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constraint on online and integrated services. Also, a key challenge<br />

of e-government in Bangladesh is limited funding from the<br />

government and its heavy reliance on donor support. Budgetary<br />

allocation for e-government has remained inadequate; although it<br />

has increased in volume it continues to remain very low as a<br />

percentage of total developmental spending. The planned target of<br />

increasing governmental spending for ICT sector to 2% of the<br />

annual development plan (ADP) has remained far way off. In<br />

2009-10 budget the government allocated $ 20.83m to ICT<br />

development which represents a mere 0.43% of the total ADP.<br />

7. CONCLUSION<br />

It is obvious that Bangladesh has made slow but important<br />

progress towards implementation of e-government. Although<br />

initial drives began in the late 1990s, the e-government campaign<br />

received a major push in recent times which paved the way for the<br />

development of key ICT infrastructure – both hardware and software<br />

- and some important initiatives. Variety of schemes initiated<br />

and implemented since the early years have raised Bangladesh’s eprofile<br />

and e-readiness. Currently virtually all public agencies<br />

including those at the field level have their web-presence; they<br />

also offer informational and in limited cases, interactive and<br />

transactional services. Bangladesh has also seen the introduction<br />

of a number of innovative schemes that promise to transform<br />

nature of governance and pattern of interaction between the<br />

government and citizens and deliver significant gains in terms of<br />

efficiency, convenience and accountability, among others.<br />

Attempts are currently underway to expand the range of services<br />

that could be offered online and to ensure that those without<br />

access to new technology are able to enjoy the benefits of ICT<br />

revolution. Taken together they have marked the beginning of<br />

citizen-centric public administration: members of the public are<br />

now provided with alternative channels of accessing services in a<br />

more hassle-free environment.<br />

However, it must be emphasized that e-government has yet to<br />

bring about a fundamental change in public governance as most<br />

programs have not gone beyond informational and interactive<br />

stages and the vast majority of services continue to be provided<br />

through traditional channels. The expansion of e-government<br />

benefits has been handicapped by a range of constraints and<br />

limitations. As shown, the barriers and challenges that Bangladesh<br />

faces are complex and multi-dimensional which must be overcome<br />

in order to achieve radical change to the process of governance<br />

and service delivery. In fact, the experience of e-government<br />

around the world shows that there is no quick fix to such<br />

challenges. It requires robust leadership, continuous drive and<br />

innovation in different spheres where the government, the private<br />

sector, NGOs and members of the community all have important<br />

roles to play. Perhaps the most critical in this regard is the<br />

commitment and conviction on part of political and administrative<br />

leadership to carry this task forward. Without such commitment<br />

and sustained efforts the vision of Digital Bangladesh is unlikely<br />

to be realized.<br />

8. REFERENCES<br />

[1] Akther, M.S., Onishi, T. and Kidokoro, T. (2007).’ Egovernment<br />

in a developing country: citizen-centric approach for<br />

278<br />

success’, International Journal of Electronic Governance, 1(1): 38-<br />

51<br />

[2] Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) (2010). Realizing the<br />

Vision of Digital Bangladesh through E-Government, July.<br />

[3] Bhuiyan, M.S.H. (2010). E-Government Applications in<br />

Bangladesh - Status and Challenges, Paper presented at Fourth<br />

International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic<br />

Governance October 25-28, Beijing China.<br />

[4] Bhuiyan, S.H. (2011). ‘Modernizing Bangladesh public<br />

Administration through e-governance: Benefits and challenges’,<br />

Government Information Quarterly, 28: 54-65<br />

[5] Bhatnagar, S. (2004). E-Government: From Vision to<br />

Implementation, New Delhi: Sage Publications<br />

[6] Ebrahim, A. Pirson, M. and Mangas, P. (2009). ‘Brummer and<br />

the bracNet Investment’, Harvard Business School, April.<br />

[7] Faroqi, M.G. and Siddiquee, N.A. (2011). ‘Limping into the<br />

Information Age; Challenges of E-Government in Bangladesh’,<br />

Journal of Comparative Asian Development, 10(1): 33-61.<br />

[8] GITR (2009). The Networked Readiness Index & Ranking<br />

2009-2010, The Global Information Technology Report 2009-10,<br />

World Economic Forum.<br />

[9] Government of Bangladesh (GoB) (2002). National Information<br />

and Communication Technology (ICT), Policy 2002, Dhaka:<br />

Ministry of Science and Information and Communication<br />

Technology.<br />

[10] GOB (2009a). E-Government Bulletin January: Access to<br />

Information Program, Dhaka: Prime Minister’s Office<br />

[11] GOB (2009b). National Information and Communication<br />

Technology (ICT), Policy 2009, Dhaka: Ministry of Science and<br />

Information and Communication Technology.<br />

[12] Hasan, S. (2011). E-Government in Bangladesh Public<br />

administration: Impact on the Procedure of Interaction, PhD thesis<br />

submitted to the University of Sydney, August.<br />

[13] Hoque, S.M.S. and Zaman, F. (undated). ‘E-Government:<br />

Preparedness of the Bangladesh Civil Service’. Unpublished paper.<br />

[14] Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) (2009). Digital<br />

Bangladesh: The Beginning of Citizen-Centric E-Government? IGS:<br />

BRAC University.<br />

[15] Islam, M.A. and Tsuji, K. (2009).’Bridging digital Divide in<br />

Bangladesh: Study on Community Information Centres’, The<br />

Electronic Library, 29(4); 506-522.<br />

[16] OECD (2003). The E-Government Imperative, OECD E-<br />

Government Studies.<br />

[17] Rahman, T. and Khan, N.A. (2012). ‘Reckoning Electronic<br />

Government in Bangladesh’, International Journal of Public<br />

Administration, 35: 112-121<br />

[18] United Nations (UN) (2008). E-Government Survey: From E-<br />

Government to Connected Governance, Ney York.<br />

[19] UN (2010). Global e-Government Survey, 2010, UN<br />

Department of Economics and Social Affairs.

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