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and domestic as well as international call services. Likewise, the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
(BTRC) - an autonomous body established under the Ministry in
2002 is the licensing authority that regulates telecommunication
service providers – both fixed line and mobile phones throughout
the country. It is also responsible for promoting ICT application
through, among others, oversight of the VSAT operators and
internet service providers, the development of digitisation
schemes and regulation of tariffs and standards. Table 1 lists
major agencies involved along with their primary responsibilities.
Table 1: Important Public Sector Actors in E-Government
Government
Ministry/Agency
Prime Minister’s Office
(E-Government Cell)
Ministry of Science &
Information and
Communication
Technology
Bangladesh Computer
Council
Ministry of Post and
Telecommunications
Bangladesh
Telecommunications
Regulatory Commission
(BTRC)
Responsibilities
Overall policy directions
Policy formulation and
mainstreaming ICT in the public
sector
Support MoSICT and provide
training as well as advisory services
to government and citizens.
Develop telecommunication
infrastructure and services
Regulation of the
telecommunications industry &
licensing
Ministry of Information Dissemination of information
Ministry of Planning Support DBTF to realize its goals
Ministry of Finance Support the e-government programs
with appropriate allocation of funds
Ministry of Education Development of curriculum for ICT
education; computerisation of
schools
Ministry of Law, Justice
and Parliamentary
Affairs
ICT Task Force/Digital
Bangladesh Task Force
National Information
Management
Committee (MoP)
National ICT Education
Task Force
Review of ICT related laws and
policies
Mainstream ICT in the government,
advise ministries/agencies and
monitor progress
Development of citizen
identification card for service
delivery purposes
Advancing educational skills and
quality through ICT
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Source: Based on [14] & other sources
Likewise, a set of policies and laws have been formulated and
enacted in order to provide a legal framework for e-government in
the country. The National ICT Policy formulated in 2002
represents the first concrete measure that provides a
comprehensive outline of the vision of e-government. The ICT
policy 2002 presented e-government as a strategy for improving
efficiency of the government, reducing wastage of resources and
enhancing planning and raising the quality of public services. It
also envisaged, among others, the establishment of
telecommunication infrastructure nationwide, connecting to
submarine fibre optic cable network, extending internet facility to
rural areas, establishing cyber kiosks in post offices, Union
Parishad and Upazila (sub-district) complexes, setting up an
internet exchange and increasing the bandwidth capacity and
availability [9]. Thus it had underscored the spread of ICT in
governmental agencies across the country. The policy required
each Ministry/Division to have an ICT unit comprised of ICT
professionals and websites with policy documents and updated
information.
However, the implementation of the policy was anything but
satisfactory. Among others, the lack of ownership and
coordination among implementing agencies and absence of
leadership have contributed to the failure of the policy. The
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act was
adopted in 2006. The Act was also intended to help prevent
cybercrimes and safeguard online transactions so as to promote ecommerce.
However, the Act could not be implemented in its true
spirit as necessary rules and regulations were never introduced
[9]. Following the launch of the Digital Bangladesh as the flagship
project the government has promulgated a new ICT policy. The
ICT Policy 2009 envisions the ICT as a tool to bring about
‘transparent, accountable and responsible government’ [11]. It is
fairly comprehensive for besides outlining specific objectives and
priorities it has identified over 300 action items for
implementation in key sectors of the economy in order to improve
the delivery of services. It also seeks to develop human resources,
enhance social equity and ensure cost-effective delivery of
governmental services to support the national goal of becoming a
middle-income country within 10 years and joining the ranks of
developed nations within 30 years [11]. Another major legislation
is the ICT Act 2009. This is, in fact, a slightly modified version of
ICT Act 2006 which remained unimplemented. The Act provides
legitimacy of the electronic records and digital signature. While it
is true that the current legal framework of e-government is largely
driven by ICT Policy 2009 and the ICT Act, 2009 a number of
other tools and policy documents as listed in table 2 have had a
significant bearing on e-government. Collectively, they provide a
broad framework of e-governance in the country.
Table 2: Major E-government Policies and Laws
Policy/Legislation Objective(s)
Telecommunications
Act, 2001
Facilitate liberalisation of
telecommunications sector
ICT Policy, 2002 Provide guidelines for development
of the ICT sector