfinanced by government or foreign funding increases, that citizens areempowered, that corruption is decreased, that democracy is strength-ened, and that good governance is promoted (Iftekharuzzaman,2009). Contrary to the spirit of the RTI Act, the Official Secrets Act of1923 remains operative—a major debacle for the free flow ofinformation from government to citizen, because it compels the civilservants to an oath of secrecy, even forbids them from passing someofficial information to other government departments unless autho-rized by the government (World Bank, 1996).

5.3. e-Government programs, initiatives and institutions

The recently defunct National ICT Policy of 2002 clearly stated that“the Government shall use ICT systems within the public administra-tion to improve efficiency, reduce wastage of resources, enhanceplanning and raise the quality of services” (BEI, 2004). This Policy

further emphasizes that “the Government shall implement ICTsystems to provide nation-wide coverage and access by any citizento the government databases and administrative systems which canbe used to extend public services to the remotest corner” (BEI, 2004).To achieve the stated policy goal, a high-powered ICT Task Force wasformed and headed by the Prime Minister, while the Secretary of theMinistry of Planning contributed as Member-Secretary. As a result, in2003, the Ministry of Planning launched an 890 million Taka3 projectentitled Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) that aimed at providingadministrative and secretarial support to the Task Force for realizingICT projects, particularly e-Government (Khan, 2004). The objectivesof the SICT project include (BEI, 2004):

(i) Video-conferencing: Establish an alternate communicationnetwork, which will provide optimal reliability and securityof communication and enhance the speed and efficiency ofdecision-making and follow-up actions.

(ii) Police: Facilitate improved communications between citizensand police and empower police departments to better monitorand supervise functions.

(iii) Digital divisional town: Provide electronic delivery of majorcitizen services, empower local officials, introduce electronicservices, and build cyber-kiosk to enhance citizens' access togovernment services.

(iv) Web portals: Help citizens to improve their employment andincome-generating potential.

(v) e-Government initiatives: Improve the effectiveness, efficiency,transparency, and accountability of government through ICTapplications.

Some tasks related to the creation of the basic components ofe-Government have been implemented. For example, the nationalweb-portal (www.bangladesh.gov.bd) was launched, which providesinformation on issues such as education, disaster management,university admission, business. The site also provides many download-able forms including those needed for passport applications, TIN (TaxIdentification Number) applications, individual and company taxreturns. Of the 50 ministries and divisions of GoB, 42, including theoffices of the President (www.bangabhaban.gov.bd) and the PrimeMinister (www.pmo.gov.bd), the Parliament (www.parliament.gov.bd)and the Election Commission (www.ecs.gov.bd), have their ownwebsites and provide important information and e-services to citizensand businesses. The Ministry of Science and ICT is the lead agency toserve as policy hub for e-Government, and tasked with a remit ofproviding vision, direction and facilitation to ICT-related activities inBangladesh. The Ministry has been involved in providing physical andICT infrastructure facilities for the software industry, drafting the ICTAct, delivering ICT training to government officials and citizens, andassisting in the disbursement of equity funds to the ICT sector (BEI,2004; JOBS/IRIS, 2005).

At the local level, all six city corporations, namely Dhaka, Chittagong,Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, and Barisal, have their own websites andprovide information related to citizen charter, trade license, house rentrate, health, education, conservancy, social development, and birthregistration. Of them, the Dhaka City Corporation (www.dhakacity.org)provides awider array of information and services to its inhabitants andvisitors than do the other corporations.

At the education front, the universities in Bangladesh are alreadypartly digitized. The “Digital Bangladesh” initiative visualizes that by2021 all universities, colleges, high schools, primary schools andmadrashas (religious educational institutions) will have computer-ized connectivity. After five years of schooling all students shouldhave regular access to computers with internet facilities. The goal is to

59S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

improve the quality of education (Siddiqi, 2009) and human capital tocreate a knowledge-based society. As a move to achieve “DigitalBangladesh,” the GoB has advised all public and autonomousuniversities to initiate the systems of collection and submission oftheir admission forms through online. Among 31 such educationalinstitutions, 10 of them, first of its kind in the country's history, madethe service available from this academic year (2009–2010).

In the financial sector, both public and private commercial banksare providing online services such as account operations andinquiries, fund transfers and payments, utility bill payments, depositsand loans including the issuance of plastic cards to their clients.Insofar as 25 banks issued some 300,000 credit cards, of which,200,000 are debit, and nearly 500,000 ATM (Automated TellerMachine) cards (Al-Amin, 2009). While the overall progress of e-banking goes on well, the government faces challenges to establish afull-scale operation of e-commerce, which primarily stems from poorICT infrastructure of the country (see Table 3).

The GoB in its latest initiative has decided to introduce onlinepublic procurements through e-tendering by June 2010. In the firstphase of this initiative, e-tendering, will be practiced in fourDepartments: Roads and Highways, Local Government Engineering,the Water Development Board, and the Rural Electrification Board.The systemwill then be replicated to all public offices by October 2010to make the procurement system transparent and free fromcorruption and tender violence (The Daily Star, September 14, 2009).

There are a number of successful e-Government initiatives, such asbirth registration project of Rajshahi City Corporation (Haldenwang,2004), Chittagong custom house automation (Mursalin, 2009), onlineHajj (pilgrim) information management by the Ministry of ReligiousAffairs (BEI, 2004), strengthening parliamentary democracy throughICT in parliament secretariat and publication of the results of publicexaminations online conducted by the Ministry of Education(Bhuiyan, 2006).

6. Control of corruption through e-governance

Corruption–defined by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP) as the abuseof public power for private benefit throughbribery,extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement–notonly undermines investment and economic growth; it also aggravatespoverty (Quah, 2006, p. 176). In the same vein, Caiden (1988, p. 19)observes: “All corruption is a deceit, a lie that sacrifices the commongood or the public interest for something much less.” This is an age-oldphenomenon, which has become salon-fähig (in fashion) in thedevelopment debates (Ruud, 2000, p. 271), and prevalent in almost allcountries across the world. In recent days, there has been anextraordinary global concern for public-sector corruption. A 2004World Bank Report on corruption noted that bribery has become atrillion-dollar industry, and caused far more wealth to flow from poorcountries to rich countries than those same poor countries receive inforeign aid.Whereas an estimated trillion dollars of foreign aid has beengiven to poor countries since World War II, at least 5% of the world's

Table 3ICT infrastructure facilities in Bangladesh, 2007.Sources: A. Hossain (2005); Kundu (2007).

Type of ICT facility Unit Number

International trunk exchange – 2 (2005)International internet backbone MB 10 (2005)ISPs – 205Ground satellite station – 4 (2005)VSAT users – 78VSAT providers – 22VSAT hub – 7Domestic data communication service provider – 30International voice circuit – 6000 (2005)

domestic product (amounting to 1.5 trillion USD in 2001) goes into thefinancial markets of the wealthy countries in the form of moneylaundering (Werlin, 2005, pp. 517–518). Corruption is pervasive in theAsian region, particularly in South Asian countries. Reviewing theTransparency International's CPI for 2002 to 2008 documents thatSAARC member states received low scores (see Table 4), whereBangladesh stands at the bottom of all these countries.

Corruption in Bangladesh operates with the sweep, intricacy andstructured hierarchy of a medieval feudal system, replete with anEnglish-language nomenclature in which “tools,” “fees,” and “pay-ments” extorted from the poorest Bangladeshis are funneled up dailythrough an elaborate web of “collectors,” and intermediate baronsinto the ultimate hands of criminal “godfather” (Adiga, 2004). There isa common allegation that the Bangladesh bureaucrats is largelyengaged in petty corruption for discharging daily duties, such asissuance of birth and death certificates, filing a complaint with thepolice, obtaining a passport, getting a driving license, registering avehicle, and getting admission into public hospitals (Zafarullah &Siddiquee, 2001, p. 467). The 2008 Global Corruption Report byTransparency International observed that bureaucrats were respon-sible for 84.8% of the corruption in the Bangladesh's water sector,while powerful individuals including politicians and contractors werebehind the remainder 15.2% (The Daily Star, June 27, 2008). High-profile corruption is also widespread. The immediate past militarybacked caretaker government (January 2007 to January 2009) led byFakhruddin Ahmed took several measures to crackdown corruption.As a result, theWashington Post estimated by October 2007 some “170members of the ruling elite” and perhaps “15,000 political under-bosses, local government officials, and businessmen” had been put inprison on corruption and tax-evasion charges (Hagerty, 2008, p. 178).All 61 verdicts pronounced in the high-profile cases by February 2008went in the then government's favor (Alamgir, 2009).

Heeks (1998) indicates that the level of corruption in the publicsector sharply decreases in countries where e-Government exists. Arecent report on Bangladesh found that due to computerization of theRailway Reservation System, the number of black-marketers hasdecreased considerably (Kabir, 2008). In the same vein, a survey inIndia has revealed that, in the states where e-Government has beenestablished even partially, the corruption rate has substantiallydropped. The survey has found that due to implementation of e-governance in some public sectors, the corruption rate in the Indiancities Kolkata and Mumbai has declined to 19% and 18% compared to51% and 38% respectively in 2000 (Bhuiyan, 2010; Kabir, 2008). Manysuccessful cases in developing countries demonstrate that the intro-duction of e-Government positively correlated to corruption control. Inthis connection, two well-known Asian cases, OPEN and GyandootCommunity Network, are briefly presented here to understand theimpact of ICT governed programs and initiatives to curb corruption.

6.1. Case study 1: OPEN, Seoul Metropolitan Government

Introduced in April 1999, the OPEN is a web-based internet serviceused to disclose administrative procedures to citizens in variouspublic service areas such as housing and construction, sanitation, and

Table 4CPI of SAARC countries, 2002–2008.Source: Transparency International CPI (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).

Country 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

Bangladesh 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.2Bhutan 5.4 5.0 … … … … …

India 3.4 3.5 3.3 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.7Maldives 2.8 3.3 … … … … …

Nepal 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.8 … …

Pakistan 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.5 2.6Sri Lanka 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.7

60 S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

urban planning (Cho & Choi, 2005; Kim et al., 2009). The systemexemplifies impact that e-Government can have on reducingcorruption and enhancing transparency (Bhatnagar, 2003). Citizenscan check the status of their applications on the internet in real time ateach step of the administrative procedure. For example, when acitizen applies for a construction permit, the citizen does not have tomeet or call the officer-in-charge after submitting the application andrequired documents. Instead, the officer posts all of the detailsregarding the status of the received application on the OPEN site.Using any computer connected to the internet, the citizen can watchthe progress of their submitted application, such as whether theapplication has been received properly, who is handling andreviewing the file, when the permit is expected to be granted,whether it has been rejected, and if it is to be rejected, for whatreasons (Kim et al., 2009).

The public quickly accepted this system. Results from a survey of1,245 citizens showed that 84% believed OPEN had led to a greatertransparency (Bhatnagar, 2003). As a result, the users of the serviceand visitors to the site have substantially increased. A recent report,for example, shows that since April 1999 to September 2007, morethan 6.7 million citizens had visited the site, and more than2.9 million documents registrations were recorded (Kim et al., 2009,p. 45). The impact of OPEN on corruption control is huge; availabledata substantiate that the system has contributed to reduce theintensity of corruption in Seoul municipality. For instance, the anti-corruption index of the Seoul Metropolitan Government was 64.0 in1999, which increased to 84.9 in 2006, indicating a gradualimprovement in transparency (Kim et al., 2009).

Table 5Poverty headcount rates (%).Source: World Bank (2008, p. 2).

Upper poverty lines Lower poverty lines

2000 2005 2000 2005

National 48.9 40.0 34.3 25.1Urban 35.2 28.4 19.9 14.6Rural 52.3 43.8 37.9 28.6

6.2. Case study 2: Gyandoot Community Network in Madhya Pradesh

As a community network, Gyandoot was initiated in January2000 in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh state in India. It is ane-commerce and e-governance activity, with the objective of providinguseful information to people in rural areas, and also to act as an interfacebetween the government and its citizens (Haque, 2002; Jafri, Dongre,Tripathi, Aggrawal, & Shrivastava, 2002). Rajesh Rajora, one of the keyarchitects of Gyandoot and District Collector of Dhar, claimed that itwas expected to enhance participation by citizen and government incommunity affairs through innovative uses of ICT, so as to ensure equalaccess to this emerging technology for the oppressed and exploitedsegments of the society (Sreekumar, 2007). The project connects a totalof 35 rural cybercafés called soochanalayas (information kiosks), ofwhich Gram Panchayat (a body of elected representatives for gover-nance at village level) opened 20 and 15 are privately owned (Jafri et al.,2002), and each of them provide services to about 10 to 15 villagepanchayets, 20 to 30 villages, and 20,000 to 30,000 population(Gyandoot website: www.gyandoot.nic.in; Saxena, 2005). The Gyan-doot offers a variety of services, including (i) commodity marketinginformation system, where grain prices are updated on a daily basis;(ii) income certificate; (iii) domicile certificate; (iv) caste certificate;(v) landowner's passbookof land rights and loans; (vi) forms for variousgovernment schemes; (vii) employment news; (viii) rural market;(ix) rural Hindi e-mail; and (x) e-education (Jafri et al., 2002). Peoplecan order services and lodge a complaint about the delivery of publicservices at a very low cost of 10 Indian Rupee.4 Thereafter, within aperiod of 10 days or less, they are informed whether the requestedservice is ready for delivering and/orwhat actions they can take to lodgea grievance complaint (Saxena, 2005). This service delivery mechanismensures that individual public officials to be transparent about theiractions on their assigned duties, and an effective tool to fight againstcorruption.

4 Rupee is the name of Indian currency. 1 USD=45.10 Rupee as of September 24,2010.

The Gyandoot project prompts service delivery, and its impact oncurbing corruption is significant. A case reported by Jafri et al. (2002,p. 3) illustrates that the villagers of a tribal hamlet of 39 householdsregistered a complaint to the local administration about themaintenance of their drinking water hand pump, which was notaddressed for six months. They repeated the complaint through theGyandoot kiosk, which brought them a surprise result: the arrival of amechanic in the hamlet within two days. He repaired the pump inthree hours. It is usual bureaucratic behavior in many developingcountries to ignore citizens' complaints, until a bribe deal isnegotiated. This illustrates a triumph for the internet, which hasenabled service delivery without corruption in a highly corruptcountry (see Table 4).

7. Poverty reduction through e-governance

Unequivocally, it is recognized that no meaningful development ofa country can be achieved without the improvement of the standardof living of the poor. The GoB along with non-government organiza-tions and donor agencies have made extensive efforts through theimplementation of various plans and programs to improve the livingcondition of millions of poor people. As a result, Bangladesh has madeconsiderable progress in reducing poverty over the years, despite theseries of climatic and commodity price shocks. Poverty fell from 49%in 2000 to 40% in 2005, propelled by a decent economic growth rateand relatively stable inequality (World Bank, 2008, p. xi). Povertyrates based on both upper and lower poverty lines using the Cost ofBasic Needs method show that the proportion of poor in thepopulation declined significantly between 2000 and 2005 (seeTable 5). These improvements occurred at similar rates in bothurban and rural areas. Despite this recent success, Bangladesh remainsa poor country, with about 56 million people identified as being poorin 2005 and there are continuing disparities across occupationalgroups, geographical regions, and between genders (World Bank,2008).

Against this backdrop, research regarding developing countriessuggests that ICT plays a positive role for poverty reduction (Kaur &Mathiyalagan, 2007; Kelles-Viitanen, 2003; Wald & Koblo, 2008). Arecent report covering Serbia, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Malaysia, andThailand found that the contribution of mobile phone technology tothe GNP (Gross National Product) amounted to between 4.5% and 6%and, in addition, between 36,000 jobs (in Serbia) and 244,000 (inPakistan) had been created, the majority of which were in the retailtrade of mobile phones and prepaid cards (Wald & Koblo, 2008, p. 11).Spence (2003, pp. 19–22) lists the following nine essential impact ofICTs on poverty reduction activities in developing countries: (i) accessto information on community level; (ii) demand-driven developmentof new technologies; (iii) gender-equality and empowermentinitiatives; (iv) education and human resource development;(v) ICTs as growth engine; (vi) livelihoods development; (vii) publicsector, social services, and poverty reduction management; (viii)environment and natural resource management; and (ix) innovatingand empowering role at several levels. In the same vein, the founderof Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus,

Notes. Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) 2000 and 2005; usingpoverty lines estimated with HIES (2005) and deflated to adjust for inflation during2000–2005.

Table 6Employment generated by ICT industry in Bangladesh.Source: Chowdhury (2008, p. 185).

Metrics Total employmentgenerated since 1998

Average annual salaryper employee in 2005(Taka 000)

Software companies 5274 202ISPs 5000 112Cyber cafés 3500 36Mobile telephone companies 2000 300VPP 80,000 36The number of persons whoentered into the labor forcebetween 1998 and 2005

6000,000 –

61S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

identified three key areas ICT that can play a significant role in helpingthe rural poor (F. Hossain, 2005, pp. 14–15) including:

(1) Integrating the poor into the mainstream economy byexpanding their market, eliminating the middle-men in theirbusiness, and creating international job opportunities throughservice out-sourcing;

(2) Bringing information, educational programs, skill training, andhealthcare services, etc, all in a very user friendly way, even tothe most remote villages; and

(3) Empowering the poor–particularly poor women–with a stron-ger voice that can be heard beyond the borders of their village;providing better access to information, and improving thedemocratic process.

The Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has made a majorcontribution to the development of ICT in Bangladesh. As of October12, 2009, the Bank has provided loans to 362,855 borrowers to buymobile phones and offer telecommunication services in nearly half ofthe villages of Bangladesh where this service never existed before(www.grameen.com). The phone ladies—rarely men, because, as ithappens, the men often spend the money on liquor and gambling—borrow money to buy solar-powered cell phones, then rent time topeople who want to call their friends and relatives in the cities andother villages (Islam & Doyle, 2008). By the use of their Village PayPhones (VPP), they earn close to three times the annual averageincome. Their earnings allow them to send their children to schooland enhance their status in the community (Postnote, 2006). Studiesby Aminuzzaman, Baldersheim, and Jamil (2003) and Bayes, Braun,and Akhter (1999) have also arrived at the same conclusion, as theyfound a positive correlation between the uses of ICT and povertyreduction in Bangladesh. In the context of India, Jafri et al. (2002)study reveals that access to market information helps rural farmers tosell their products on a competitive market price and thus increaseincome. Box 2 illustrates such a story.

The ICT-based activities have become an important source ofemployment for educated youth in Bangladesh, as ISPs and softwarecompanies typically require university graduates. Table 6 indicates onthe number of jobs created by various ICT industries. Of them, thelargest generation of employment took place through the VPPs. Thisprogram alone created 80,000 jobs (Chowdhury, 2008), and continuesto grow rapidly.

Poverty reduction is critical for improving the quality of life andensuring that citizens have a positive view of their government. TheWorld Bank (2008, p. xi) opines that poverty reduction is not justabout improving household income, but also about enhancing humancapability. The gradual decline of poverty can contribute to theadvancement of education, which can lead to more skilled and higherquality human resources (Agarwal, 2007). As a means of increasingthe higher education rate in Bangladesh, the BRAC University in Dhaka

Box 2Better market deal.Source: Jafri et al. (2002, p. 3).

Access to market price leads to better negotiation: farmers in

Bagadi village of Dhar district quoted a price of Rupee 300 per

quintal from local traders for their potato corp. The Gyandoot

kiosk was used to obtain the prevailing market rate in a town

100 miles (nearly 161 kilometers) away, which paid 100

Rupees more. As a result, potato was sold in the distant town.

The prices paid to farmers have increased approximately 3% to

5%, and thus saved about Rupee 200 million from the pockets

of middlemen and traders.

has been experimenting with interactive distance education by usingcellular SMS (Short Message Service) instead of computers. SMSallows the transmission of compact 160-charatcter text messagesinstantly and inexpensively to and from any networked cell phoneanywhere (Islam & Doyle, 2008, p. 88). In recent days, most privateuniversities are familiarizing themselves with distance learning astheir preferred mode of instruction, opening a new window ofopportunity to disadvantaged, marginalized, and working people,who cannot normally enroll in public universities in order to pursuehigher education. This cultivates a huge prospect for graduates interms of their career building and advancement and in terms ofgeneral quality of life.

8. Problems and challenges

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, it is estimatedthat some 3 trillion US dollars will be spent on information technologyby governments across the world (Gubbins, 2004, p. 28). Hitherto,much of this investment seems likely to go to waste with estimates ofthe proportion of the e-Government projects failing in some wayranging from 60% (Gartner, 2002) to 60–80% (UNDESA, 2003) up to85% (Symonds, 2000). Similarly, Bangladesh public administrationfaces multifaceted problems and challenges to the introduction ofe-governance.

8.1. Social and cultural constraints

Social and cultural factors such as gender, poverty, level ofeducation, class, caste, age, and social exclusion can all directlyimpede the use of computers in developing dialogue with govern-ment using ICTs. One of the key problems is the attitude of “changeagents” —some people are uneasy about using computers and theinternet. In bureaucracies, the possibilities inherent in flatteringhierarchies and decentralizing access to information on to the desks ofall employees and in promoting associated changes in power withinorganizations, are seen as a direct threat to many senior staff, whothen block adoption (Jackson, 2000, p. 89).

8.2. Political consensus constraints

Bangladesh e-Government program receives strong politicalsupport from the present government. In fact, it is widely believedthat the people voted AL into power to digitize Bangladesh fordevelopment. Immediately after the AL took over the office in January2009, the opposition political parties are showing non-cooperationand abstaining from joining the Parliamentary sessions. The ALgovernment has taken no effective initiative so far to bring them backin the governing process. This ongoing political impasse furtherweakens the spirit of revitalizing the multi-party democraticgovernance in Bangladesh. A political consensus between party inpower and the opposition is needed to implement capital-intensive

62 S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

e-Government projects for the purpose of its uninterrupted futurejourney. However, the lack of inclusive political participation makesmany stakeholders suspicious about the ultimate fate of e-governance.This suspicion stems from partial implementation of a past electioncommitment by the BNP. In their election manifestos for the October2001 parliamentary elections, both the AL and the BNP expressed theircommitments to and views on development, particularly on theimprovement of IT sector (Hasan, 2002). The BNP-led four-partyalliance formed the government (in 1991) but the fulfillment of thiselection pledge during their regime was largely unattained. The AL, thethen Opposition, did not raise any voice inside nor outside theParliament to keep policy makers and citizens aware about the BNP'spoor performance on the realization of ICT sector developmentobjectives. In this context, a quite unusual symbiotic relationship wasobserved between the major political parties, which left an impressionabout the lack of strong political determination of party leaders toachieve ICT-related policy goals.

8.3. Human resources constraints

UN/ASPA (2002) has identified inadequate supply of qualityhuman resources and lack of good training infrastructure as one ofthe key impediments to the smooth development of e-governance indeveloping countries. The quality of e-governance largely depends onthe performance of human resources. Bangladesh public administra-tion suffers from an acute shortage of trained personnel, which limitsits efficient operation. A recent study (Babu, 2009) estimates that,among the manpower engaged in ITC-related jobs in variousministries and divisions, only 25% of them are system analysts, 2%web developers, 2% web administrators, and 11% IT trainers (seeFig. 1). System analysts and web developers, among others, areneeded the most as the country marches toward achieving “Vision2021.” To fill the gap between demand and supply of IT professionals,almost all public and private universities offer degree programs incomputer science and engineering. There are also local and foreigninstitutes engaged in providing IT-related education and training. Thegeneral tendency of such graduates is to work in private andmultinational companies than joining the public sector, largelybecause the former pays a more attractive compensation and benefitspackage than the latter. Therefore, the perceived shortage of IT

Web Developer

2%

Web Administrator

2%

System Analyst

25%

IT Trainer

11%

Database Expert

6%Network

Administrator

9%

Programer

45%

Fig. 1. IT-related manpower distribution in ministries and divisions.(Source: Babu (2009, p. 38)).

professionals in public sector can perhaps never be overcome unlessthere is a major overhaul in the public sector pay and salary structure,so as to make it more competitive with the offerings of the privatesector.

8.4. Digital divide constraints

The digital divide implies a widening of the gap between the“haves” and “have-nots” with respect to ICT across the world (Ashrafet al., 2009). In developing countries, the digital divide occurs wherethere is a lack of infrastructure (for example, power supply) or accessto modern technology: the internet, computers, or mobile phones(James, 2007). It is further compounded by low literacy rates, highpoverty rates, slow adoption of technology, the lack of initiative forinfrastructural development, and high corruption. Bangladesh is acarrier of all these symptoms that result in the acceleration of digitaldivide. A 2005 survey on household income and expenditureconducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) collecteddata on the use of computer, e-mail, internet, and fixed and mobilephone in both rural and urban households. The survey results arepresented in Table 7. This indicates that a gap exists between rural andurban households in terms of the access to modern technology. Itdemonstrates that the rate of use of ICT facilities by urban householdsis much higher than that of rural households.

8.5. Infrastructural development constraints

The operation of e-governance requires construction of strongtechnological infrastructure of telecommunications. A significantfinancial investment is required to develop this infrastructure.Bangladesh's poor telecommunication infrastructure is a barrier forquality electronic service delivery. Plans to improve the structure areunderway, but it is unclear whether Bangladesh has the fiscalcapability to bear the cost burden of this public investment in themidst of global financial crisis, where the country's economy has beenaffected. A recent report emphasizes that the impact of the globalrecession on the IT services and telecommunications sectors is stillemerging. As a result, worldwide IT spending will decline 6%compared with 2008, with total spend dropping from 3.4 trillion USdollars to 3.2 trillion US dollars (Robinson, 2009). However, the poorinfrastructural readiness was also reflected in the e-GovernmentReadiness Survey 2008 prepared by the United Nations where itscored 0.0246 on infrastructure index (UN, 2008, p. 178).

9. Next steps

Having identified the key constrains, which becomes challengesfor the future, the GoB needs policy design to implement andsubsequently evaluate strategies that address these importantimperatives.

9.1. Imperative 1: Poverty reduction

The GoB has recognized that ICT can make an importantdevelopment impact. It is, therefore, seen as an indispensable toolin the fight against poverty and it has the potential to achieve key

Table 7ICT facilities in rural and urban households in Bangladesh, 2005.Source: BBS (HIES) (2005).

Type of facility National (%) Rural (%) Urban (%)

Telephone (fixed) 2.87 0.33 10.36Mobile phone 11.29 6.05 26.73Computer 1.36 0.17 4.88E-mail 0.20 – 0.81

63S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

development goals such as poverty reduction, basic healthcare andeducation far more effectively than ever was thought humanlypossible (IMF, 2005). In the February 2010 meeting of the consortiumof Bangladesh's development partners–the Bangladesh DevelopmentForum (BDF)–the government reemphasizes its commitment tohalving poverty from 40% to 20% by 2021 (UNDP, 2010). Thiscommitment is in line with the country's target to meet the firstMillennium Development Goal. A mid-term review of progress at theaggregate level shows that Bangladesh is making progressive stridesin reducing poverty, already bringing down the poverty gap ratio to 9against 2015 target of 8 with the rate of poverty reduction being 1.34%in relation to the required rate of 1.23% (MDG Monitor, 2008). Inrecent times, various ICT-induced income generating activities acrossthe country are on the rise, which contributes to poverty reduction. Inorder to accelerate the progress further, the government is in theprocess of upgrading its governing capacity by equipping its officialswith skills and technical know-how to achieve its expressed visionwithin the given timeframe.

9.2. Imperative 2: Corruption control

e-Government is an effective tool to control corruption. It has thepotential to reduce unnecessary human intervention in governmentwork processes, thus reducing the need to monitor corrupt behavior(Shim & Eom, 2008, 2009). In line with their elections manifesto, theGoB has declared jihad against corruption. To put this into action, thegovernment has taken initiatives to provide limited public servicesonline to reduce citizens' sufferings and promote transparency ingovernmental businesses. As a result, the Transparency International'sannual CPI for 2009, Bangladesh scores 2.4 compared to 2.1 in 2008, isamong nine countries that have improved most (TransparencyInternational Bangladesh, 2009). In the same vein, the recentlypublished The Daily Star-Nielsen Opinion Survey, which was conductedfor performance rating of the present Bangladesh government's first1 year in office, reported that 53% respondents said they thoughtcorruption had decreased (The Daily Star, January 8, 2010). As the GoBhas firmly expressed its policy of zero tolerance for corruption, morerobust initiatives need to be taken to fight against it. To achieve this,the government needs to prepare a comprehensive action planoutlining the events to be implemented during the rest of their tenure(until 2013) and beyond to achieve a “Digital Bangladesh.”

9.3. Imperative 3: Infrastructural development

There is no denying that telecommunication infrastructuraldevelopment is a pre-condition for ensuring quality delivery ofservices. It is recognized that the GoB does not have adequate financialresources to invest in procuring capital-intensive telecommunicationequipment. As a result, a synergy between public-private partnerships(PPPs) is warranted to solve this problem. The government hasintroduced the PPP concept in the national annual budget of the2009–2010 financial year and sanctioned budgetary allocations forthe implementation of a project, which remains unutilized. Thecountry's finance minister publicly admits the government's failure ofthe implementation of a PPP initiative and puts blame on thebureaucratic tangles (The Daily Star, March 1, 2010). However, inorder to reap benefit of PPP initiatives, the immediate task of thegovernment is to find a workable political solution to bureaucraticentanglements, a classical public administration problem, in thecontext of Bangladesh.

9.4. Imperative 4: Digital divide

In the recently unveiled Telecommunications plan, the BangladeshPremier outlined her initiative to gradually bridge the digital gapexists between rural-urban areas (see Table 7). The plan envisions

that all Union Parishads—the lowest tier of rural local government—will be linked with fiber-optic network; upazilas (sub-district) alsoget Community e-Centers. One hundred Union Parishads have beenselected for receiving fiber-optic cable connections, while 1,000unions will soon be connected with the country's Cross-Country CableNetwork. Moreover, e-centers for rural communities will be set up inat 8500 post offices throughout the country to ensure propermanagement of the postal services (The Daily Star, March 3, 2010).

10. Conclusion

The agenda for modernizing public administration through e-governance is a contemporary phenomenon in many countries as thispromises a people-centric, accountable, and transparent government,and lessens transaction costs. From the experiences of otherdeveloping countries, Bangladesh can learn a great deal. In order toachieve the articulated development goals of “Vision 2021,” the GoBhas begun to establish “Digital Bangladesh.” “Corruption” and“poverty” are two powerful factors that seem to affect the lives ofmillions and have spillover effects on the quality of governance. It issuggested that e-governance can play a significant role in corruptioncontrol and poverty reduction, and thus offers opportunities to cost-effective service delivery to citizens, a daunting task of modern publicadministration. The experiences of other developing countriesdemonstrate the benefit of e-governance. Drawing upon lessonsfrom global experience, Bangladesh can develop the appropriatepolicy guidelines on the implementation of e-governance, so as tohelp combat corruption and reduce poverty. The question is, does theBangladesh government have the economic capacity or the politicalwill to do so?

References

Adiga, A. (2004). State of disgrace. Time Asia, 164(14).Agarwal, P. (2007). Economic growth and poverty reduction: evidence from

Kazakhstan. Asian Development Review, 24(2), 90−115.Ahmed, N. (2004). Non-party Caretaker Government in Bangladesh: experience and

prospect. Dhaka: University Press.Alamgir, J. (2009). Bangladesh's fresh start. Journal of Democracy, 20(3), 41−55.Al-Amin, Z. (March 28, 2009). Modern banking revamps Bangladesh economy. Media

Ladder. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://man.inwent-iij-lab.org/group2/2009/08/03/model-banking-revamp_Bangladesh

Al-Samarrai, S. (2009). The impact of governance on education inequality: evidencefrom Bangladesh. Public Administration and Development, 29(3), 167−179.

Aminuzzaman, S., Baldersheim, H., & Jamil, I. (2003). Talking back! Empowerment andmobile phones in rural Bangladesh: a study of the village phone scheme ofGrameen Bank. Contemporary South Asia, 12(3), 327−348.

Ashraf, M., Hanisch, J., & Swatman, P. (2009). ICT intervention in the “Chandanbari”village of Bangladesh: Results from a field study. Information System Frontiers, 11(2),155−166.

As-Saber, S. N., Srivastava, A., & Hossain, K. (2006). Information technology law ande-Government: a developing country perspective. Journal of Administration andGovernance, 1(1), 84−101.

Babu, H. M. H. (2009). IT work plan for implementing digital Bangladesh (in Bengali).Computer Jagat, 18(12), 37−39.

Bayes, A., Braun, J. V., & Akhter, R. (1999). Village pay phones and poverty reduction:Insights from a Grameen Bank initiative in Bangladesh. ZEF Discussion Papers onDevelopment Policy, Paper No. 8, . Bonn: ZEF, University of Bonn.

BBS. (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) (2009). Statistical pocket book Bangladesh 2008.Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning.

BBS (2005). Data collection and dissemination of ICT statistics: The Bangladeshexperience. Retrieved September 27, 2009, from. http://new.unctad.org/upload/Bangkok/Bangladesh.pdf

BEI. (Bangladesh Enterprise Institute) (2004). Study of eGovernment in Bangladesh.Dhaka: Author.

Bhatnagar, S. (2003). e-Government and access to information. A background paper ofTransparency International's global corruption report 2003. Berlin: TransparencyInternational.

Bhuiyan, S. H. (2003). The caretaker government in Bangladesh: an appraisal of itsformation. Politics Administration and Change, 40, 33−51.

Bhuiyan, S. H. (2006). e-Government in Bangladesh: prospects and challenges. Journalof Politics and Administration, 1(1), 105−118.

Bhuiyan, S. H. (2010). e-Government in Kazakhstan: challenges and its role todevelopment. Public Organization Review: A Global Journal, 10(1), 31−47.

Caiden, G. E. (1988). Toward a general theory of official corruption. Asian Journal ofPublic Administration, 10(1), 3−20.

64 S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

Centre for Governance Studies (2006). The state of governance report in Bangladesh2006: Knowledge, perception and reality. Dhaka: Centre for Governance Studies,BRAC University and BRAC Research and Evaluation Division.

Cho, Y. H., & Choi, B. -D. (2005). e-Government to combat corruption: the case of SeoulMetropolitan Government. International Journal of Public Administration, 27(10),719−735.

Chowdhury, N. (2008). The potential of ICTs for export diversification, job creation andpoverty reduction in Bangladesh. In R. Sobhan (Ed.), Emerging issues in Bangladesheconomy: A review of Bangladesh's development (pp. 2005−2006). Dhaka: Centre forPolicy Dialogue and University Press.

Duncombe, R. (2006). Analysing ICT applications for poverty reduction via micro-enterprise using the livelihood framework. Development Informatics Working PaperSeries, Paper No. 27, . Manchester, UK: Institute for Development Policy andManagement (IDPM), University of Manchester.

Foley, P., & Alfonso, X. (2009). e-Government and the transformation agenda. PublicAdministration, 87(2), 371−396.

Gartner (2002). GartnerEXP says a majority of e-Government initiatives fail or fall short ofexpectation. Stamford, CT: GartnerEXP.

Gubbins, M. (2004). Global IT spending by sector. Computing April 8. RetrievedNovember 7, 2009, from http://www.computing.co.uk

Hagerty, D. T. (2008). Bangladesh in 2007: democracy interrupted political andenvironmental challenges ahead. Asian Survey, 48(1), 177−183.

Haldenwang, C. (2004). Electronic government (e-Government) and development. TheEuropean Journal of Development Research, 16(2), 417−432.

Hamner, M., & Al-Qahtani, F. (2009). Enhancing the case for electronic government indeveloping nations: a people-centric study focused in Saudi Arabia. GovernmentInformation Quarterly, 26(1), 137−143.

Haque, M. S. (2002). E-governance in India: its impact on relations among citizens,politicians and public servants. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 68(2),231−250.

Haque, M. S. (1996). The contextless nature of public administration in Third Worldsocieties. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 62(3), 315−329.

Hasan, S. (2002). Prospects of IT in Bangladesh: the case of election pledges of themajorpolitical parties. The Bangladesh Journal of Resources and Development, 1(1),119−126.

Heeks, R. (1998). Information technology and public sector corruption. Information Systemand Public Sector Management Working Paper Series, Paper No. 4. Manchester, UK:IDPM, University of Manchester.

Heeks, R. (2001). Understanding e-governance for development. i-Government WorkingPaper Series, Paper No. 11, Manchester, UK: IDPM, University of Manchester.

Holliday, I. (2002). Building e-Government in East and Southeast Asia: regional rhetoricand national (in)action. Public Administration and Development, 22(4), 323−335.

Hossain, A. (2005). State of telecommunication/ICT indicators in Bangladesh. WorldTelecommunication/ICT indicatorsmeeting inGeneva, Switzerland. February 10-11, 2005.

Hossain, F. (2005). E-governance initiatives in developing countries: helping the rich?Or, creating opportunities for the poor? Asian Affairs, 27(4), 5−23.

Iftekharuzzaman. (2009). Implementing right to information in Bangladesh: Opportunitiesand challenges. A key-note paper presented at the International Conference on “RTIImplementation: Laws, Institutions and Citizens” organized by the RTI Forum,Dhaka, June 21-22.

IMF (International Monetary Fund) (2005). Bangladesh: Poverty Reduction StrategyPaper. IMF Country Report, No. 5/410, Washington, DC: IMF.

Islam, Y. M., & Doyle, K. O. (2008). Distance education via SMS technology in ruralBangladesh. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(1), 87−96.

ITU (International Telecommunication Union) (2009). Measuring the informationsociety: The ICT development index. Geneva, Switzerland: International Telecom-munication Union.

Jackson, P. (2000). Electronic government in Bangladesh: prospects and approaches.Bangladesh Journal of Public Administration, 9(1&2), 79−96.

Jacobs, C. (2009). How to bring about change in the Bangladesh civil service? Attemptsto change mindsets, behaviours and practice. Public Administration and Develop-ment, 29(3), 218−227.

Jafri, A., Dongre, A., Tripathi, V. N., Aggrawal, A., & Shrivastava, S. (2002). Informationcommunication technologies and governance: the Gyandoot experiment in DharDistrict of Madhya Pradesh, India. Working Paper, No. 160, London: OverseasDevelopment Institute Retrieved September 10, 2009, from http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2012.pdf

Jaggi, A. (2003). Information and communication technology and poverty reduction inIndia. Paper presented at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission forAsia and the Pacific. Bangkok, Thailand. August 27-28.

James, J. (2007). From origins to implications: key aspects in the debate over the digitaldivide. Journal of Information Technology, 22(3), 284−295.

JOBS/IRIS (2005). ICT sub-sector study in Bangladesh. Dhaka: IRIS Centre, Jobs Project,University of Maryland.

Jreisat, J. (2004). Governance in a globalizing world. International Journal of PublicAdministration, 27(13–14), 1003−1029.

Kabir, A. (November 14, 2008). Discourse on e-governance: Bottomline. The Daily Star.Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.thedailystar.net/pf_story.php?nid=63243

Karim, H. N. (2009, July 26). Breathing life into ICT task force. The Daily Star. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2009, from http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid+98574

Kaur, S., & Mathiyalagan, N. (2007). Social dimension of e-Government: povertyperspective. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from. http://www.iceg.net/2007/books/3/11_359_3.pdf

Kelles-Viitanen, A. (2003). The role of ICT in poverty reduction. Retrieved October 14,2009, from. http://www.etla.fi/files/895_FES_03_1-role_of_ict.pdf

Khan, M. O. F. (2004). Information and communication technology (ICT): status, issuesand future development plans of Bangladesh. Retrieved September 5, 2009, from.http://www.adb.org/documents/events/Bangladesh_Country_Paper.pdf

Khan, M. M. (2009). Political and administrative corruption: Concepts, comparativeexperiences and Bangladesh case. From government to governance: Expanding thehorizon of public administration to public management. Dhaka: University Press.

Kim, C. -K. (2007). A cross-national analysis of global e-Government. PublicOrganization Review: A Global Journal, 7(4), 317−329.

Kim, S., Kim, H. J., & Lee, H. (2009). An institutional analysis of an e-Government systemfor anti-corruption: The case of OPEN. Government Information Quarterly, 26(1),42−50.

Knox, C. (2009). Dealing with sectoral corruption in Bangladesh: Developing citizeninvolvement. Public Administration and Development, 29(2), 117−132.

Kundu, A. K. (2007, November 6-8). Country paper on information society statistics:Bangladesh. A joint workshop of ITU, UNESCAP, and APT on capacity building oninformation society statistics: infrastructure, household and other Indicators, BangkokRetrieved October 10, 2009, from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/conferences/bangkok07/index.html

Lenk, K. (2006). e-Government in Europe: Uniform solutions for all countries?Information Polity, 11(3&4), 189−196.

MDG Monitor (2008). Tracking the Millennium Development Goals (Bangladesh).Retrieved March 3, 2010, from. http://www.mdgmonitor.org/factsheets_00.cfm?c=BGD&cd=50

MOSICT. (The Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology)(2009). The national ICT policy 2009. Dhaka: MOSICT.

Momen, M. (2009). Bangladesh in 2008: Déjà vu again or a return to democracy? AsianSurvey, 49(1), 66-73.

Monga, A. (2008). e-Government in India: Opportunities and challenges. Journal ofAdministration and Governance, 3(2), 52−61.

Morgeson, F. V., & Mithas, S. (2009). Does e-Government measures up to e-business?Comparing end user perceptions of U.S. Federal Government and e-business websites. Public Administration Review, 69(4), 740−752.

Mursalin, T. E. (2009, February 8). Towards Vision 2021 of a digital Bangladesh. TheFinancial Express. Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/02/0858247.html

Nagi, E. A., & Hamdan, M. (2009). Computerization and e-government implementationin Jordan: Challenges, obstacles and successes. Government Information Quarterly,26(4), 577−583.

Pathak, R. D., Naz, R., Rahman, H., Smith, R. F. I., & Agarwal, N. A. (2009). E-governance tocut corruption in public service delivery: A case study of Fiji. International Journal ofPublic Administration, 32(5), 415−437.

Pathak, R. D., Singh, G., Belwal, R., Naz, R., & Smith, R. F. I. (2008). E-governance,corruption and public service delivery: A comparative study of Fiji and Ethiopia.Journal of Administration and Governance, 3(1), 65−79.

Pathak, R. D., Singh, G., Belwal, R., & Smith, R. F. I. (2007). E-governance and corruption-developments and issues in Ethiopia. Public Organization Review: A Global Journal,7(2), 195−208.

PIU (Performance and Innovation Unit) (2000). e.gov: Electronic government services forthe 21st Century. London: Cabinet Office.

Postnote (The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology). (2006). ICT indeveloping countries. 261, 1-4.

Quah, J. S. T. (2006). Curbing Asian corruption: An impossible dream? Current History,105(690), 176−179.

Robinson, J. J. (2009, August 14). Global IT spending to drop 6 percent. Information Age.Retrieved October 17, 2009, from http://www.information-age.com

Roknuzzaman, M. (2006). A survey of internet access in a large public university inBangladesh. International Journal of Education and Development Using Informationand Communication Technology, 2(3), 86−105.

Rose, R. (2005). The internet and governance in a global context. Journal of Public Policy,25(1), 1−3.

Ruud, A. E. (2000). Corruption as everyday practice: The public-private divide in localIndian society. Forum for Development Studies, 27(2), 271−292.

Sæbø, Ø., Rose, J., & Flak, L. S. (2008). The shape of eParticipation: Characterizing anemerging research area. Government Information Quarterly, 25(3), 400−428.

Saxena, K. B. C. (2005). Towards excellence in e-governance. International Journal ofPublic Sector Management, 18(6), 498−513.

Schuppan, T. (2009). e-Government in developing countries: Experiences from sub-Saharan Africa. Government Information Quarterly, 26(1), 118−127.

Shalini, R. T. (2009). Are Mauritians ready for e-Government services? GovernmentInformation Quarterly, 26(3), 536−539.

Shim, D. C., & Eom, T. H. (2008). e-Government and anti-corruption: Empirical analysisof international data. International Journal of Public Administration, 31(3), 298−316.

Shim, D. C., & Eom, T. H. (2009). Anticorruption effects of information andcommunication technology (ICT) and social capital. International Review ofAdministrative Sciences, 75(1), 99−116.

Siddiqi, H. (2009, March 15). Managing digital Bangladesh 2021. The Daily Star.Retrieved June 26, 2009, from http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=79698

Siddiquee, N. A., & Mohamed, M. Z. (2007). Paradox of public sector reforms inMalaysia: A good governance perspective. Public Administration Quarterly, 31(3),284−312.

Smelser, N. (1973). The methodology of comparative analysis. In D. Warwick & S.Osherson (Eds.), Comparative Research Methods (pp. 45−52). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.

Smelser, N. (1976). Comparative Methods in the Social Sciences. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.

65S.H. Bhuiyan / Government Information Quarterly 28 (2011) 54–65

Spence, R. (2003). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) for povertyreduction: When, where and how? Retrieved October 3, 2009, from. http://web.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/1074024575110618469203RS_ICT-Pov_18_July.pdf

Sreekumar, T. T. (2007). Decrypting e-governance: Narratives, power play andparticipation in the Gyandoot Intranet. Electronic Journal on Information Systemsin Developing Countries, 22(4), 1−24 Retrieved October 9, 2009, from http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/viewfile/465/223

Symonds, M. (2000). Government and the internet: no gain without pain. TheEconomist, 355, s9−s14.

The Daily Star (2008, June 27). Water projects: Government officials blamed for 84percent corruption. Retrieved September 18, 2008, from. http://www.thedailystar.net/pf_story.php?nid=43055

The Daily Star (2009, September 14). E-tendering by June next year. RetrievedSeptember 14, 2009, from. http://www.thedailystar.net/newdesign/news-details.php?nid=105735

The Daily Star. (2010, January 8). Govt’.s 1-year performance rating (a specialsupplement). xix(349), 4.

The Daily Star (2010, March 1b). Muhit admits lag in execution of district budget andPPP steps. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=128160

The Daily Star (2010, March 3c). Telecoms plan unveiled. Retrieved March 5, 2010,from. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/print_news.php?nid=128470

Transparency International (2002). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September29, 2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2002

Transparency International (2003). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27,2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2003

Transparency International (2004). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27, 2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2004

Transparency International (2005). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27,2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006

Transparency International (2006). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27, 2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006

Transparency International (2007). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27, 2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007

Transparency International (2008). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved September27, 2009, from. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2008

Transparency International (2009). Corruptions perceptions index 2009. Retrieved March3, 2010, from. http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/CPI/CPI2009/CPI-2009-allDocs.pdf

UN (United Nations) (2008). United Nations e-Government survey 2008: From e-Government to connected governance. New York: United Nations.

UN/ASPA (United Nations/American Society for Public Administration) (2002).Benchmarking e-Government: A global perspective. New York: UN/ASPA.

UNDESA (2003). e-Government as a ‘free lunch’? Development administration, 106, 6−8.UNDP (2009). Human development report 2009- HDI ranking. Retrieved October 17,

2009, from. http://hdr.undp.org/en/statisticsUNDP (United Nations Development Program) (2010). UNDP plays prominent role in

BDF 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from. http://www.undp.org.bd/info/events.php?d=11&newsid=523&t=In%20News

Wald, A., & Koblo, R. (2008). ICT and poverty reduction: Mobile telecommunicationsadvancing fast. Rural 21: International Journal for Rural Development, 6, 11−13.

Webster, J., &Watson, R. T. (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writinga literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2), xiii−xxiii.

Werlin, H. H. (2005). Corruption and foreign aid in Africa. Orbis, 49(3), 517−527.West, D. M. (2004). e-Government and the transformation of service delivery and

citizen attitude. Public Administration Review, 64(1), 15−27.Wong,W., &Welch, E. (2004). Does e-Government promote accountability? A comparative

analysis of website openness and government accountability. Governance: AnInternational Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, 17(2), 275−297.

World Bank (1990). World development report. Washington, DC: The World Bank.World Bank (1996). Bangladesh: Government that works—reforming the public sector.

Dhaka: University Press.World Bank (2008). Poverty assessment for Bangladesh: Creating opportunities and

bridging the East-West divide. Bangladesh Development Series, Paper No. 26, Dhaka:The World Bank Office.

World Public Sector Report (2003). e-Government at the crossroads. New York: UNDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs.

Zafarullah, H., & Rahman, R. (2008). The impaired state: Assessing state capacity andgovernance in Bangladesh. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(7),739−752.

Zafarullah, H., & Siddique, N. A. (2001). Dissecting public sector corruption inBangladesh: Issues and problems of control. Public Organization Review: A GlobalJournal, 1(4), 465−486.

Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan holds a PhD from the University of Bonn and currently teachesPublic Policy, Public Financial Management, and Governance and Development at theKazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP). Heis the author of Benefits of Social Capital: Urban Solid Waste Management in Bangladesh,Münster/London: LIT, 2005. His contact details are: Department of Public Adminis-tration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research(KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan. He can be contacted at:[email protected].